Orde (the Secretary for Ireland), &c., and also many from Mr. Grattan himself; all of them more or less bearing on the political history of the time, and some of them essential to its due understanding and development.

By no means the least valuable portion of this volume, and indeed of the whole work as far as it has proceeded, are the "characters" of the leading Irish statesmen and politicians of the time, as drawn by the author, with a vigour of hand, vividness of colouring, and a rude natural eloquence, that render them very striking-nearly as much so, though by no means so finished, as the sketches by Lord Brougham of the English politicians of the same and a subsequent period.

When this work is concluded (which it will probably be in one more volume) it will comprise not merely the most but the only complete political history of Ireland during the period to which it relates; and every reader-but especially every Irish reader-must feel a double interest in it from its connexion with the most illustrious name in Irish annals during that or any other period.

WINDSOR AND ETON.*

Ir we were desirous of having a guide in any particular ramble among the pleasant works of nature, we know not where we could seek one better qualified at once to instruct and entertain us than Mr. Jesse. He possesses all the requisites of a genuine naturalist, and has the skill of conveying whatever he may have to say on such subjects in a manner equally intelligent and agreeable. He does not, however, seem quite satisfied with the scope afforded him by natural history. Localities which owe their chief attraction to other sources have lately engaged his attention, and after refreshing our minds with the historical associations of Hampton Court, he has more recently treated us with the still more instructive recollections connected with Windsor and Eton. The care taken by him to collect the most interesting facts illustrative of the history of Windsor Castle, one of the noblest piles in England, and the pains with which he has endeavoured by every illustrative means to convey, within a small volume, a complete picture of the architectural and arboricultural features of the castle and its neighbourhood, deserve high praise. Henceforth few will venture towards this attractive spot without Mr. Jesse's pretty little book as a companion, and they may refer to it with entire confidence, especially for antiquarian gossip, of which the account of Herne's Oak will not be thought the least delightful part of it. We were only disappointed in one portion of the work. The many fine pictures in Windsor Castle ought to have been pointed out to the visiter in a very different manner to that in which Mr. Jesse has thought proper to mention them. This splendid collection is, and well deserves to be, the admiration of all connoisseurs; and the great variety, merit, and value of the paintings, offered a fine field for criticism. We beg also to direct his attention to the numerous instances of slovenly composition that disfigure his pages. In this age of refinement, correctness of style is a first requisite in every literary work.

A Summer's Day at Windsor, and a Visit to Eton. By Edward Jesse, Esq,, Surveyor of her Majesty's Parks and Palaces.

THE NEGROLAND OF THE ARABS.*

THE object of this elaborate little work is clearly put forth in the title-page. It is an endeavour to establish the early geography of Central Africa, by a careful reference to and explanation of the descriptions of Negroland transmitted to us by Arab geographers-the writings of Ibn Khaldún and Ibn Batútah furnishing the author with the greatest portion of his materials. We are glad to find at last a proper respect paid to the researches of Arabian scholars, which is justly due to them, not only for the value of their labours, but for being the ardent cultivators of the sciences at a period when such studies were almost entirely neglected throughout Europe. The Arabian MSS. in our public libraries we hope will henceforth receive the attentive consideration of every oriental student; and we fully anticipate many valuable results from a proper investigation of this too long neglected source of information.

By means of these authorities, Mr. Cooley has been enabled to correct a great number of mistakes that his predecessors in the same field of inquiry had fallen into, and to ascertain many unknown facts which cannot but be considered valuable additions to geographical science. The leading feature in his essay, the erudition, will doubtless be "caviare to the general;" but as it is evidently intended exclusively for the scholar, the author will of course be satisfied with the high estimation in which it is likely to be held by every one capable of judging of its merit. The text is richly illustrated with notes, and accompanied by a very excellent map by Arrowsmith.

NOTES ON NEW PUBLICATIONS.

A Dictionary of Science, Literature, and Art. Edited by W. T. Brande, F.R.S.L. and E. Part I. to V.-This is decidedly an age of dictionaries, in which the multum in parvo seems always the first object, and of the many efforts at such compression that have recently come under our observation, we know not of one better deserving attention than the present; for in addition to having for its editor the first practical chemist and one of the most philosophical minds of the age in Mr. Brande, of her Majesty's Mint, it boasts of much valuable assistance from Richard Owen, F.R.S., J. R. M'Culloch, Dr. Lindley, F.R.S., J. C. Loudon, F.L.S., H.S., and several others scarcely less celebrated. Its aim is to comprise the history, description, and scientific principles of every branch of human knowledge, with the derivation and definition of all the terms in general use. The type is necessarily small and close, but very clear, and the text is illustrated with a few well-executed woodcuts. As far as it has proceeded, which is to the word" Homoousians," this dictionary appears an admirable digest; and we have no doubt, when complete, will form an excellent ready reference.

Pocahontas and other Poems. By Mrs. L. H. Sigourney. Poems Religious and Elegiac. By the same. Two welcome volumes from the other side of the Atlantic, full of tender sentiments and pious aspirations. Mrs. Sigourney has obtained high rank among the poets of the United States, and these reprints of some of her productions are deserving of the same estimation in England with which they are regarded in the Union. Her strain is always well sustained, and drawn from the finer sources of feeling, exhibiting an elevated enthusiasm in the contemplation of all things good and beautiful, and an earnest sympathy in whatever has a claim upon our common humanity. She has been compared with Mrs. Hemans, but she much more closely resembles our less-assuming

The Negroland of the Arabs Examined and Explained; or, an Inquiry into the Early History and Geography of Central Africa. By William Desborough Cooley.

countrywoman Mary Howitt. With the religious community especially, these volumes are certain of finding favour; but we feel assured of their being appreciated wherever there is a heart sensible to good impressions.

Summer Morning. By Thomas Miller, author of " A Day in the Woods,” “ Rural Sketches," &c.-We think Mr. Miller appears to so much greater advantage when wooing the muse in the graceful manner so remarkable in the present work, than he does in attempting prose compositions of high pretensions, that we cannot but be desirous of his adhering to that species of writing for which he is best qualified to succeed. There is an earnestness of purpose and a freshness of feeling in this poem we might look for in vain in his romances. Every verse adds fresh beauty to a landscape -the picturesque and natural touches of which we have only met with before in Bloomfield. Its greatest recommendation is its being thoroughly English-as far removed from the spurious pastoral in which Colins and Daphnes were the principal objects, as heaven from earth. With this merit we cannot deny there are faults of composition we should be glad to see less numerous; nevertheless, few persons of taste will read the ten or twelve pages of which the poem consists, without great gratification.

A Collection of English Sonnets. By Robert Fletcher Houseman, Esq.-Here is a collection of those fourteen-lined verses, commonly called sonnets, beginning with the truly illustrious Earl of Surrey, the distinguished ornament of the Court of Henry the Eighth, and ending with a long list of illustrious obscure" of our own time whose field of distinction has rarely been more extended than two or three fashionable annuals. The volume contains some exquisite examples from the pens of Spenser, Daniel, Drayton, Shakspeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and Coleridge, the remainder possessing little recommendation beyond the mechanical one of having the proper length and breadth. The collector has omitted many interesting specimens, a few of which we would gladly have exchanged for one-half of the three hundred with which he has presented us. We are, however, better satisfied with his introduction, which contains a great deal of curious information relating to the sonnet.

Nuces Philosophica; or, the Philosophy of_Things as Developed from the Study of the Philosophy of Words. By Edward Johnson, Esq., author of " Life, Health, and Disease." No I. to No VI.-After being wearied by the superficial character of our modern literature, we can imagine nothing more delightful to the genuine student than meeting with such a work as this. In the form of a dialogue the author discusses in the most logical manner various subjects connected with moral philosophy. Not only are his arguments exceedingly rich in illustration, but the knowledge they contain is so felicitously expressed, that it must illumine the most obtuse intellects, and entertain those who have the least inclination for instruction. The form of periodical publication allows of a due impression being made by each monthly contribution to the reader's stock of knowledge the author furnishes him with, and the variety of subjects brought forward is an excellent security against the scholar getting weary of such reading. We hope so useful a work will obtain a wide circulation.

The Laird of Logan, or Anecdotes and Tales illustrative of the Wit and Humour of Scotland. Those to whom this publication is not known-and it has already obtained a very wide circulation-should be informed, that "it is intended as a sort of embodiment, or concentrated essence of the floating facetiæ, and indigenous wit and humour of the western and north-western districts of Scotland, during a period stretching back for about two-thirds of a century, with a view to exhibit, in rough relief, many peculiar tastes and habits, local customs and humours, characteristic of certain conditions of society, which the levelling influences of a progressive civilisation have now nearly obliterated." The Southron must expect to meet in so ample a jest book, a considerable portion of the wit much too far north" for his comprehension. Mr. John Donald Carrick, the Scottish Joe Miller, who collected the best part of the work, appears to have had in view the enjoyment of the Glasgow bodies," rather than the lovers of humour this side of the Tweed. Nevertheless, there are so many capital jests which can be as readily appreciated in England as in Scotland, that it is scarcely possible for a native of either part of the island to take up the book without its eliciting from him a hearty laugh. The Laird of Logan therefore may be recommended as excellent company. He may be safely introduced as a parlour boarder in every respectable family, and to any solitary gentleman detained at a country inn on a rainy day would be an invaluable acquaintance. This ample course of light reading is preceeded by well-written biographical sketches of the three jovial spirits to whose labours we are indebted for it-Carrick, William Motherwell, and Andrew Henderson-to whom might appropriately be addressed the speech of the grave-digger to the skull of Yorick. They were persons of no ordinary talent, and greatly esteemed by their associates.

THE

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

FATHERS AND SONS.

BY THE EDITOR.

CHAP. XIX.

Ir was clear that at this period of our history, as Mrs. Smylar would have quoted it, the time had arrived for the

"Trouble, trouble,

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble."

As far as matters had already gone, she had been defeated, or if not actually defeated, baffled in efforts the success of which, knowing with whom she had to play her game, she never doubted. But here, hy a singular sort of fatality, the doltish colonel, over whom she certainly had an influence of one sort, and his innocent and unsuspecting daughter, whom by other means she had gotten into her clutches, were both removed from her power. The subordinates she doubted, and in short, never had monarch fallen from a throne in a shorter time than Smylar had been toppled from the pinnacle-as she not unjustly calculated it-to which she had exalted herself in the establishment of Colonel Bruff.

If Mr. Leeson had not died, the marriage would have gone on-Jane would have remained within the sphere of her power, and then--as we know (for we have already heard the programme of the performance from her own lips), she thought, or rather was certain, that she had the tact to induce Jane to fly from her father's house rather than submit to the marriage. Now, by the delay, not only was Jane taken away from the effect of her manoeuvrings, but was actually at the only house to which Smylar knew she could induce her to fly for refuge from the misery she dreaded, and not only there, but there associated with this very intended husband.

Upon one point-luckily, perhaps, for all parties-Mrs. Smylar was even up to this moment uninformed-the yearning desire which we know Jane Bruff to have felt for her advice and suggestions at the August.-VOL. LXII. NO. CCXLVIII.

2 G

important crisis which was fast approaching. The dignified disinclination on Jane's part from writing to Smylar, stopped the means of communication that way and things had arrived at such a point, that if even Miss Harris had fancied that her young lady did feel any anxiety for such council, the jealousy which had unquestionably sprung up between those worthies, and Miss Harris's anxiety to remain with Jane after her marriage (and probably after her own with Mr. Rumfitt), closed that channel; and Smylar doubtful now of her ability to manage either Jane or her father, determined to proceed in the first instance by endeavouring to destroy the acquaintance-to call it by no softer name

which was too evidently existing between the great colonel and Lady Gramm; and finding herself neglected by her friend Scratchleywhich she at something like fifty-three thought, under all the circumstances of their former acquaintance, ungrateful, she determined to take the matter in hand personally herself, and endeavour by dint of her anonymous letters to separate them, making also a great and suitable effort, if possible, to implicate Miss Pheezle as the writer of the attacks; for which, as she would inevitably be turned out of the house whenever Colonel Bruff turned into it, she thought, with her dramatic head might be worked up very naturally; and having revolved the matter in her mind, she sat herself down to work to make up a very pretty quarrel between the colonel and my lady.

But there was a difficulty in the arrangement of the plot-a difficulty which perhaps does not at the first glance strike the reader-what upon earth could she make them quarrel about? Jealousy, which is a wonderful ingredient in such an affair, seemed wholly out of the question-the little flightinesses of youth had flown away-not even Lady Gramm could be made to believe that Colonel Bruff had fallen in love with Miss Pheezle; nor did Smylar confidently hope to excite any very powerful sensation in Bruff's great heart by insinuating that somebody else had fallen in love with Lady Gramm. No; the tone to be taken would be that of cautioning Lady Gramm against surrendering her independence to the colonel, at a moment when the approaching marriage of his daughter would naturally require an expenditure and settlement, and up to which period he had never exhibited any symptoms of a matrimonial character or disposition.

There can be no doubt, if Smylar could have succeeded as she expected to do, in inducing Jane to elope from her home before the marriage, that old Bruff with his violent and vindictive temper never would have permitted her to re-enter it; and then the ball would have been at her foot, and the game in her hands; but having as she believed― although in point of fact she had not-been baffled upon this tack, she considered the other the best to try; and so let us leave her, while she goes to work in her den, to practise all sorts of disguises of hands, get proper paper, and make up bread-seals, which might, if well contrived, cast an imputation upon some innocent person, or at all events, give her time for further consideration-leave her, we say, to her elaborated iniquities, merely wondering how far such business is permitted to succeed in this world of ours, and speculating whether we shall ever see her the wife of Colonel Bruff and the mother-in-law of the future Lady Grindle.

It was on the day preceding Smylar's determination upon the anony