CRITICAL NOTICES.

Sir Henry Cavendish's Debates of the House of Commons, during the thirteenth Parliament of Great Britain, which met in May 1768 and was dissolved in June 1774; commonly called the Unreported Parliament. Drawn up from the Notes of the Right Honourable Baronet, Member for Lostwithiel in that Parliament, and now first published by J. WRIGHT, Author of the Parliamentary History, &c.-Parts I. and II. London, 1840.

THE recovery of these debates is an event of no slight political and historical importance. At the meeting of Parliament in May 1768, the standing order for the exclusion of strangers was rigidly enforced, and continued in force during the rest of that session; consequently, no authentic report of the debates (which comprehended matters of vast public moment, the expulsion of Mr. Wilkes, Controverted Elections, Law of Libel, Affairs of the East-India Company, America, the Quebec Government Bill, &c., &c.) has hitherto appeared. It was known that Sir Henry Cavendish had, with a most magnanimous sacrifice of his own ease to the public welfare, diligently taken notes of these discussions in short-hand, and Mr. Wright, the able editor of the Parliamentary History, has been for many years vainly endeavouring to discover in whose hands the collection was deposited. In the beginning of last year, he found it amongst the Egerton MSS., in the British Museum, filling no less than forty-nine small quarto volumes, some of the speeches having been corrected by Sir Henry, some exhibiting little more than the skeletons of speeches, and some still remaining in short-hand, which, being the system of Mr. Gurney, can be easily read. From this treasury of materials, Mr. Wright, to whose zeal and good fortune the world is mainly indebted for this valuable discovery, has prepared this work, which will consist of four or five volumes, published in monthly parts, enriched with copious notices, illustrative of the biography of the speakers, and of the foreign and domestic history of the time.

Sir Henry says of these notes : My original design was to take down the heads only of the several speeches; but finding by practice even my inferior skill adequate to something rather more extensive, in the subsequent sessions of this Parliament, the debates will be found more at large, except in the case of a few members, whose rapid delivery outran my ability to keep up with them." This is apparent in the earlier speeches, which are brief and desultory; but even in these we have occasional glimpses of the fancy of Burke, the sarcasm of Barré, and the temper of Lord North. The recovery of the "lost books" of Livy would excite more sensation in the literary world than this resuscitation of so valuable a portion of our parliamentary history, but it would be of less practical utility and importance.

Outlines of China-Historical, Commercial, Literary, Political. By ROBERT BELL, Esq. London, 1840.

These "outlines," which appeared in the Atlas newspaper, contain a collection of information respecting China, extremely creditable to the industry of Mr. Bell. They are superficial, it is true, but they aim at nothing more. Upon the subject of " British relations with China" he is not to be trusted. Like most writers upon his side of this question, he is a partizan, and a warm one. In his eagerness to vindicate the measures taken against the Chinese, he overlooks some of the most obvious considerations of natural equity, and he has been induced to venture this assertion, that "all the writers, who have recently undertaken to vindicate the Chinese, are opposed to the present Government, and that not one of them has ever set his foot in China; while all those who have lived in China, or visited it-missionaries, soldiers, seamen, ambassadors, and merchants-looking only to the national honour, and uninfluenced by factious motives, unanimously agree in representing the conduct of the Chinese to be perfidious, and derogatory to the dignity of the British Crown, and such as renders the war not only justifiable, but unavoidable." This passage is printed in italics and capitals, as if the propositions involved in it were incontrovertibly true; whereas there is scarcely one that is correct. If all the writers who have an interest,

direct or indirect, in upholding the opium trade, and whose testimony, according to thfe common rules of evidence, ought not to be received, were excluded, there would be few persons indeed, who have visited China, prepared to justify, or even palliate, the measures we have pursued towards her.

The Chronicles of a Traveller; or a History of the Affghan Wars with Persia, in the beginning of the last Century. Being a translation of the Tareekh-i-Seeah, from the Latin of J. C. CLODIUS. BY GEORGE NEWNHAM MITFORD, Esq. London, 1840. Ridgway.

The Tarikh-i-Seeah is the work of a Polish Jesuit, named Krusinski, who was a missionary in Persia, where he witnessed the revolutions in that country and its conquest by the Affghans, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. His account of the revolution is esteemed to be very accurate, and is universally regarded as an authority. He published a Turkish translation of it, under the title just mentioned, at Constantinople, in 1729, which was re-translated into Latin by J. C. Clodius, the Arabic Professor at Leipsig, in 1731. Mr. Mitford has translated this translation into English.

Krusinski's "History of the Revolutions in Persia," by Du Cerceau (a Jesuit, who published a French version, at the Hague, in 1725), is neither a scarce nor a dear book. We have seen an edition in two volumes, printed in London, 1728, and another in one volume, printed at Dublin, in 1729, each of which cost a few shillings.

Letters on Recent Transactions in India. London, 1840. Smith, Elder, and Co. Internal evidence convinces us that these letters are written by Col. Caulfield, who has taken a great interest in the recent political transactions in India. The subjects to which he calls public attention in these letters are the policy observed towards the Court of Ava; the advantage that might have been expected to spring from an alliance with Dost Mahomed Khan, in preference to Shah Shooja; and the expediency of assuming, in our relations with certain states of India, " a permanent and controlling authority."

Extracts from Holy Writ and Various Authors, intended as Helps to Meditation and Prayer, principally for Soldiers and Seamen. By Captain SIR NESBIT J. WILLOUGHBY, R. N., C. B., K. C.H. London, 1839. Printed for gratuitous circulation.

MODEST in its pretensions, humble in its aim, this little volume possesses more of the quality of usefulness than many didactic treatises. It is precisely what its title imports, a collection of extracts, without any attempt at arrangement or artificial order, from whence every grade of intellect may receive incentives to serious meditation. They are especially calculated to rouse the unthinking, and if a few hundred copies were judiciously distributed in soldiers' libraries in India and the colonies, and on board ship, they would do much good. Sir N. Willoughby's professional experience of the evils attending the want of such manuals amongst our soldiers and seamen seems to have prompted him disinterestedly to undertake this commendable and Christian work.

Lectures on the Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth. By WILLIAM HAZLITT. Third Edition. Edited by his Son. London, 1840. Templeman. WRITINGS SO well known and so much admired as Hazlitt's Dramatic Lectures are almost out of the jurisdiction of periodical critics, who may safely subscribe to the judgment which Lord Jeffrey pronounced upon them: "While they extend our insight into the causes of poetical excellence, they teach us, at the same time, more keenly to enjoy and more fondly to revere it.”

Sketches of Country Life and Country Matters. By One of the Old School. London, 1840. Rivingtons.

THESE Sketches are comprised in three chapters, " Country Life," "The Country

Gentleman," and "The Peasantry." They are very pleasingly written, and the last especially abounds with truths of practical utility.

Hints, Theoretical, Elucidatory, and Practical, for the use of Teachers of Elementary Mathematics and of self-taught Students. By OLINTHUS GREGORY, LL.D., F. R. A. S. London, 1840.

Whittaker.

DR. GREGORY has applied his leisure, after retiring from his official engagements at the Military Academy, to smooth the path of teachers and self-taught students of mathematics. This little book will prove to such persons a valuable help.

A Course of Exercises, progressive and entertaining, for learning to Write and Speak correctly the German Language. Second Edition.

A Practical Guide to the Attainment of a correct Pronunciation of the German Language. Third Edition.

The German Manual for Self-Tuition. Third Edition.

Simpkin and Co.

BY WILHELM KLAUER-KLATTOWSKI. London, 1840. THESE Works, together with some excellent tables of conjugations and declensions, are constructed upon the principle of simplifying the acquisition of correct German, even without the aid of a master-an aid, however (experto crede), we should not advise the student to dispense with.

College Examination.

EAST-INDIA COLLEGE, HAILEYBURY.

GENERAL EXAMINATION, June 1840.

ON Tuesday, the 30th of June, a deputation of the Court of Directors proceeded to the East-India College at Haileybury, for the purpose of receiving the report of the Principal, as to the discipline and literature of the past term, and the result of the general examination of the students.

The deputation, upon their arrival at the College, proceeded to the Principal's lodge, where they were received by him and the professors, and the Oriental visitor. Soon afterwards they proceeded to the hall, accompanied by a numerous assemblage of visitors, where (the students being previously assembled) the following proceedings took place, viz.

A list of the students who had obtained medals, prizes, and other honourable distinctions, was read.

Mr. F. B. Pearson read the Prize Essay on the following subject:-" The Artificial Distinctions of Society are conducive to the Happiness of Mankind.'

The students read and translated in the several Oriental languages.

The medals and prizes were then presented by the Chairman (Wm. Butterworth Bayley, Esq.) according to the following report, viz.—

Patrick Alex. Vans Agnew, highly distinguished, with prize in Classics, prize in Mathematics, prize in History, 2d Essay Prize, and prize for General Proficiency at the Easter Examination.

Wm. Molle Cadell, highly distinguished, with medal in Teloogoo, prize in Law, and prize for General Proficiency at the Easter Examination.

Joseph John Fitzpatrick, highly distinguished, with prize in Persian.

Wm. John Rivett Carnac, highly distinguished, with prize in Hindee.

Henry Dundas Maconochie, highly distinguished, with medal in Mathematics. Wm. Agnew Goldfinch, highly distinguished.

Chas. George Hillersdon, passed with great credit, with prize in Persian.