The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-11 00:00:00

REVIEWS OF BOOKS.

The Poetical Works of William Cowper ; with
Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory
Notes. By the Rev. George Gilfillan. Edin-
burgh : James Nichol.

The handsome volume before us is the first of
Cowper's works, the set being to form two volumes
of the elegant Library Edition of the British Poets,
published under the editorship of Mr. Gilfillan, the
literary Scottish divine. As we have already on
repeated occasions remarked, the chief excellences
of this edition of the poets consist in a faithfully
collated and accurately printed text, a clear legible
type, and in every respect a handsomely got-up
series, at a rate of cheapness so remarkable, even
in these days of cheapness, as to excite surprise.
To those advantages must be added the benefit of
spirited, though brief, biographical notices of the
poets, from the pen of Mr. Gilfillan, a gentleman
who, in aid of many other qualifications, brings the
fire of a warm enthusiasm to bear upon his ar-
duous, yet delightful task. His critical powers,
originally founded on his admiring enthusiasm,
have been matured and trained in the course of
an extended study ; and his observations on the
style of thought evinced by the numerous authors
thus brought within his reach are marked by
soundness of judgment and no mean analytical
acumen. His biographical narrative, though
pointed and balanced, is characterised by fairness,
and the events and the chronology he eliminates
with painstaking accuracy and pleasing sequence.

The Chemistry of Common Life. By James F.
W. Johnston M.A. Edinburgh and London :
W. Blackwood and Sons.
It would be difficult to conceive a work fraught
with more immediate or more general, as well as
personal, interest than the one whose title we have
just quoted. In its pages Professor Johnston
proposes to make us acquainted with the natural
history and chemical and physiological qualities of
the various kinds of food on which animal and
vegetable life are sustained. This information he
conveys in a simple, earnest, and highly interesting.
manner. Severely scientific intelligence is commu-
nicated in language as popular and inviting as that
which constitutes the charm of fictitious literature;
but in his case the reader is made acquainted with
useful and abiding practical knowledge. A life-
long and assiduous course of study has prepared
Professor Johnston for imparting to others some
portion of those stores of knowledge he has so care-
fully acquired for himself ; and in addressing him-
self to the pleasing task he evinces a heartiness of
good will and_ an amount of sagacity such as falls
to the lot of only few men to possess. The work
is so judiciously considered in relation to its ob-
jects, that, while it will form a manual of house-
hold economy, it will serve as a guide to the farmer,
a light to the artizan, and a text-book to the
student. In its pages the cook, the brewer, and
the perfumer ; the baker, the housekeeper, and the
mechanic, will each and all of them find instruc-
tion.

Index to Familiar Quotations. Liverpool:
Walmsley.

Mr. Grocott's valuable work of reference on the
interesting subject of familiar quotations is now
completed, by the publication of the third part,
and the whole forms a neat little work of nearly
three hundred pages. Its value to the searcher
after authorities is still further enhanced by the
addition of an alphabetical index, referring to
prominent words in each quotation, not used in
the alphabetical arrangement, so that there is the
advantage of two indexes. We may repeat our
suggestion, that the contributions, which the
author will no doubt receive from the researches
of many friends, may form the materials for a new
and enlarged edition, at some future time. The
present book will form a nucleus for a highly
valuable work of reference, and the thanks of every
lover of the beauties of English literature will be
readily accorded to Mr. Grocott for his labour of
love.

A Voice from the Alps ; or the Vaudois Valleys.
With Scenes by the way of Lands and Lakes
Historically Associated. By the Rev. Joseph
D. Smith. Dublin : John Robertson.
This little volume presents itself to our notice
under varied aspects. The scenes and circum-
stances of which it treats have been so frequently
described and so often referred to, that most
readers may be presumed to have at least a partial
acquaintance with them. On the other hand, the
localities, in addition to the enchantments of na-
tural beauty, are so associated with events and
individuals which have exercised a deathless in-
fluence
over the condition of Protestant Europe,
that a narrative of their history, however dull, can
never fail to interest. When the scenes them-
selves come to be delineated by the masterly hand
of so artistic an observer as Mr. Smith ; and when
their history is sketched by so graphic a chronicler,
both acquire an additional interest. Embodying
these combined advantages, Mr. Smith's volume
will be doubly welcome to those tourists who, as
they pass through scenes of unusual beauty and
interest, desire to be instantly informed of the most
important particulars connected with their present
state and past history. The sketches, though
rapid, are telling, and bear the impress of truthful
delineations.
Bla,ckwood's .3fagazine. Edinburgh: Blackwoods.
The many stirring events which have lately
agitated the political world, and continue to occupy
public attention, have met with an ample share of
consideration in the present number, which will,
no doubt, be read with great interest. The im-
portant question of the war with Russia is dis-
cussed with considerable ability, both as to its
causes and consequences, and the wretched policy
of Lord John Russell, in his abortive Reform Bill,
is exposed with crushing effect on the reputation
of the minister. The writer compares the two
projects of 1852 and 1854, showing their utter
inconsistency, and quotes from several articles in
the Edinburgh Review the sources of each several
proposition which make up the latter bill. The
minister is therefore guilty of plagiarism, as well
as utter want of principle, and now proposes a
measure as the result of his twenty years' experi-
ence which is manifestly a contradiction of all his
previous opinions, and a direct copy from the sug-
gestions of the Edinburgh Reviewer. The article
should be read with attention, but we give the
following extract, descriptive of