The Press.
London, England, 1854-08-12 00:00:00

AUGUST 12, 1854.

Routledge'sAmeriean Handbook and Tourist's Guide.
London : Routledge and Co.
As affording all requisite information on routes and dis-
tances, together with the fares, hotel charges, and a
general idea of the expenses of travelling in the
United States, this handbook will be found useful;
but in other respects it contrasts disadvantageously
with the similar class of works commonly issued in this
country. Written by an American, the author takes
every opportunity to convince the world of the
" politesse" and general good breeding of his country-
men. His descriptions of the "customs of society,"
and of the treatment which "distinguished strangers"
are subjected to, under the head of " Social Customs
at Washington," are written with amusing particu-
larity; and he asserts the existence of an extreme
urbanity of manner among all classes of Americans,
declaring railway porters to be universally polite,
hotel-keepers civil and honest, and captains of
steatn-boats finished gentlemen
" The American hotel," we are told, "is a house for the
traveller. Re leaves an American hotel satisfied that he
has not been imposed upon ; he leaves the English hotel
contemplating the infamous charges of ' ' and
• servants,' and knowing that he has been made a partner
to the landlord's degrading system of servantage. The
American landlord takes leave of his guest as if lie were a
friend; the English landlord feels that he has imposed
upon his guest, and is seldom aeon when he departs."
When, however, we look into particulars, we find that
this praise of American hotels must be accepted cum
grans. One has "little to recommend it except
pretension ;" another is " a tolerably good house, if
"the visitor be good-natured, and excuse the want of
" attention on the part of servants ;" and a third has
"only high charges to keep up its reputation." The
hotels in St. Louis are no better than " dens of impo_
" sition ;" throughout one line of route the traveller
must be content with "hog, homany, and oysters ;"
and in the South it is necessary to slip a few shillings
into the nigger's hand now and then "to make
"everything right." Some general statistics
taken from the returns of 1850, with advice to
emigrants (in which the American mechanic is held
up as a man who can not only produce the finest
machinery in the world, but give you a lesson in
political economy as well), and an indifferent map,
conclude the book.

1. Nice, and its Climate. By Edwin Lee.
2. Notes on Spain. By the same Author.
London : Hope and Co.
L An accurate description of the town and environs
of Nice is accompanied by a careful essay upon the
climate and its peculiar adaptation to the various
conditions of disordered health, for the guidance of
invalids and medical men. Opinions of the best
authorities are compared, and a common-sense
conclusion deduced from them, supported by
meteorological returns and several years' per-
sonal experience, favourable to the remedial in•
fluence of the climate in pulmonary and other
diseases. A few observations are added upon the
common causes of consumption, and the effect of
peculiar climates in " counteracting the operation of
" causes most instrumental in producing tubercular
" disease."

2. The " Notes on Spain " comprise much infor-
mation in a small space. The medical details on the
healthfulness of the climates of different localities
appear w be written with great care, and to be col-
lected, not only from personal experience, but from
the best sources of information.

_Minstrelsy of War. With Selection; from Miscel
laneous and Dramatic Poems. By Alfred B.
Richards. London :J. Blackwood.

.A VOLUME of war songs, poems, and extracts from
tragedies, written by a gentleman who is apt to mis-
take rant for strength and sickly sentiment for feeling.
'The war songs are loud-sounding and ponderous, of
anything but an inspiriting nature, and never likely to
become popular. Among the miscellaneous poems,
however, are some tine translations from Heine, and
much meritorious original verse. The extracts from
the dramas of Mr. Richards exhibit his talents to
most advantage. Even the descriptive passages in
these dramas show considerable power, and are much
superior to any other passages in the volume. Should
.Mr. Richards cultivate his dramatic vein, and avoid
wasting his strength upon such doggrel as " Chaunts
for Colt," " God Speed thee Gallant Napier," and
"The Orange-seller," it is probable that he will be
more read and better appreciated.

The Violets' Close; or, Annie Dale. By Eliza

Rumsey. London: Hatchard.
THE narrative of the life and death of a poor village
girl remarkable for her piety and Christian love, and,
-as a tale, intended to render certain bible truths
familiar and plain to the understandings of children.

THE PRESS.

Sister Agnes ; or, Sketches of Convent Life. London :

Seeleys.
The Scarlet Mystery ; or, Rome Unmasked. Lon-

don : Seeleys.
Two books intended to make plain to the Protestant
world the means adopted at the present time by the
agents of the Church of Rome to decoy the youthful
and unsuspecting into that " state of conventual
" seclusion over which the veil of romance has been
" successfully drawn." "Sister Agnes" is a tale of
Jesuitical intrigue, and an exposure of the domestic
system of conventual life.
"The Scarlet Mystery" professes to be founded
on fact, the author undertaking, should his several
charges against the Papal system be disputed, to
"establish their authenticity as particular cases."

The Cabin by the Wayside. A Tale for the Young.
By Lady Campbell. London : Routledge and
Co.

ONE of those pathetic little tales of lowly life written
with the desire of instilling a feeling of loving kind-
ness and charity towards inferiors. The trials and
sufferings of a poor Irish family are described in
simple, truthful language, and with the minuteness
of touch pf culler to a feminine writer of quick sensi-
bility and amiable feeling.

Morning and other Poems, Humorous, Sentimental,
and Satirical; with Several Songs, ctc. Vol. 11.
By Richard Harris. London: G. Bell.

TnE preface here is of questionable wit; nor can we
commend the poems after Thomson, Colman, and
Burns. The best verses are those which are least
pretending, as " The Girl's Lament" and." All is for
the best."

Light through the Clouds. By the Author of " Noon-

tide Thoughts." London : Seeleys.
A LITTLE book adapted to promote the growth of re-
ligious sentiment in the minds of children.