PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Tin publishers have at last awakened from their torpor, and at the opening of the Parliamentary and London season sent forth a batch of books that we have not seen paralleled in number for many a day. Their variety, too, is considerable ; and first of History and Politics.

Mr. Macknight, known by various publications on political matters, and among others by "Benjamin Disraeli, a Biography," has commenced a very widely different task—nothing more nor less than the "Life and Times of Burke." Mr. Macknight has spared no pains to give, what he intimates has never yet been given, " a full, true, and particular ac- count" of the life of the great orator and statesman, with copious illus- trations of a personal kind. The times, as regards politics, will be treated in a similar way. We hope that Mr. Macknight's ponderings over Benjamin Disraeli's compositions may not have injured his taste and style ; but we fear it. As a slight indication, inter alia, we see a chapter headed " Through Keppel'a Agony of Glory." Keppel might have done more against the French fleet had he been properly supported by Palliser, but we have never seen much " glory" in the business, unless the shouts of the mob are " glorious " in the better sense of the word. The two goodly volumes come down to the death of Rockingham, and its immediate consequences. " The History of Herodotus," by Mr. George Rawlinson, greatly as- sisted by Colonel Rawlinson and Sir Gardner Wilkinson, is something similar in general design to "The Life and Times of Burke." The work will consist of a new translation of Herodotus, illustrated lfy passing com- mentaries and elaborate essays, not only drawn from the results of higher modern scholarship, but from the discoveries of modern explorers and travellers ; to which subjects, we need not say, Colonel Rawlinson and Sir Gardner Wilkinson will bring thorough (if not the most thorough exist- ing) knowledge. Maps and cuts accompany the letterpress; the work is to extend to four volumes.

Mr. Muir's "Life of Mahomet" is properly a reprint, from the Calcutta Review. Its main peculiarity lies in being drawn direct from Oriental sources, some of them, as we infer, entirely new to the Western world. Here also illustration of the main subject will be as prominent as the subject itself. These is one disquisition on the authorities, another on the patriarchal history of Arabia, a third on its condition before Mahomet. The Prophet's inspiration comes under discussion as well as other topics. The life closes with the flight from Mecca; for reasons we do not as yet perceive. Miss Martinean's " Suggestions towards the Future Government of In- dia " is a natural sequence to her " British Rule in India," first facts, then principles. She claims no novelty for her suggestions, though we might fairly look for new suggestions; and she strongly supporta the Company.

Mr. Birch's elaborate "History of Ancient Pottery and Porcelain,"

embracing Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome, as well as the Celtic and Teu- tonic fictile specimens, is a book that ;tends alone in point of class. The same may be said of Consul Hutchinson's " Impressions of Western Africa,"—the result of old experience on the Niger and its vicinity and of his later official residence at Fernando Po. The three other works have this feature in common, that they all look at nature in a more or less scientific sense. Professor Piaszi Smyth's " Teneriffe" is an account of his adventures above and among the clouds, when he ascended the far-famed Peak to make astronomical observations in that elevated region. These observations, however, are not the subject of the book, but the astronomer's personal experiences while he was making them. There are photo-stereographic plates, and a "book stereoscope" in a case accompanies the volume. The " Sea-side Studies " of Mr. Lewes originally appeared in Black- wood's Magazine ; so that the world knows they are an account of the natural wonders that may be observed on the sea-shore by those who with a little knowledge of natural history will take the pains to look for them. Since their first appearance they have been revised and consider- ably enlarged. Dr. Alexander's treatise on Rheumatism and Gout is an observation of nature from another and to many a more interesting side. It is a new view of both those tormenting diseases, tracing each of them to a com- mon cause, (a deposit of lithates of urates,) and the different morbific re- sults to local circumstances in the patient. The Doctor, it will be seen, considers that gout can be prevented.

Boors.

History of the Life and Times of Edmund Burke. By Thomas Macknight, Author of " The Bight Hon. B. Disraeli, M.P., a Literary and Political Bio- graphy," &c.

The History of Herodotus ; a new English Version, edited with Copious Notes and Appendices, illustrating the History and Geography of Herodotus, from the most recent sources of information ; and embodying the chief results, Historical and Ethnographical, which have been obtained in the progress of Cuneiform and Hieroglyphical Discovery. By George Rawlinson, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor of Exeter College, Oxford. Assisted by Col. Sir Henry Rawlinson, K.C.B., and Sir J. G. Wilkinson, F.R.S. In four volumes. Vo- lume I. With Maps and Illustrations.

The Life of Mahomet, and History of Islam, to the Era of the Hegira ; with Introductory Chapters on the Original Sources for the Biography of Ma- homet, and on the Pre-Islarnite History of Arabia. By William Muir, Esq., Bengal Civil Service. Volumes I. and IL Suggestions towards the Future Government of India. By Harriet Martineau, Author of " British Rule in India," &c.

History of Ancient Pottery. By Samuel Birch, F.S.A. In two volumes. Illus- trated with coloured Plates and numerous Engravings.

Impressions of Western Africa; with Remarks on the Diseases of the Climate and a Report on the Peculiarities of Trade up the Rivers in the Bight of Biafra. By Thomas J. Hutchinson, Esq., her Britannic Majesty's Consul for the Bight of Biafra and the Island of Fernando Po.

Sea-side Studies at Ilfracombe, Tenby, the Scilly Isles, and Jersey. By George Henry Lewes, Author of " The Life of Goethe," &c. With Illustrations.

Tenerife, an Astronomer's Experiment; or Specialities of Residence above the Clouds. By C. Piaui Smyth, F.R.S.S. L. and E., F.R.A.S., Corresponding Member of the Academies of Science in Munich and Palermo, &c. Illustrated with Photo-stereographs.

Rheumatism; its Nature, Causes, and Cure. Gout ; its Nature, Causes, Cure. and Prevention. By James Alexander, M.D., Member of the Royal College of Physicians, &c.

Fear after Year : a Tale. By the Author of " Paul Ferroll," and " IX Poems by V. '

The Stage and the Company : a Novel. By Mrs. Hubback, Authoress of " The Old Vicarage," &c. In three volumes.

The Royal Sisters ; or .Pictures of a Court. By Mrs. Robert Cartwright, Author of " Lamai, a Confession. In two volumes.

Uncle Ralph a Tale. By the Author of " Dorothy," &c.

The Descendants of the Stuarts : an Unchronicled Page in England's History. By William Townend.

Chronicon bfonasterii de Abingdon. Edited by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, M.A. Vol. I. - The Chronicle of England, by John Capgrare. Edited by the Rev. F. C. Hin- geston, B.A. of Exeter College, Oxford.

The Lyrics of Ireland. Edited and Annotated by Samuel Lover, Au- thor of Rory O'More," &c.—The critical fault of these selected " Lyrics of Ireland " will be a merit with the purchaser : there are too many of them. Mr. Lover casts his net too broadly, and gives you all he gets. If a man who is not an Irishman writes a good song about " the first flower of the earth and first gem of the sea," its subject makes it " a lyric of Ireland." On the other hand, if a Milesian composes a song on a foreign or a universal theme, it becomes Irish by descent. Cherry the dramatist was an Irishman; so " The Bay of Biscay 0," " You all knew Tom Moody," and a far inferior affair, only made popular for a while by Braham's singing, "He was famed for deeds of arms," figure in this collection. Mrs. Norton's celebrated song "Love not," as universal a gem-as can be found, is put into the national category. Goldsmith's elegiac lines, " When lovely woman stoops to folly, becomes Irish in virtue of its parentage ' • as does the epitaph on Ned Purdon. And so the editor goes on with Sheridan and even Swift. The songs par excellence of Ireland, Moore's Melodies, are altogether excluded, not through any fault of Mr. Lover, but from the strictness with which they are preserved as copyright. A similar laxity as regards merit is often observed in the choice of songs that are beyond question Irish. Part of this may arise from the restraint which a proper wish to avoid coarseness or violent partisan- ship has imposed on the editor, as well as to the fact that with few ex- ceptions the national are not highly poetical, while the poetical have at best but an imitative nationality. A greater cause may be that the vo- lume seems to form part of a series of volumes containing English and Scotch songs : so, to range was a point in the numbers as well as in the classification.

As editor, Mr. Lover has given a general preface and particular intro- ductions to each class of songs. He has also added biographical and critical notes, which are generally useful for their information.

God's Heroes and the World's Heroes. By John Hampden Gurney, MA.. Rector of St. Mary's, Marylebone, &c.—This "third series of his- torical sketches" contains a much greater number of personages than the author's former volumes, and has a unity of purpose, as implied by the title. Men like Alexander, Frederick of Prussia, and Napoleon, are brought to a Christian test ; Christian heroes—like Latimer, Xavier, several missionaries, and some of the advocates of the Slavery-abolition- figure as " God's heroes" ; while there is an intermediate category of

soldiers engaged in a high cause—as Gustavus Adolphus, Washington, and Wellington. So many perkns being treated in a limited space, gives to ,the sketches the character of an article rather than a biographical notice, and prevents any full dealing with events. The book is readable, and the criticism in the main just.

History of the Constituent Assembly. (1789-'90.) By Alphonse De La- martine.—In 1863 we noticed the first volume of a translation- of this work.* We subsequently lost sight of it ; but this publication appears to be its completion, the four volumes being bound in two. As we intimated formerly, the work is not the best of Lamartine's contemporary historical productions. The full minuteness rather resembles memoir- writing than history; and this minuteness deals with biographical pic- tures of individuals or events that are too much of the nature of news. In a strict sense it is not a history of the Constituent Assembly, for that would be an account of its measures and a skilful resume of its debates; whereas these things are only noticed incidentally, and formed no part of the writer's plan or thoughts.

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The smaller books run somewhat in classes, and foremost among them are popular accounts of Scientific subjects. Dr. Lardner's "Animal Physiology for Schools" is an exhibition of the principles of the science, illustrated by examples from the most remarkable instances of animal life, and accompanied by numerous cuts. It is intended for ladies' as well as other schools; and the teacher should consult the author's larger work on Animal Physics, to develop any particular part. The table of contents is so compbsed that questions for examination can easily be arranged from it for the class.

Mr. S. R. Pattison's book of "The Earth and the Word" scarcely supports its claim to be " Geology for Bible Students." With the ex- ception of a curious though curt resume of the principal cosmogonical theories since fossils first began to excite attention, as well as of the en- deavours to reconcile Geology and Genesis, the publication is little more than an outline of Geology interspersed with Scriptural texts or religious reflections.

"A Handbook of Political Economy" is a very so-so affair. Sigma's own part is often less an exposition of fundamental principles than a longwinded essay on the general subject; and though he deals copiously in extracts, they miss some of their original force from the way in which they are inserted. A popular introduction to political economy is wanted, but this " Handbook" will not supply the want.

Animal Physiology for Schools. By Dionysius Lardner, D.C.L., &c. etc. With one hundred and ninety Illustrations.

The Barth and the Word ; or Geology for Bible Students. By S. R. Pattison, F.G.S.

A Handbook of Political Economy : containing the First Principles of the Science. Founded on the Works of Smith, Ricardo, 8ac. By Sigma.

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There are four Educational books, all relating to languages. Dr. Major's " Selection of Passages from the Spectator for Translation into Latin Prose" is exceedingly well chosen for the purpose. They are in- tended Air pupils who have made some advance in writing Latin. The earlier passages are accompanied by helps in the form of a literal English version of what the Latin should be, with idiomatic phrases. There is also a Century of Ciceronian phrases, for the study of peculiarities in idiom, construction, and arrangement.

The Latin and Greek Exercises of the Reverend H. C. Adams are de- signed for beginners, to accompany the author's Delectus. Both books are constructed on the same principle, commencing with the declension of substantives and going through the accidence and syntax. Each little book includes a lexicon.

Mr. Bunger's "German Tales and Poetry" is a selection for reading or translation into English. It begins with anecdotes, gradually proceeding to longer passages • the prose being followed by poetical pieces, the last of which is Schiller/8 "Lay of the Bell." There is a vocabulary to the prose.

A Selection of Passages from the Spectator for Translation into Latin Prose. Edited by the Reverend John Richardson Major, D.D., Head Master of King's College School, London.

Latin .Exercises, adapted to the arrangement of the Eton and Edw. VI's Grammars, and Adams's Latin Delectus. With a Lexicon. By the Reverend H. C. Adams, M.A., &c. &c.

Greek Exercises, adapted to the arrangement of Wordsworth's Greek Grammar and Adams's Greek Delectus. With a Lexicon. By the Reverend H. C. Adams, M.A., Itc. Second edition, revised and corrected.

German Tales and Poetry by the best Authors. Selected and adapted for the use of English Students ; with a complete Vocabulary of the Prose Text. By William Bunger, German Master to the College for Ladies, Brixton, Sm.

There are two publications in original Verse. The " Indian Revolt" is little better than doggrel. "Footprints of Life" has not been la- boured into lucidity. The most evident thing about it is that the au- thor has been reading The Giaour : but though that piece is fragmentary, it possesses action, and is perfectly clear. The " Footprints " appears to be intended for a review of the author's life; but it is mere outpouring, in which the name of Eva frequently occurs in some relationship to the - bard ; but whether she is really dead or only dead to him, we do not clearly make out. He also talks about crime, but with even more indis- tinctness. e

The Indian Revolt, a Poem. By Frederic E. E. Hooper. In two parts. Footprints of Life, and other Poems. By Abner Hay Hill.

" Long looked-for come at last " may be said of the new edition of the Defence and Explanation of Peel's Act of 1844 by Colonel Torrens. It is somewhat after the fair. The easiness of the money-market has caused the public to forget its late troubles ; and the many important measures put forward for settlement in Parliament further contribute to divert at- tention from the Currency Act. As regards ourselves, Parliament and the great influx of publications make such demands upon our space, that we can only hope to return to the new matter.

Mr. Scoffern's third edition of the "Projectile Weapons of War" is a work which it' seems has found its way into garrison libraries and schools of musketry. It embraces in its additional matter the latest experi- ments and improvements in gunnery. Mr. Bohn's portable single vo- lume of "Stuarts Athens," with its additional information and plates,

• Spectator Supplement, December 10, 1853. has reached a third edition in his Illustrated Library. It is a striking ex- ample of how cheapness influences circulation, even in a work that can hardly be called popular; though, no doubt, very many mechanics con- nected with building or decorative art are glad to have it within reach. The same publisher brings out a second edition of Pope's Poetical Works by Mr. Carruthers ; who has again gone over the ground of text and il- lustration. The edition will form a sequel to the Life, and a companion to the translation of the Iliad and Odyssey, that lately appeared from the same publisher.

The Principles and Practical Operation of Sir Robert Peel's Act of 1844, Ex- plained and Defended. Third edition, revised and enlarged : comprising Critical Examinations of the Report of the Lords' Committee of 1848 upon National Distress, of the novel Principles of Currency propounded by Mr. Tooke and Mr. Wilson, and of the Chapter on the Regulation of Currency in

Mr. J. S. " Principles of Political Economy." By R. Torrens, Esq.,

Projectile Weapons of War and Explosive .7onipounds. By J. Scoffern, Load., late Professor of Chemistry at the Aldersgate College of Medicine. Third edition, revised.

The Antiquities of Athens and other Monuments of Greece, as measured and delineated by James Stuart, F.R.S., F.S.A., and Nicholas Revet, Painters and Architects. Seventy-one Plates. Third Edition, with additions. (Bohn's Illustrated Library.) The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope. Edited by Robert Carruthers. In two volumes. Volume I. New edition, revised. With numerous Engrav- ings on Wood. (Bohn's Illustrated Library.) The Year-Book of Facts in Science and Art : exhibiting the most important Discoveries and Improvements of the past Year, in Mechanics and the Use- ful Arts, &c. &c. By John Timbe, F.S.A., Author of " Things not generally known familiarly Explained," Rm.