would be lowered in the gold markets of the world. But this is an impossibility, because, before such an effect could be accomplished, the third stage of the new diggings would reverse the steps, tending continually to increase the cost of gold, as the easy surfacegathering was exhausted. The fourth stage would recede still further from the early

cheapness, as the mining descended, and had to fight with the ordinary difficulties of mines; and the fifth stage would find the reader and myself giving up all thoughts of sporting gold tables and chairs, and contentedly leaving such visions to those people who (according to the old saying) are "born with a gold spoon in their mouths."

THE following notices of the new Ministers may just now interest many readers. They are extracted from four very useful books of reference just published:

EARL OF DERBY.-Edward Geoffrey Stanley, Baron Stanley, of Bickerstaffe, county palatine of Lancaster, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, and an English Baronet; son of Edward Smith, 13th Earl, by his cousin, Charolette Margaret, daughter of the Rev. Geoffrey Hornby and the Hon. Lucy Stanley; born in 1799, succeeded his father July 2, 1851; married in 1825, Hon. Emma Caroline Wilbraham, daughter of Lord Skelmersdale. The Earl is a Privy Councillor, and a Deputy-Lieutenant of the county Lancaster. His entrance on official life was as Under-Secretary for the Colonies during a portion of the Goderich administration.In 1830 to 1833 he was Chief Secretary for Ireland, from 1883 to 1834 he was Secretary for the Colonies. Again, from 1841 to 1845 Lord Stanley held office as Secretary for the Colonies under the administration of the late Sir Robert Peel. On the introduction of the Corn Bill into the Cabinet in 1845 his Lordship retired from Sir Robert Peel's Government, and since that period has been the staunch supporter of what is styled the "agricultural interest." In February, 1851, Her Majesty placed the administration of the country in Lord Stanley's hands-a trust which, however, His Lordship returned to his Sovereign on the following day. His Lordship was summoned to the Upper House in 1846 as Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe, (the second title of his late father,) having previously represented Preston from 1826 to 1830, Windsor from 1830 to 1831, and North Lancashire from 1832 to 1834.

BENJAMIN DISRAELI.-Benjamin Disraeli was born in London, December, 1805, and is son of the author of the "Curiosities of Literature." At the age of eighteen he visited Germany, and on returning to Eng

land published, while yet a minor, his first Work, called "Vivian Grey." In 1831, he found the nation in all the excitement of the Reform agitation. Anxious to obtain a seat in Parliament, entertaining a Tory-party hatred of the Whigs, then in the ascendant, and not naturally illiberal, Disraeli determined to consult the temper of the times; and, accordingly, in becoming a candidate for the borough of Chipping Wycombe, he put forward a strong case against the Whigs, in the form best calculated to secure the suffrages of the Radical party. He lost the election in two contests,-the Radicals apparently distrusting their candidate. In 1835, when the Conservative party had been restored to office, Disraeli became a candidate for the borough of Taunton, and was elected. His subsequent career is elsewhere described.

EARL OF HARDWICKE.-Charles Philip Yorke, Viscount Royston and Baron Hardwicke, in the Peerage of Great Britain, son of Vice-Admiral Sir Joseph Sidney Yorke, K. C. B. (half-brother to third earl,) by Elizabeth, daughter of James Rattray, Esq., of Atherstone; born in 1799, succeeded his uncle, as fourth earl, 1834; married the previous year, Susan, daughter of first Lord Ravensworth. The Earl is Lord-Lieutenant. and Custos Rotolorum of the county of Cambridge, one of the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster, a Captain in the Navy, F. R. S., D. C. L., and was formerly a Lard-in-Waiting to the Queen.

EARL OF LONSDALE.-William Lowther, county Westmoreland, Baron Lowther, of Whitehaven, county Cumberland, in the peerage of the United Kingdom; and a Baronet; son of William, first Earl, K. G., by Lady Augusta Fane, daughter of John, ninth Earl of Westmoreland; born 1787, summoned to the house of Peers, in the barony of Lowther, in 1841; succeeded his father in the higher honors, 1844. The Earl is a privy councillor, Lord-Lieutenant of the

counties and Vice-Admiral of the coasts of Cumberland and Westmoreland, LieutenantColonel of the Westmoreland Militia, and F. R. S.; has been a Lord of the Admiralty, and of the Treasury, Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, Treasurer of the Navy. Vice-President of the Board of Trade, and Postmaster-General.

EARL OF MALMESBURY.-James Howard Harris, Viscount Fitz-Harris, of Heron Court, county Southampton, and Baron Malmesbury, of Malmesbury, county Wilts, in the peerage of Great Britain; son of James Edward, second Earl, by Harriet Susan, daughter of Francis Bateman Dashwood, Esq., of Well Vale, county Lincoln; born 1807; succeeded his father, 1841. His Lordship is grandson of the distinguished diplomatist, who received the Peerage for official services, and of whose "Diaries and Correspondence" he is editor.

DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND.-Algernon Percy, Duke of Northumberland, D.C.L., F. R.S., second son of the second Duke, by his second wife, third daughter of Peter Burrell, Esq., of Beckenham, Kent. Born 1792; married 1842, eldest daughter of the second Marquess of Westminster, (she was born 1820); succeeded his brother in the dukedom, 1847, having previously been created Baron Prudhoe; became a captain R.N. in 1815; appointed Constable of Launceston Castle, 1847; is patron of twelve livings.

THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY.-James Brownlow William Gascoigne-Cecil, D.C.L., Marquess of Salisbury, son of the first Marquess, by the second daughter of first Marquess of Downshire. Born 1791; married, first, 1821, daughter and heir of Bamber Gascoigne, Esq., on which occasion he assumed the name of Gascoigne (she died 1839); secondly, 1847, the second daughter of the fifth Earl De La-Warr (she was born 1824); succeeded his father in 1823; is Lord-Lieutenant of Middlesex. High Steward of Hertford, and Colonel of the Herts Militia; was appointed Major of the South Herts Yeomanry Cavalry, 1847; patron of eight livings.

LORD JOHN JAMES ROBERT MANNERS.Second son of the fifth Duke of Rutland, by the daughter of the fifth Earl of Carlisle. Born 1818; married, 1851, Catherine, only daughter of the late Colonel Marlay, C.B. Educated at Eaton and at Trinity College, Cambridge. Is author of a "Plea for National Holidays;" "What must the English Catholics do?" "Notes of an Irish Tour;"

England's Trust ;' "The Spanish Match of the 19th Century," and other poems.

RIGHT HON. SIR E. B. SUGDEN.-Sir Edward Burtenshaw Sugden, LL.D., second son of Mr. Richard Sugden, of Duke-street, St. James's; is author of several legal works of the highest authority; in 1807, was called to the bar at Lincoln's inn, and in 1808, published his treatise on "Powers," which he subsequently enlarged; from 1817 till his elevation to the bench, he devoted himself solely to the Chancery bar; was made a King's Counsel in 1822; was Solicitor-General from June 1829 till 1830, and in 1835 became Lord Chancellor of Ireland, an office which he resigned about three months after his appointment, and which he subsequently held from 1841 to 1846; is well known for the alteration he effected in the law relating to contempts of Court.

SIR JOHN SOMERSET PAKINGTON, BART.Son of William Russell, Esq., of Powickcourt, Worcestershire, by the daughter of Sir H. Perrot Pakington, Bart., of Westwood. Born at Powick-court, 1790. Assumed the name of Pakington on becoming heir to his maternal uncle, Sir J. Pakington, Bart., 1830. Chairman of the Worcestershire Quarter Sessions since 1834.

RIGHT HON. JOHN CHARLES HERRIES.— Eldest son of the late Colonel Herries, who was distinguished as among the first to set the example of raising volunteer companies during the late war; is brother to Major General Sir William Lewis Herries, K.C.H., Chairman of the Audit Board. Was educated at the University of Leipzig; was private secretary to Mr. Perceval during the greater part of his administration; was Secretary to the Treasury from 1823 till September, 1827, when he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, an office which he filled till January, 1828; was Master of the Mint from 1828 till 1830; and President of the Board of Trade from February to November, 1830; was Secretary at War from December, 1834, to April, 1835.

SPENCER HORATIO WALPOLE.-Second son of the late Thomas Walpole, Esq., of Stagbury Park, Surrey, and Lady Margaret, youngest daughter of the second Earl of Egmont. Born 1806; married in 1825, Isabella, fourth daughter of the late Right Hon. Spencer Perceval.

JOSEPH WARNER HENLEY.-Son of Joseph Henley, Esq.; born 1793; married 1817, daughter of the late John Fane, Esq., and Lady Elizabeth Fane.

HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, &c. Memoirs and Correspondence of Mallet du Pan, illustrative of the history of the French Revolution.

2 vols., a work which the Examiner regards very

important.

"In some important respects there has not been any more valuable contribution to our knowledge of the first French Revolution. Mallet du Pan had the singular distinction, throughout those exciting events, of maintaining principles equally removed from monarchical and republican extremes, and he enjoyed the more singular good fortune of escaping the guillotine which was repeatedly sharpened for him. He lived till after the 18th Brumaire, which he criticised from the opposite shore. He was one of the ablest journalists then existing, and in his later years became the selected adviser and agent of that exiled family of Bourbons to whom in his earlier he had tendered honest warnings and un

happily disregarded advice. It will rightly be supposed, therefore, that his correspondence covers a wide range of persons and opinions, from Voltaire on one side of the channel to Burke on the other."

India in Greece, or Truth in Mythology, containing the sources of the Hellenic race, by E. Pococke, is an ambitious work on an abstruse topic of ethnology, which is so wild as to suggest to the Literary Gazette the idea that it is a jeu d'esprit in rivalry of Dean Swift. It has, however, considerable pretensions.

An account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and Ireland, by J. J. A. Worsaae. Mr. Worsaae, whose reputation as an antiquary is European, was in 1846 commissioned by the King of Denmark to investigate the memorials of the ancient Scandinavians, which might be still extant in Great Britain. His researches were to extend from the earliest period down to the complete establishment of the Norman sway in England. For this purpose Mr. Worsaae travelled for a twelve-month in the British islands; and his zeal to claim for his Danish ancestors the honor of being reckoned among the forefathers and founders of the present British nation, has stimulated him in the investigation of a very neglected branch of English history. If that zeal is occasionally a little outré-this is, nevertheless, more than compensated by the many curious relics of Scandinavian customs and influence in the British islands which his zealous researches have brought to light, and which in some instances none but a Northman would have been able to trace.

It is a very suggestive addition to English histori

cal literature.

The Men of the Time in 1852: or, Sketches of Living Notables, is the title of a book of which the Literary Gazette says:

"We know of no annual publication which de

ately performs another. This volume undoubtedly achieves that not very meritorious feat, and at once secures an unenviable position of its own."

Dr. Maddon's Shrines and Sepulchres of the Old though "paste and scissors" have had quite as much and New World, is a work of interest and research, to do with its composition, as the pen and pencil. The author has been a pilgrim "in many lands;" and seems to have made tolerable use of his eyes and ears, and of the other faculties with which he is endowed. He could hardly be expected to write on such a subject as the shrines and sepulchres of ancient and of modern times, in both hemispheres, without resorting to many anterior writers: but we were scarcely prepared for the very abundant use that he has made of them, and for the manner in which he has transferred to his pages all of theirs that was available for his purpose."

The English Writers of History, is the title of a biographical work, translated from the German of Herr Ebeling, but pronounced by the Athenaum to information offered being too slender and fragbe useless as a guide to historical literature: the mentary for the student's purposes, even if all that is given were of the best quality, which it is far from being. Herr Ebeling's series will not pass muster under any literary standard whatever, even as a fair catalogue or index librorum.

descriptive of Emigrant Life, by Mrs. Susanna Roughing it in the Bush, is the title of a work Moodie, better known as Miss Susanna Strickland, sister of Agnes Strickland. The Literary Gazette sums up its qualities as follows:

"Mrs. Moodie's work, unaffectedly and naturally written, though a little coarse, will delight ladies, please men, and even amuse children. The book is one of great originality and interest."

Gutzlaff's Life of Taow-Kwang, the late Emperor of China, has just appeared. Though the work of one who had the reputation of being better acquainted with China and the Chinese than perhaps any other European, it disappoints the critics. We have heard it said by those who knew him, that so completely had he assimilated himself to the Chinot only his modes of thinking but his very physinese during his long residence among them, that

ognomy had assumed a Chinese cast. From such a man-so thoroughly imbued with Chinese opinion and sentiment, and at the same time still a European scholar--we might naturally have expected a book giving us a close insight into the Chinese and posthumous work, with all the advantage which it their ways. The Athenæum says: "Dr. Gutzlaff's may have derived from Sir George Staunton's revision, is far from answering to even the least exacting notion of what a biography of a Chinese emperor should be to fit it for English reading. Not only is the style bald and stiff, but there is an al

most total want of anything like the true biographic art of interweaving interesting and significant particulars relative to surrounding society with the life of the individual selected as the chief subject." The Political and Historical works of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, have recently been published in two vols. They include his various writings,—his exposition of what he calls "Idées Napoléoniennes," and which his translator incorrectly renders "Ideas of Napoleonism,"-and in the prefatory memoir large excerpts from his correspondence are printed. All of these have, of course, an interest as so many materials towards the understanding of a noted performer in contemporary history. The satisfaction of curiosity, if not of sympathy, is provided for in this seasonable collection of the literary lucubrations of Louis Napoleon. The reading of the memoir and the works will awaken at once the laughing and the weeping philosopher.

History of the British Empire, from the accession of James I. By John Macgregor, Esq.,-a work by a celebrated and learned writer, yet not well received. The Athenæum says: "If his publication is to be received as a practical definition of what he understands by a History of the British Empire,' we can only say his view is peculiar and unfortunate. He has written something between a long lecture on, and a full abridgment of the history of these islands from Alfred the Great to Oliver Cromwell. For certain purposes, and in the hands of particular persons, his book will be useful. In its kind, it is not badly written. The style is generally clear, vigorous and rapid. But his arrangement is exceedingly confused and imperfect."

A new edition of Dr. Pye Smith's Geology and Scripture, has been incorporated into Bohn's Standard Library. The Literary Gazette says, "the lamented author was thoroughly in earnest, unaffectedly pious, and a devoted seeker after truth. He succeeded in mastering the literature and much of the practical knowledge of geology, and spoke out his opinions as boldly as sincerely. The leading points of these essays are as telling now as when they first came out."

Lord Palmerston's Opinions and Policy, as Minister, Diplomatist, and Statesman, during more than Forty Years of Public Life. By G. H. Francis, Esq. The Standard regards this "a valuable addition to the historical treasures of our country during more than forty of the most memorable years in our annals."

The Literature and romance of Northern Europe. By William and Mary Howitt. This work constitutes a complete History of the Literature of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, with Copious Specimens of the most celebrated Histories, Romances, Popular Legends and Tales, Old Chivalrous Ballads, Tragic and Comic Dramas, National Songs, Novels, and Scenes from the Life of the Present Day.

The Oxford University Press is more than usually active just now. A New edition of the "Life of Ormonde," has been 'issued. Burnet's "Lives of the Dukes of Hamilton" is about to be re-issued, and two new and useful works are in the press, namely, "A Catalogue of the Manuscripts contained in the Libraries of the Twenty-four Halls and Colleges which constitute the University of Oxford,"

prepared by Mr. Coxe, of the Bodleian, from the MS. in that library, and "Fasti Catholici: a universal chronology," by the Rev. Edward Gresswell. Mr. Bentley announces several important new publications. The Life and Correspondence of Lord Langdale, late Master of the Rolls; Corneille and his Times, by M. Guizot, to appear in England, under the new International Copyright Treaty, simultaneously with the Paris issue; A History of the Administration of the East India Company, by Mr. Kaye, the historian of the Affghan war. Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury; Lives of the Prime Ministers of England.

Dickens' new work, Bleak House, is destined to be a favorite. The first number is thus welcomed by the Literary Gazette.

MR. DICKENS returns to us in "Bleak House " with the same quaint elaboracy of character and incident, developed with the same largeness and simplicity of heart. He still sees fun where fun is, and good where good is; and brings his characteristic powers of description to bear upon the world around us with, if possible, a riper and a truer hand.

AMERICAN Books.

Bancroft's new History of the American Revolution, is warmly received. The estimate of the Athenæum is abundantly confirmed by the leading critical journals. It says:

"This work must take its place as an essentially satisfactory history of the United States. Mr. Bancroft's style is original and national. It breathes of the mountain and the prairie. A strain of wild and forest-like music swells up in almost every line. The story is told richly and vividly. In his hands American scenery is full of fine effects. Steeped in the colors of his imagination, a thousand incidents, though dull before, appear now animated and pie torial. In his narrative all is movement. His men glow with human purposes-his story sweeps on with the exulting life of a procession."-Athenæum.

The Life of Justice Story, by his son, is also well received. The Spectator says of it:-"In a biography by a son, the reader is prepared to make allowances for filial partiality, shown both in commission and omission. In the case of Mr. Story the allowance needed is less than usual. He takes a critical though a favorable view of his father; touching with truth, if somewhat undervaluing, his defects of diffuseness and want of condensed strength in composition; which, indeed, naturally arose from the extent and multiplicity of his tasks. In the social aspect the man was probably as faultless as man can well be; his disposition to think well of everybody, and to be satisfied with every effort, except latterly in the case of Democrats, certainly not amounting to a fault. In his public and gen eral character the reader will desire another view; at present the picture is, so to speak, almost without shade."

The Athenaeum, while eulogizing the man, inclines to censure the biography. "Like the biographies of Romilly and Mackintosh, these volumes are a tribute of filial love and reverence; and on this account, as well as from respect for the memory of the great American jurist, we were desirous of being able to place the record of so much genius and worth on the same shelf with the former works. We regret to say, that we can accord to these volumes no such distinction. Without their diminish

ing in the least degree, our respect and admiration for Justice Story as a philosophical lawyer and a conscientious and amiable man, we are compelled to confess that the perusal of these volumes has not afforded us much instruction or pleasure. But if he intended his work to be read if he aimed at pleasing and delighting others, as well as indulging his own feelings of filial regard,-why did he make this work so long? The life of his father does not afford sufficient incident for two thick octavo volumes. A judicious curtailment of the correspondence, and a brief but clear epitome of the father's professional labors, would have been far preferable to the present series of uninteresting letters and of cases which are much better read in the regular Reports."

The Life of Margaret Fuller meets with various reception. The Critic opens with a ludicrous description of Transcendentalism, and says: “It was with unsated curiosity that we took up these Memoirs of Miss FULLER, who was understood to have been the Queen of New England's new spiritualism, as EMERSON was supposed to be its king. Nor have we been altogether disappointed. It is a book which throws ample light on a New England personality, and on a New England circle, which, in themselves, and from their contrasts with character and circumstances in Old England, are very singular and interesting. Certainly, it is the first chapter of American literary history that we have found worth the reading. We may characterize its interest in a single sentence, by saying that what CARLYLE'S Life of Sterling is to Old England, these Memoirs are to New. For the rest, it need only be added that to high literary excellence, the work makes no pretensions."

Sixteen months in California, by D. B. Woods, published by HARPERS, and reprinted by Low, is highly praised. Says the Athenæum: "We have not seen a better book than this on California. We say emphatically "better," not as respects the writer's cleverness though that is respectable enough-but as regards the sobriety of tone throughout, the evident honesty of purpose with which it has been written, and the exactness of its details in all that relates to the miner's daily life. This is partly to be attributed to the writer's position and acquirements."

Horace Greeley's Glances at Europe, published by DEWITT & DAVENPORT, is reprinted in London. The Critic says they "are the hasty notes of a Visitor to the Great Exhibition. There is little of novelty in them, even for his Transatlantic countrymen; nothing for us, to whom everything described is so familiar. Nor does his style offer any peculiar attractions to make old things look lie new."

The Men and Women of the Eighteenth Century, is the title of a brilliant series of sketches of eminent personages who flourished in France during the reigns of Louis XV., Louis XVI., and subsequent to the establishment of the Directory-published in two beautiful volumes, by REDFIELD. The list includes a great number of names celebrated in history, with not a few whose genins contributed to the splendor of their era and the formation of the public character, but to whom history has not done an equal justice. Statesmen, warriors, poets, artists, actors, savans, kings, queens, nobles, courtesans-all the strangely brilliant circle that at the

time made up French society are brought into review, and into that moral juxtaposition which their real influence would indicate. The list is large, and the delineation admirable. The peculiar tact, brilliancy, and finesse of the French mind are visible in every touch of the author's pencil. Some of the sketches are master pieces of characterpainting, while the facts of private history, personal traits, and illustrative incidents are instructive. Treating of French characters there is much that must be repulsive, if the delineation be true; but we know of no work which, with such successful strokes, brings before the reader the veritable picture of that desolate era which found its natural development in the horrors of the Revolution, as these volumes present.

Prof. Aytour's Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers, a well-known brilliant series of ballads founded on the heroic incidents of Scottish history, and highly lauded by the British press, has been handsomely reproduced in this country by Mr. Redfield.

The Book of Ballads by Pro. Gaultier, the prince of parodists, has also been reprinted by Mr. REDFIELD-a most genial and humorous work. Poetic ability and fire are intermingled with the humorous fancies and broad farce of the poems. They are incomparably the best specimens of comic poetry of the day.

Cousin's Course of the History of Philosophythe memorable prelections of the distinguished French philosopher, on his restoration to his chair in the University, which have been the admiration of scholars and thinkers, have been elegantly translated by Mr. O. W. Wight, and published in two volumes by the Messrs. APPLETON.

Madame Pulszky's popular work, Tales and Traditions of Hungary, which was received with remarkable favor in England, and is a work of both intrinsic and relative worth, is republished in a handsome volume, by J. S. REDFIELD, and will be equally a favorite in this country. The last work of that accomplished scholar, Professor Stuart, of the Andover Seminary-a Commentary on the Proverbs-has been published by M. W. DOOD, in one

vol. 12mo. It bears the marks of that extensive erudition, careful thought and earnest feeling which render the author one of the most successful exegetes of modern times, and will be an acceptable bequest to the wide circle of his admirers.

The Messrs. Carter have recently republished several works of religious character, selected with that judicious care which has made their lists one of the most valuable and interesting of any house in the country. The Folded Lamb, a biography of a charming little child, by his mother; Far Off, a popular sketch of oriental lands and scenes, by a highly successful writer, the author of "Peep of Day;" Songs in the House of My Pilgrimage, a collection of devotional poetry for daily use; Frank Netherton, a fine juvenile tale, &c.