PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

From May t. Oth to May 26th. BOOKS. The Recreations of Christopher North. In three volumes. Volume I. Of the series of reprints of memorable papers in their Magazine that Messrs. BLACKWOODS are publishing, the recollections of his sports, pastimes, and sadder experiences, by "that old man eloquent" bight CHRISTOPHER NORTH— an impersonation of the spirit of" Maga "—will not be the least acceptable to the lovers of this athletic species of light literature. These" Recreations" are the unbendings of a nature tough as a yew bow : we have here the animal power of genius—its mu-cles, sinews, and deep-chested voice—exercised, not exerted, in doing over again the feats of youth, repeating old stories, and re- cording early sensations, with the lusty vigour of manhood's prime, touched with the mellowed gusto of an older experience : the poetic spirit too breathes its inspiration into these wild strains of physical enjoyment and extempora- neous discourse—ground-flights, but sustained with an eagle's wing. The first volume contains " Christopher in his Sporting Jacket," the power- fully-told " Tale of Expiation," the" Field of Flowers," a chapter on "Cot- tages," "an Hour's Talk about Poetry," and that glorious" Day at Winder- mere"; most of which will be recalled to memory by the readers of Blackwood, and be read again with lively gratification—at least they have been so by us.] Sir Henry Demi; a Love Story. By a Bushman.

[This work contains more raw material than would suffice for an ordinary novel. The grand tour, Malta, New South Wales. military life, and the symptoms of disease, are within the knowledge of the author; who also pos- sesses some sentiment, occasionally mawkish, and is not without fluency of composition. These qualifications, however, are all thrown away, from want of skill in choosing a subject, and not knowing how to make the most of it when chosen. The love-story, or stories—for there are two—are of an every- day kind; the ladies in both cases dying without any perceived necessity, be- yond that of causing the death of Sir Henry Delme's brother, and sending Sir Henry himself to Australia as a colonist. The best parts of the book are the sketches at Malta, and the homeward tour through Italy and Germany ; hut, forming part of a story, what truth they contain wears an air of fiction ; nor are they sufficiently distinct in themselves to stand out from the rather com- monplace love-tales with which they are linked. The character of the Greek girl Acme is the best thing in the book in the way of fiction.]

Merelina ; or Such is Life. In a series of Letters. By T. T. T. [A story of love and religion, written in the old-fashioned form of letters. The object of the writer is to inculcate the principle that nothing but religion will enable us to bear prosperity with moderation or adversity with resigna- tion; and the incidents are planned and the characters drawn to illustrate these positions. The book is fluently and elegantly written, but smacks very strongly of the young ladies' seminary. The parts that seem the most original relate to school-friends and governesses ; much of the rest appears to be drawn from novels of the Richardson school, even down to the manners. Merelina is a curiosity in its way.]

The Gipsies.

[ A tale of a band of gipsies converted to Christianity by means of a shepherd. boy, whom they assist when he is in difficulties. The story is well enough told, and by a person who has some knowledge of the Egyptians ; though we suspect the knowledge is superficial, and, unless the fair writer has framed her materials to assist the pious object she has in view, that her gipsy friends have occasionally imposed upon her. Considered merely as a tale, The Gipsies may be recommended for the metaphysical nicety with which the characters are conceived and executed, the freshness of the descriptions, and the skill with which the laxity of principle among the tribes is displayed without trespassing upon delicacy.] Naomi; or the Last Days of Jerusalem. By Mrs. J. B. WEBB, Author of "The Child's Commentary on St. Luke," &c. Second edition. Tfraneriey Novels, VoL XV.—" Peveril of the Peak."

Hoe? the Hostage, and other Poems. By M. E. JEFFREYS.

[The versification of this writer is liquid, and some of the descriptions are

pretty, some spirited; but such poetical genius as he or she may possess is marred by diffusion. This fault is more readily discovered in the shorter poems than in Hod the Hostage, because more palpably presented. For example, how the refusal of Godfrey de Bouillon to be crowned King of Jerusalem, "that he would not wear a crown of gold where his Saviour had worn a crown of thorns," is spoiled by being diluted into four long stanzas!] English Surnames : Essays on Family Nomenclature, Historical, Etymo- logical, and Humorous; with chapters on Rebuses and Canting Arms, the Roll of Battel Abbey, a list of Latinized Surnames, &c. By MARK ANTONY LOWER.

[A curious, ingenious, and amusing book. Mr. Lowou brings considerable knowledge to bear on his subject, both in his general history of the use of sur- names in England, and in his chapters on the different way in which particular names have originated, from names of places, occupations, dignities, offices, personal and mental qualities, &c. But his knowledge has not led him into the common error of exaggerating the importance of his pursuit, so as to in- duce a treatment either dry or ridiculous. On the contrary, perhaps the error lies rather the other way, and may in a heraldic sense have induced him to take too readly upon trust some odd and ludicrous accounts of names for the sake of raising a smile.]

The Political Works of Marcus Tullius Cicero : comprising his Treatise on the Republic, and his Treatise on the Lana. Translated from the original, with dissertations and notes. In two volumes. By FRANCIS BA/tHAM, Esq.

[Besides translations of the Treatise on the Republic discovered by MAI in 1822, and the Treatise on the Laws, these volumes contain a review of

CICERO'S life and politics, and an account of the De Republica, with various other disquisitions. The whole of the original productions, but especially the history of the long•lost treatise discovered by Mar, is a hodge-podge; consisting of quotations from various authors, which, as they are often used without signs of quotatim, contrast oddly with the previous writer's or Mr.

BARHAM'S own lucubrations. The object of the translator is to stimulate the study of philosophical politics. But in this view his labours seem uncalled-for : the persons who are likely to adopt this kind of political training can read CICERO in the original, and Mr. BARHAM'S somewhat wordy annotations are not of a kind to attract the classical scholar or inform him on the principles of politics.]

History of Christian Missions, from the Reformation to the present time. By JAMES A. Hum, Author or "The History of the Jews," &c. [ A brief sketch of the missions sent by the Roman Catholic and Reformed Churches to the heathen nations of Asia, Africa, America, and Polynesia. The book presents a coup d'ail of the entire subject in a popular form, and so far is likely to be useful; but the lover of truth should be warned that he must follow Me Horn with some caution. We do not mean that he falsifies facts, or designedly conveys a false impression ; hut he looks coolly on the exertions of the Romish Missionaries, and canvasses strictly enough the nature of their conversions in India, &c., whilst he elevates the worth of Protestant Mia- granaries, though not one of them can bear a comparison with FRANCIS XAV[ER, and he attributes to their labours a success which is quite as ques- 6-mat-Teas that of the Roman Catholles. The truth is, that no sect of religioulats have produced much result in India or China ; nor are they, at present, likely.] The Landsman's Log-book ; or an Emigrant's Life at Sea : with some Account of South Australia. By Mr. JOHN BATTER, late of Wilsford, Wilts.

[This volume contains a journal kept by an emigrant during his voyage to South Australia, with some general descriptions of the colony. It was origi. wily written for the perusal of his family, but " one who was allowed to read it" suggested its publication after a revision. To this distinction The Log-Book is scarcely entitled; for the narrative of the voyage furnishes nothing new, though the incidental picture of steerage-economy and steerage-passengers is curious. The account of the condition and prospects of a hard-working man, not over delicate, at South Australia, is muth better and more useful, as ap- parently telling the truth; but this part is too brief to make a book of.] The Hand-Book of the Elements of Painting in Oil ; with an Appendix containing Sir Joshua Reynolds's Observations and Instructions to Students.

[A book fulfilling the promise of the title is still a desideratum ; for this little brochure serves rather to indicate the want of such information than to sup- ply it.1

The Formative Greek Grammar. By GEORGE KNOX GILLEsors, A.M., of Trinity College, Dublin.

[The object of this publication is to make every Greek student his own gram- marian, by teaching him to decline for himself the verbs and nouns, (with the

adjectives, pronouns, and participles,) to which parts of speech Mr. GILLESPIE has chiefly confined his attention. Instead of presenting the numerous tables of declensions and conjugations, which the generality of grammatical accidence" consist of. the author deduces the rules of their formation. Requiring these to be mastered, he would then give the pupil the roots, and make him decline or conjugate them himself by the general principles he had acquired ; so that, if Ile preserved his exercises, he would have composed for himself all that is found in common grammars, and a good deal more. In his estimate of the thorough knowledge that this plan would give of Greek etymology we agree with Mr. GILLESPIE : its general adoption is a harder task. Not altogether because it is more laborious; for if we measure the trouble spread over a long time against a short period of severe application, it is probable the labour is less by which a thorough knowledge of the elements is mastered at once. But it is labour in an unusual way ; and it is curious to observe the trouble people will take if they are accustomed to it either by the practices of so- ciety or their own habits, yet how they shrink from a new mode of trouble, even if the eventual labour is to be less. Another obstacle to the general re- ception of the Formative Greek Grammar is that it makes little show ; and parents, masters, and pupils, all love display. Whilst a lad is learning to de- cline the first declension of Greek nouns by Mr. GILLESPIE'S method, be pro- bably would get by heart all the declensions of a common grammar. It is true that he might not be able to decline any other substantive than what he had learned by rote, whereas by the plan before us he could as readily form all the nouns in the language as one example : but this kind of test is beyond the generality of parents. The world at large can better comprehend a flashy glibness than solid acquirements.] Inquiries in International Law. By JAMES REDDIE, Esq., Advocate ; Author of" An Historical View of the Law of Maritime Commerce." [The completion of a very useful and necessary sketch of the history and in- quiry into the nature and limits of international law ; although the suspended style of the author smacks rather too much of his legal training.] Rudiments of Zoology. (Chambers's Educational Course.) [The expansion of a treatise which has already appeared in Messrs. CHAY■ HERS'S Information for Me People. The object of the present volume is to present a general view of the entire animal kingdom, with a due regard to the importance of the information conveyed; whereas the generality of publications upon the subject pay little attention to essentials, but put as much as they can of what is taking and popular into their allotted space.] The Country Banks and the Currency ; an Examination of the Evidence on Banks of Issue, given before a Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1841. By G. M. BELL, Author of " The Philosophy of Joint-Stock Banking," &c. LA good analysis of the evidence given berm: the Committee of the House of Commons, interspersed with remarks. The object of the book is to uphold the Country and Joint-Stock Banks against a single bank of issue.] A Manual of Eleetro-Metallurgy. By GEORGE SHAW.

[A condensed, clear, and masterly sketch of the history and process of electro- type; explaining neatly and distinctly the respective powers of the several batteries, and the various applications of voltaic electricity to the reproduction of works of are The minute details of manipulation are omitted for the sake of brevity, but the essential points of direction are given; the author being justly of opinion that practice alone, founded on an acquaintance with the principles of the science, can qualify the student to make experiments successfully.]

SERIALS.

Waverley Novels, Vol. IIL Part V.—" Peveril of the Peak."

Godfrey Malvern, Part

PERIODICALS.

New York Arcturus, for April.

PICTORIAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND PRINTS.

The Duke of Wellington. Sketched on his Birthday, 1st May 18'42. [This is the truest likeness of the Duke that has appeared in print : it repre- sents him as he is, and as we saw him on the very day that the sketch was made, sitting as erect in the saddle as if it had been his forty-third instead of his seventy-third birthday. It is a small equestrian portrait in profile ; and though no artist's name is on the lithograph, we would wager that it is by that same quicksighted "walking gentleman" who carries the profiles of distin- guished equestrians in his eye as faithfully as if its retina were a Daguerrem- type plate that retained the image it reflected, and who is no other than 1111 himself.] View of Cabool. Lithographed by T. G. Doseros, from an original sketch by D. J. GONSALVEZ, Esq.

[ A. distinct but formal view of Cabul, especially of the Bala Hissar and Dalt Mahommed's House ; taken from the plain outside the walls, looking towards the mountains at the back of these buildings, and showing more of the position of Cabul than the city itself.]

Comic Nursery Tales: Blue Beard. By F. W. N. BAYLEY, Author of "The New Tale of a Tub." With illustrations, humorous and nume- rous.

f A burlesque doggrel version of the story of Blue Beard, got up in a style as elegant in the way of books as the Olympic stage burlesques were in the way of plays: but the fun is more nearly allied to coarseness than drollery ; and the illustrations, though "numerous," are not "humorous," being sheer gro- tesque exaggerations of CROWQUILL. The success of the New Tale of a Tub probably suggested this series of "Comic Nursery Tales "; but the idea of that amusing jeu d'esprit, and the clever illustrations, were its chief merits: .N.fr. BAYLEY is not so happy either in his illustrator or his verse in dealing with Blue Beard ; and 1NGOLDSEY has spoilt us for any comic rhyming versions of old stories less fluent, fanciful, and elegant than his "Legends."] Brochedon's Italy, Part V.

Abbotsford Edition of the ifraverley Novels, Part IIL

PAMPHLETS.

The Duty of the Free States, or Remarks suggested by die Case of the Creole. By WILL1Aet E. CHANNIlee, D.D. Observations on arn-Laws, on Political Pravity and Ingratitude, and on Clerical and Personal Slander; in the shape of a meek and modest Reply- to the Second Letter of the Earl of Shrewsbury, Waterford, and Wexford, to Ambrose Lisle Phillippo, Esq. By DANIEL CeConrixr.L, Lord Mayor of Dublin. (The People's Edition of O'Connell's Answer to Earl Shrewsbury.)