ART. XI-1. Select Works of the British Poets, from Chaucer to Jonson; with Biographical Sketches. By R. Southey, Esq. L.L.D. 8vo, pp. 1016. London : Longman, & Co. 1831.

2. Select Works of the British Poets. With Biographical and Critical Prefaces. Jonson to Beattie. By Dr. Aiken. Svo, pp. 807. London: Longman & Co. 1829.

In these two volumes, printed with great care in a clear and beautiful type, we have not merely the essence, but almost a complete library of British poetry from Chaucer to Beattie. It contains indeed only the select works of the gifted individuals, who have contributed to that brilliant department of our literature; but when we observe that those "select works" comprise the Canterbury Tales, the choicest productions of the Earls of Surrey and Dorset, of Thomas Tusser, whose old Book of Husbaudry has never before been included in any general collection, of George Gascoigne, Spenser, Lord Brooke, Drayton, Donne, Carew, Davenant, Habington and Lovelace; of Ben Jonson, Cowley,

Milton, Waller, Dryden, and of the whole illustrious galaxy in which shine the names of Parnell, Prior, Gay, Pope, Swift, Thomson, Collins, Shenstone, Young, Gray, Goldsmith and Cowper, we need hardly recom-. mend such volumes, since they perform that office for themselves. No poems of any writer of note seem to have been omitted, save those which are of inferior merit, or unfit for the perusal of young persons. We have complete transcripts, without mutilation, of the Faerie Queen, of that very curious poem, Drayton's Poly-olbion, of Paradise Lost and Regained, Somerville's Chase, the Rape of the Lock, and the Essay on Man, the Night Thoughts, the Pleasures of the Imagination, the Traveller and Deserted Village, the Task, and that exquisite production, the Minstrel. To these are added all the smaller pieces, which have obtained a permanent popularity; and with so much attention to the interests of the public, has all this been done, that referring to the period which they embrace, we do not remember a single poem that one would wish to have at hand, which is not to be found in

these volumes. A short biographical notice is prefixed to the works of each writer; the text seems to have been in general well revised, and the work is in every respect so neatly executed, that it forms a handsome pair of volumes for the drawing-room. To well conducted schools, and well educated families, this edition of the British poets must be peculiarly acceptable, containing, as it does, so large a body of our poetry within so small a compass, and combining so much of sterling utility with a more than ordinary share of elegance.

ART. XII.-The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society delineated. Published under the Superintendence of the Secretary and Vice-Secretary of the Society. 2 volumes 8vo. London: Tilt. 1831.

FEW persons have, we should suppose, of late years paid a visit, even of a short week, to London, without seeing the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park. They form decidedly the most rational and diversified exhibition of which this, or indeed any other capital can boast; and greatly exceed both in the number of animals which they contain, as well as in the taste with which they are laid out, every thing of the kind in Europe. When the visitor enters the gardens, he may purchase a catalogue of the birds and quadrupeds which he is about to inspect; but the situations which they occupy, are so perplexingly numbered, and so often changed, that the catalogue is apt to mislead him. Even if it were not defective in this respect, it is at best but a dull, dry list of names, which, to the juvenile visitors especially, who are usually

the great majority, is of no use whatever. It was, therefore, with much pleasure that we opened the two volumes now before us, which are published under the superintendence of the officers of the Zoological Society, giving a brief account, in language divested of all technicality, and which a child may understand, of the principal birds and quadrupeds which compose this splendid menagerie. They are illustrated by excellent wood-cuts, and taken as a guide to the gardens, or an explanation of the curiosities, after we have visited the gardens, they afford far greater facilities for the study of natural history, than any other publication in our language. The typography is beautiful; the order of the subjects natural and perspicuous; and a copious index supplies the immediate means of referring to the history of any particular specimen, with which the reader wishes to become acquainted.

ART. XIII.—The Biblical Series of the Family Cabinet Atlas, engraved on steel, by Mr. Thomas Starling. Part I. London: Bull, 1831.

THERE seems to be no end to these classes of publications, which are directed particularly to the instruction of the rising generations. Nor ought there to be, for to no other end can the labours of men of talent in every department of science and art, be more advantageously applied for the good of mankind. It is but a little time ago that we had to bestow the tribute of our praise upon the Family Cabinet. Atlas, comprising upon a small, but admirably clear, scale, the maps which are necessary for the illustration of Profane History. We have now to speak in similar language

of the Biblical Series of this Atlas, executed in a style of engraving beyond which, we suppose, art cannot go. The number before us contains four maps distinguishing the territories occupied by the Tribes of Asher, Napthali, and Zebulon, the land of Moriah, or environs of Jerusalem, and the kingdom of David and Solomon. This beautiful publication is the more acceptable, as charts of the countries mentioned in the Bible have hitherto been either very incorrect, or, if well executed, inaccessible to the public, on account of their enormous prices.

ART. XIV.-The Family Library, No. XXII-Lives of the Scottish Worthies. By P. F. Tytler, Esq., F.R.S., and F. S. A. vol. 1. London: Murray. 1831. THIS is an exceedingly interesting number of the Family Library, written in an easy popular style, and treating of the lives of worthies, whose names we have all been accustomed to syllable from our infancy. Alexander III., Michael Scott, Wallace, and Bruce, form in succession the subjects of the present volume. Mr. Tytler has in this little work well sustained his hereditary connexion with Scottish history. Six engravings very fairly executed, three of which are copies of ancient Scottish seals, one, a representation of a Norwegian barrow, and two sketches of scenes celebrated in the annals of love and war, ornament the publication.

Under the superintendence of A. J. Valpy, M. A. 12mo. pp. 224. London A. J. Valpy.

1831.

We have already spoken favourably of the first number of this work. The present volume concludes Paley, and commences Locke on the Human Understanding. As example is always more acceptable than commentary, we shall show by the quotation of a single paragraph, the great advantages which this epitome presents to the reader. Locke thus begins his essay Since it is the understanding that sets man above the rest of sensible beings, and gives him all the advantage and dominion which he has over them, it is certainly a subject, even for its nobleness, worth our labour to inquire into. The understanding, like the eye, whilst it makes us see and perceive all other things, takes no notice of itself. And it requires art and pains to set it at a distance and make it its own object. But whatever be the difficulties that lie in the way of his inquiry, whatever it be that keeps us so much in the dark to ourselves, sure I am, that all the light we can let in upon our own minds, all the acquaintance we can make with our own understandings, will not only be very pleasant, but bring us great advantage, in directing our thoughts in the search of other things. All that is superfluous is weeded out, all that is circumlocutory is abridged very neatly in Valpy's edition, which renders the paragraph thus:-'Since it is the understanding that sets men above the rest of sensible beings, it is worth some labour to make it a subject of inquiry. But though, like the eye, it enables us to see other objects, it requires to be set at a distance to be seen itself; and though the inquiry be attended with

many difficulties, it cannot fail to be both pleasant and profitable, from the assistance it will afford us in our researches on more points than one.' We confess that we read Locke's ideas with much greater satisfaction in the language of the Epitome, than in his own.

ART. XVI.—A Lecture on Know

ledge, deliverd before the Members of the Keighley Mechanics' Institution. By Thomas Swinburn Carr. Svo. pp. 28. Keighley: Aked. 1831.

In this production Mr. Carr has given an outline of a series of lectures upon the History of Philosophy, which he is engaged in delivering before one of those excellent institutions, which, thanks to Lord Brougham and Mr. Birkbeck, are now planted in almost every village of the kingdom. The style is, perhaps, occasionally, too pompous and oratorical, and the lofty manner in which the author handles his theme, pre-supposes a larger and more varied quantity of knowledge in bis audience, than they would, possibly, be found to possess. These are serious faults in a lecturer who undertakes to enlighten the minds of mechanics. Compositions addressed to such persons, in order to be useful, must be familiar. The tone of the author's sentiments is decidedly liberal, and his acquaintance with the important subject of which he treats, extensive. He very properly pays attention principally to those practical points of philosophy, which are of the greatest utility in regulating the conduct of life.

ART. XVII.-Divines of the Church

of England.-Dr. Isaac Barrow.

Vol. VII. By the Rev. T. S. Hughes. 8vo, pp. 506. London A. J. Valpy. 1831. : THIS forms the twelfth number of the Divines of the Church of England, and the seventh volume of the works of that eminent writer and preacher, Dr. Isaac Barrow. It is chiefly occupied with a treatise on the Pope's supremacy, in which the Dr. has displayed a vast mass of learning. Upon the truth or fallacy of his arguments it is not our province to decide. But no educated person can question the utility of such a reprint of Barrow's works as we find in this collection, whether he be an enemy or a friend to the doctrine which they inculcate.

ART. XVIII-The Life and Opinions of John De Wycliffe, D.D, illustrated principally from his unpublished manuscripts; with a preliminary view of the Papal System, and of the state of the Protestant Doctrine in Europe, to the commencement of the Fourteenth Century. By Robert Vaughan. 2 vols. Svo. London : Holdsworth, &c. 1831.

WE profess no admiration whatever for the doctrines of Wycliffe, or for those of his successors in the path of what is called the Reformation. The narrative of his life, therefore, by Mr.Vaughan, has for us nothing more than a merely historical interest. At the same time we have no desire to withhold from that gentleman, the praise that is due to him, for the industry and talent to which this work in every page bears witness. He sustains his religious opinions with great zeal, of the sincerity of which we have no doubt. The work, we perceive, has already reached a second edition.