MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 611 



" Information for the People" there was indeed much that was good and use- 

 ful ; but it is impossible to avoid remarking that there was much slovenliness 

 in the mode of getting up the subjects. We have some doubts also as to the 

 real value of such vague information to any class of his Majesty's subjects. 

 These observations apply in a great measure to the books before us. The idea, 

 for instance, of giving "A History of English Literature" in a couple of hun- 

 dred loosely-printed pages is perfectly absurd. It would have been better to 

 leave it alone altogether. The " Introduction to the Sciences" is somewhat 

 better, and in the hands of a judicious teacher may be useful ; but the book is 

 not carefully arranged. The " History and Resources of the British Empire" 

 is done in a manner scarcely less slovenly as respects the arrangement ; but 

 the facts of history, if decently told, must ensure to the book a certain value, 

 and in the latter part the compiler has managed to group together a good 

 many facts of very general interest. The book is used, we understand, very 

 largely in some of the more modern schools; and certainly much credit is due 

 to those who have substituted this litttle volume for the trashy books of Mr. 

 Pinnock and Dr. Goldsmith. There might have been a better one very easily ; 

 but in these days we must be thankful for small things. In noticing the re- 

 mainder of these little volumes, we have a more pleasant task to perform. 

 " The Elements of Geometry" is a short but good and cheap edition of Euclid's 

 Elements ; and some of the additions are good. There are others, however, 

 for which we cannot account at all, unless indeed they be intended to in- 

 crease the bulk of the volume. The dozen pages devoted to Trigonometry 

 would have been much better omitted altogether. By far the best of all these 

 little treatises is that on " Chemistry." It is not out of respect to a name that 

 we praise the book. Facts have come under our observation that fully prove 

 it to have answered its end, that of instilling a taste for experimental chemistry 

 into the minds of young people. It has done more, however, for it is utterly 

 impossible for any young person to read this treatise and accompany the reading 

 with the few inexpensive experiments here suggested without acquiring a very 

 respectable knowledge of chemistry. 



If Messrs. Chambers employ competent men, and grudge not the necessary 

 frais for good workmen, the series may do well. The late numbers have de- 

 cidedly improved. 



RELIGION. 



The Christian Lacon ; or Materials for Thinking in a Christian Spirit. 

 By W. MARTIN. 32mo. W. Darton. 



ON first turning over the leaves of this little volume we thought that there 

 was much of pedantry and affectation in the dogmas and in the style of their 

 expression. An hour or two of leisure has led to a favourable change of our 

 opinion. Tbere is in the book much that has led us to think ; and if we may 

 count on our readers' minds as being at all similar to our own, it is probable 

 that they also may find that which may serve for the materials of thought, 

 Thinking is indeed a spontaneity, we cannot help it. This faculty, and the 

 inevitable employment of it, constitutes our distinctive quality : and thanks 

 are due to those who by suggestive hints call forth the dormant powers of the 

 human mind. Much more are thanks due to that writer who can elicit trains 

 of human thought that prepare a moral being for a happy immortality. 



