The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-24 00:00:00

Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys,

Fifth Edition. Four Vols. London: Colburn.
ANOTHER edition of Mr. Pepys's Diary shows the
public appreciation of this unique work. We must
confess that we never look into it without seeing
fresh reason to admire the amusing veracity of the
writer. How candid is his avowal respecting his
wife :—" Sbe do find, with reason, that in the company
" of Pierce, Knipp, or other women that I love, I do
" not value her, or mind her, as I ought." His sister
fares still worse :—" About a husband for my sister,
" whereof there is at present no appearance ; but we
" must endeavour to find her one now, for she grows
" old and ugly." One knows not whether the book
is most to be prized for its revelations of Mr. Pepys's
own most singular character, for its domestic details,
or its historical information. This edition, we may
mention, has received all the latest corrections, and
notes of Lord Braybrooke, and is a good library copy
of what has, since its first appearance, been one of
our best-prized standard works.

Wedding Gloves. Illustrated by Phiz. London

Blackwood.
A " second edition," and the" tenth thousand" of the
first six of a series of twelve tales speaks sufficiently
for the success of this book. It is marked by &cer-
tain kind of "smartness; a fast farcical tone of dia-
logue, like the rattle of the style of Albert Smith, to
whom the book is dedicated. In some of the tales,
however, evidence is given of higher talent, and there
is much homely pathos in " Brierly Farm," and the
" Life Drama." In his comic scenes the author, as
Sydney Smith said of Rebook in " Granby," "is
too resolutely witty."

191

The Pathology of Drunkenness. By Charles Wilson,
M.D. Edinburgh : Black.
DIL WILSON'S work will be found to contain many
valuable observations and statistical facts upon the
results, constitutionally and mentally, of intoxication.
The whole pathology of drunkenness, the action of
spirituous liquors upon the human organisation, and
their peculiar influence upon the imagination and
the intellect, are fully treated, though in rather a
verbose and dogmatical style. In a pathological
work like the present, which sets out in its first chan-
ter with a disclaimer against teetotal asceticism, we
scarcely expected to find such a passage as the fol-
lowing :—" A moderate love of intoxicating drinks is
" but too frequently merely a state of transition
"towards the formation of propensities of a more
"marked and fatal character !" As this is not quali-
fied in any way, and the next chapter opens with the
assertion that "since such is the case," we are left
to infer, that Dr. Wilson (who himself is a tee-
totaller), applies this expression to all classes of
society, and that he is averse not only to the abuse,
but to the use of fermenting drinks.

Historical Memorials of Canterbury. By A. P.
Stanley, M.A., Canon of Canterbury. London:
Murray.

THE four essays comprised in this volume contain
an accurate account of the mission of St. Augustine,
of the murder and death of Becket, of the life and
death of Edward the Black Prince, and, lastly, of
the history of Becket's shrine. The most interesting
of these subjects—the death of Becket—has already
appeared in the Quarterly of Sept., 185-I; but some
important addenda have been made to the article in
its present form. A valuable appendix will be found
to contain many important original documents from
the archives of Canterbury, and many notes dis-
playing great antiquarian knowledge and research.
The book is also copiously illustrated with woodcuts,
and engravings of different parts of the cathedral,
and Mr. Stanley may be fairly considered as having
contributed a very important work, local and histo-
rical, upon Canterbury Cathedral.

Life of Nicholas I. By F. Mayne. London :

Longman..
A COMPILATION, comprising well known incidents in
the life of the Czar—the events of the campaign of
1828-9; the negotiations of 1853-4 ; full particulars
of the present war to the battle of Inkermann ; and
a sketch, collected from many sources, of the family
and court of the Czar, and of the present state of his
dominions. The volume chiefly differs from the
numerous shilling tracts lately published in collect-
ing together the information they publish separately.
The compiler when he ventures on original composi-
tion writes very wildly ; as when, for instance, he
states that the Czar, fearful of revolution in his
dominions in 1848.47, invested "as much as
"forty or fifty millions of pounds in the French and
" English funds," and that the means taken to amass
this treasure caused "the death of the serfs by thou
sands." Mr. Mayne has formed a false estimate of
the public intelligence in supposing that random
assertions of this kind would pass current with the
class likely to purchase his volume. Its publication
in this shape is a mistake.

The Year-Book of Facts for 1855. By John Timbe,

F.S.A. London : David Bogue.
WE have here the seventeenth annual edition of
this comprehensive little work. Viewed as a record
of the most important discoveries in science and art,
arranged and classified under their distinctive heads,
the book is highly useful. As a sign of the times
it is singular to contrast the numerous inventions in
missiles of war of the past with any previous year.
We read that one gentleman has striven hard for dis-
tinction by inventing a ball suitable for small arms
or cannon which shall so cut, wound, and lacerate,
that it shall be scarcely possible for any man to live
long after being struck by it. Fire bolts, explosive
shot, enormous shells, and improvements in every
branch of military mechanics, will be found among
the " Facts of 1855."

1. Latin Vocabulary for the Use of Beginners. By
J. S. V. Baird, Trinity College, Dublin. Lou-

don : J. W. Parker and Son.
2. The First-Form Latin Grammar. By Edward

Baines, M.A. London : Hope and Co.
Two elementary works for the young; the first, upon
the old form, combines with the accidence a vocabu
lary of words giving simply the rules of grammar
without definition, while the second is a grammar
upon the modern " crudelorm " system, difficult no
doubt for the young mind to master, but laying a sure
foundation for a true knowledge and rapid acqui
sition of other languages.

92

A Geographical Dictionary of the Holy Scriptures;
including, also, Notices of the Chief Places and
People mentioned in the Apocrypha. By the Bev.
A. Arrowsmith, M.A. London: Longmans.
A carefully-compiled work, calculated to be of real
value as a book of reference upon all occasions in
which information may be required concerning those
places and peoples mentioned in Holy Writ. Un-
wearied industry, intelligence, and care, are marked
upon every page of this accurate and useful book.

The Pocket Peerage and Baronetage. By Henry

Forster. London : Bogue.
Taz fifth annual publication of this convenient little
work has just appeared. It has been corrected up
almost to the day of publication, and, as the author
assures us in his preface that the numerous par-
ticulars relating to the history and present connec-
tions of the various noble houses have been furnished
and revised by their heads, the book may be taken as
an official authority so far as the details extend.
It is compact, comprehensive, and well arranged.

Transatlantic Wanderings. By Captain Oldmixon,
R.N. London: Routledge and Co.

A REPRINT of Captain Oldmixon's sketches of America,
giving us in a sprightly style a fair estimate of our
cousins and their country. While he bears willing
witness to their indomitable energy and undoubted
practical talent, he does not, on the other hand, hide
their defects. In the present cheap form these
" Wanderings" will no doubt be much in request,
possessing as they do the additional claim of being
the latest publication upon America.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
BOOKS. - .

Memoirs of Sir R. Strange and L ismisden. J. Dennistown.
Lenginans.
Sokliers and Sailors. 11. B. Hall, K.S.F.
Chapman and Hall•
Landmarks in English History. Rev. J. White.
Routledge.
English, Past and Present. R. C. Trench.
J. W. Parker and Sun.
Hellas. Ditto.
Polynesian Mythology. Sir G. Grey. Murray.
The Crimea and Odessa. I h.. C. Kock. Ditto.
Missions to Constantinople and St. Petersburg. Baron
Muffling. Longman&
Every Man His Own Printer. Waterlow.
Life and Times of Salvator Rosa. Lady Morgan. Bryce.
O.rfurd Essays. J. W. Parker and Son.

THE NEW WORE OF VERDI, Lea Vepres Sicilicnnes,
is preparing with elaborate care at the Grand Opera
in Paris. The repetitions will be concluded about
the middle of March, soon after which the filet re-
presentation will take place. In the way of revivals,
La Juive is announced for Mdlle. Cruvelli, and the
Prophete, with Mine. Stoltz as Fides. M. Neri Ba-
raldi is also about to appear as Edgard in Lucie de
Lammermoor. In St. Petersburg the Italian Opera
season glides on uninterruptedly and prosperously,
notwithstanding the war. Don Pasquale, La Soli-
nambula, I Puritani, Poliuto, Macbeth, and Der
Freyschutz, have been the chief operas of the winter,
and Calzolari, Ronconi, and Lablache ; Mmes. Te-
desco and Delagrange, the reigning favorites.
AT the Berlin Court a representation of tableaus
vivants, in which some of the princesses took part,
was given on Monday, and a grand closing ball on
Tuesday.
A BENEFIT "came off" at the Constantinople
theatre on the 31st ult., under the patronage of Lady
Stratford. The beneficiare was a young Neapolitan
pianist, Mdlle. Therese Romano, and the opera se-
lected for the occasion was Verdi's Trovatore, which
has already been on the boards in Constantinople for
some time. The house was crammed from floor to
ceiling, and the whole went off in a style which would
have done credit to many a city of higher musical
pretensions. The difficult rule of Zingara was sus-
tained by an Englishwoman, Mdlle. Alba (her stage
name), who sung and acted the part to a perfection
which brought down the loud and repeated applause
of the densely-filled house.

THZ NAVAL FORCES FOR THE Thu:rte.—The fol-
lowing appears iu Ualigiuini. Although our contem-
porary has rather overstated the number of British
pendants, the number of French vessels of war iu
preparation for Baltic service this year is probably

correct :
The operations in the Baltic next spring will, it is
stated, be conducted on a scale of extraordinary magnitude.
In addition to the naval forces of England, which are to
consist of 140 steamer. 4, France will send fifty steam-ves-
sels and a powerful land armament, which is now stationed
at various points along the coast from Calais to Cherbourg,
For the conveyance of these troops and all the war mate-
riel the French Government have entered into a contract
with an English company, the representative of which is
at present in Paris, an arrangement which will have
the advantage of leaving the vessels of war free to operate
with all their power against the great Russian streagizolds
in the Gulf of Finland•

THE PRESS.

ate glnitg.

WAR-OFFICE, Fzu.l9.
BREVET.
The following promotions to take place consequent on tbe
death of the undermentioned officers, vtz., Generals the lion.
T. E. Capel, the Hon. Sir Patrick Stuart, G.C.111.0.. and W. C.
Eustace, C.B.—Lieutenant-General Sir John Grey, K. 0.8., to be
General; Major-General the Hon. John Finch, 0.8., to be Lieu-
tenant-General; Colonel the Hoa. Arthur Upton to be Major-
General; Lieutenant• Colonel Corbet Cotton to be Colonel; Major
William R. Preston to be Lleutonant-Colonel ; Captain John
James Grant to be Major.
Major-General Simpson to have the local rank of Lieut.-Gene-
ral, while employed on the staff of the artily serving in the
Crimea—Captain J. Forbes Bruce, employed on a particular ser-
vice in Turkey, to have the local rank of Major while so em-
ployed.