258 Literary and Critical Proimium. [April 



which, by tlie mere turning of a cock, applied. The portable oil-gas oompany 



may be almost instantly lighted in the (see p. 350, last vol.) will doubtless 



ni^lit. The experiments of Mr. W. cause cxi)i'iiments to be made to asccr- 



Herapath, of Bristol, seem to render it tain the practicability of thus spontanc- 



donbtful whether coal gas kindles in ously lighting their lamps kept in bed- 



conlact with porous platinum, at a suffi- rooms, 

 cicutly low temperature to i)e thus 



NEW BOOKS PUBLISHED IN MARCH: 



WITH AN HISTORICAL AND CKITICAL PROKMIUM. 



Authors or Publishers, desirous of seeing an early notice of their Works, are 

 requested to transmit copies before the With of the Month. 



MR. George Dyer has at length 

 obliged the public, by producing his 

 long-expected work,consisting of an exposi- 

 tionof the PrivUegcsofthe UnivLTsityofCam- 

 hriclge, together with Additional Observations 

 on its History, Antiquities, Literature, and 

 Biography. From these voUimes we learn 

 the rmraeroiis and interesting particulars 

 preserved in the Great Register in the 

 University chest ; the charters, and other 

 public instruments, connected with the 

 academic statutes and policy of our seve- 

 ral kings, from Henry the Third to Charles 

 the Second, or from the sixth down to the 

 seventeenth century. These, copied ver- 

 batim from the original papers, are, of 

 course, in Latin; but, in our judgment, 

 the inquisitive and sedulous compiler 

 would have imparted a much more ex- 

 tended interest to his learned and useful 

 labours, had he presented his readers with 

 an English translation of the curious do- 

 cuments which his patience and ingenuity 

 liave brought to light. Had his purpose 

 been limited to that of gratifying the 

 members of the University, which we 

 should imagine it was not, we should have 

 seen nothing objectionable in his giving 

 the particulars of the public instruments 



in the language in which he found them 



couched ; but, in a work designed for, or 

 that should have been directed to, the more 



liberal object of informing the general 



mind on topics which, in a degree at 



least, connect themselves with the feelings 



of the country at large, the circumscribed 



qualification of the great body of society 



should, we think, have been consulted, 



and that accommodation afforded which 



would have enabled the main portion of 



the community to partake of the intended 



intelligence, and derive from it that illu- 



niinatioD, which would have produced the 



nobler boon of an enlarged benefit, instead 



of the narrowed advantage of a confined 



mode of communication. The articles 



Mr. Dyer presents to his readers are as 



multifarious as numerous ; and, going 



deeply into what may he termed the inter- 

 nal history of tlieUniversity of Cambridge, 



they expose much local trudi, and reveal 



jDsjiy curious facts, which carry with 



tliem sufficient importance to impart con- 

 siderable value to iMr. D.'s volumes. 

 From these we collect, not only the privi- 

 leges conferred upon Cambridge by the 

 royal cliarters, but a knowledge of the an- 

 cient constitution, usages, and habits, of 

 that seat of classical learning ; and, though 

 the compiler has thought proper so far to 

 adhere to that character, as to present the 

 public with the various documents in the 

 dress in which he found them, yet, by ac- 

 companying his collected materials with 

 comments in our vernacular language, he 

 has thrown on them a certain portion of 

 light, from which the English reader will 

 be enabled to derive some partial inform.t- 

 tion; and to discover, that the writer ex- 

 tends the plan of his undertaking to histo- 

 rical and political illustrations; and that, 

 going logically, ethically, and metaphysi- 

 cally, into the subject which constitutes 

 the basis of his work, he incidentally 

 makes many communications, the utility 

 and value of which will be felt by every 

 curious and reflecting mind. " The His- 

 tory of Cambridge,'' a title his publica- 

 tion amply merits, comprehends a diver- 

 sity of acceptable intelligence, the general 

 nature and beaiings of which are not only 

 calculated to satisfy the enquiring mind of 

 the scholar, but to furnish every descrip- 

 tion of readers with facts, arguments, and 

 principles, that cannot be learnt and im- 

 bibed without illuminating the intellect 

 and enlarging the heart. On this ground 

 alone, we might recommend the general 

 perusal of Mr. Dyer's work; and on this 

 ground, perhaps, more than on any other, 

 do we express our hope that it will excite 

 the notice, and obtain the studious atten- 

 tion, of the public. 



The Bachelor's Wife; a Selection of Curi' 

 ous and Literesting Extracts, with Observa- 

 tions, by John Galt, esq. The pleasure 

 with which we have perused this volume 

 has been very consideiable. Mr. Gait, in 

 the various topics on which he has des- 

 canted, has embraced as rich a diversity 

 of well-chosen and judiciously-contrasted 

 matter as we ever remember to have 

 found in a publication of the same com- 

 pass. Mr. G.'s introductory remarks, 

 thouch 



