CONTENTS. PAGE WALPOLE'S LETTERS TO SIR HORACE MANN- Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Oxford, to Sir Horace Mann, British Envoy at the Court of Tuscany. Now first published from the Originals in the possession of the Earl of WALD- GRAVE. Edited by LORD DOVER. 3 vols. 8vo. 1833 38 THACKERAY'S HISTORY OF THE EARL OF CHATHAM- A History of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Earl of Chat- ham, containing his Speeches in Parliament, a considerable Portion of his Correspondence when Secretary of State, upon French, Spanish, and American Affairs, never before pub- lished; and an Account of the Principal Events and Persons of his Time, connected with his Life, Sentiments, and Administration. By the REV. FRANCIS THACKERAY, A.M. SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH'S HISTORY of the Revolution— History of the Revolution in England, in 1688. Comprising a View of the Reign of James the Second, from his Accession to the Enterprise of the Prince of Orange, by the late Right Honourable Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH; and completed to the Settlement of the Crown, by the Editor. To which is prefixed LIFE AND WRITINGS OF SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE- Memoir of the Life, Works, and Correspondence of Sir William LORD MAHON'S WAR OF THE SUCCESSION. History of the War of the Succession in Spain. By LORD MAHON. 8vo. London: 1832. HE days when Miscellanies in Prose and Verse by a Person of Honour, and Romances of M. Scuderi, done into English by a Person of Quality, were attractive to readers and profitable to booksellers, have long gone by. The literary privileges once enjoyed by lords are as obsolete as their right to kill the king's deer on their way to Parliament, or as their old remedy of scandalum magnatum. Yet we must acknowledge that, though our political opinions are by no means aristocratical, we always feel kindly disposed towards noble authors. Industry, and a taste for intellectual pleasures, are peculiarly respectable in those who can afford to be idle and who have every temptation to be dissipated. It is impossible not to wish success to a man who, finding himself placed, without any exertion or any merit on his part, above the mass of society, voluntarily descends from his eminence in search of distinctions which he may justly call his own. This is, we think, the second appearance of Lord Mahon in the character of an author. His first book was creditable to him, but was in every respect inferior to the work which now lies before us. He has undoubtedly some of the most valuable qualities of a historian, great diligence in examining authorities, great judgment in weighing testimony, and great impartiality in estimating characters. We are not aware that he has in any instance forgotten the duties belonging to his literary functions in the feelings of a kinsman. He does no more than justice to his ancestor Stanhope; he does full justice to Stanhope's enemies and rivals. His narrative is very perspicuous, and is also entitled to the praise, seldom, we grieve to say, deserved by modern writers, of being very concise. It must be admitted, however, that, with many of the best qualities of a literary veteran, he has some of the faults of a literary novice. He has no great command of words. His style is seldom easy, and is sometimes unpleasantly stiff. He is so bigoted a purist that he transforms the |