and has had his eyes open for the discussions that take place in various journals on the etymology of words. And he has given the results in a compact, practicable form. We do not know a manual of the same size in which so many of the results of modern philology are accurately given. And there are lessons not merely on etymology, but on the affinities of the Arian languages and the laws of changes. Besides all this, there are collections of Latin, French, and Italian, phrases in common use, an explanation of names, and a quantity of other curious matter. The work can be confidently recommended to teachers, as likely to be exceedingly useful to them in the instruction of their classes.

Chambers's Readings in English Prose: A collection of specimens from our best Prose Writers, from A.D. 1558 to 1860, chronologically arranged, with biographical notices and explanatory notes, and an Introduction, containing specimens from English writers from the earliest times to 1558. William and Robert Chambers, London and Edinburgh.

The title of this work states clearly what is to be found in it. The men who take the foremost placés in the history of English literature, are here represented by one or two extracts of the length of a page or two. Sometimes the extracts are a little longer. For the most part only one extract is given from each author. The extracts are generally well-known and favourite passages; the biographical information is drawn up with care; and the whole book is neatly got up. The extracts from the Anglo-Saxon and early English writers are printed in very small type, and they occupy fourteen pages. It is singular that no enterprising publisher or school-book writer has got up a good text-book out of Chaucer and his contemporaries.

First Lessons in the Evidences of Christianity. By B. B. WOODWARD, B.A., F.S.A. Second Edition. London: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder, 27 Paternoster Row.

This is an admirable little book. It is written in language so simple, that a comparatively young person can easily understand it; and the matter is presented in a lively interesting manner. And it suggests no doubts. "In this little book," the author says, "the attempt has been made to treat the subject without any reference, explicit or implicit, to an opponent of the convictions regarding the Bible and the gospel of which it speaks. It has been | thought possible truthfully to prepossess the minds of children with the Evidences of Christianity; and so to forearm them against the assaults to which the faith of most persons, in this active age, is exposed." We think the author has acted wisely in this matter, and has succeeded in his aim.

VOL. II.

The Advanced Reader. (Nelson's School Series.) London: T. Nelson and Sons, Paternoster Row; Edinburgh; and New York. 1866.

We have no hesitation in pronouncing this the best "Advanced Reader" that we know; and the reasons that we have for this opinion are, that the work is formed on an idea, that the idea is a right one, and that it is successfully carried out in the book.

There cannot be a doubt that the observing faculties are the faculties which ought to be cultivated with the greatest care in the earlier stages of education. It is not till a comparatively late period that we can expect to see the reflective powers in full operation. It follows from this that the readings of young people should be such as to train and ennoble the observing powers. This is the idea on which the book is based. The extracts presented are such as will form to the mind of the reader pictures, and he is supplied with these pictures from striking events in the history of individual men, and from the sublime and beautiful scenes of nature. These individual pictures are so arranged, that they do not distract by their endless diversity, but they form parts of a unity. And the reader is thus interested more and more by each lesson, and the knowledge he receives coalesces with what he has already received. The plan, however, would have failed entirely, had an attempt been made to convey knowledge simply; or in other words, to convey pure scientific truth. It is not pure truth that sustains the mind. The truth must be presented in its living beauty, it must be joined with its native goodness, and thus truth, beauty, and goodness sink together into the soul. The extracts selected have therefore been made from the writings of those who combined a scientific knowledge of nature with a poetic eye; in other words, of those who have the gift of word-painting in a high degree. And their prose descriptions are enlivened and impressed by extracts from our best poets relating to the same subjects.

The work consists of five parts. In the first we have scenes from human life, as it exhibits itself in various places and stations. Thus we have the Death of Little Nell, the Elder's deathbed, Hector and Andromache, and other such scenes. Alongside of these are instructive articles on man and the industrial arts, the eye, the pleasures of knowledge, the dignity of labour and other such subjects.

Parts second, third, fourth, and fifth, present varions aspects of nature in different parts of the world; the mighty deeds which throw a lustre round them, and the poems which celebrate them. Thus in part second we have descriptions of the Torrid Zone, the Equator, the Amazon, a Brazilian Forest, the Pacific Ocean, and other grand scenes of nature in Polynesia and in India; and poems are given which harmonise with these prose pictures, such as the Ancient D d

Mariner of Coleridge, the Shipwreck of Byron, and the Unknown Isles by Wilson. Part third takes us to Egypt and the Holy Land. Part fourth gives us pictures of Greece and Rome and Spain. And part fifth gives us some of the most famous English and Continental scenes. Occasionally are introduced extracts on more general subjects, such as "The Origin of Mountains and Valleys," and the reader is taught to reflect in such extracts as "Man in unison with the Creation."

The book is one of deep interest from beginning to end, and will be read by the teacher as well as the pupil with growing pleasure. Very large poetical extracts are given from our best poets, but all the extracts are well worth knowing, and being engraved on the memory.

Merry and Wise. A Magazine for Young People. Edited by OLD MERRY. 1865. London: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder, 27 Paternoster Row. The Butterfly's Gospel, and other Stories. By FredeRIKA BREMER. Translated by MARGARET HOWITT. London: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder, 27 Paternoster Row. 1865.

Benaiah: A Tale of the Captivity. By MRS WEBB, Author of "Naomi," &c. London Jackson, Walford, and Hodder, 27 Paternoster Row.

There are two things required in a good serial for the young. It is essential that it be interesting to those for whom it is intended; and it is also essential that it meet the approbation of critics of riper years. Merry and Wise" fulfils both conditions. Its appearance is looked forward to with intense pleasure by the youthful members of our household, and

we can warmly recommend it to parents, as being healthy and instructive reading for their children.

"The Butterfly's Gospel" and "Benaiah” are two of the tales that have appeared in Merry and Wise. They have been reprinted separately, and done up in an elegant style, with illustrations, for Christmas presents. We can very strongly recommend them. "The Butterfly's Gospel" is a perfect gem in its way, and so is the other story in the volume, “The Rose of Jericho." And the picture of a girl worth her weight in gold, which is added to these two tales, is admirably drawn, and tells at once on the young mind.

"Benaiah" is a tale of the captivity. A good deal of historical matter is introduced, and it abounds in vivid pictures of scenes in the life of the Jews during their captivity, and on their return to Jeru salem. It is also deeply interesting.

The Advanced Lesson Book: Consisting of Reading Lessons in History, Geography, Literature, and Science. Together with a complete course of examples in the higher parts of Arithmetic and Mensuration. For the use of advanced classes in Schools and Institutes. By E. T. STEVENS, associate of King's College, and CHARLES HOLE, Head-Master of the Loughborough Collegiate and Commercial School, Brixton. Editors of "The Grade Lesson Books," &c. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1866.

The title of this work states exactly its nature. It is needless to say that the lessons are interesting, for they have almost all been selected from the best writers on the subjects of which they treat.