MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 431 



Comines, et id genus omne, may perish, without a tear being wasted upon 

 them/' fcs***0 



We shall in our future numbers analyse this work in sections, as it aims 

 at becoming the standard authority on this important portion of our social 

 history. We wish well to Mr. Baines. 



" Est mihi amicus Socrates, sed major arnica veritas ! " 



Encyclopaedia Britannica. Part LIX. Adam and Charles Black, 



Edinburgh. 



This magnificent work progresses with the most surprising success. If 

 the rage for cheap literature has been attended by some evils if an im- 

 mensity of trash has deluged the public, this one work is enough to re- 

 concile us. Its extraordinary cheapness is but a secondary consideration, 

 the excellence of the articles being its grand staple ; everyone of these is 

 most carefully prepared, and thus it becomes a library of universal refer- 

 ence, upon the authority of which the utmost confidence may be placed. 

 The article " Grammar/' which is concluded in this number, contains a 

 close and philosophical digest of a subject much too often badly and 

 superficially treated. 



We think it most desirable that the public should be kept constantly 

 alive to works like this. It absolutely shames the cheap things that are 

 coming out, and from its intrinsic value deserves a place wherever readers 

 assemble. It is indispensable in the library of every man of research and 

 reading. The supplement to the former editions is incorporated with the 

 body of the work, a desideratum, as supplements are always troublesome 

 things to consult. 



The Instructor. Vol. III. The Universe, Nature, Man. 

 J. W. Parker, London. 



One of the very best features of the literature of the day is that men 

 of talent have begun to turn their attention to writing books for children. 

 It is too often thought and, what is worse, the thought is too often acted 

 upon that works for children require neither genius nor learning ; and 

 hence a multiplicity of silly and childish books have hitherto crowded the 

 shelves of traders in juvenile literature. A more mistaken notion, or a 

 more pernicious practice, cannot be conceived. Miss Edgeworth's 

 *' Early Lessons" have done more service to the moral and intellectual 

 attributes of the present generation, than any other books extant. The 

 child is the germ of the man, and the impressions made upon its mind are 

 never erased. Thus the writer who devotes himself to getting up works 

 for children writes for the man and for future generations the moral 

 and intellectual' impress being continued from sire to child. 



The talented writer of this volume of the "Instructor" has found 

 willing coadjutors in the spirited and intelligent publisher, and in the 

 Society whose labours are devoted to the wisest of purposes. The 

 beautiful spirit pervading the whole has carried back our recollections 

 to the best portions of Mrs. Barbauld's writings. But he possesses 

 qualifications for the task, denied to Mrs. Barbauld ; he is a man 

 of science and of pure philosophy, and we wish his production to be 

 stamped upon the minds of our own children. The vast extent of 

 information contained in this volume is not less remarkable than 

 the simple and attractive manner in which it is conveyed. Knowledge 

 generally esteemed heavy, and even repulsive, comes before us in a 

 graceful and attractive dress, calculated to captivate the attention, and 



