PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED:

Tales from Greek Mythology. By the Reverend G. W. Cox, M.A. —It is not given to many men to write for children in a style that shall be perfectly delightful to the most intelligent among them. Mr. Cox is, undoubtedly, one of the few who can do so. These tales from the Greek mythology are all that can be desired for young children. They are told with that graceful simplicity and refined dignity which are inherent in the best old classic legends. It may seem strange to grandpapas of our clay to hear little girls and boys talking as familiarly of Pallas Athens as of Cinderella's godmother ; and to see the little creatures dramatizing the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus as diligently in the evening as they dramatized that of Jack the Giant Killer in the morning. The Greek legends find immediate favour with very young children when told as Mr. Cox tells these ; and partly for the reason which we just now heard given by a little girl, of six years old, one of Mr. Cox's admirers. " Oh ! I like these Greek tales because the Greek people make all their Gods and fairies beautiful !" Kingsley's " Heroes " is meant for children older than the youngest who can enjoy the present volume. Mr. Cox is, we believe, quite right in his opinion, that you cannot too early give a favourable impression of the classical subjects which edu- cated boys will come in contact with in their lessons. A child is not made more precocious by learning and loving the stories of the Homeric poems, than by taking delight in the wanderings of Sinbad, or the ad- ventures of Puss in Boots. Mr. Cox has written a little preface to this book which shows how well he apprehends and can minister to the in- tellectual wants of the young mind, always supposing it not perverted by living amongst vulgar natured adults—whether servants or relations. He says truly, that it is in such tales as these of the legendary and heroic ages of Greece "that the impression of marvellous grace, tender.. ness, and beauty, may most easily and surely be left upon the mind." " The impression should, however, be unconscious and uncritical. The legends should be placed before the child, without any attempt (which can hardly fail of being injurious) to determine their truth or falsehood. Such labour would be wholly wasted ; nor would he need any teaching to enable him to feel their beauty, for ho has in himself a surer criterion than any which his elders might impart or even possess. Mythology is the product of an age in which the historical faculty is altogether dor- mant, and in which the mystery of human life is solved by the personifi- cation of natural objects and phenomena, and the multiplication of super- natural agencies commingling with the ordinary course of things. This age, which is destitute of any notion of chronology, and has no tendency to apprehend any other sequence of events than that which harmonizes with the mythical sense, has yet a keen discernment of the slightest de- viation from the mythical character." Our author goes on to show the analogy between such a primitive age of a race and the mind of a child. "The tendency to personify outward forms, to invent extra-natural agencies, must always exist in childhood, although the character of edu- cation may more or less cheek or even repress it. There must also be the same instructive discernment of that which harmonizes with the my- thical chaareter, or is inconsistent with it. It would seem better, then, that the first acquaintance with such tales should not he accompanied by any attempt to explain their origin or growth, although we may be care- ful to set down nothing which may contradict what they may have to learn afterwards."

The Picture Ifiatory of England, in Eighty beautiful Engravings.— We do but swell the increasing sound of praise bestowed on the firm of Cassell and Co., when we say that among those who publish cheap books few rival them in the intrinsic worth given for the little money. No better instance can be given than is afforded by the book before us. It is meant for children ; and the historical summary it contains is written so that children will read and like it, while the wood-engravings, mostly froth really clever designs, illustrate the most remarkable events in the narrative, and are sure to make a very lively impression on the juvenile student. The pictures are of a' good size, and the volume is a handsome small folio in boards. It is perhaps the best book of English history to give to a' boy of eight or nine.

Sermons chiefly on the Theory of Belief, by the late Reverend James fihergold Boone, M.A., are thoughtful and eloquent discourses, which will be read with pleasure and even admiration by all orthodox religion- ists. The first five treat of the formation of belief, discussing its nature, value, method, sources, laws, conditions, and limits; and distinguishing between true and false rationalism. The next eight relate to the develop- ment of religion, the effects of Christianity, the obstacles which it en- counters, and the alternatives proposed, including Atheism, Deism, Pan- theism, Positivism, and eclectic Theism. The remaining eleven are of a miscellaneous character. In one of these, that entitled, ' The Dispensa- tion of Pain," will be found a striking statement of objections to the Optimist doctrine that "whatever is, is right ;" the opponent being re- presented as contending " that to have pain only that assuagements of it may be discovered, and miseries only that correctives may be applied, and the distemper only that there may be scope for the remedy, is a waste of time and labour, a long and most circuitous way to the good that is to be reached at laat." Commenting on the antagonist statement, the author allows that pain is suitable, and even indispensable, to the actual conditions of existence, but denies that there is any proof that " the conditions of existence could not be other than they are," and re- fuses to believe that " God has bad to deal with intractable and.rebel- lious materials which he could not mould altogether to his will," and is " merely the fashioner of a world from which suffering could not be ex- cluded."

Idealism Considered, by the. Reverend William Greeley; is a small pam- phlet containing strictures on the several "Essays and Reviews,"*pub- fished some months ago, by Dr. Temple, Mr. Mark Pattison, and other learned and influential men. Mr. Greeley seems to us to have mistaken his vocation, in assuming the functions of a controversialist. As a refu- tation of the alleged heresies of his opponents, his Essay is a miserable failure. " Certain learned men who rejoice in the name of Idealists or Ideologists," is a sentence which indicates the spirit in which these strictures are written ; the assertion that " Mr. Goodwin's theory is by far the worst and most unphilosophical because it denies God's Revealed Truth," exhibits the logic of the author; and if Mr. Gresley really thinks that Mr. Mill (J. S. Mikes we presume),." establishes the obligation of livingmornl lives on.the ground that God is stronger than we, and able to damn us if we don't," we have in this misconception a criterion of the extent and accuracy of his information. Fit to be a Duchess; with other stories of Courage and Principle. By Mrs. Gillespie Smyth, Author of "Selwyn in Search of a Daugliter."— This volume of tales is written' with considerable talent for fiction ; but the authoress apparently does not know how to use her talent to the best advantage. The young lady who is "fit to be a duchess," and who be- comes a duchess before the tale is ended, belongs too obviously to the angelic host of heroines of the old school; you see her wings growing at the opening of the tale, and feel no anxiety on her account. Courage and principle, beauty and learning—every noble and every gentle virtue are hers. The very judicious transfer of the young-lady and her affbctions from her first love, Lord Arthur Bellasis, to his elder brother, Lord Jocelyn, is predicated by the discerning reader from the moment Lord Jocelyn appears on the stage of action. The story will interest many persons; but to critical minds it will be unartistic, because the people described are not life-like, but novel-like. The story of "Ann Ellesmere" is pretty, and, to a certain extent, interesting ; and so are the two other tales. They all show inventive power and feminine feeling.

The Martyr Boy of Pistoja, by the Reverend G. D. Houghton, is a metrical tale which has for its subject the "judicial murder perpetrated in July, 1849, by the commander of the Austrian garrison in Pistoja, on Attilio Frosini, a youth of sixteen," an account of which appeared in the Athenceum of the 21st of July last.

Photographs of Paris Life. By Chroniqueuse.—This book which is styled " a record of the politics, art, fashion, and anecdote of Paris du- ring the past eighteen months," is made up of newspaper reports and comments, mixed with feminine talk on the extravagant and foolish changes in the fashion of women's dress, which have succeeded each other at the French court during the last year and a half. Not that the writer seems to be alive to the fact that such changes and extravagance are as absurd as they are reprehensible, and that beauty and grace in the lady at the head of a court do not free her from the restraint of good sense and true taste. Without having any originality of thought or cri- ticism, this sort of diary of events in Paris, during the period specified, has the merit of putting into a compendious form the daily occurrences in the life of a nation—for we must remember that Paris is France. There is nothing of the scandalous or satirical in the volume.

The Summer Tour of an Invalid.—A pleasantly-written little book, which has the disadvantage of taking us over ground so hackneyed by the descriptions of travellers that nobody cares to read anything about it. If, however, any one wants multum in parvo about a journey from London to Antwerp, and from Antwerp to Beale, and so on to Chinon, he would do well to read this quiet little volume.

The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature. By William Thomas Lowndes. New edition, revised and enlarged, by Henry Bohn. Part VI.—All people who have a tolerable acquaintance with books find this Manual very valuable. Mr. Bolm's new edition of it is within reach of every book lover. The present volume (Part VI.) begins with the letter M, and goes down to the end of 0; and under each letter M, N, and 0, occur new names, and additional information attached to old names ; so that, as the editor informs us, the book is increased full one-fourth on the original work. Boors.

Christ's Company, and other Poems. By Richard Watson Dixon, M.A.

Memoirs of Merton. By John Bruce Norton.

The Prince of Wales in Canada and the United States. By N.. A. Woods, the Times Special Correspondent.

The Coal-Fields of Great Britain their History, Structure, and. Duration.

By Edward Hull, B.A.

Tchenovnieks. Sketches of Provincial Life.

Change. By Emily Cnyler.

The Hand-Book of Investments.

_Eleanore. A Poem. In four cantos.

Ashley Down. By W. Elie Tayler.

Curiosities of Crime in Edinburgh. By James hi'Levy.

Royalty in the New World.

Life Story : a Prize Autobiography.

The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. By the Reverend W.

hi. Mitchell.

Photographs of Paris Life.

Daily Hymns. By B. W. Evans, B.D. " Who is on the Lord's side r By the Reverend Joseph Sumner Brock-

hurst, M.A.

Roan. Harrington. By George Meredith.

Poems, Lyrical and Idyllic. By Edmund Clarence Stedman.

One of Them. By ChariesLever.

The Life of the Right Reverend Daniel Wilson, D.D. By the Reverend Josiah

Bateman, M.A.

The Great Sahara : Wanderings South of the Atlas Mountains. By H. B.

Tristram, M.A.

The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord Colchester, Speaker of the House of Commons, 1802-1817. Edited by his Son.

The Bee and the Wasp. Illustrated by George Cruilishank.

Six Years of a Traveller's Life in Western Africa. By Francisco Travassos Valdez.

On Capital Punishment for Harder : an Essay. By Lord Hobart.

The Pilgrim; a Dialogue on the Life and Actions of King Henry the Eighth. By William Thomas.

Correspondence between the Bishop of Exeter and the Bight Hon. T. B. Macau- lay.

NOUS on the Site of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. By James Fergusson. The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Hrs. Delany. Fgyptian Chronicles. By William Palmer, M.A.

On the Origin of Species by Means of Organic Affinity. By H. Freke, A.B.