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able to judge, to steer perfectly clear of all religious prejudices in treating the sacred portion of his subjects. We cannot, therefore, conceive a more useful, or a more engaging work than this, for the instruction of young persons, before the Bible is put into their hands. We feel assured, that even many who have arrived at maturity, will read that Great Repository of the faith and the hope of all Christians with increased delight, after they shall have made themselves acquainted with the valuable facts, and local descriptions, which are collected in the work before us. It is accompanied by a very good map of Palestine, and eight engravings representing Jerusalem and other places distinguished in Holy Writ.

ART. XIV.-The Monastic Annals of Teviotdale. By the Rev. James Morton, F. S. A. E., in medium 4to. London: Longman and Co. Edinburgh: Blizars, and also Hamilton. 1831. WE hail the appearance of this publication with the most sincere satisfaction; the only regret we feel with respect to it, is that it was not commenced a century or two ago, as most of the edifices whose history it will have to tell, and whose beauties it will have to describe, have been so long in ruins, or disguised by additions, that it has become difficult either to relate the one or to delineate the other with the requisite degree of accuracy. For instance, the Abbey of Jedburgh, which, before the Reformation, was one of the finest build in Scotland, has long since been deprived of almost every trace of its once magnificent altar, a part of the choir, and of the whole of its cloisters and chapter house. Its architectural grandeur is still attested by

two Norman doors, which, for richness and beauty, are not excelled by any thing of the kind in Great Britain. Mr. George Smith, the architect, remarks with great truth, that the west end of the nave has been fitted up in a most barbarous style as the parish church, which has completely destroyed the character of this part of the edifice.' It has not, he adds, even the merit of being a comfortable place of worship, and he shews the justness of his taste by recommending its restoration, as far as the ruins will admit, to its original state. Mr. Morton has acquitted himself very creditably as the annalist of this once noble abbey; his labours in this department demand a great deal of research, to which he appears to have applied himself with an assiduity that proves him zealous in the cause. We observe that the work is to be completed in six monthly parts, of which we have here the first, containing, besides nearly fifty pages of letter-press, three engravings, one a view of Jedburgh Abbey from the southwest, the second a drawing of one of the fine Norman doors to which we have alluded, the third a ground plan of the original building. We cordially wish every success to the undertaking, and hope that the author's solicitation of assistance from all who may take an interest in the subject will not have been made in vain.

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precepts of grammar, with examples which not only elucidate them, but impress them on the memory; and to these are added a series of critical observations upon every department of composition, which are marked by a correct taste, a sound judgment, and an extensive acquaintance with the best models of which our literature affords. The varying caprices of modern innovations upon the true idiomatic style of our dialect, the corruptions of the " well of English undefiled," are skilfully detected and uniformly reprobated with becoming indignation: while the accurate course of attaining a pure

and elegant diction, free from all pedantry, is pointed out in a manner that is intelligible to the most ordinary capacity. But the great merit of the work is that it is not merely didactic; it has none of the frowns of the schoolmaster. Mr. Booth is at once the tutor and the companion; his work, besides being valuable for its rules, is rendered entertaining by its extracts from different writers, most, if not all, of which he has selected according to his own judgment, without depending upon that of authors who have preceded him in this indispensable branch of education.

In this

respect, his volume may either be substituted for, or used as an introduction to, Blair's admirable Lectures. We need scarcely add that Mr. Booth is already known to the public as the author of the "Analytical Dictionary."

ART. XVI.-The Commercial Vade Месит. рр. 280. Glasgow: Allan and Co. 1831. HAVING Survived the of age expansion, when poems of a few hundred lines, and manuscripts of a few closely written pages, were diffused by all the ingenuity of art over ample quarto volumes, we may now be

said to have arrived at the age of compression, when art is taxed to its utmost efforts in order to combine copious information with the most frugal economy. Here is a specimen of the latter kind, which is quite a curiosity in its way; a little manual, comprising a calendar for the next twenty years, a complete calculate, tables of interest, and of commission brokerage, a list of the principal commercial cities in the world, an alphabetical list of the cities and towns of Great Britain, with the counties, market days, population, and distance from London; a similar list of the principal cities and towns of Ireland, with their counties and distance from Dublin; the days of the fixed fairs throughout England, Wales and Scotland; the principal travelling routes throughout the three kingdoms, and tables of weights and measures; all compressed in a volume, that would hardly be more obvious than a silver snuff-box in the waistcoat pocket. The mere enumeration which we have given of its contents, will be sufficient, assuredly, to recommend this Vade Mecum to every person who may have occasion for ready information upon all, or any of the subjects which it embraces. It is printed in a beautiful pearl type, and is really a bijou, which well deserves the patronage of the commercial classes, for whose size it is chiefly designed. We perceive by a specimen sent us, that the same publishers have in preparation a Gazetteer upon a similiar principle.

ART. XVII.-Standard Novels, No. VII. The Scottish Chiefs. By Miss Jane Porter. In two Colburn vols. 12mo. London: and Co. 1831.

THE distinguished author of this popular novel, has adopted the ori

ginal idea of dedicating this last edition of it, not only to the living, but also to the dead! Be it so. We see no reason why her voice should not be heard beyond the tomb: it is pleasant to flatter ourselves with the hope that our little interests in this world sometimes find their way to the thoughts of those dear friends who have long departed from amongst us. Indeed, the author informs us, in a new introduction to the present volume, that it was under the impulse of a votive sorrow she conceived the idea of writing, "The Scottish Chiefs." Criticism upon a production now so well established as this is, in the public favour, would be ridiculous. We

need only add, that it gratifies us to see it comprised in a class of works, among which it deserves, and long we hope, will maintain a conspicuous place.

ART. XVIII.-Family Classical Library. Nos. XX. and XXI. Thucydides. 12mo. London: Valpy. 1831.

THE translation here given is that of Dr. Smith, Dean of Chester, which, though upon the whole suf

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ART. XIX. The Cabinet Cyclopædia. Eminent British Statesmen. Vol. I. London : Longman and Co.

1831.

SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH had already anticipated, in his History of England, much of the matter which he has here reproduced as the Life of Sir Thomas More. This is followed by a memoir of Cardinal Wolsey, a very impartial and well-executed biography of Cranmer, and also of Lord Burleigh. As a collection, this volume and those which are to follow, will be eminently useful in the way of ready reference; but to criticism they can offer no field, as they must, for the most part, be little better than abridgments of larger works already familiar to the public.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

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A Candidate for a Seat in Parliament.-A Mr. Chadwick, who has offered himself for the representation of the West Riding of Yorkshire after the passing of the Reform, sums up his qualifications in these words; I am no man of family: I am no man of business : I have never been used to it: but I can shout, laugh, hawk, and spit, and cough, stamp, hiss, hoot, and huzza, and what more can be wanted for an M. P. ?”

Meteorology. It was lately men

tioned by a public lecturer at Portsmouth, that Jupiter's attraction of the atmosphere of our earth was much greater than astronomers generally supposed. He says, that when the Moon is near Jupiter, he has so powerful an attraction for our atmosphere as to draw it up into the form of a spheroid. This effect produces the further results of electrical attraction and condensation, the immediate cause of rain. not to be wondered at, that if we admit the attraction of the heavenly bodies at all, that Jupiter should exercise it to a considerable extent on our earth, compared with which, the former planet is 1312 times as large.

It is

The Tea Plant in Great Britain. -Mr. J. Roukey, of Bristol, has found the Chinese Green Tea Plant to be more hardy than some other shrubs which endure the open air. He has tried it on the Welch Mountains, and succeeded. He planted

it also in Brecanshire, not far from the Source of the Usk, about 1000 feet above the level of the sea, and higher than the limits of the native woods, consisting of Alder and Birch. It endured the last winter, and was not affected by the first of May. It has already sent forth vigorous shoots.

Copper Slag.-A specimen of this rich stone has lately been subjected to an experiment, from which it appears to be, on account of its extreme hardness, the best material of which roads can be made. That which was hitherto deemed the most impenetrable of road materials, called Mount Sorrel Sienite, Its number in the order of hard substances is 100-the Copper Slag is as high as 234.

Wheat.-A new kind of Buck Wheat has been lately introduced into Germany. It was found in use amongst the Italian peasantry by the name of Le blè d'Italie Sau

vage. This sort of Wheat suffers less from the changes of the atmosphere, it is more productive, and yields a whiter meal, and a more savoury grain than the common Buck Wheat.

Destruction of Weeds.-At the Mint of Paris, where the court-yard was overrun with weeds, the ground in which they grew was watered with the following mixture, and the process was attended with speedy and complete success. Water 100lbs., lime 20lbs., flowers of sulphur 2lbs., mix, and boil in an iron vessel; let the mixture stand for a short time, then pour off what is clear, and mixing less than equal parts of water with it, it is fit for use. It may be poured out of a watering pot.

Life Preserver.-A simple and very effective life preserver is now in extensive use at Yarmouth, and has been introduced at other ports. It is merely a double cotton shirt, without sleevss, fitted tightly to the trunk. A reed or tube is inserted between the coats, so as to enable the wearer to blow out the external shirt, and thus to render himself perfectly buoyant. The shirt should be made of close cotton, and should not be blown into until it has been immersed in the water, and then it becomes completely impervious.This is an admirable apparatus for bathers, as it may be worn with ease, and may be inflated at the discretion of the wearer.

Rus in Urbe.-As a proof of the important consequences which may result from experiments boldly and perseveringly collected, we may mention that in some of the thickest parts of London, bee-hives are now productively managed. A shopkeeper in Holborn, who has a few hives which thrive uncommonly well, is now paying the greatest attention to the natural history of these insects. After minute inves

tigation, he has just discovered that his bees frequently visit no less distant a place than Sydenham Common, about seven miles from London. Having some reason to suspect that the insects frequented this place, the shopkeeper on a morning shook flour on the bodies and wings of the bees as they left the hives, and proceeding in the course of the day to the common above-mentioned, he recognized numbers of them revelling amongst the blossoms which it contains.

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The Winter's Wreath.-This well established annual is generally the first in the field of competition. We have already been favoured by the editor with proof copies of all the engravings which are to illustrate his forthcoming volume, and we must do him the justice to say, that many of his subjects have been selected with his wonted felicity of taste. The Visionary' strikes us as a highly spiritual performance, whether we regard the design, or the delicate style of its execution. The 'Vintage Feast' presents a gay scene, well suited to a work of this description. The Fortress of Lessing Gray reminds us of the gems which are comprised in the landscape illustrations of the Waverley Novels; and we do not know that we could pay the engraver, Brandard, a higher compliment, than by adding, that it is worthy of being ranked with them. The foaming torrent, and the distant misty hills, indicate the touches of a master. From the burin of the same artist, we have an engraving of the Lake Nemi, near Rome, which is not near so good. The ladies, young and old, will, we apprehend, vote in favour of The Village Suitor's Welcome,' as the conosure of the new Winter's Wreath. It is from a charming painting by Stothard. The only demure persons in the scene are the two lovers: there is a

suppressed smile of satisfaction at the appearance of the suitor depicted in the countenances of the damsel's father and mother, which must be seen to be sufficiently admired. 'Evening, near the Bavarian Alps,' is another beautiful production. Our proof of the Reply of the Fountain,' looks as if the plate had not been finished; probably it is only an imperfection in the printing. Architectural engravings seldom succeed in the narrow limits of these books; but the view of Abbeville is here an exception; the dark shade, and delicacy of the light, which falls with such harmonious effect upon the towers of the cathedral, render it the master-piece of the whole in our opinion. It confers an equal measure of credit upon the painter, D. Roberts, as upon the engraver, Freebairn. We are no lovers of shipwrecks and storms, either in reality or in representation. In the latter way they are seldom effective, though we must admit that Miller has done the best he could with such a subject.

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Lord Byron. Murray is about to publish a complete and uniform edition of Lord Byron's Works, his letters, journals, and life, in the size of the Waverley novels, with illustrations. We have before us a specimen of the first volume, coutaining a most splendid engraving of Marathon, after the style that has been so successfully adopted in Rogers's Italy. The whole is to be comprised in fourteen volumes, the copyright alone of which, Murray says, cost him more than 25,000l.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. We have received a whole pile of announcements of new works, either ready for the press, or for publication. We beg leave, once for all, to say, that no communications of this description can be inserted in our journal; their proper place is in the sheet dedicated exclusively to advertisements.

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