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love with Sir Gilbert, a knight, who is won, after many difficulties, by the infatuated creature, nymph or sylph we cannot say, for a Salamandrine, it appears, is a being distinct from both, according to the Rosicrucian system, on which the story is founded.

The poem is more than readable; it is exceedingly interesting; carrying the reader on and lulling him into that dreamy enjoyment which it is the property of such fanciful works to do. The versification is various, flowing and mellifluous, frequently extremely beautiful, and the ideas are full and imaginative, never strained or over-wrought. It is indeed a fanciful and elegant production, and one that will soothe the hour or two that is given to its perusal.

Torrent of Portugal. An English Metrical Romance. Now first published from an unique Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, preserved in the Chetham Library at Manchester. Edited by James Orchard Halliwell, Esq., F.R.S., &c. &c. Post 8vo. pp. 120. John Russell Smith. The indefatigable young antiquary who has restored so many ancient pieces of literature, and laboured so zealously and judiciously for the numerous learned societies to which he belongs, has done an additional service to the lovers of old literature in reprinting the present work.

The poem itself, as Mr. Halliwell himself says, has no great merit; but it is worth preserving for the numerous allusions it has to ancient traditions and manners, and it is exceedingly valuable to the philologist.

The rhythm is the same as that of "The Rime of Sir Thopaz," by Chaucer; and indeed it is probably one of the ballads he intended to ridicule. The Bride of Messina. A Tragedy, with Choruses. By Schiller. Translated by A. Lodge, Esq., M.A.

136. London: John Bohn.

8vo. pp.

This translation is very ably performed; and the best proof that it is so, is that it reads with the freshness and liveliness of an original work.

This tragedy of Schiller has had objections raised to it, and apparently justly, on account of its classic form and romantic events. The form is

cold and rigid, though the circumstances are stirring and exciting. There is a formality running through the poem, which, though occasionally stately, is very repulsive; and it seems as if propriety and conventionality were tyrannizing over the passions, which certainly have a right to their full sway in a tragedy. The descriptions are lengthy, tho' occasionally picturesque and eloquent; but still they want the rapid delineation and apt expression of our great dramatists. We cannot but wish that Schiller had studied Shakspere more than the classical writers. But it may be doubted whether he was equal to the bow of Ulysses.

Britain; a Poem: to which are added Miscellaneous Pieces, some of which were written on Occasions of National Interest. By James Green. 12mo. pp. 118. Sherborne: W. Roberts. Of all the nuisances to himself and others, the talent for mere versifying is one of the greatest that can attack a man. The mere putting into the form of verse of the commonest and meanest rhythm, ideas or statements that have been felt or rather repeated by every individual of the same scribbling propensities, ought to fix upon any person the stamp of an irrecoverable ninny. The pest of mediocre poetry creeps over literature like the mould on ill-preserved fruit, and imparts even to the genuine a part of its own nauseous flavour.

The author of the present poem (as it is termed by courtesy) threatens to elongate it if he has an opportunity. We hope, most sincerely, for the sake of those who may be compelled from compliment to read it, that he never may have the opportunity.

If Mr. Green has any really new ideas to communicate to the world, let him in future try prose, and not abuse the patience of his friends by adopting a form which Nature has not gifted him to succeed in.

The Fountain and other Poems. By William Cullen Bryant. Post 8vo. pp. 100. New York and London: Wiley and Putnam.

Mr. Bryant has already acquired a European as well as an American reputation as a poet, and very de

servedly so. Although the highest powers of poetry are not found in his productions, and the region of deep thought and passion are avoided by him, yet his Muse has her fit meditations, and sweetly and touchingly warbles forth her feelings and her sentiments. This volume does not seem to contain any poems so likely to be popular as those in the volume already reprinted, yet it has many that will well repay the perusal, and it is worthy to be placed on the shelf beside our own poets.

Politics and Statistics. Notes of a Tour in the Manufacturing Districts of Lancashire, in a Series of Letters to His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. By W. Cooke Taylor, LL.D., &c. of Trinity College. Dublin. Fcp. 8vo. pp. 299.

London: Duncan and Malcolm. Dr. Taylor is well known to the public by several works of high aim and pretension. "His Natural History of Society" is a work of considerable scope, and, if not a work of genius, still proves the author to be fully capable of treating his subject with a just reference to all that has been previously done for it. The work of such a man cannot be deficient, and, consequently, we find in the present one full proofs of the various learning and talents of the author.

The object of the book is to show the actual state of the cotton manufacturing districts, and the form is that of a series of letters to His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. The style is what is termed popular; that is to say, the author gives a graphic description of what he sees or can collect upon the spot, and draws from it, or induces the reader to draw from it, certain conclusions and impressions. This, although performed with an apparent logical accuracy, is not perhaps the best or most certain way of arriving at truths, although with the mass of readers it has great effect, as most persons are delighted with what they call facts, and establish an opinion upon them that is pertinacious in the extreme. We do not mean to accuse Dr. Taylor of being so narrow in his philosophy, for we know

by his other works he is far beyond such a state; but we do accuse him, and other writers of the like sort, of misleading their disciples by creating inferences far too sweeping for the premises on which they are founded. To those who do not draw immediate conclusions from isolated facts, nothing can be more valuable than a collection of them; and any man narrating faithfully what he sees, does a great service by bringing new facts to those who are desirous of deducing principles, and, of course, the value of such a collection is greatly enhanced, as in the present case, by the collector being enabled, by his cultivation and talent, to make a proper selection and classification of them.

The political and economical tendencies of the book may be judged of by those of the illustrious prelate and writer to whom they are addressed. They advocate the wellbeing of the people after the reasoning of the head, rather than the sympathizing of the heart. The Ten Hours Bill with such is a shortsighted measure, that increases the evil it was intended to prevent. At the same time magistrates are stigmatized as dolts who refuse music licenses to public-houses. There is a self-assurance in all political economists that is displeasing to those who are guided by their first impressions and sensibilities; and as the science is acknowledged by their own professors to be still in a very imperfect state, we must say, we think those are safest who allow the common feelings of nature to have some influence on their judgments.

The present work, though stained by these defects, and also by what appears to us a little tendency to cant as regards religion, is yet, nevertheless, well worthy the perusal of, and will be of real utility to, the thousands who are directly, and the tens of thousands who are more remotely, interested in the great cotton manufactories of England.

Who is to Blame? or, Cursory Review of "American Apology for American Accession to Negro Slavery." By James Grahame, Esq. 8vo. pp. 112. This is the work of a warm-hearted

and well-informed man, but less heat of argument might have been better for the cause he espouses. Thank Heaven, there is but one opinion as to the slave trade amongst the enlightened nations of Europe. The only question is, how so monstrous an evil can be removed with least misery to all parties. It always has been obliterated by civilization and Christianity, and it cannot be believed that a republic will be the only exception to this process.

Mr. Grahame is well informed on the subject, and his just indignation at the horrid institution frequently gives him a forcible eloquence, although, as has been already said, it sometimes carries him into a passionate strain, that may weaken the effect of his reasoning, with severe logicians.

The Fame and Glory of England Vindicated; being an Answer to "The Glory and Shame of England." Post 8vo. pp. 306. New York and London: Wiley and Putnam.

A Mr. Lester, some time since, published a very absurd work on our country, made up of police reports, partial statements and imperfect statistics, on which rubbishing foundation he piled a great deal of bad logic, and worse feeling. This "attack on England," of course, fell still-born here, where men have far more serious pursuits than attending to any such crack-brained rhodomontade. It seems, however, in America, that such trumpery stuff has its effect, and the present author has very obligingly come forward to "Vindicate our Fame and Glory." This is very kind, and it may appear ungrateful that we say it is also very absurd. Such important matters as the fame and glory of a great nation do not come within the grasp of any scribblers to attack or destroy. The present writer has manifested a truly liberal spirit in his work, and we could wish he had given us the facts and statistics unconnected with such a trumpery controversy.

Religious Subjects. History of the Church of Christ until the Revolution, A.D. 1688. In a Course of Lectures by the Rev. Charles

Mackenzie, M.A., Vicar of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, &c. Post 8vo. pp. 400. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. This work was originally constructed in the shape of lectures, delivered to the worthy minister's congregation on the Tuesday evening discourse, founded by Sir Martin Lumley, in the parish church of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate. So far they are exceedingly creditable to the piety and scholarship of the author, and it would be no bad arrangement, if other ministers were in the same way to enlighten their parishioners on ecclesiastical history, a subject on which most persons are lamentably ignorant.

The History, as may be supposed from the size of the volume, is necessarily brief; but it appears to comprehend all the important facts. As the lectures, however, were necessarily of a religious character, they have rather more of theological discussion than would otherwise be desirable in a work so limited in its extent. The style is clear, and the doctrines, though strictly those of the English Church, are temperately and reasonably urged.

It can be justly recommended as a very lucid outline of Church History, although the reader should be on his guard with regard to inferences, with any writer who talks of Clarendon's startling truth; but although it may have these leanings, yet justice commands us to repeat that it is totally free from that virulence and dogmatism that too generally deface this species of history.

A Symbolical Dictionary; in which, agreeably to the Nature and Principles of the Symbolical Character and Language of the Eastern Nations in the First Ages of the World, the General Signification of the Prophetic Symbols, especially those of the Apocalypse, is laid down and proved from the most ancient Authorities, Sacred and Profane. By Charles Daubuz, M.A., Vicar of Brotherton, in Yorkshire. A new and enlarged Edition, with a Memoir of the Author; and a Preface, by Matthew Habershon. Post 8vo. pp. 226. London Nisbet and Co.

This is a curious, and for many purposes a useful work. Daubuz's

work is entitled “A Perpetual Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, with a Preliminary Discourse concerning the Principles upon which the said Revelation is to be understood." It was published in 1720, three years after his death. This was a very learned, but a very voluminous work, and was comparatively useless until it was abridged and thrown into the form of a Dictionary by a Mr. Lancaster, Vicar of Bowden, in Cheshire. The present work is a still further abridgment by Mr. Habershon, assisted by Mr. Forbes, who, besides revising and making some additions, has given a Memoir of the originator Daubuz.

Nothing can be more simple than the arrangement of the work, the article or subject being given, and then the symbolical meaning to which it is applied. Of course this must embrace a very wide course of reading, and a ready application of the symbolical meaning. To all diligent readers of the Bible it will be very valuable, and general readers will find much information and agreeable reading.

Principalities and Powers in Heavenly Places. By Charlotte Elizabeth. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 322. Seeley and Burnside.

Mr. Bickersteth, who is a very excellent authority, and more particularly influential with one portion of the Church, has affixed to this volume a few introductory remarks, in which, he says, he thinks it " scriptural, seasonable, and practical;" and also, "the friend who wrote this work has been careful not to go beyond the Divine record, and to rest every thing here stated on her own personal investigation of the words of the Most High."

The subject of the present work is one which appears to have been avoided by modern theological writers. We recollect, in our boyhood, poring over Heywood's "Hierarchy of Angells," a work abounding with the fancy and eloquence peculiar to the poetic writers of the time in which it was issued. The present work has none of these charms of writing, and treats the subject neither philosophically nor

very spiritually. Indeed, it seems too literal a version of all that is said in the Scriptures upon these subjects. It treats the whole question of intermediate spiritual influences as if there were no metaphors used in the Scriptures, and as if much of the language employed in them was not symbolical.

Putting aside the principle on which the work is constructed, it is executed with fidelity and with considerable research and knowledge of the subject.

A Review of the Bishop of London's "Three Sermons on The Church." By John Howard Hinton, M.A. 8vo. pp. 62. London: Houlston and

Stoneman.

This pamphlet treats of the most important doctrines of the Church, and it is quite impossible, in our pages, to enter on the mighty questions of which it treats. The Author is a Dissenter, and one who rejoices in the appellation. He is a thorough Independent, denying the actual existence of a Church, or any of the beneficial results arising from it. Although he does this, we are bound to say the pamphlet is written in a religious and conscientious spirit; and, as far as the mere logic goes, is clear and distinct. Of those who desire to consider the controversy, it demands attention, both from its style and its tone, which have nothing offensive in them beyond the tenets themselves.

Travels, &c.

Excursions in and about Newfoundland, during the Years 1839 and 1840. By J. B. Jukes, M. A., late Geological Surveyor of Newfoundland. In 2 vols. P. 8vo. pp. 676. London: Murray. This is a very agreeable work, and, although unambitious in its style, it narrates exceedingly pleasantly the result of the Author's observations. Mr. Jukes is evidently a man of considerable cultivation, and has the requisite mental as well as bodily qualifications of a traveller. In addition to the valuable information it possesses of the social and physical condition of the island (as far as it has yet been traversed), it is exceedingly interesting from the spirit of

adventure which animates it, owing to the extraordinary difficulties which beset travelling in this land of rock and marsh.

Were it accordant with our system, we could give many agreeable extracts, and more fully develope the excellences of it, but "therein the reader must minister to himself." As it is, we can say truly, the general reader, the naturalist, and the politician, will find much that will delight each of them in its pages.

The

Expedition into Afghanistan: Notes and Sketches descriptive of the Country, contained in a Personal Narrative during the Campaign of 1839 and 1840, up to the Surrender of Dost Mahomed Khan. By James Atkinson, Esq., Superintending Surgeon to the Army of the Indus, Bengal Establishment. P. 8vo. pp. 428. London: W. H. Allen & Co.

Mr. Atkinson has been already known to the public by some well executed and highly finished lithographic drawings, consisting of views of the scenery, and events of the campaign. The present volume may be considered as the letter-press to them. The work does not embrace an account of the late massacre, it having been despatched to England for publication prior to that calamitous

event.

Mr. Atkinson's style is clear and good, and his views comprehensive, so that it may be considered one of, if not the best account that has yet appeared, of the expedition. The proceedings of the Indian Government are pronounced to be sound and politic, and there is an evident leaning towards them in every doubtful transaction. In so far as this is concerned, it may be considered as the opposite to the American General Harlan's work, which was noticed last month, though we place much more confidence in Mr. Atkinson's narrative.

Shah Shoojah, contrary to all the accounts that have hitherto been given, is represented as a man more sinned against than sinning. We had thought he was a monster of vice and sensuality; but in Mr. Atkinson's pages he appears rather the hero, who is tried fiercely in the fire of severe adversity, and comes out tem

pered to the right pitch. It is rather suspicious, however, that Dost Mahomed, in whom we had been told by Mr. Vigne, and other writers, some virtues existed, is represented as a mere bandit. It is doubtless very difficult to ascertain the true motives and conduct of these barbarians; or to be able to apportion the right amount of guilt or virtue to their actions, unacquainted as we are with that conventional national and religious creed which sanctions to most minds any deeds, however revolting to those who have a simpler and purer standard of morals and religion.

The most interesting part of this narration will be found to be that which relates to the personal adventures of the Author. If politics may give a bias to his mind, he seems to be relieved from all restraint on the score of the sentimental, for he demolishes in a most remorseless manner all the fabled beauties of this portion of the East. Mr. Elphinstone described Caubul as compact and handsome. The former Mr. Atkinson allows it to be; but the latter he denies, and designates it as a jumble of mud hovels. There is a rude sketch of a map to the work, and an Appendix giving the official documents relative to the capture of Ghuzni.

Map to follow the Movements of the Anglo-Indian Army in Afghaunistan, shewing the Routes, Passes, and Military Positions. By James Wyld. 18 inches by 24. NOTES to a Map of Afghaunistan, the Punjab, &c. 2nd Edition, 8vo. pp. 18. London: Wyld. This is a very full and excellent map of the territories that are now exciting so great an interest. Every counting-house and public room should have one suspended in it, as a glance at it would do more than several pages of description, to give an idea of the difficulties that beset our armies in those regions. The positions and bearings have been made out from the latest travellers and the best sources, and the notes which accompany it contain all the important statistical details, so that any one devoting an hour to the careful examination of both will have a very clear idea of these countries.

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