occupy a lengthy article. The volume is published by the authority of the Treasury, under direction of the Lord Clerk-Register of Scotland, and has been competently edited by the late Dr. Stuart and the present: Lyon King-at-Arms. The period illustrated by the documents it contains, which are printed in Medieval Latin, is from 1264 to 1359. The valuable prefatory matter offers a series of articles on Scotland in the thirteenth century, and on various important events in the reigns of Robert I. and David II. The work is a storehouse for the historical and archæological student, and its clear type and voluminous index greatly enhance its usefulness. Life of Edgar Allan Poe. By W. H. GILL. Chatto and Windus. We cannot conceive what could have induced Mr. Gill to issue this inefficient and vulgar little volume in America; and still less can we conceive why any publisher should have reissued it in this country. Substantially all the facts were already given by Mr. J. H. Ingram, between whom and Mr. Gill there seems to have been some misunderstanding as to the priority of publication of some facts; and Mr. Gill has had the bad taste to drag his readers into that personal controversy. What Mr. Gill has really added to the stock of information about Poe is of the slenderest, consisting chiefly of the most domestic sort of gossip, which is not in the least calculated to help us to any clearer view of Poe's personality, or to shed any light whatever upon his productions; though one exception must be admitted-certain statements do throw indirectly a light on the character of Mrs. Clemm, Poe's mother-in-law. Certainly Mr. Gill's best friend (assuming that he had some education and common sense) could not claim for this composition the merit of skilful compression or of elegance of style. The truth is, under the recent access of interest in Poe across the Atlantic, there has been set astir a wonderful cacoethes scribendi, which is wholly uncalled for, and Mr. Gill's poor little book is about the most depressing evidence of it we have yet seen. The portrait and the woodcuts are in keeping with the writing. Oregon: There and Back in 1877. By WALLIS NASH. Macmillan and Co. Mr. Nash writes in a pleasant easy manner, with care, but without any stiffness or consciousness of book-making. In a straightforward sensible way he tells us what he sees and knows. He does not indulge very much in description, but when he does he glides into it without apparent effort or purpose, and, with a just perception of salient points, enables us to realize what he saw. His main purpose is to tell Englishmen, and especially such as may be contemplating emigration, about a fruitful and attractive country concerning which very little is known. And so far as good common sense, a practical estimate of things, and considerable knowledge both of politics and economical resources, can give value to a judgment, History, Biography, and Travels. 519 few travellers commend themselves to our confidence by their books more thoroughly than Mr. Nash does. He depicts Oregon somewhat couleur de rose, but this seems to be the simple result of impressions made by its fertility and beauty, and by the possibilities of success to settlers. In a newly occupied land there must, we imagine, be drawbacks, as there are in all human conditions, but Mr. Nash tells us scarcely of any. *All the indications that he registers are of the prosperity that almost uniformly rewards ordinary industry; of the rich promise of lands yet unoccupied; of the wealth of fish in rivers, and of minerals in the earth. Oregon just now would seem to be a very paradise for agricultural emigrants delightful in its conditions of climate, and ample in its rewards for almost all kinds of industry. It is free from drought, tempest, floods, and insect plagues ;' and Mr. Nash does not conceal his chagrin that ignorance of what it really is, caused its cession to the United States, so that it is not a British colony. Mr. Nash thinks, however, that its liberal laws and institutions are such, that to be a citizen of it is the next best thing to being a subject of her Majesty the Queen. Mr. Nash crossed to California by Chicago. He does not seem a great admirer of the institutions, or at any rate of the official characteristics, of the United States, and records more than one instance of gross corruption. The baseness of the spy who informed the United States customhouse officials of the purchase of a few photographs at Niagara has, one would hope, but few parallels. From San Francisco he proceeded over land by stage to Oregon, first reaching Jacksonville, thence to Rosenburg also by stage; thence north by railway to Albany, Salem, and Portland through the rich valley of Willamette, and thence by steamer down h broad Columbia River to the Pacific, and home, making excursions at different points. We cannot even condense or select from the valuable statistical and other information which Mr. Nash brings together for the use and inducement of intending emigrants. Suffice it to say that it is in the highest degree encouraging, and all who have serious purposes of this kind will study Mr. Nash's statements. For general readers the book contains a lively record of travel, with information concerning a little-known country, and anecdotes and sketches of the past and present. Altogether the book is a very interesting one, well written, intelligent, and lively. Gaddings with a Primitive People. of Alpine Life and Customs. Remington and Co. Being a series of Sketches Mr. Grohman's long residence in the Tyrol gives him a right to speak with authority of the people and of their ways. Some two years ago he published a very interesting volume entitled: The Tyrol and the Tyrolese,' which was in many respects so exhaustive and so full of detail, that one may well feel surprised that he has found matter for this second work. Inevitably one makes comparison between the two, and the verdict is forced from us that alike as respects freshness and method the earlier was really the better book. These 'Gaddings' are less systematic and less varied in interest. But Mr. Grohman is so familiar with his subject, and he writes so well, that it would be almost impossible for him on this subject to be anything but interesting. He views the people more specially in their moral and religious relations; and whilst it is clear that he would like to say all the good that is possible of those among whom he has lived so long, he is compelled to confess that, along with much that is primitive, quaint, and beautiful in many of their cus toms, there has for a lengthened period been proceeding a process of deterioration, due undoubtedly to the inroads of civilization. When we speak of civilization, we mean chiefly such as the Church of Rome brings; for the most debasing superstitions not only exist but are encouraged, while it is clear that the priests, influential as in some ways they are, have hold of no moral forces adequate to improve the morals of the people, which are far from being as good as they might. Mr. Grohman, indeed, says plainly that Catholic rule in the Tyrol has simply been disastrous. He has devoted considerable space to a consideration of marriage customs and allied topics, from which it is abundantly evident that the women hold no very high standard of life and love. As in other places where the law puts a heavy tax on the marriage of the poor, it operates in only one way. Mr. Grohman's volume has many bits of eloquent description, and his sketch of the Paradise Play of the Tyrol exhibits the most grotesque mixture of heathen, Roman, and modern ideas it is possible to conceive. 'Primitive' the people are in one aspect; certainly not in another. The pictures of the christenings, under the idea that it is a sin to feed or succour an unbaptized child, by which infants are exposed to the utmost inclemency of the weather, speaks sufficiently as to the power of the priests. In spite of some faults of haste and looseness, Mr. Grohman's book deserves, as it will reward, a reading. Queen Pomare and her Country. By the Rev. G. PRITCHARD. Elliot Stock. Queen Pomare was amiable, benevolent, and devout. Her intellectual qualities were not such as to call for special notice, but we are here shown what Christianity can accomplish among a people just emerging out of heathenism with all its evil associations. It will be remembered that early in the reign of Queen Pomare, in 1843, the French took possession of Tahiti, deprived the queen of all real authority, and made her a pensioner on their bounty. It was a great wrong, and well nigh involved England and France in war. The readers of this volume will find in it a minute and accurate narration of this dishonourable event. The subsequent life of Pomare was uneventful, but was such as reflects honour on her character and judgment as a Christian lady. We wish Mr. Pritchard had curtailed his narration of the French aggression, and given more information respecting the physical features of the island, its inhabitants, and the life of the queen. All that we are here told is greatly History, Biography, and Travels. 521 to her honour, but we lack details of her ordinary and private history. One fact mentioned respecting the queen and people is very gratifying. They have never swerved from the pure and simple form of Christianity given to them by the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, notwithstanding the long and insidious attempts of Roman Catholic priests, aided by government officials. They are taxed to pay for the erection of Romanist places of worship where they are not wanted, and which they will not enter. They build freely their own chapels and support their native pastors, of whom they have an adequate and efficient number. The population of Tahiti and Moorea is about 8,000, and the native Roman Catholics do not number more than 300. West and East; or, a Tour through Europe and the Holy Land. (Cassell, Petter, and Galpin.) In the most matter of fact way-some would call it prosaic--the author registers the things he saw, neither attempting description nor affecting sentiment. Even Murray transcends him in glow and imagination. He gives us bare information, therefore, and that of a mere touch-and-go kind. Sometimes he chronicles very small beer indeed:-e.g., 'We saw Mr. Goschen in Cairo, who was here engaged upon his financial scheme, which he afterwards submitted to the Khedive with great success. The first service took place to-day in the new English church.' Of what use or interest to any mortal being is such a record as this? As a kind of skeleton Murray the book is not without its uses, but it is little more.- -Ocean and her Rulers. A Narrative of the Nations which have from the earliest ages held Dominion over the Sea. By ALFRED ELWES. (Griffith and Farran.) Mr. Elwes has conceived a good idea, and carried it out with very fair success. He essays to trace the dominion of the ocean by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, the Italian Republics, &c., down to modern Englishmen. His book is indeed a summary of the naval history of each nation who has possessed maritime power. His difficulty has been the excess of materials, which sometimes has overpowered him. On the whole, however, he has been successful. Into a single volume he has condensed a small library. We have read his book with very much interest. It is a vivacious narrative as well as a crowded chronicle.- -Chums. A Tale for the Youngsters. By HARLEIGH SEVERNE. Illustrated by HARRY FURNISS. (Griffith and Farran.) A story of early schoolboy life-companions, tricks, and games. Bernard Ayres goes to a ladies' school at six years old, and we are told in a pleasant and clever way, which cannot fail to interest little ones, of his school adventures and experiences. Something of higher purpose, too, is entwined with these little experiences. A Briton Abroad. By the Author of Two Years Abaft the Mast.' (Remington and Co.) A somewhat rollicking record of a holiday tour to Rotterdam, Brussels, Cologne, Strasburg, Zurich, Coire, The Splugen, Milan, Turin, and Paris. The usual things are seen, and ordinary records about them 6 Our By are made. The 'free-and-easy' of the writer extends to his English. He experiences some sensation, which he calls a sparkling feeling of insecurity,' and a method of progress not very comprehensible locomotion on the soft muddy soil was fraught not without difficulty.'Brave Men in Action. Some thrilling Stories of the British Flag. STEPHEN J. MCKENNA. (Sampson Low and Co.) Mr. McKenna has selected from our naval and military history thirty episodes of heroic achievement, which he tells succinctly and with a good deal of spirit. How "Charley " took Sidon,' for instance, is a recital of the daring exploit of Sir Charles Napier. A Gunpowder Plot of the Nineteenth Century' is an account of Lord Cochrane's cutting out the Spanish ship Esmeralda from the harbour and beneath the forts of Callao. Mr. McKenna says that he has spared no pains to ascertain exact truth, and 'by a judicious collation of the best narratives, reports, and dispatches, to make the whole book as intrinsically accurate as it may be.' He tells his stories well, save that he employs conventional phrases of description and eulogy a little more than is necessary. His book is intended, he says, for all classes, and apparently seems to have the purpose of exciting fighting enthusiasm. But to a thoughtful and humane man it must be sad, while admiring the heroism that is so often exhibited, to find in the author no higher sentiment. He seems to admire soldiers and sailors very much as men used to admire fighting-cocks. If the unexpressed moral of these stories is valid, the teaching of Christ does seem somewhat of an impertinence. We say this, fully recognizing the lawfulness and necessity of war for the maintenance of right; but with the strong feeling that it never ought to be spoken of save with a deep sorrow like that which all administrations of justice on wrong-doers excite. Mr. McKenna seems to assume that there is nothing in manhood so heroic as fighting. Is it really so?- -Benjamin Du Plan, Gentleman, of Alais. Deputy-General of the Reformed Churches of France from 1725 to 1763. By D. Donnefou, Pastor of the Reformed Church of Alais. (Hodder and Stoughton.) This is a very interesting and gracefully written record of a devout and cultured French noble, who, with rare self-denial and heroism, did much to save the French Protestant Church from extinction. The son of a noble house, and the heir of hereditary possessions in the Avennes mountains, he was induced by the martyr-sufferings of the Protestants to devote himself entirely to the support and diffusion of the Protestant religion. He tells his own story, chiefly in his correspondence, which is preserved in the public library of Genoa. It is full of romance and heroism. He was indefatigable in his travels and ministries, and for thirty-eight years never saw his home or France. He was chiefly in Genoa, London, Germany, and Holland, wherever he could render service to his persecuted coreligionists, who often repaid him with suspicion and ingratitude. He married and died in London, and his descendants are still in England. His memoir is an important and interesting contribution to the history of French Protestantism. Uppingham by the Sea. A narrative of the year at Borth. By J. H. S. (Macmillan and Co.) The school at |