and Carthage; indeed we scarcely know anything of either church.

2. That during the short interval between A.D. 250-258 the two churches are seen in the closest possible intimacy. It is, as it were, the lifting up of a curtain. Nothing is done of importance at either see (especially at Carthage) without an instant communication of it to the other; but there is a difference in the manner of the communication. The one speaks like a superior and the other as an inferior. We behold African synods sending their decrees, and a notice of their excommunications immediately to Rome. The members of both churches are so intimately acquainted, that commentators are puzzled to distinguish Romans from Africans. The excommunicated of either Church fly to the other, and seem well known. Appeals are made from African decisions, and Cyprian in distress deprecates Roman interference. Ships must have been in constant readiness to convey messages; nay, so urgent is the intercourse, that Cyprian makes a clerk on the professed ground of carrying his letters to Rome. They seem as busy on the Mediterranean as ants on a gravel walk.

3. The curtain drops, and, although Africa is described as in a state of fearful confusion in the fourth century, there is not during the remaining half of the third, nor the whole of the fourth, nor until the the fifth, the slightest fragment of any intercourse between the orthodox churches of Rome and Carthage. During 400 years there is no known voluntary intercourse between the two sees, except during these eight years in the middle of the period."

This is certainly sufficiently startling. Mr. Shepherd further enters into a consideration of the internal character of Cyprian's Letters. The details are far too minute to be given in our pages, but we would direct the attention to them of all students of ecclesiastical history. In some quarters, Mr. Shepherd is considered we believe to carry his scepticism too far, but we must admit that in our judgment he makes out a case of very strong suspicion.

Mr. Shepherd does not confine his attention to Cyprian. He shows that many other passages of early ecclesiastical history have in like manner passed under the contaminating touch of the church of Rome, and with the same result:-the introduction of falsehoods, fabrication, interpolation, and fraud of every kind. Rome has indeed been the great mother of falsehood in all ages. It may suit the taste of zealous converts to represent her marvels as having equal claims to belief

with the miracles of Holy Scripture, but those who dare apply the test of reason to Roman pretensions and Roman miracles, will find them both based upon the same palpable untruth. Mr. Shepherd's inquiry into the authority for the great fraud of all, the doctrine of the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome by Divine right, (pp. 493-533.) is one of the most sensible and conclusive papers we have read upon that important subject.

Without pledging ourselves to a coincidence with Mr. Shepherd, we heartily recommend his book. It is the work of an acute, painstaking, and honest man, and is well calculated, by the startling character of its contents, to excite renewed critical inquiry into the authenticity of many questionable treatises of the so called Fathers.

Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, 1851. -This work, which we have now to consider in its historical character, commences with an introduction, in which Mr. Cole, after a graphic sketch of the origin of the Exhibition, gives a copious and lucid account of the organization and completion of the arrangements for its accomplishment. Next there follows a Directory, comprising the names of the Royal Commissioners, and of all local and other committees, of all officers also, and all the chief officials employed under the authority of the Commission. To this Directory succeeds an admirable essay on the construction of the Exhibition building, by Mr. Digby Wyatt; and the introduction is completed by some observations on the scientific revision and preparation of the Catalogue itself by Mr. R. Ellis, and by Dr. Lyon Playfair's classification of subjects in the thirty classes into which the Exhibition was divided. The materials for the construction of the Catalogue were in the first instance collected from the Exhibitors themselves, who thus are essentially the many thousand authors of the work. They were required to fill up certain forms, which were printed in different colours for each of the four grand sections of the collection. These forms, when returned, underwent a scientific revision and correction from various competent gentlemen, who adopted certain general principles in order to secure uniformity of action. They pared away redundancies, and in addition to this duty, since all observations of a critical character, in either sense of that term, were rigidly excluded from the Catalogue, they were directed, in order to relieve the tedium of mere description, " to assist in

pointing out the leading features of interest in the objects described, or in direct relation with them, by appending, as the subjects of the proofs suggested, such brief annotations as might appear best calculated to effect these objects." These annotations have been executed in a truly admirable manner, and they constitute the most valuable and also the most attractive portion of the work.

"In the majority of the descriptions of the articles exhibited in the four classes will be found the commercial names of the materials, together with their scientific equivalents. As an instance may be mentioned the woods employed for furniture, which are enumerated, with their commercial names, their Latin names, their native habitats, and the uses to which they are applicable. That this feature of the Catalogue will not be without its fruit in the promotion of the objects of industry, may be expected from the knowledge of the fact that hitherto, in consequence of the absence of such information in a collected form, the greatest difficulties have been experienced by commercial men in their endeavours to introduce into trade any new material of industrial importance, or to obtain adequate supplies of materials already known, but known under a variety of changing, local, and unintelligible terms."-P. 87.

The same principle is apparent throughout the work in the careful explanation of technical terms, and in the endeavour to reduce to one standard, and to render in one language-our own English, the peculiarities of every kind which always have caused the language of the arts as it obtains amongst various countries to be regarded as of extreme difficulty in translation. The result of all these labours is now before us; and, unlike the great and wonderful collection of which it is the exponent, it has amongst us a permanent existence. The grand industrial store is already scattered again amongst the nations and the individuals who contributed to its gathering; but this Catalogue, so far as its literary contents are concerned (for the illustrations are very unequal and sometimes very inefficient), is worthy of the more enduring place which it was designed and desired to fill.

The Book of Dignities. By Joseph Haydn, author of "The Dictionary of Dates," &c. 8vo. (Longmans.)—We have in this work a reproduction in an improved and more convenient form of a book which is, perhaps, the most useful of any used for reference by historical students-Beatson's Political Index to the

Histories of Great Britain and Ireland. There were three editions of Beatson, dated 1786, 1788, and 1806,-the last forty-five years ago; and it was therefore high time that the subsequent period should be supplied; a task which Mr. Haydn has performed with great assiduity and care. The present work has also the advantage, notwithstanding its great additions, of being in one portable volume instead of three. We will briefly indicate its contents: Part I. Catalogues of Sovereign Princes. Part II. Ambassadors to Foreign States; Administrations of England; and Great Officers of State. Part III. Speakers of the House of Commons; Judges and Judicial Officers; Governors and Officers of India and the Colonies; Admirals and Generals. Part IV. Archbishops and Bishops; Knights of the Garter and the Bath. Part V. SCOTLAND: Great Officers of State; Law Officers; Bishops; and Knights of the Thistle. Part VI. IRELAND: State Officers; Law Officers; Bishops; and Knights of St. Patrick. To these are added, [VII.] The Revenue Department of England and Poor Law Boards; [VIII.] The Peerages of England and Great Britain; and [IX.] Indexes to the Privy Councillors, Admirals, and Generals.

The author has so far remodelled his materials, that he claims to "owe little more than the plan to Beatson." Some portions of Beatson's work he has rejected as of minor importance; other features he gives for the first time, as the Administrations of England, and the Judges of the Ecclesiastical Courts. In all parts he claims greater accuracy, for which there certainly was room, as Beatson's last edition is full of errors. Mr. Haydn's list of Privy Councillors is derived from the official register; his rolls of Judges since the Restoration were compiled by a late eminent Judge (Lord Langdale); his Lord Chancellors are taken from Mr. Hardy's accurate roll. That there is still room for considerable correction it would not be difficult to show: but this chiefly applies to the earlier portions of each catalogue. We may give some suggestions in this respect at another time; being at present more anxious to acquaint our readers with the existence of so useful an aid to their inquiries. We will only at present add that we do not think the title well chosen. It is not so much of "Dignities," either Civil or Ecclesiastical, that the book treats, as of Offices; and if there was any occasion to alter Beatson's title, "The Official Index" would have been better than either "The Book of Dignities;" or "Beatson's Political Index

Modernised," which last word is used somewhat strangely in the sense of "reprinted, with continuations."

Essays by the Rev. Edward Mangin. Post 8vo.-There is a well-known remark of Lord Bacon's to this effect: that instruction derived from the characters of individuals finds its way most directly to the hearts and understandings of individuals again. We may perhaps be allowed to generalise this assertion, and affirm that literary records originating in local circumstances, particularly when stamped with the impress of original thought, racy humour, and correct and elegant expression, create for themselves a lively interest with those who are widely separated by time and space from the place and occasion which gave them birth. This short preface may serve to introduce to our readers the agreeable volume which heads this article. In it the veteran and respected author has collected a series of essays, chiefly occasional, with which he has from time to time enriched the local press of Bath. Amongst these will be found some of a graver, some of a lighter cast, the former exhibiting a mind earnest in the cause of truth, virtue, and humanity, the latter a dexterous use of ridicule in serving the interests of good taste, good letters, and good manners, the whole illuminated by that liveliness of fancy and that grace of language which gives to originality of conception its highest zest.

Stories of Scotland and its adjacent Islands, by Mrs. Thomas Geldart. 12mo. -This little book consists chiefly of the most striking historical anecdotes belonging to the several counties of Scotland, which are noticed in succession, a geographical map being prefixed. It is written in an easy style, well suited to young people, and forms a sequel to "Stories of England and her Forty Counties" before produced by the same lady.

Ancient and Modern India. By the late W. C. Taylor. Revised and continued to the present time by P. J. Mackenna. Second edition, with great amendments and improvements. pp. 612.—It is astonishing how little the generality of educated Englishmen know of that vast continent which Providence has subjected to their arms in such an unparalleled manner. Yet no romance is wilder than the authentic history of British enterprise in India; the country, its people, and its masters are alike full of the deepest interest. The richest of the kingdoms of the race of Timour, to use Gibbon's words,

"is now possessed by a company of Christian merchants of a remote island in the northern ocean," and the India which has been a land of wonder to the rest of the world from the days of Solomon and Herodotus, has in our later days become the arena for such men as Lord Clive and Warren Hastings. India should be peculiarly interesting to every Englishman, and especially at the present time, when so many subjects of moment are connected with it. The renewal of the charter of the East India Company will ere long come before our legislature, and will doubtless occupy the minds of thoughtful men out of parliament as well as in. The volume before us gives a summary of the history of India from the earliest times to our own, commencing with an account of the mythic ages as they may be dimly traced through the mists of tradition. Alexander's conquests, Vicramaditya's brilliant era, and the barren centuries which follow the era of Salivahana (A.D. 76), pass rapidly in review, till we reach the Mohammedan invasion, and the augustan era of Mahmoud of Ghazni, A.D. 997. Towards the close of the fourteenth century Timour ravaged the country; and towards the close of the fifteenth the discoveries of Vasco de Gama simultaneously with those of Columbus open a new world for the enterprise of man. As far as history extends, we can always find traces of commerce with India, but its records are obscure and uncertain. The "apes, ivory, and peacocks" which the ships of Tharshish brought every three years to Solomon, betray their country by the Sanscrit derivation of the Hebrew words; and we have an interesting memorial of a later date in Arrian's Periplus. But it is Vasco de Gama who changed the whole aspect of the scene, and no hero better deserves a Lusiad to celebrate him. The Venetian monopoly fell before the Portuguese, as they in their turn before the Dutch; and in December 1600, under our Elizabeth, is signed the first charter of an English East India Company. It was a small beginning, and for a long time it seemed feeble and hopeless; but the might of fate was hidden under its weakness, and when the hour and the men met, Clive and Hastings created an empire out of a warehouse. Those who have not leisure for the long works of Mill and Professor Wilson, will find the present volume full of interest and information. We may particularly notice some valuable appendices of matter which has been compiled from official sources, and in part never before published, relating to the annals of the British government in the three presidencies; and there is a valuable chapter on

Visiting my Relations, and its results; a series of small episodes in the life of a Recluse. This book has, on the whole, left on our minds an impression of some disappointment. Not that the character of the visitor, somewhat unpleasant as one deems it, has the fault of being unnatural,―nay, the wisdom and kind meaning of his counsels can rarely be questioned, it is simply as to its effect on the reader, and upon what would be its effects in real life, that we doubt,-or rather do not doubt-for it seems to us that the unredeemable fault is committed throughout of shewing up all the wisdom on one side and all the folly on the other, giving the easiest possible of victories to the former, and exciting no interest in the latter. From this remark we would except the personal narrative or confession in the episode at p. 39, in which there is a terrible truthfulness. More or less it will recal to many minds scenes of suffering from ill-regulated feelings which have been among the most painful lessons of their lives. The framework of the book is as follows:—A recluse old bachelor, who "used to be a sociable fellow enough at college" some twenty-five years before the time at which the narrative begins, suddenly resolves to visit a nephew and an old friend in London or its neighbourhood, impelled thereto by an unreasonable request of a loan from the one party and a rather reproachful and despairing invitation on the part of the other. He goesthe nephew and his wife come in for some well-deserved criticism and some substantial help afforded in "my uncle's" own way. We do not quarrel with either the criticism or mode of relief, except for a little arbitrariness and rather hard cleverness, provoked, however, by the excessive silliness of the wife.-Next comes the visit to the college friends. The characters are, on the whole, admirably touched, and the episode above alluded to grows most easily out of the circumstances. Then ensues a long conversation with the lady of the house, in which, as in many of the other dialogues, the author falls into the vice of great prosiness, the inevitable result of having the best of the argument, and with no commensurate opposition. Intellectually the lady's character fails grossly, and does not keep up to its first promise, but still more are we struck with its feebleness on the moral side generally a woman's best and strongest. Minds like those of Mrs. Seymour, as he has depicted her, anxious, ardent, and clever, may be untrue to the

the boon of repose over and over again, but hardly we think would require to be regularly told, as if the whole notion was strange, that there is such a principle within. It is a laboured attempt to explain and convince a good and conscientious woman of the reality of an intuition. So many words upon the subject seem to us to "darken counsel," and to savour of distrust in the very principle he is setting forth. Yet here too there are beautiful passages, and a most gladdening consciousness of reality.

The next visit is the result of a meeting with an old acquaintance in a coach-a Mr. Grey; a man of property, full of well intentioned but absurd schemes for the benefit of his fellow creatures. The exhibitions which follow are extremely comic, but appear to us quite overdone.

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And now comes a visit to another relation. In this, the centre of the circle is a young woman, the author's niece, who has previously been but too well known to him as remarkably devoid of simplicity and sincerity. Anxious to establish herself in life, she has married an old man of revolting temper and manners, and has recently taken up a profession of the highest evangelical sentiments. After a ten years languid and intermitting correspondence, My uncle' resolves to see for himself the state of his former most vexatious charge. He is unbelieving in her real reform; on the contrary, he expects to find her engaged in a line of acting of a far more repulsive kind than any in which she has hitherto been engaged," but he goes, striving to hope the best. The state of things however proves to be even worse than he expected. He enters a circle of people more strange, more presumptuous, more alienated, as to him it seems, from true religion than any he had before seen, yet conceiving themselves to be dwellers in the clearest gospel light. We think the picture overcharged; it is not a fanatical character or two that is given us, which would have been allowable enough. What we complain of is our introduction to so large a party, five clergymen included, every one of whom is rendered in description thoroughly disgusting. We think in the picture of this coterie there is a want of discernment of probabilities, and a soreness which puts us in pain for "our uncle." We wish he had infused a little more good into his various groups, and had not kept it all so tenaciously for himself. When we meet with him again, let us hope that his wisdom will be less self-centred, more widely diffused. We are certain it will then show more fairly, naturally, health

fully. Let there be more of giving and taking.

The conclusion, we are bound to say, is delightful. The picture of Cambridge some thirty or thirty-five years ago, and the portraits which both beautify and hallow it, are charmingly given. These

and many other things in the book remind us of our old and much admired friend, the author of "Companions of my Solitude;" yet we confess we should be very unwilling to bestow the authorship of this book upon him, admirable as it is in parts, and high in its tone.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.

Nov. 20. Lord Viscount Mahon, President, in the chair. This was the first meeting of the session; and Captain Smyth the Director presented a report of the examination made by himself in conjunction with Mr. Akerman and Mr.. Roach Smith, of the collection of coins presented to the Society by Mr. Kerrich. The former enumeration was found to be very incorrect. The numbers are, of large brass 1045,--middle brass 918, and small brass 1814,-total 3777. Of these the best have been placed in two cabinets, in one cabinet of large brass 500 and middle brass 528, and in the second cabinet the small brass. The Consular and Imperial Denarii occupy another cabinet; and a fourth contains the miscellaneous coins; while the duplicates and worse specimens, to the amount of 1105, are placed in a fifth. The Report concluded with a recommendation that the Catalogue of the Selected series of Roman Brass and Silver should be printed for the use of the Society.

Mr. E. B. Price, F.S.A. communicated an account of the discovery of a fragment of Roman tessellated pavement, a few days since, during the excavations for a sewer in Huggin-lane, Wood-street. The pavement was of the ordinary character, and Mr. Price observed, that in the year 1843 he had remarked large quantities of it in Lad-lane and Cateaton-street. His principal object, however, was to show that the pavement discovered in Huggin-lane evidently extends under St. Michael's church, on the other side of which a portion of it has been seen. A large frag. ment of it was also found in Wood-street in 1848.

Jonathan Gooding, esq. of Southwold, sent a drawing of an architectural fragment, brought up in ten fathoms water by the fishermen's nets off the coast of Southwold, and supposed to belong to some building of the ancient submerged city of Dunwich. Mr. Gooding exhibited also a brass coin of Constantius Chlorus, with the reverse of an altar, and the legend MEMORIA FELIX. a scarce type; found by a labourer at plough, at Southwold.

Dr. Roots exhibited a perforated lump of baked clay dug up on the site of Cæsar's Camp, Wimbledon Common.

Mr. Pettigrew contributed a notice "On the Deities of the Amenti." In the twentyseventh volume of the "Archæologia," the writer published an account of a mummy examined by him, at Jersey, in 1837. In this specimen the particular portions of the human body supposed by the Egyptians to be under the influence or protection of the Amunti, or Amenti, are distinctly indicated. On the 23rd May last, another mummy was unrolled by Mr. Pettigrew, at the United Service Museum, when some objects were discovered confirmatory of the opinions he had previously entertained. The Egyptians, it is said, assigned the different portions of the body, of which there were no less than thirtysix divisions, to the government of demons, presiding over the triple division of the twelve signs; and Origen states that these demons were invoked when the cure of particular diseases was desired. Upon this Champollion constructed a scheme of theological anatomy, derived from the great funereal ritual. The divinities of the Amenti found in the mummy opened at Jersey were assigned to the contents of the human body; one was bound up with the small intestines, another with the liver and gall bladder, and a third with the heart and lungs. These deities are often seen on papyri and on vases, carrying bandages in their hands, typical of the office assigned to them in the process of embalming. Among the figures discovered in the mummy unrolled at the United Service Museum was that of the bird, benno, which is supposed to have been ranked next to the ibis, and is considered by Egyptian scholars symbolical of Osiris, the judge of the Amenti. In the Jersey mummy the wax representations of the deities of the Amenti were folded up with different parts of the body; but in the United Service mummy they were found lying loose on the bandages containing the viscera.

Nov. 27. Captain W. H. Smyth, V.P. The chairman communicated an invitation received from the Congress of Dele