The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-30 00:00:00

CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE. Part fir
Moron, London, 1841.
The Part before us forms a portion of the
twelfth edition of Mr. D'lsraeli's " Curiosities of
Literature," a work which has long since taken
its place among the foremost of its class, and is to
be found, as a matter of course, on the shelves of
all who profess to be book-collectors. The edi-
tion is proposed to be completed in eight half-
crown Monthly Parts, of which the present one
is the third.

DRAMATIC WORKS OF WYCHERLEY, CON.
GREVE, VANBR UGH, 4-c. MOXO7I, London, 1841.
This is another of Mr. Moxon's cheap repub-
lications, and is prefaced with pertinent biogra-
phical notices from the pen of Mr. Leigh Hunt.

A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON MISDE-
MEANOURS, by Humphry G. Woolrych, of the
Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. Shaw and Sons,

London.

Mr, Woolrych having been engaged for some
T.:ars on a general work, embracing the whole of
the Criminal Law, together with that branch of
it which relates to procedure, has just published
that portion of it which treats of misdemeanours.
This, as every lawyer knows, is a very exten-
sive field, embracing about five hundred different
kinds of offences; and when the uncertainty of
the law, the endless varieties which these
offences exhibit under different circumstances,
and the conflicting results of actions for abate-
ment, are taken into account, it will he seen that
the task is one of no ordinary magnitude. The
author has classified the cases under eight dis-
tinct sections, quoting all the statutes, and the
uio.-o,remarkable actions for misdemeanours)
with the names of the parties, at the same time
makingni2nerous judicious comments, both
arising out oi. peculiar circumstances, and
°
the opinions of the Judges who tried
them. It is, in
ic:lct, a practical trea-
tise, and will be fount: extremely useful,
not only to the general pr:ctitioner, but to
the public in general. We direct the attention
of a certain class of persons to thefollowing
statute, Vict. c. 36, s. 32, for the protec".. jor of
printed votes and proceedings in Parliament, .13(1
printed newspapers sent by the post:—" It is
enacted that every person employed in the Post-
office, who shall steal, or shall for any purpose
embezzle, secrete, or destroy, any printed votes or
proceedings in Parliament, or any printed
newspaper, or any other printed paper what-
ever, sent by the post, without covers,
or in covers open at the sides, shall, in
England and Ireland, be guilty of a misde-
meanour, and in Scotland of a crime and
offence; and being convicted thereof, shall suffer
such punishment by fine or imprisonment, or by
both, as to the Court shall seem meet." In a note
it is added—with Or without hard labour, and soli-
tlry confinement, fat a period not exceeding two
years, the solitary confinement not to exceed
one month at a time, or three months in one year.

A PRACTICAL TRIIATISE ON THE L 4 W OF
DISTRESS. By Edward Buten, Esq., Special

Pleader. Shaw and Sons, London.

This work was begun with the assistance of the
late Mr. Chitty, jun., and was intended to have
been the joint production of that gentleman and
Mr. Millen, on whom the death of Mr. Chitty
threw the completion of the undertaking. Sue
a publication was much wanted, as no new work
on the Law of Distress has been published for the
last thirty years, and no new edition of any ex.
isting treatise on the subject for thirteen years.
Great care appears• to have been bestowed iu
arranging the complicated details, usages, and
statutes, on a branch of law of every day's
practice, and affecting so many interests ; and it
may safely be recommended as the best treatise
on the subject which has yet been published. It
contains a chapter on the Tithe Commutation
Rent Charge and the Distress for its Recovery.
This, of course, is entirely new, as the Tithe
Commutation Act has been in existence only for
a few years.

SCHLOSS' BIJOU ALMANACK.
A. Schloss, London, 1841.

This little Almanack, which is scarcely bigger
than one's thumb-nail, has now reached its
seventh year of publication, and is certainly the
smallest thing of its age we ever saw. Yet, not-
withstanding its Lilliputian dimensions, it con-
tains not less than seven poems from the pen of
Mrs. Norton, together with a useful almanack,
and six portraits of distinguished authors, artists,
and actors, whose features are plainly enough to
be discerned, through the medium of a pair of
spectacles. The work is certainly the greatest
literary curiosity of the day, and is enclosed
in a handsome case made of rich green velvet,
bound with gold.

CHILD'S BOOKS.

By the Rev. T. WILSON. Darton and Clark.

A philosopher has aptly compared the mind
of childhood, to a fair tablet or unwritten blank.
On this, education is destined to imprint those
thoughts or precepts which, according to the
nature of their tendency, form the individual
into a member of society, either malevolent or
good. Hence it becomes apparent how sacred
is the charge intrusted to those into whosesoever
hands the cultivation of our English youth is
delivered ; and how infinite the care that should
be exercised in regard to such books as are in-
tended to form the rising mind; for under the
guidance of good instructions alone, will the in-
fant mind be made hereafter to blossom, like
Aaron's rod, with the true almond-flowers of
virtue.

There are a number of English names to
whom society ought to be deeply thankful for
the unexceptiOpably good family and educational
hOoks, they have produced. Dr. Watts, Mrs.
Barbauld, Miss Mitford, Maguall, Blair, and
Pinnock, have severally aided this excellent in-
tent, and rejoiced in causing pure and practical
developments of infant mind. Nor has the good
work ceased with them. The Rev. T. Wilson
as well as Messrs. Darton and Clark, his pub_,
fishers, are advancing to public notice a series of
-
catechetical books, well calculated to make the
children of the day wise and health minded in
y
design
and nature arer
being noticed
in 01 their
rexeell
ents generation. theirtto
permitdesi
in consecutive order :

1. CATECHISM OF COMMON TIIINGS.—The first
part is explanatory of articles of common con-
sumption and commerce, and the intention is to
emakever
y tthhi n
g the child d
that
comes acquainted wbirtehtfha
set
,h
naturet e o
composition of his breaddaatily breakfast
him. The
con-
sistency of his butter, the travels and history of
his basin of milk or tea, appear explained in
these diminutive pages rather as pleasing infor-
mation than a task: moreover, if the tiny scho-
lar be industriously disposed, lie may become
learned, like an incipient chemist, in the virtues
of assaketida, or the origin of Friars'-balsam.
Thlm,
eatl,iierdhrcoantnelcohgyism,
scz.explains the intricate terms
of
2. FIRST CATECHISM OF BIBLE Hisroßy.
The leading events and personages of the Old
and New Testaments appear expounded in the
form of questions, which are so framed as to ex-
cite youthful curiosity, and of answers which
readily satisfy it.
3. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN.—
Dr. Arnott wonderfully simplified the study of
the laws and appearances of nature, but these
little books,_ with explanations of gravitation and
cohesion, the lever and fulcrum, asteroids and
planispheres, might advantageously be consulted
by older students; while their simplicity puts
them on a level with the capacity of the youngest.
4. CATECHISM OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
—Next to the one published by Mr. Trines some
few years since, no brochure has better managed
to mingle with the train of events historic anec-
dotes, that at the same time engage the fancy,
and furnish the mind with facts.