VI.-1. The History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace, 1816-46. By Harriet Martineau. 2. History of the Whig Ministry of 1830 to the Passing of the Reform Bill. By John Arthur Roebuck, M.P. - 160 VII.-Lives of the Friends and Contemporaries of Lord Clarendon, illustrative of Portraits in his Gallery. By I.-1. Poèmes des Bardes Bretons du VI Siècle, traduits 2. The Ionian Islands under British Protection III.-1. Second Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry into 2. Report from the Select Committee on the Inland IV.-1. Dry Leaves from Young Egypt. By an Ex- 2. Speech of Viscount Jocelyn, in the House of Com- V.-1. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas Chalmers, D.D. By the Rev. William Hanna, LL.D. 2. Posthumous Works of Dr. Chalmers. VII.-1. Correspondence relative to the recent Discovery of 2. Further Papers relative to the recent Discovery of 3. Twelfth General Report of the Colonial Land and 4. Address at the Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society. By Sir R. I. Murchison. 5. Lectures on Gold, delivered at the Museum of Prac- 6. A Ride over the Rocky Mountains to Oregon and California. By the Hon. Henry J. Coke. b 8. Across the Rocky Mountains from New York to California; and a Stroll through the Diggings of Cali- fornia. By William Kelly, Esq. 9. The Colonies of Australia, with latest Intelligence from the Diggings. By John Fairfax, Esq. 10. Tables showing the legally appointed Weight of British Gold and Silver Coin. By James H. Wather- 11. A Letter to Thomas Baring, Esq., M.P., on the Effects of the Californian and Australian Gold Discoveries. 12. Some Observations on the recent Supplies of Gold, with Remarks on Mr. Scheer's Letter. By Andrew Johnson, Bullion Office, Bank of England. 13. A few Words on the Gold Question, showing that the value of Gold will not become depreciated. By E. H. 14. Australian and New Zealand Gazette VIII.-1. Three Years of Free Trade: addressed to the Electors of the United Kingdom, by One of Them- 2. Letters (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) to the President of the Board of Trade, on the Balance of Trade, ascertained from the Market Value of all Articles Imported, as com- pared with the Market Value of all Articles Exported, during the Five Years 1845-1850. By C. M. Newde- 3. The Finances and Trade of the United Kingdom in the Beginning of the Year 1852. 4. By Authority. Pastoral of his Eminence the Cardinal ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER-appointed to be read in all the Catholic Churches and Chapels in the Arch- diocese of Westminster and Diocese of Southwark. 5. The Lenten Pastoral of the Cardinal ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER, together with the Time of the Exposi- tion of the Blessed Sacrament, Retreats, and Compline Services in the London Churches and Chapels for Lent. 6. An Appeal for the Erection of Catholic Churches in the Rural Districts of England, with some Animadver- sions on the Pretensions of the Established Church, and on the recent Approximation of her Worship to that of Rome. By the Catholic Bishop of Bantry, on behalf of the Society'de Propaganda Fide.' [Signed IGN. 7. Letter to the Right Hon. the Earl of Derby, from *Note on Kaye's History of Affghanistan Page THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. ART. I.-Art and Nature under an Italian Sky. By M. J. M.D. Edinburgh. 8vo. 1852. IT T is fortunate that, at a time when cheap postage has enabled too many people to write badly with the greatest ease, the effusions of returned tourists should be less in vogue than formerly. All the information that aspires not above the useful, with much more beside, is now admirably arranged and condensed in the Handbooks; and whoever would snatch a grace beyond them must bring no common abilities as well as opportunities to the task. In short, nothing but a new country can now carry down a poor book. This is as it should be. Yet it is no less true that, however old the theme, a new mind will freshen it-however over-described the region, one good description more is always welcome. This, we do not hesitate to say, the work before us offers. A grand-daughter of Beckford's, while travelling in his steps, had a claim of no common kind to be heard, and she has fully justified her claim. We will not say that she is deficient either in the knowledge or poetic feeling of her grandsire, though she makes a display of neither; but her merits rather consist in turning to unusual account that weakness in which lies a lady-tourist's strength, namely, the absence of that medium of acquired lore which, in the best hands, will as often intercept as enhance the prospect. Descriptions of Italy by time-honoured names-scholar, poet, and painter-rank among the highest works in the English language, and he or she must be bold who would compete with them on their own ground; yet we may unreservedly own that some of them present as little of real Italy as Dr. Johnson does of real Scotland. In this elegant volume the slight element of personal association, if not worth much, is soon swept away, and nothing remains between our mind's or memory's eye and a most unusually distinct view of Italy itself. There are as many creeds in scenery as in religion, and as exclusive too. The thorough, out-and-out Highland-worshipper, for instance, is seldom converted to any other form of natural beauty; but, VOL. XCI. NO. CLXXXI. B but, though our authoress's life seems to have been chiefly cast among Scottish scenes, she is truly catholic in her love of nature, and depicts every gradation, from the rugged to the soft, with a kind of joyful precision we have seldom found surpassed. A lively sketchy chapter of Introduction prepares the reader for that stamp of traveller least likely to feel fatigue herself or to impart it to others. She hoists the banner of real enthusiasm at once-begins with a thrill of delight at the Rhine! the Rhine!' and takes us on in rapid stages of ecstasy at the first sight of the Alps, along the Lake of Geneva, and over the Simplon Pass, till she culminates in an appropriate transport at the sudden transition to the southern beauties of the Val d'Ossola. The entrance into Genoa is the occasion of another burst, and also the scene of an adventure. The approach to Genoa greatly delighted me. Villas and gardens full of orange-trees and flowering shrubs on either side of the road, with trellised vines supported upon ranges of stone pillars. These are often placed tier above tier, and their rich ornaments contrast beautifully with the craggy rock from which they seem to spring. Altogether there is something peculiar and appropriate in this approach, preparing one, so to speak, for the magnificent scene which greets the traveller, when, on turning one of the abrupt declivities which jut upon the road, Genoa la Superba bursts upon the view! It is built nearly in the form of a crescent, at the foot of mountains of various heights, some of the lower eminences being crowned with forts and ramparts, and their sides gay with palaces and terraced gardens. At each end of the crescent-shaped city are two noble piers, with lighthouses terminating both. One is particularly fine, rising between three and four hundred feet from the solid rock. Splendid houses line the principal streets, which, though narrow, convey no idea of gloom, while the shade they afford from the glare of the noonday sun is most grateful. I was delighted with Genoa, even by the time we reached the Albergo d'Italia, a very good hotel, with a most attentive and obliging landlord. Our rooms were quite charming, but at such a height! Nos. 65 and 66! However, the heat was so intense, we were glad to have large airy apartments, even at the expense of climbing up to them. We arranged to go out and see the church of L'Annunziata and return to tea before going up to our nest again. Well may people talk of the extraordinary magnificence of this church. It is one mass of gold and blue and gorgeous marble of every colour. Bright pictures set in golden panels look down from the roof, and lapis lazuli is the ground wherever they are not. In the dome, which is lighted by windows all round, are paintings which, at that distance at least, are perfectly beautiful. The windows are set in massive gold frames, and the effect of crimson silk curtains, on which the setting sun was shining, was nothing less than glorious. . . . We looked in vain for a painting I had heard was in this church, and which I wished to see. Observing |