MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITKRATURE. 193 



MR. CHARLES KNIGEIT'S ALMANACKS FOR 1836. 



Compiled under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of 

 Useful Knowledge. They are as follow : 



1. The British Almanack. 



2. The Household Almanack. 



3. The Working-man's Almanack. 



Of the " British," with the Comp-inion thereto, we can say thai it is in all respects 

 llie most vaUiable and comprehensive treasury of i<nowltda;e worth having. It 

 contains, together with the chief features of an ahnanaci<, a mass of matter at once 

 attracti\e and highly useful, such as the natural phenomena of the year, chronology, 

 geography, legislation, statistics, &c. &c. In fact, so much pains have been 

 bestowed upon it, that it would be difficult to point out what else it might by pos- 

 sibility have been made to contain. We had nearly forgotten to state, that, inde- 

 pendently of all these and many more, even the public buildings which had 

 been completed during the year 1835, are exhibited in good style, to the number 

 of five or six. On the whole, it is one of the best and most useful publications we 

 have seen, as an every-day book. 



Of the "Household Almanack,'' thit it is full of good things — not puddinijs; 

 no, nor mince-pies — but curious matter relative to domestic concerns ; a very well- 

 written history of wine; household statistics ; all of which will be found interesting. 



Of the " Working-man's Almanack," that it is a compiladon of undoubted 

 merit, abounding in information entirely utiiUariun. Cheapness and utility are 

 sure to command an immense sale for these " smart and vigorous" publications ; 

 and in thus doing what we deem short of justice to them, we feel with Mr. 

 Knight — that, provided a " bcok" be really good and worth the money — it matteis 

 not from whom it come — from a society, or a bookselling house. We are among 

 those, also, who wish the Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge every possible 

 success, and that their en'erprising and gallant literaturist, Mr. Knight, may long 

 be spared to represent its best interests. 



RIDGWAY'S PAMPHLETS. 



Nos. 1 to 6 of the Portfolio. This is a work which, if we do not greatly err, 

 must find its way to the library of every scholar and politician in the king's domi- 

 nions. This periodical publication, we are informed, was undertaken solely with a 

 view of giving a connected publicity to a mass of foreign state papers, most deeply 

 affecting this country, as also the public relations and the political position of the 

 various members of the community of nations. These important documents 

 cannot fail to excite a great deal of political interest. They are composed by a 

 writer of undoubted talent, and one whose experience en the vast theatre of 

 political Europe, will render any sentence contained in them of intrinsic worth. 

 The paper on the state and prospects of Germany we have read to our advantage. 

 The commenlaiy on the Czar's speech at Warsaw, displays considerable ability 

 and a competent knowledge of" facts" connected with that monstrous outpouring 

 of tyranny, which has had the effect of disgusting the whole of Europe — nay, even 

 the rancorous wolves of snow-clad and terrible Siberia have responded to the call 

 of catholic humanity — by their unusually loud and continued howling bark, 

 which fact has been reported to the Goth by Scythian and Vandal tongues. 



Parliamentary Talk, or the Objections to the late Irish Church Bill 

 con.sidered, in a Letter to a Friend Abroad. By a Disciple of Selden. 

 Second Edition. 



Tins is an effort, on the part of the writer, to sliow cause why " any surplus 

 which should remain after fully providing for the spiritual instruction of Protest- 

 ants of the Established Church, should be applied locally to the general education 



