PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
Boons.
Supplementary Despatches and Memoranda of Field Marshal Arthur Dodo of Wellington, K.G. India 1797-1805. Edited by his son, the Duke of Wel- Thliengtopopnw. aN;o1HumugeorylI. of England: an illustrated History from the eaiten period to our own times. By Charles Knight. Volume IV. Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa being a Journal of at, Expedition undertaken under the auspices of II.B.M's Government ia the sears 1849-1855. By Henry Barth, Ph.D., D.C.L., Fellow of the Row Geographical and Asiatic Societies, &c. In five volumes. Volumes ry, and V.
Recollections of a Visit to the United States and British Provinces of North America, in the years 1847, 1848, and 1849. By Robert Playfair, Esq.
The Writings of William Paterson, Founder of the Bank of England. Edited by S. Banister, M.A., of Queen's College, Oxford ; formerly At- torney-General of New South Wales. In two volumes.—Six mewls ago we noticed at length a curious and searching "Life of Paterson's which the zeal of Mr. Banister had led him to compose after hunting up materials in every quarter. The same zeal induced him to promise it complete collection of Paterson's writings. This undertaking he has now carried into effect in two goodly volumes' accompanying the works of his hero by an estimate of his character, a biographical sketch of his life notices of several of his contemporaries and friends, with sonic account of the Paterson family, and annotations on the writings. The collection is a curious one for the commercial, financial, or ems. mieal historian or inquirer with a turn for the antiquities of his subject. If all the writings ascribed by Mr. Banister in his life to Paterson were really composed by him, his views on currency and some other branches of Political Economy were far in advance of his age. His just conclu- sions, however, were empirical not systematic ; so that on some economi- cal questions he partook of the prejudices of the time if he did not ex- ceed them. For the generality of readers even on this class of subjecta, the extracts in the Life were sufficient specimens of Paterson's writings; or at least could readily have been made so. The present volumes are a memorial of Paterson (though by the by the authorship of some of the works ascribed to Mil; is got at by inference ) and a remarkable repertory of facts and opinions connected with the financial, commercial, and joint stock speculations of his age. They are, however, rather matter of curious than of general interest.
Adventures of Mrs. Colonel Somerset in Cafraria. Edited by J. D. Fenton.—This volume professes to be founded on letters and notes from Mrs. Colonel Somerset placed in the keeping of a regimental school- master"; and this obvious unlikelihood imparts something of untruth to fiction. The book is in reality a romance; whose groundwork is the wreck of an English woman on the south-eastern coast of Africa and her preservation by the Caffres—a fact which has more than once warned. "Helen Somerset," however, is more fortunate than the generality. She becomes a sort of prophetess or instructress of the savages, and exercises great influence over them for_their good, which is repaid by gratitude. Iler real troubles arise from the pale faces ; for she learns after awhile that her husband, the Colonel, has married again. We need not pursue the romance ; the object of the " adventures " is to raise the character of the Calms, to delineate their modes of life' the incidents of South African chase, and the habits of wild animals. All this is done with exaggeration, sometimes amounting to the incredible.
The Privateer. A Tale of the Nineteenth Century. By Cecil Per- cival Stone, 77th Regiment, Author of " Asiatic, &e.—A mixture of the " spasmodic " and literal in romance with blundering attempts at artistical effects. Young Watson, who was concerned in the disturb- ances which took place about 1819 and levanted, is the hero of the tale. But then Watson was merely a nom de guerre; that personage being in reality a nobleman's son, about proving whose legitimacy there was some difficulty, and who had not long before killed his younger and evidently legitimate brother. The wife of Mr. Ranelagh, alias Watson is a " gipsey queen," not only gifted with mesmeric but electrico-magical powers ; and having a negro attendant who can see distant occurrences, she readily baffles a couple of amorous Southerners when the course of the story' takes her to the slave-holding States, and so on.
The Elements of the English Language. By Ernest Adams, Assistant Master in University College School.—The object of this little work is to "furnish in a concise form the results of recent philological inquiries into the structure and history of the English language,' especially as carried on by Professor Key and Dr. Latham. This end is accomplished with judgment and clearness, but the book has the peculiarity attending other publications of late years. The form is that of a grammar, the scope and purpose that of a treatise or essay. The Elements of the Eng- lish Language, in its expositional parts, is rather a number of grammatical positions or principles that are to be mastered, than a series of rules that are to be dogmatically learned by heart. The History of the Consulate and the Empire. By M. A. Thiess. Translated by John Stebbing, Esq. Volume XVI.—Messrs. Willis and Sotheran's translation of Thiers's History of the Empire continues to progress, though slowly. The volume is occupied with the latter half of 1813—June to November ; and with the exception of the episode of Victoria relates to affairs in Germany. The narrative seems fully ani- mated with the author's usual dexterous one-sidedness, especially where this country is concerned.
The only new edition of the week is the story of Katherine Ashton, included in the uniform series of the author of Amy Herbert's tales. Katherine Ashton. By the Author of " Amy Herbert.' New edition.
NEW lier. Telegraphen- 'Carte von Europa.--A telegraphic map of Europe, ex- hibiting the lines and stations with remarkable clearness and stronglY impressing the mind with the extent and wonder of telegraphic commu: nication. A mechanical peculiarity of the map is that it was composed with "common printing types," the process of which is described in a manuscript communication from Mr. Decker the publisher. The advan- tage of the plan, unless it should be cheaper, we do not exactly seize. The map is a Berlin publication.
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