The Press.
London, England, 1853-12-03 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

second chapter is copyright relating to etchings, en-
gravings, maps, de., first published in Great Britain
or Ireland. The third chapter treats of copyright in
sculpture, the fourth suggests amendments in the
existing law, and the rest of the work, the whole of
which comprises eighty-five pages, is occupied with
the statutes on copyright and an index—the latter
very necessary. This treatise is stated to be intended
for the use of " artists, sculptors, engravers, print-
sellers, de." It will give them much useful informa-
tion, but it will prove more valuable to the lawyer.

The Christian Life. By Robert Montgomery, M.A.
Sixth Edition. London: Rivingtons.
A %Tint few years have elapsed since the Queen was
pleased to give permission that this volume of reli-
gious musings in verse should be dedicated to her
Majesty. Such a compliment from so illustrious a
critic was a special ter•timonial, of which the worthy
writer of these poems may be justly proud. To the
mere literary critic, the fact that these poems have
reached a sixth edition furnishes additional evidence
(if it were wanted) that Johnson's remarks on the
alleged failure of religious verse may be erroneous.
One of these poems, " The Dying Girl," is probably
not unknown to many readers of our modern poetry.
The following stanzas in it have pathos and sweet-
ness :

They wheel her round each garden walk
N 1 here oft her lisping( childhood (dap!,
And loved to hear the old nurse talk

And soothe her when she seenfd afraid,
While danced her ringlets as she prat•led ou
More playful than the 'Ards she loved to gaze upon.
She lookm as they alone who feel
The /ad of earth before them lies,
While o'er them *Acted ment'ries steal
Which melt the heart into the eyes,—
For, tree and turret, w.skds end uplands, all
Back to the dying girl her childish past recal!
Itreantlike the hush of twilight floats
Veiling the lilac bOwers around;
While in the air melodious notes
I)f soft &kali oil sweetly sound :
Th. landscape, like a conscious mourner, seems
. . .

To lie in brotsiing shade, and sadden as it dreams.
The last two lines are full of poetry, and describe the
sensations which many of us have experienced in
looking at nature, while under the influence of de-
pressing emotions. If we had space we would proceed
to criticise Mr. Montgomery's production►. Less
metaphysical in his choice of topics and mode of
treating them than he was at the commencement of
his literary career, his poetry has more reality and
circumstantial fidelity to nature than when he sang
of the Infinite, and sought to embody the Eternal.
The phases of religious life he depicts with the ani-
mation that springs from genuine pathos ; his
sentimentalism is supported by considerable imagerial
facility ; and the thorough earnestness of his purpose
combines with his mental characteristics to waft
these poems far and wide, wherever the Christianity
of England prevails.

nc►nocritui in London, dr. London : Pickering.
WE cannot make out distinctly the purport of this
book, which consists mainly of a series of metropolitan
Seellel4, suggesting satirical reflections, for the most
part in I ludibrastic metre. The satire, such as it is,
is vague and obscure, and is amplified, rather than
illustrated, by elaborate notes, which, regarded with-
out reference to the text, show considerable reading.
Hut then the notes have no obvious connection with
the subject, whatever that may be, and distract the
attention from what is otherwise barely intelligible.
In short, the hook is a puzzle. Its versification is in
parts easy and flowing, but we have looked in vain
for a quotable extract.

The Honourable John Warden on the Administration

of Justice in India. London: Taylor.
Tins pamphlet consists of letters of the gentleman
whose name is upon the titlepage to Mr. Gregor
Grant, one of the dismissed judges of the Staler
t'ourt, with illustrative comments by the latter gentle-
man, which, as far as we can judge from an exparte
statement, tend to show that he has been very
unfairly treated. As a testimony to the integrity and
ability of Mr. Grant, it deserves the attention of those
by whom he has been displaced upon grounds which,
whether adequate or not. appear to have been insisted
on with pharisaical rigour.

Eiflap on Agriculture. Ily the late Thomas Gisbnrrne.
London • 3lurray.
A valuable reprint of three well known articles in
the Quarterly Itericer, on "Tattle and Sheep,"
"Agricultural Drainage," and "Ancient Agricultural
Literature," to which is added a hitherto unpublished
essay on " Iligh Farming," which controverts many
of the view% of Mr. Phillip Posey.

SATURDAY,

no Botanist's Word Book. By Macdonald and

Allan. London : Reeve and Co.
THE technical terms in any branch of science are
ordinarily derived from their roots in so arbitrary a
manner that the best scholarship will be frequently
most at fault for an explanation. The ►resent pain_
phlet is adapted to afford this explanation as far as
botany is concerned, and might not inaptly become
the first of a series of similar works as useful and
inexpensive.

A Bundle of Crou quilt. By Alfred Crowquill.
London • Routledge and Co.

A coti.Errtox of thirty-three tales on various subjects,
tragic, comic, and humorous, with illustrations on
wood by A. Crowquill. None of them are very bad,
and none very good : those that occupy a place mid-
way between broad farce and deep tragedy are per-
haps the best. The following, in a paper on
" Romancing," we should have called amusing from its
exaggeration, hut Mr. Crowquill says it is a sketch
from nature, and not exaggerated :
" His next feat was that of landing a leviathan trout
from his stream in Scotland, which had dragged him over
the rocky bed of the stream, from noon until sunset, some-
times immersing him up to his neck in the water, notwith-
standing which he held on' like grim death,' until he suc-
ceeded in grasping the enormous fish, and then fell ex-
hausted amidst the herbage on the banks, where he and
the fish were found, equally unable to move, and staring at
each other, by one of his billies, who had traced him down
the stream : this extraordinary picture was also painted by
our friend of the brush::

The "Address to the Public" and the preface con •
tain one constituent of wit—brevity. The former is
" Buy it," the latter " Read it." The latter we qua-
lify thus :—Dip into it here and there when you have
nothing better to do, and you may find some light
amusement.

Poem& By William Jones. London : Hall, Virtue,

and Co.
Tit Est-. are not poems, but verses, consisting of
seventy six separate pieces, which fill a small volume
of two hundred pages. The volume is published by
subscription, and dedicated to the Duke of Rutland.
But from one set of verses we learn that Mr. William
Jones considers the brutal assault of the Southwark
draymen on the late General Haynau a deed of
which we should be proud Either his Grace of
Rutland does not know what is in the book, or the
dedication of it to him is without permission.

Parish Sermons. Ay the Rev. Henry William
Suliven, M.A. London: F. and J. Rivington.
THESE discourses are very well suited for the
intelligence of those mixed audiences to which a
parish preacher must address himself. The author
does not display all his powers in their composition.
Ile appears to have avoided the academical and the
profound as unsuited for his purposes. They
breathe a spirit of manly piety, and are free from
the quibbles and mental foppery which are too often
introduced into the pulpit by some theological
revivalists who wish to pass for deep divines. We
liked very much the sermon on " Christian Love,"
and its practical injunctions are applicable to several
" aspiring spirits " who would fain seek by romantic
schemes and public displays to compensate for their
neglect of domestic duties.

On Clerical Education. London : Blackader
and Co.

Tuts is a reprint from the Journal of Sacred
Literature. The author enforces the necessity of
our clergy becoming better Orientalists and more
skilled in Hebrew. He attaches too much import-
ance to some of his views, and he does not always
write with earnestness. Here is a strange sentence
to have come from so bold a censor :

" As a Impular preacher we remember hearing some time
ago passed for a highly erudite di►ine when he told his
wondering mid delighted auditory that the WORD of St.
John's Gospel was Lowis in Greek !"

The " popular preacher " alluded to might desire his
critic to pay more attention to Lindley Murray.

Help and Contfort for the Sick Poor. A Tract. Lon•
don : ltivingtons.
lirT a tract of merit., and practically useful, because
it emanates from one who has had personal experience
of the needs and trials of sickness, and can sym-
pathise while he gives counsel.