The Press.
London, England, 1854-09-23 00:00:00

stanzas as the following, in Whial the third line
wants rhythm:—
" Weep not, dearest mother, thus o'er my pale hand;
I cannot remain with thee here,
I must go to that pure and heav'uly land :
Oh dry up that fiat falling tear."
She ip not always happy in the choice of her snb-
jects, and a young writer should avoid conventional
themes that have been treated of by practised pens.
The volume is published by subscription, and is
dedicated to the Duke of Rutland.

Indestructibility. By Henry G. Cooper. London :
Groombridge and Sons.

A SMALL treatise, designed to prove the immortality
of the soul, by analogy, from the indestructibility of
matter, displaying a fair acquaintance with the com-
mon experiments and facts of chemistry ; but in the
statements of mechanical truths Mr. Cooper ex-
presses himself with a vagueness that is quite incon-
sistent with even a moderate knowledge of the
subject.

The Book of South Wales. By Charles Frederic

Cliffe. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.
A autpx Book to the beauties of South Wales, con-
taining a vast amount of local information and
legendary lore, written by an accomplished author,
who had a real, unaffected love for his subject. A
third edition is sufficient proof of the estimation in
which the book is held by tourists and the public
generally.

The Volunteer Rifleman and the Rifle. By J.
Boucher, of the sth Dragoons. London : Robert
Hgr4wicke.
A KNOWLEDGE of the use of firearms is becoming
much more general than formerly among the middle
classes, and the present formation of volunteer rifle
corps is a step of some importance towards the
attainment of that proficiency in the use of the rifle
which in case of war and invasion would, after all, be
found the best defence of the country. The volume
before us is full of useful instructions, practical
directions, and plain facts, upon the principles of rifle
practice, and contains much good advice upon all
points connected with the formation of rifle corps.

BOOKS RECEIVED.
BOOKS.
The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. W. H. Prescott.
Bentley.
History of the Conquest of Mexico. W. H. Prescott. Ditto.
Hhe BMWs Commonwealth. H. Cox. Longman and Co.
andbook for Ireland. J. Fraser. J. McGlashan.
Diprose's Funny Book. Hardwicke.
The Real Salt. F. yrai!eis. Piper, SteplieMion and Co.
' ". Francis. Ditto.

Pickackafax. F. __.......
The Young Ladies First French Book. Ft. Aliva.
Hope and Co.
Gays Fables. Routledge.
The Lofty awl the Lowly. M. Mc Intosh Ditto.
Fern Leaves front Fanny's Portfolio. Ward and Lock.
Life of Julius CWsar. Nenerable Archdeacon Williams.
ltoutledge.

HOGLATH'S FOROETFULNESS.—Many stories are told
of his absence of mind. On one occasion, soon after
setting up his carriage, be went in it to visit the Lord
Mayor. When he left, he forgot his newly-acquired
grandeur, and, finding it had begun to rain, called a
chair : not getting one, he sallied out at a different
door from that at which he had some in, and at which
his carriage was waiting, and reached home wet
through and covered with mud.—Our Friend.

BEGINNING AND PROGRESS OF RAILWAYS.—Fran-
cis Fortune, then the projecting engineer of Lombard- '
street, London, many years ago—the exact year is not
now recollected—came down to Bristol with the grand
scheme in his head of having a railway constructed
from Bristol to London. He asserted that, by means
of such railway, travellers might breakfast in Bristol,
dine in London, and return the same day to supper
in Bristol. The people said, as they do say in the
first instance of m 0.4 great designs, " The man is
pad!" Mr. Fortnne however, perseyemd, and
among the earliest to Whom he applied was the editor
of this journal; and it is still a source of much gra-
tification to him that he was enabled, though even ip
a wall degree, to Intl Mr. fortune in bis noble pro-
ject. To this almost first cause must be ascribed }lie
extension of railways nearly all over the world. The
only one before the Great Western Railway was the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Mark the re-
sult! Mr. Fortune has long been gone to
That undiscovered country, from whose bourns
No traveller returns.
No public acknowledgment was ever made to him ;
and but few—very few—it is believed, even know to
whom the world is indebted for this wonderful mode
of transit.—Pope's Journal of Trade, 1854-15.