The Press.
London, England, 1856-02-09 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 9, 1856.

paltry work, and will make one who is now not unjustly
the object of partial admiration, ere long that of general
contempt.

And the Shepherd then bursts an ay into poetry,
and with fine effect curries the reader into
purer atmosphere :
Shepherd : Thank Heaven, sir, that I'm out o' the stour
o pairty in the Forest! In cities, towns, and villages,
frae Lunnon down to Pettycur, it keeps drivin in your face,
till in angry blindness you goiter again' your fellow
creturs borin alang in the opposite direction, or rin yoursel
a dunsh again' the wa'. But a's sweet and serene out-
by yonder, sir, and natur follows her aiu way in obedience
t) the everlastin laws that bring ae season in beauty out o'
the bosom o' the ither, the shady simmer broonin awa by
imperceptible gradations o' colour intil the gorgeous
autumn—the autumn tadin awa in fire intil the seelent
snaws o' winter—and the wintet in Fade time layin aside
her white mantle, and in green symar chvgin afore the
gratefu' gaze intil the warld•worshipped spring.
Noah : No Reform needed there, James.

Shepherd : Neel said, sir—nae Reform—except in our
sin hearts—and there it'ill be needed as lang's St. Mary's
rows the silver waters o' the Yarrow, Wl' a' their eemaged
clouds, hills, and trees, to join her sister Ettrick, ere the
tea melt their name and natur in the sea•seeking Tweed.

Our remarks on the previous volumes of the
" Noctes " are confirmed by the present one.
We fear that there is too much of them; and there
is more appearance of monologue, chopped
into a dialogue, as the work proceeds. The
Shepherd, also, is less various, but there is
genius, not mere talent, impressed on the
writing; and ephemeral topics are elevated by
the light of philosophic imagination with
which North flashes over the whole social
horizon.

Illustrated Handbook of Architecture. By James
Fergusson. Two Vols. London: Murray.
THOUGH not of imposing size, Mr. Fergusson's
book has legitimate claims to be considered
a great work. It is the result of long labour
and original observation. It contains a co-
pious notice of every well-marked style of
architecture known to exist, and the descrip-
tive matter is illustrated by 850 wood-engra•
vings (most of them drawn to a scale), showing
examples of the various styles described in
the text. To what has been accomplished by
Lis predecessors in architectural research, Mr.
Fergusson adds the knowledge which many
years of study and travel have enabled him to
collect. Hence his work is complete as an
outline history of the art.
In its arrangement he has been embarrassed
by inherent difficulties. A chronological or
topographical treatment would have been im-
perfect alone, and therefore he has combined
the two. In the first place, he treats of those
forms of architecture which are, according to
our present state of knowledge, isolated—as
the Buddhist and Hindu architecture; the
styles of China, and of Mexico and Peru and
those of Western Asia, beginning with that of
Assyria and of Persia. He then passes to the
Egyptian style, which he regards as the parent
of that of Greece and Rome; and, drawing a
line between heathen and Christian art, he
passes from the old Roman to the Saracenic
style, opening the first volume with the great
division of Christian architecture. In this
latter a natural division may, he supposes, be
made, by drawing a line from the head of the
Adriatic to the Gulf of Finland,—all to the
west of this line belonging► to the Gothic, and
to the east of it to the Byzantine school. The
whole arrangement is clearly carried out, but,
as all such divisions must be partly fanciful,
we do not attach much importance to them
except for convenience of reference. In all the
departments of his book the author shows
great intelligence. The space devoted to Gre-
cian architecture seems, however, much too
scant, considering its importance and the
room afforded to other styles. The architec-
ture of Rome, though intrinsically less worthy,
is treated at much greater length. In the
books on Gothic architecture the styles of
each principal country of Europe are treated
in detail ; the part relating to French archi-
tecture being particularly well done.
In the pleasing and acute introduction to
his work the author endeavours to establish
some firm principles of architecture. He
shows how the art arose from purely useful
design in the first instance, and how every
style which has any title to be called great
and original followed out simple, elementary,
utilitarian conceptions, with continual im-