for dilating on the vicinity of the course of the Thames or our other rivers, &c. &c. It is certainly not to be denied, that the investigator of all local beauties and rarities, natural and artificial, will enjoy, in the approaching facilities of communication, very great advantages over his predecessors of former generations; and the antiquary may, with the rest, take his flight upon railroad wings, and pounce down at once upon the object of his pursuit. He will not, however, take the present author for his guide. And if the antiquary does not, -alas! who will have compassion upon his farrago of Roman pottery and black-letter inscrip tions? Let it not be supposed that we are averse to the study of antiquities being rendered popular. We know no nothing more desirable, as calculated to preserve what has been often destroyed or mutilated through ignorance, and as likely to increase the general stock of knowledge. But the blind cannot lead the blind. If there is no royal road to learning, there is certainly no railroad to the mazes of archæology. This book is not worth an examination at any length; but we must give a few specimens of its quality to justify our censure. The tourist begins with Harrow, when he exclaims, "Who would dream, in the present day, of asking to be directed to Herga super Montem, Harene alte Hulle, or Herges, -yet by all these names is Harrow known to history, and mentioned in ancient records." Harene alte Hulle would certainly have "puzzled the natives" at any time; but it is quite a new, not an old version, and we think that Harewe atte Hulle, which is the original of that false orthography, would be tolerably familiar to them even now. In p. 12 is introduced an anecdote about Archbishop Becket being insulted at Harrow by two of his own clergy; and it is added, "It is but fair towards Becket to give the names of these militant priests, Rigellus de Sackville and Robert de Broc." Why this should be fair towards Becket we do not perceive; but it would have been much more fair to the reader if the author had first given the name Nigel correctly, and then stated that Matthew Paris, who has preserved the story, mentions him as "the usurping Rector of Harrow," whence his grudge towards the Arch. bishop, and that Robert de Broc was his curate. From the church we have this lucid copy of an old epitaph : "Ion med's marmore numinis ordine Flam Tum v lat Barde quoque verbe stigis e funere hie tucatur." which is left to the decyphering of the ingenious. In pp. 46 and 101 are NormanFrench inscriptions scarcely more in telligible. In p. 32 we have "Dorothea la Morrisson," instead of "Dorothie Lady Morrison." In p. 70 we are told of a monk named "Edmundi Cook;" that the Latin of " Jesus Son of God," is "Jesu fili die;" and that another person died "in annum dicto." So thickly strewn are the specimens of the author's scholarship; but, what is more important to the ordinary reader, his compilation is not derived from the best authorities, but from the very worst. Instead of Chauncey, Clutterbuck, and Lysons, he quotes Hughson's Perambulations, the Beauties of England and Wales, and Lewis's Topographical Dictionary. Hughson, we believe, was only the nom-de-guerre of a former literary hack; he is, however, the grand authority of the work before us, so true it is that "like will to like." With a compiler so easily satisfied we cannot be surprised that he has not met with either edition of Parry's History of Woburn, nor with the more recent publication of Britton's Cashiobury. That most sumptuous work, Todd's History of Ashridge, has not, of course, come within the most distant echoes of his range; and, seated as he is amidst the smoke of the last railway carriage (or, perhaps, after all, in his back garret in Grubstreet), he has not descried even a pinnacle of the very finest house in the whole district he has pretended to describe, the Countess of Bridgewater's at Ashridge! The latest information he has acquired regarding the place, is the destruction of the old house in 1802! If this be railroad intelligence, commend us, say we, to the pedlar and his pack. We do not expect to see another " series" of this very extraordinary "New History of England.". We should not be disposed to deny the utility of a pocket companion that might afford the traveller satisfactory information respecting the objects that he can actually descry from the line of railroad: and indeed we see by several advertisements, that the booksellers promise the public an ample choice of such guides; one already published, the Iron Road Book, by Mr. Coghlan, appears, on a hasty glance (for it has not been submitted to us for review), to be a scientific, sensible, and useful production. The Theory of the Differential and Integral Calculus derived synthetically from an Original Principle. By John Forbes, D.D. Minister of St. Paul's, Glasgow. FOR the last fifteen or twenty years, the progress of mathematical science in Britain has been distinguished in one grand feature. We mean our freely and fearlessly availing ourselves of all the refined resources of the modern analysis, and our adoption of whatever is good in the researches of the mathematicians of the Continent. In no department of the mathematics is the improvement more conspicuous than that of the Differential and Integral Calculus, or as we used to term it - Fluxions. The profound train of thought which led Newton to the discovery of this highest branch of the tree of science, happened to have some relation to bodies moving with different velocities in different times. He therefore explained to us the principles of the science under those views in which they occurred to himself. It did not follow, however, that these should prove the most obvious to future in quirers; and accordingly the doctrine of Fluxions and Fluents has proved an insuperable barrier to many a conscientious lover of knowledge. By the conscientious, we mean those of ordinary talent and industry, such as Bishop Berkeley, who admit nothing which they do not thoroughly understand. Now in the elementary principles of Fluxions, such as prevailed among us till of late, there is such a bewildering maze of ideas respecting time, space, and velocity, and infinitely small quantities, that the beginner is rendered quite desperate, and shuts up the book in despair. Indeed we have heard it pronounced, "ex cathedra," that the student is not expected at first to understand Fluxions, that he must believe that all is right, and persevere in the application till at some auspicious moment he becomes thoroughly illumined. The consequence is, that a great many mediocre mathematicians apply the doctrine of Fluxions to the solution of problems, as a mechanic uses his tools, without troubling their heads with the scientific principles which regulate their art. The doctrine of Fluxions and Fluents, then, is upon the whole calculated rather to retard than promote the cause of science; and we sincerely hope the day is not distant when it will be utterly exploded. Some ten or twelve years after Newton's discovery of the method of Fluxions, Leibnitz invented the Differential and Integral Calculus-differing from the former merely in name and notation. Since the time of Leibnitz the science has received vast improvement from the mathematicians of France and Germany, yet in all their works there is wanting an easy and natural transition from Algebra and Geometry to the threshold of the Differential Calculus. Perhaps the simplest method is that of the application of the doctrine of limits adopted by Mr. Whewell and other eminent mathematicians. But, unfortunately, this method is not general in its application; it is merely well adapted for isolated and individual cases; whereas we require a broad and universal principle as a foundation for such an important science as the Differential and Integral Calculus -a science which connects earth with heaven-whose power extends to the confines of space and time, and whose dominion embraces nature and nature's laws. Dr. Forbes, in the work now before us, seems to us to have proved most successful in supplying the desideratum to which we have just alluded. He commences with a few general theorems in common algebra, which he demonstrates in a manner at once original and elegant; we more particularly allude to his "New form of the Binomial Theorem," which we venture to say will be admired by every mathematician in Europe. We are thence led by easy gradations through the experimental, logarithmic, circular, and Taylor's theorems, after which the student finds himself in the very citadel of the Differential and Integral Calculus. The great merit of the work is, that the learner is enabled clearly to see his way through every step, provided he pay the same degree of attention that he had occasion to do in passing from one proposition of Euclid to the next. Even Bishop Berkeley himself could find no fault either with the logic or conclusions of Dr. Forbes's treatise; and, had it appeared in the days of that acute prelate, we should never have enjoyed the perusal of that clever Tractate yclept the "Analyst." It would be of course foreign to the nature of a periodical like ours to give any extracts from a work of this kind. In fact, to be appreciated fully, it must be seen as a whole; and to such of our readers as take an interest in these sublime investigations we sincerely recommend it. Let us, in conclusion, express our hope that Dr. Forbes will be induced to complete the task he has so auspiciously begun, in presenting us (as is hinted in his preface) with a more extended treatise on the Integral Calculus. That he is well qualified to do the subject ample justice is fully proved by his present work, a work in which the precept of the late venerable Laplace - the master mathematician of Europe-is strictly followed and its correctness established: "Préférez, dans l'enseignement, les méthodes générales; attachez-vous à les présenter de la manière la plus simple, et vous verrez en même temps qu'elles sont presque toujours les plus faciles."* Rondeaulx: from the black-letter French Edition of 1527. By J. R. Best, Esq. WE will give the first Rondeau that we meet with, in order that its structure may be made known to our readers: * Laplace, Ecoles norm. tom. 4. Some short while since I fell in love again;A love, not only of the heart, but brain; It makes me feel almost as in a trance: For still does Memory cast its willing glance To these perfections I might not retain. She's modest, plump, fair, graceful, haute-not vain, And that I know how true's this fervid strain, I love her more than all the maids of France Some short while since. As subject, slave, bound in Hope's glittering I'll fight her quarrels, aid in every pain [chain, With strength and wealth, while I can hold a lance. She has my pledge this promise to enhanceI made her of my heart the Châtelaine, Some short while since. T'eu iras tu?-(Lady speaks.) What, wilt thou go?-and wilt thou really dare To leave my budding youth to grief and careTo mourn and languish sorrowing and low?I who did ne'er deceit nor cunning know, Nor own'd one secret wish but thou wast there? Thine am 1-as bequeath'd thy heart to share: Oh! dearest friend! to whom I bend my prayer, Say! must I perish?-perish by thy blow? What, wilt thou go? Already do my cheeks less roses wear, From dread to think of what I'm doom'd to bear If all deserted and abandon'd so. Oh! I pray God that thou mayst never know, Man of unsteady heart, such black despair! What, wilt thou go? Practical Evils of Dissent. By a Clergyman. We strongly recommend this cheap little volume to the attention of the public: its statements are fair, clear, convincing; its arguments and inferences just and sound. It places the question between the Church and the Dissenters upon its real ground; for the author seems well acquainted with both parties and their views. That a most virulent hatred towards the Church exists in the minds of the great body of Dissenters, we too well know, their magazines, tracts, their petitions, their refusal to pay rates, their political speeches, their private declarations prove this; and that this has been increased a hundredfold by the opening which the Reform bill has given them to declare their sentiments by partisans in the House of Commons to support them, and by the hope of at last destroying their great enemy, we also know. We should only say, let not the Church feel an unconfiding anxiety on this matter. Let us preserve the purity of its principles its sacred and venerable institutions,--let its doctrines be sound, its discipline just and right, let it continue to be filled by learned and devout ministers, superintended by kind and conscientious bishops, and supported by an honest, honourable, and enlightened government, and let it leave the issue fearlessly in the hands of Him to whose glory it is dedicated, and for whose service it was instituted. The present State of Controversy between the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches. By H. Gordon. 1837.-Mr. Gordon conceives that at the present time the Roman Catholic religion is receiving converts to her doctrines and making an inroad on our reformed faith and he traces this to the abuse of private judgment, discrediting reason, as so remark 'ably shewn of late years in the German Lutheran churches; which by common reaction induces men to fly from these wild and alarming speculations to the unchanging stilness, the unmoveable stedfastness, the calm repose of the Roman Catholic faith. Mr. Gordon considers that the root of the evil lies in the omission of the reformers and their successors to establish and define the province of right reason in religion; and he considers that the labours of Protestants might be advantageously directed to that branch of theology which treats of the proper limits of reason; of the support which reason lends to faith, and the foundation of faith in the operations of reason and judgment. This little work is well written, well reasoned, and abounds with the remarks of one who has studied and is well acquainted with his subject. The Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. By the Rev. T. Biddulph, M.A.The author says, that in consequence of some doctrines contained in "Tracts of the Times," now publishing at Oxford, which doctrines he considers unscriptural and allied to Popery, he has been induced to re-publish, with alterations, this volume. The doctrine in dispute is one which has been often argued, and particularly in the present day, viz. whether spiritual regeneration be a necessary accompaniment of the rite of baptism, or rather whether it is the grace included in it-in fact, its essence and its worth. Mr. Biddulph argues that regeneration used to precede baptism (when only adults were baptized), and those only were admitted, or demanded the rite of baptism, who felt regenerated in their hearts and spirit; and that the outward rite or form of baptism is only a mark or symbol of a Christian separation from the general or carnal world. And then this opinion involves, as its necessary corollary, that baptism is not necessary to salvation; and that unbaptised infants and other persons may be admitted to the mercies purchased by Christ. The adverse opinion is, that the external rite of baptism carries with it of necessity the gift of regeneration. That all that are baptised are regenerate or new-born unto righteousness, though they may fall away afterwards from the blessing which they have received. We do not think this disagreement on a great and vital point of religion, likely to be soon terminated; for it would seem to involve in itself sentiments on either side that extend beyond the limits of the particular question. The origin of the dispute seems to have arisen from some of the early writers of the church employing the terms of baptism and regeneration, terms which specifically denote the outward visible sign and the inward visible grace, as expressions of the same import. Thus the sign and thing signified expressed by a common term. Mr. Biddulph's present work, though it may not convince his opponents, is written with all commendable temperance and propriety of manner, as becomes a Christian divine, respecting the character and feelings of his opponents; and the arguments and authorities are worthy of attention: though in rejecting the authority of the fathers (p. 109), he has taken away a medium through which unanimity might have been obtained, and rendered the final adjustment of the question more remote. 2 were The Cicisbeo. A Tragedy in five acts. 1837. The poets of the present day seem to agree with a French writer :C'est mieux dire des riens, que de rien dire "-It is better to talk nonsense, than to hold your tongue. The present nameless author has availed himself to the full of this privilege; for every page teems with absurdity-which is in full blossom even at the opening leaf; for there we read with horror a motto from the Bible affixed to this mass of verbosity and folly : "Wherefore doth my Lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is mine hand?" Next comes a dedication from a nameless nephew to a nameless uncle, whom he professes not to name "from a dread of connecting his name with a performance unworthy of his patronage." After this follows a preface; in which the writer advises poets "never to think of Shakspeare, or work pot-valiant upon him or any other writer." We cannot profess to detail the plot, if plot it can be called, of this precious piece of fatuity: but we will pick out a plum or two; as p. 5, one friend describing another reading : "His eye did beam So bright upon me, that I quail'd Of the same gentleman it is said,- The living page which chatter'd'neath his eye." Of the nightingale it is observed," And Philomel did gibber wild of love, [ear, And with soul-rending shrieks assail'd mine Making my sweating heart to heave and writhe With rapturous agony." A gentleman observes he has not a musical voice :- "In'all that leaves my lips 'twixt tone and sense To surprise is given the following novel and graceful action : "Though I call him friend, Surprise, that doth the wonderful propound, Would never nudge me." An allusion-distinguished for sense and propriety! "What! Cecil stoop to dote upon a girl? Sooner, methinks, St. Paul would do it." Elegant figure of rhetoric : "I'd rather lap a dog whose nose had drunk The hunted polecat's sweat, than call him friend," &c. A lady's observation to her maid :"Like any other honey-blooded mortal, I've long been hourly driven mad by flies, That buzz me sonnets that they may enjoy me In peace and quietude, the selfish loons." GENT. MAG. VOL. X. A question : "Can Godin Heaven grin from the green moon Upon such sufferings?" Simile : "I'll be as sure he's worthless, As God, before he deluged Earth, was sure 'Twas justly done, ere frenzy bursting soul This plugging reverence shall be withdrawn." So much for "The Cicisbeo," and we recommend the anonymous uncle to get his anonymous nephew, the author, as soon as he conveniently can, placed safely in Saint Luke's, in the care of an anonymous keeper. Oxford in 1888, a fragmentary dream. By a Sub-Utopian, &c.-A very clever and amusing production, under the mask of a dream or fiction, proposing many judicious alterations, commenting on many antiquated errors, and perhaps anticipating many improvements that will be adopted; while occasionally some sly satirical shaft is let loose, on here and there an opinion too pertinaciously held, or a custom that has outgrown the cause in which it originated. In most of the suggestions of the dreamer we fully agree, and feel that he dreamt with his eyes open. His architectural improvements are judicious (p. 63-5); but we would form Christ Church Meadow into a beautiful lawn, with walks and seats for "retired leisure;" for this it is eminently fitted, and no doubt in 1888 cows will be superseded by canons, and where milk maids carried their pails, masters of arts will be seen discoursing in learned pairs, and "unsphering Plato" beneath the shade of their suburban elms. There is nothing said about a botanical garden worthy of the name, which we have no doubt will ere long uplift its "wall of verdure," and within which the lectures will be given on that science. But we will not, by any unwise suggestions of our own, anticipate a second dream, which we are sure is not far off; and in which the dreamer will no doubt be favoured with important communications from the spirits of intelligence; who we think will require some improvements in Greek and Latin grammars and dictionaries, recommend the early study of Quinctilian as well as Aristotle, and give, what is much wanted, a lucid and accurate account of the Platonic writings, including their moral sentiments, metaphysical speculations, and political reasonings. Eleusinia. 1836.-This poem has for its subject the nature and affections of the human soul; but we do not think the plan well adjusted, nor do the parts follow in proper division and order. This was 2Q |