The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-11-28 00:00:00

i The Tic

Tran
By. R. SoutheN

lation

Poems, Correspondent
With a Life of the A
LL.D. London : Henry G. Bohn
This beautiful, comprehensive, cheap, and ele-
gantly illustrated edition of Cowper, by Southey,
is drawing to a conclusion, the volume before us
being the sixth, and two others being now all that
are wanted to complete the series. The present
volume contains " The Task," with a copious in-
dex ; the poetical epistles, and a large collection of
in addition to these it likewise em-

futhor,

3r poe

braces the translation, jointly made by Cowper and

his friend and biograiher Hayley, Of " Adam : a
sacred drama," by Gio. Battista Andreini, from
which not a few of the literary cognoscenti insist
that Milton borrowed extensively in his composition
of Paradise Lost. Viewed in connexion with this
disputed subject, the translation assumes an in-
terekt not its own, and must be looked on as a
valuable literary curiosity. The pictorial illustra-
tions to the present volume are eight in number,
and are all landscapes, with the exception of a
scene from " John Gilpin," from the pencil of
W. Harvey. The illustrations are cleverly en-
, graved ; and by their number, as well as by the
delicacy and beauty of their execution, they greatly
enhance the value of the work, notwithstanding
which it is published at an exceedingly cheap rate.

IThe Dublin University Magazine. Dublin: James
111`C4lashan.

The November number of this magazine is an
exceedingly good one, being filled with contribu-
tions of more than common interest. It opens
with an elaborate and carefully-prepared paper on
the " Expedition to the Crimea," in which that
topic, so fertile in themes of present speculation
E. V. and discussion, is ably handled. The portion
published is only the first part of the paper, and
ilack River." the battle commencinc, with the matters preliminary to the
landing of the Allied Armies in that peninsula, it
finishes with the victory at Alma, in which the
30KS, difficulties encountered and overcome by the gal-
lantry and conduct of the French and British
Wife. By the troops are vividly, yet truthfully delineated. The
London J. number, besides many papers of general interest
~."
and variety, contains an able one on " Wolsey,"
Since the magic pencil of Scott dropped from his in which that distinguished churchman's character
once powerful and obedient hand, numerous artistes as a statesman and diplomatist is considered, and
have essayed to delineate the workings of the compared with those of his most celebrated con-
human heart as these are evinced in scenes and temporaries and successors. Under review of the
circumstances connected with the business of magazine writer, the lowly-born but aspiring boy
every-day life. In fine conception, delicate yet flp
truthful portraiture, graceful drawing, and forcible relief from
tan
ic sds out in prominent and flattering
the vulgar, though aristocratic, herd by
which he was surrounded, fawned on, hated,
yet full-toned colouring, none of the "Great Magi-
dreaded, and ultimately spurned and treated with
clan's" successors have outstripped the beautifully-
contumely. The writer dwells with much favour
idealised creations which have emanated from the on the magnanimity of Wolsey's numerous chari-
richly-stored and finely-tutored mind of Warren •
ties—palliates many, indeed most of the crimes
and few have equalled the varied truthfulness and
skilfully-touched individualities of Bulwer. Lock- charged against him, and concludes by claiming
hart, thou h a vi orous and dashing limner for his hero a high place among those exalted
retired ear ly g
from th igs
,
field of literature--2not, how-
intellects who, far in advance of the age in which
ever, until he had left the bold impress of his
they lived, have, by their sagacity and firmness,
c
daring intellect in vivid hues and bold relief upon conferred lasting benefits on the posterity of those
who misunderstood, feared, and finally persecuted
the glowing pages of " -Mathew Wald" and " Adam
Blair," and in the stirring incidents of " Valerius" them. Other biographical sketches and reviews
had displayed the fertility of his imagination—the contribute to fill up the valuable pages of a more
warmth and brilliancy of his fancy. Wilson's
than ordinarily valuable number of one of our
efforts in prose fiction, confined almost exclusively highest-class periodicals.
to the display of tenderness and simple virtue, as
--
these qualities were exhibited among the unsophis-
ticated sons and daughters of his native glens and
by many looked on as too
representation to do
0) their author's powers, or to entitle him
to a place in the foremost rank of those master-
minds who inculcate great truths and convey im-
,mai and religious axioms through the
teachings of fiction. Besides the writers named,
many others have, with a greater or less degree of
success, endeavoured to make men better, wiser,
happier, by exhibiting virtue in its native loveli-
ness, and contrasting ' -4th the harsh repulsive-
ness of vice. Amor

al dirge

o are as

Sunday

Month

On the Tchernaya, called

REVIEWS OF BOOKS

Jleartseas

; or, the Bros,._
author of " The Heir of Redclytle,
W. Parker and Son.

Decimal C

2inag

By Theodore W. Rathbone

London Ridgway

mountains, have bean
limited in their sphet
justic(

We have, on more than one occasion, expreved
our opinion that any system of decimal coinage is
not only impracticable, but of very little value. In
the work before us, Mr. Theodore Rathbone has
displayed great ability and research, and given, in
as clear and intelligible a form as the subject is
capable of, a comparative statement of the different
plans of decimal accounts and coinage which have
been proposed by the witnesses examined before
the Committee of the House of Commons, and
others ; together with a Compendium of various
statements on the subject. Those, therefore, who
take an interest in the question, have here an op-
portunity of acquiring a knowledge of all that has
been, or perhaps can be, said upon it, without the
fatiguing labour of wading through a Blue-book.
The number of plans which have been proposed is,
in itself, an evidence of the difficulties with which
the subject is surrounded ; but we are free to con-
fess that, if anything could reconcile us to an al-
teration, it would be the plan which Mr. Rathbone
himself suggests. He proposes to retain the present
pound as the standard of value, and also the penny,
but to substitute silver pieces of five-pence and
ten-pence for the six-pence and shilling, with
which they might for a time circulate simulta-
, taneously. The great point, however, is to make
out a case of necessity for the change. This has
)not been done, and we adhere to the opinion, that
the only good to be effected is a slight saving of
labour in keeping accounts, while the evils would
be manifold in a general confusion of all the minor
monetary transactions throughout the country.
To those, however, who still entertain a feeling in
favour of a decimal system as a substitute for our
present pounds, shillings, and pence, we cordially
recommend Mr. Rathbone's book, as one of the
best and most comprehensive which has yet ap-
peared on the subject. We may remark that, at
the bottom of the title-page, is the very appropriate
affix :—" Price Tenpence."

portant 11

, within a comparatively
..nt period, the reading public had its interest
stirred rather than gratified by the appearance of
an unobtrusive tale in one of the numerous raj-
publications of the day, entitled " Henrietta's
in which the chords of the heart were so
ugly yet unassumingly touched as to indicate its
author's competency to strike a bolder'note, and fling
the profusion of his richly-toned harmonies over a
wider circle of admirers. This was accomplished in
the " Heir of Redclyffe " which immediately sprung
into a deserved extent of popularity and well-
rooted favour - and to the interesting tale before
us that popularity and favour are sure to be
extended. The story of " Heartsease" is simple,
and the incidents in the hands of most writers
would have remained common-place ; but touched
by the life-giving wand of genius, without losing
their simplicity and naturalness, they are invested
with an interest which arrests, secures, and repays

g thes(

attention

The Illustrated London Magazine
Piper & Co.

London

In this age of cheap literature,the above magazine
may fairly challenge rivalry both for quantity and
quality, and no doubt commands, as it deserves, a
very large share of public patronage. Its list of
contributors includes names well known to fame,
such as the Hon. Mrs. Norton, Fanny Fern, Lady
Emmeline Stuart Wortley, Horace Mayhew, Mayne
Reid, and others. Above forty quarto pages, pro-
fusely illustrated with well-executed wood en-
gravings, and published at sixpence, should prove
a sufficient temptation, and place any idea of com-
petition out of the question.