which they do to the best of their ability should have been performed more regularly and fully, with the machinery and by the authority of the respective Learned Societies. In the various Printing Clubs there are, as nearly as can be ascertained, more than seventeen thousand yearly subscribers. In the original Percy and Bannatyne Societies the system has been to produce a certain number of books (from four to twelve at a time), but this has been found far from convenient, and people are apt to look to the quantity of the text rather than to its merit. The price is of course regulated by the charges for printing, illustrating, binding, and other contingencies. The following suggestion from Dr. Drake contains practical wisdom. Ten or twelve of the minor metropolitan Societies are advised to rent a common building, to vary the evenings and the hours of meeting, and, by a pleasant reciprocity, they could enable their members to command the advantages of a large library. We have spoken of prices At a Learned Society, the honoured Roxburghe Club, instituted some years ago in commemoration of the celebrated sale of the library of John, Duke of Roxburghe, which lasted for forty-two days, among the valuable books disposed of on that occasion were the "Histories of Troy, a Tale Divine." This was sold, to Dr. Dibdin's vast delight, to the then Duke of Devonshire, for nearly one thousand and sixty pounds. The celebrated Valdarfer Edition of Boccacio, after a spirited contest, was knocked down, on the above occasion, for two thousand two hundred and sixty pounds! No bid was under 1501. We recommend this volume as a very useful book of reference. Every one ought to have the information it contains close at hand; but we do not know where else it is to be found. Half the book's utility, however, is marred by the absence of an Index. Willich's Popular Tables for ascertaining the value of Lifehold, Leasehold, and Church Property, Renewal Fines, &c. Third Edition. With additional Tables of Natural or Hyperbolic Logarithms, Trigonometry, Geography, &c. Longmans. London, 1853. ONE of the most useful and most faultless books of the year. It is scarcely possible to imagine the amount of labour saved to existing and future generations by these tables. Questions that would require long and intricate calculation, are here unerringly solved in an instant, with a certainty and simplicity that leave' nothing to be desired. In addition to the vast amount of information comprised in former editions of Mr. Willich's excellent book, we find in this, the third that has been called for by the public in the last ten or eleven months, in the first place, a lucid introduction to natural or hyperbolic logarithms; a table of natural or hyperbolic logarithms from 1 to 1200; various trigonometrical tables; the diameter, circumference, and area of circles from 0.1 to 100; the length of circular arcs radius=1, from 1° to 180'; measurements of the superficies of the land on continents and islands, in square degrees; a table of the length, in yards, of one minute of longitude and latitude, being one geographical or nautical mile, from 0° to 70° of latitude; various important astronomical tables; and a very curious formula furnished by Mr. Baron Alderson, for the easy extraction of the roots of perfect cube numbers not exceeding nine digits. Our readers will perhaps consider the most interesting of these tables, in a statistical point of view, one supplied by Professor Babbage: it at least affords encouragement to those who aspire to longevity. 1751 persons were taken, all of whom had attained an hundred years, and were all living at the same time. In one year they had diminished to 1587, in the second year to 1442, in the third to 1280, in the fourth to 1126, and so on till, out of the original 1751, only 143 reached the age of 120; 44 survived to 130, 12 to 140; and one tough old gentleman actually resisted the effects of time and weather, till he had completed his ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH year! In the body of the work, besides the ordinary interest tables, we have several, shewing the present value of various kinds of property, such as reversionary freehold estates, advowsons, &c.; the several times in which any principal doubles itself at any rate of interest from two to ten per cent.; tables shewing the periods annuitants should live to be reimbursed the purchase-money paid for incomes contingent upon life; and many others equally important and valuable, which we have not space to describe. The book should be in the possession of every man of business throughout the kingdom: it needs only to be once referred to, in order to be thoroughly appreciated. The Marine Botanist; an Introduction to the Study of the British Sea-weeds. By ISABELLA GIFFORD. Third Edition. Post 8vo. Folthorp, Brighton. 1853. PERHAPS of all scientific studies, as Miss Gifford calls it, that of the alge, or sea-weeds, is least known, for it cannot be studied by any who do not live at, or at least visit, the seaside; and this fact makes The Marine Botanist a most interesting book. Few, if any, inland people know the many uses to which sea-weed is applied: it has been long a dainty, and longer still, has formed a portion of human food, and has still more generally promoted the fertility of the soil. In the islands of the Grecian Archipelago a particular alga flavours the ragouts; and the kind known as Irish Moss (caragheen), bleached and boiled into a jelly, is exceedingly delicate and nutritious, and, when properly manufactured, is, we are assured, as pleasant to the palate as calf's-foot jelly, blanc-mange, custards, or preserves. Who would not possess such culinary knowledge? It is in high esteem in China, where it is employed medicinally against worms; and, in that country, from a sea-weed gum, ornamental lanterns are fabricated. Stranger still, the algæ constitute the fundamental ingredient of edible swallows'-nests, the finest of which are sold to the Chinese for their weight in gold, though this, after all, may not be very much. It is a mistake to imagine that they are formed of animal gelatine. By the Highlanders and Irish, sea-weed is largely consumed, after having been soaked in fresh water: it is eaten either dried or boiled, and, when dried, has somewhat of the odour and flavour of violets. It affords food also to the natives of Australia and to the Sandwich Islanders. It is also the pabulum of the tasteful pilchard. For manure it is collected on most of the seashores, especially in Jersey, Wales, and Ireland; and is beneficial to most garden vegetables, especially to artichokes. In the Orkney and Shetland Isles, when mixed with sea-sand and stable-litter, asparagus and sea-kale thrive under it. It is good for fertilizing potatoes. Pigs are very fond of it, and devour it greedily in the fields, where it is spread for manure. In the three kingdoms, especially in the north of Scotland, it is burned in ovens or pits and formed into kelp, which is the carbonate of soda employed in glass and soap making, &c. In the Channel Islands the fuci (a species of algæ) give a most peculiar flavour in smoking bacon and fish: it also gives a gout to the crabs and lobsters on these coasts. Milton, alluding to the marine algæ, ob serves "Forthwith the sounds and seas, each creek and bay, With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals Of fish-part single, or with mate Graze, the sea-weed their pasture, and through groves of coral stray." This Marine Botanist is a good bulky volume, and right well worthy of perusal. The Spectator. Post 8vo. Bosworth. 1853. A REPRINT of Addison's and Steele's Spectator. A book in which something good and fresh may ever be found. This edition is remarkably neat, portable, and compendious; the type is clear and legible; and, in short, every care seems to have been bestowed on the work. The Study of German simplified in a New, Systematic, and Practical Grammar, according to the systems of Ollendorf and Dr. Ahn. By H. MANNHEIMER. Bonn: W. Salzbach. London: Williams and Nor gate. 1853. The Perfect Speaker, or a Complete Manual of the idioms and difficulties of the German and English Languages; with easy and modern German and English Dialogues. By H. MANNHEIMER. Bonn. London: Williams and Norgate. 1853. THE German student of the present day possesses many and manifest advantages over those who attempted to conquer the grammatical difficulties of this language a few years back. The fault of all former grammars, and indeed of all the numerous elementary books that have yet been put forward in Germany, has been that want of method and system which is so conspicuous in these. Nothing can exceed the lucid arrangement adopted by Mr. Mannheimer in his practical grammar, which reminds us forcibly of the excellent French grammars published many years ago by M. Hamel, certainly the best introduction to that language that ever issued from the press. Mr. Mannheimer has supplied a want long. acknowledged by every English student of the German language, and yet his plan is so simple, that, like all others of a similar nature, we wonder it has not been adopted years ago. Our author's great object has been to teach his pupil to think in German, without which none can hope to converse in it with fluency. For this purpose he has collected a number of easy sentences, in constant use in the daily affairs of life, or drawn from the works of classical writers, and he has interwoven them with anecdotes and proverbs exhibiting the spirit and genius of the nation. In Mr. Mannheimer's own words, we may affirm that "while on the one hand the student finds no material points omitted, on the other, he will not be overburdened with intricacies of constructions, and an accumulation of rules at the beginning of his task." It may indeed be affirmed, that, with the aid of these two books, and the occasional advice of an experienced German, all the difficulties and intricacies of the language may be mastered without effort in a very few months. The World's Greatest Benefactor. A Lecture delivered by ALEXANDER WALLACE, Edinburgh. Post 8vo. London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co. 1853. THIS publication was addressed to a large meeting of the working-classes of Bradford, and printed at their request. It is piously eloquent, and it would be well if there were many more such books given to the public; for its style and doctrine are plain and clear, and every line is intelligible to the humblest capacity. Outlines of Mental and Moral Science. Intended for the Purposes of General Instruction; as well as for the Use of the Higher Classes in Male and Female Academies, and as an Introduction to the Logic, Metaphysics, and Ethics of Colleges. By DAVID STUART, D.D. Second Edition, enlarged. Dublin: James M'Glashan. Post 8vo. 1853. A BOOK whose purport is sufficiently defined by its title. It contains much general and historical information, but its grand aim is to promote piety and devotional feeling. "Ask Cuvier," exclaims the Rev. Dr. Stuart, "and he will answer that an undevout anatomist is mad;" and so say Galen and Sir John Herschell. A Lexicon, at the end of the volume, contains a mass of information, tending to a more extended knowledge of the principles of pure Christianity. The author quotes many curious remarks: for instance, he cites Archbishop Whately-"Suicide, if any one considers the nature and not the name of it, evidently wants the most essential character of murder, viz. the hurt and injury done to one's neighbour in depriving him of life, as well as to others, by the insecurity they are, in consequence, liable to feel. And since no one, strictly speaking, can do injustice to himself, he cannot, in the literary and primary acceptation of the words, be said either to rob or to murder himself." "This may be true," comments Dr. Stuart, "using the terms justice and injustice in their conventional meaning, according to the usages of human society and the decisions of human laws; but murder is injustice, and equally so is suicide." Theological Colleges. By the REV. C. HE- way. THE subject treated in the first of these pamphlets is one that has long engaged the deepest attention of a large portion of the community; and rightly so. In this vigilant age, when whatever concerns the improvement and general ordering of society, in a secular sense, is considered and investigated with an acumen and earnestness unparalleled, it would be strange indeed if somewhat of the same animus did not extend itself to things spiritual. All who would be eminent in the political sphere must be thoroughly versed in the world's history, and the intricacies of government, with its bearings on the interests of the commonwealth. Phy sicians and men of law must devote themselves to the attainment of a profound insight into the area of their several professions; and this knowledge must be acquired in each and every case beyond, and independently of, ordinary and matter-of-course education. Shall they, then, on whom devolves the most important charge of all, assume it without adequate preparation, or a due appreciation of its peculiar difficulties and responsibilities? That such has, till within a very recent period, been the case, is a state of things as lamentable as it is unde niable; and though a strong feeling has latterly of devising a remedy fully recognised, and parbeen awakened on the subject, the necessity tially good results obtained, the main deficiency still exists in unabated deformity. To supply this deficiency, it is contemplated to establish Theological Colleges in various parts of the the training of aspirants to the sacred ministry, country; institutions especially designed for not only by directing their studies to Church History, and such other knowledge as more particularly concerns their office, but further of its nature, and the duties attaching to it, to imbue them with a truer and deeper sense than they, for the most part, can acquire under in a recent charge to his Clergy, investigated the present system. The Bishop of Lichfield, the question with much acumen, but with a certain caution befitting the discussion of a project yet in its infancy. Mr. Hebert, in the view of it. He shews that a College for each essay before us, takes a lucid and suggestive diocese, as is by some proposed, would be condemands. He contemplates five as a desirable siderably more than the necessity of the case number, which might be situated in London, Bristol, Lampeter, Liverpool, and one of the midland towns. These, in conjunction with Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham Universities, would, he assumes, answer the purpose fully, and might properly supersede all other existing institutions of like character. The propriety of maintaining a connection between the Theological Colleges and the Universities is generally recognised; a connection which may be carried out, either by requiring all candidates for Holy Orders to study during an extra year in one of the former, after keeping their terms at the University; or, as our author suggests, by permitting them to take their Bachelor's Degree, if competent, in the seventh term of residence, and to keep the remaining three at a Theological College. It is clearly expedient that these Colleges should be constituted as adjuncts to the Universities, not as in any way superseding them. Though an University edu cation, by familiarizing the mind with the world as it is, and bringing all variety of character, temperament, and genius, into contact, expands the range of ideas, and engenders a generous and liberal tone of feeling, it has a tendency, as experience amply shews, to impress upon the future clergyman, a secularity, incompatible, abstractedly considered, with his sacred office. On the other hand, an exclusively ecclesiastical training is attended with the danger of begetting a spiritual pride, a confined view of things, and a lack of that sympathy with the community without which the ministrations of the Pastor, however earnest and devoted, must necessarily fail of their desired end. It is solely by the blending together of these apparently discordant elements that we can hope for the attainment of the happy result long looked for, but never yet accomplished. Into the details of the construction and government of these proposed Colleges it is not our province to enter. The principle alone we would illustrate as one which all must admit to be at least worthy of the most careful investigation, affecting, as it does, the highest interests of all classes. Akin, in some degree, to this reform contemplated in the constitution of the Church, is the improvement in that of the House of Commons, discussed in the second of the above pamphlets. Among the multifarious projects staved off by our legislators to the next Session is another revision of the constituency, one feature of which we may reasonably hope to be the establishment of an educational franchise. Few will be disposed to underrate the beneficial results derivable from the introduction into the Lower House of a certain number of Members who have not been compelled to go through the unsavoury process of soliciting the "sweet voices" of the multitude, but who will enter upon their legislative functions untrammelled by any political pledges or party incumbrances. How to accomplish this desirable object is the question. The actual solution of the problem must await the deliberation of the wise heads to which the destinies of the nation are now entrusted. In the mean time there can be no harm in hearing the suggestions of an individual. The present writer, then, proposes that the new educational franchise should be conferred on Clergymen and Ministers of all denominations, on barristers, attorneys, and other legal functionaries; professors of medicine and surgery; half-pay and retired officers of the army and navy, and of the East-India Company's service; Graduates of the Universities, and certificated Schoolmasters; and finally, Fellows of the Royal Society, and of all other chartered literary and scientific bodies. The Members to be selected by this learned constituency must of course be of the same class. The numbers of electors, under their several divisions above enumerated, in Great Britain, are estimated at 92,618, and the number of Members to be thus elected at 70. In making this latter recommendation, the writer seems to have forgotten the motto Ne quid nimis. Had he more fully considered the matter, it would puzzle him to determine how room is to be found for this addition of seventy Members to the already overgrown House of Commons. Now, since the proposition he advocates has, in the main, our unqualified warm approval, and we are always ready to help a friend in need, we will suggest a method whereby the difficulties arising from making the house yet more unwieldy than it is may be obviated. The new Members would present unquestionably the beau ideal of purity of election: no corrupt influences could by possibility be brought into play as regards them. We would suggest, then, that all seats in future declared void by reason of bribery should be supplied by them; and, if the experience of the last Session is to be in any way relied upon, there cannot exist a shadow of doubt but that the seventy vacaneies required for the purpose will be speedily available; thus affording a most agreeable illustration of the process of eliciting good out of evil. The Bouquet culled from Marylebone Gardens. By Blue Bell and Mignionette, and arranged by Thistle for private circulation. Nos. 26, 27, 28, 29. London: Printed at the "Bouquet" Press, 1853. THE indefatigable editress of this charming serial, displays, with unremitting energy, fresh grace, and some new beauties in every Number. Each bright garland that she weaves is, in effort being spared to select from every clime some respect, more attractive than the last, no the choicest flowers, and to arrange them in harmonious order. To her, neither the chilling severity of winter, the backwardness of spring, the dull leaden sky of our northern summer, nor the decadence of autumn, seem to present any material obstacle to the successful accomplishment of her pleasing task. It has been said that "E'en in the stifling bosom of the Town A garden, in which nothing thrives, has charms What, then, would the poet have said or sung had he been permitted to wander through those blooming gardens, whence the fair "Mignionette" culls, with so much skill, her neverfading blossoms, and tends with gentle hand her Unblown flowers-new appearing sweets. Unlike the trashy wares, so seduously puffed and incessantly palmed off upon an indiscri minating public by our west-end publishers, the numbers of this periodical are "not to be bought for gold." The youthful editress of the "Bouquet" and her co-adjutors, seek not a circulation beyond their own circle. They crave neither notoriety nor fame, nor that -"habitation, giddy and unsure." Which he hath "that buildeth on the vulgar heart." Their merits and abilities are patent enough to all by whom they would be known, and they are-many. In that delightful district where, mirabile dictu, the flowers are vocal again as in the days of Ovid, a peculiarity of these specimens displayed before us is, that each retains the initial letter of the contributor who has undergone a temporary metamorphosis. We should scarcely have expected such a phenomenon as this in modern days, and least of all in the smoky atmosphere of the great metropolis. Yet the Marylebone Bouquet incessantly exhales agreeable odours; or, in other words, both the prose and verse of the floral authors exhibit, for the most part, a creditable amount of fancy, feeling, and good sense. The idea which prompted the establishment of this periodical was a happy one, and one that, we understand, is likely to be acted upon soon on a more extended scale. Authors are beginning to find, somewhat tardily it is true, that they may very well dispense with the offices of those drones of society, the publishers, who have been too long battening on the honey while the poor bees have perished. Literary men, however, now ask, 66 Why should we toil to enrich lazy tradesmen, and reap ourselves, no profit from our work? What need, indeed, have we of the Lintots, the Curlls, the Osbornes, the Caves, or the Cadells of the present day? Let us give our works to the world, and let the public send to us for the books they require." An Association, we are assured, is forming to carry out this admirable project. It cannot but prove successful, if properly conducted, and it will effect the overthrow of the most grinding tyranny that has ever disgraced the republic of letters. A History of the Church for the Use of Children. By the REV. J. M. NEALE. AMONG the many ecclesiastical histories we already possess, we do not know of any which offer the qualification by which the title of the present one is accompanied. This is a want that has long been felt, and we are glad to see it supplied by one who has hitherto been so forward in providing instructive entertainment for youthful lovers of historic lore. "Part I." only has as yet been issued from the press, and may rather be called a history of the early Church, as it brings us no further than the Council of Chalcedon. Mr. Neale treats this epoch with clearness and precision, and narrates with truthful simplicity the stirring events which characterise the dawning of Christianity ;-the disputes and Councils the heresies and persecutions through. which the as yet infant Church manfully fought her way, rising, phoenix-like, with renewed vitality from every fresh attack, and displaying, in the constancy and devotion of her saints and martyrs, a vigour and energy almost beyond the belief of this lax, slothful, and self-indulgent age. The minds of the young, can scarcely be too early impressed with these recitals of Christian heroism, so worthy of the holy cause in whose behalf it was called forth; and we know of no influence so well calculated to elevate the mental standard, and confirm the faith of the rising generation, as that produced by an acquaintance with the sublime character de veloped through the fierce and fiery trials of religious persecution. The short but simple annals of the poor. Both these essential qualifications the authoress of the present little volume evidently possesses; and the result is, a brief and unpretending series of touching sketches, setting forth the tender care of the Pastor over his flock, the homely virtues of some, the ill courses of others, arising from ignorance and evil associations, and the influences effecting their reformation. A leisure half-hour might be less profitably spent than in running through these 130 pages. Fern Leaves from Fanny's Portfolio. Illus trated by Birket Foster. London: Ingram, Cooke, and Co. 1853. THESE "Fern Leaves," gathered, as the fair writer assures us, "at random in shady spots, where sunbeams seldom play," are in reality a series of short, interesting, and entertaining articles, most of which were written for, and published in, various American journals: others now appear in print for the first time. :: Some of these effusions are thrown off in consequently fragmentary in its character, and, a grave, others in a lively vein the book is as such, peculiarly adapted for perusal, either on a journey, or during those broken hours when we have not either time or inclination to apply to more serious or less desultory studies. There is scarcely one among these sketches which does not convey an useful les |