tural works. Of the period before the Anglo-Norman conquest, we have no existing remains, but the round towers, Cormac's chapel on the Rock of Cashel, and a few extremely simple and unornamented churches. Subsequent to that conquest-and when the invaders became petty princes, and wished to bargain with the church for the safety of their souls-there were sundry abbeys and cathedrals built in imitation of those already existing in England and France; but there were three obstacles to the prevalence of ornate and elaborate architecture; viz. in the comparative poverty of the country, the want of handicraftsmen, and the difficulty of procuring a good material. Ireland, deficient as it is in the newer and upper formations-which abound above the coal measures in France and England-cannot offer either the new sandstone or the oolite to the workman to cut or carve with a readiness that made ornamental work comparatively cheap elsewhere. Con Our granite and carboniferous limestone almost set at defiance the tools of that period; and even now, when used, the labour required in the cutting is so costly, that it is almost out of the question to expect that the rich decorations and the delicate carvings which are to be seen wrought out in the sandstone and oolites of England, should be produced in our country. sequently, it is found, by old records, and by the exhibition of the stone itself, that most of the decorations of our ecclesiastical buildings in Dublin and elsewhere-as, for instance, the mullioned windows, the groins, the mouldings, the corbels, of St. Patrick's, Christ Church, &c. &c.-were imported from Normandy or Bristol. And, even at this day, the expensiveness of our native material-which, confessedly, when finished, is most durable-forces the Irish builder to have recourse to Roman cement, &c. to execute his decorations. Now, the truth is, that the Irish climate is not suitable to the permanence of those succedanea. Its dampness-its alternations of frost and thaw-very soon cause the scaling off of these exterior coatings; and we have, more than once, in travelling through Ireland, had to observe a castle, decked out in all the florid taste of extreme Gothic, with the mean brickwork peeping out from its towers, embattlements, and mullions, and showing off, perhaps, like its owner, as an ambitious spendthrift, very much out at elbows. Without, then, expecting that our country will ever be remarkable for specimens of the florid Gothic, or of very elaborate decorations, we have at least a right to suppose that, with increasing wealth, and increasing skill in our builders and tradesmen, there will be more attention to chaste and legitimate ornament, combined with convenience and comfort, in our public and private buildings; and, to further this desirable effect, we cannot recommend a more useful or instructive work than the one we now notice. Ver.vert: a Poem in four cantos. From the French of J. B. L. Gresset. With illustratory notes by M. Montagu. London; Starie. 1840. AN agreeable trifle, for the most part pleasantly translated. Of Gresset's Ver-vert there had been already two English translations-one by Dr. Geddes, which appears to have combined almost every possible fault--gratuitous additions, too, are made-and of extreme coarseness. We have only seen such parts of this translation as are printed in Mason Good's life of Geddes; but these are quite enough to enable us to speak with entire assurance on the subject. Another translation, by Gilbert Cooper, possesses very high merit. The versification is easy and graceful, and the story, on the whole, is well told, though we think Cooper too fond of enlarging and expanding, and though he is every now and then led away by the temptation of a whimsical rhyme. This translation is printed in Chalmers's Poets. Mr. Montagu's has not quite the easy flow of Cooper's style, but has the merit of greater fidelity. Mr. Montagu has added a few entertaining notes, and gives translations from Catullus and Ovid of Lesbia's Sparrow and Ovid's Parrot. Milton's Paradise Lost: with copious Notes, explanatory and critical; partly selected from the various commentators, and partly original; also a Memoir of his life. By James Prende ville, A.B. 8vo. Holdsworth, London, 1840. AN edition of the Paradise Lost, containing, in a moderate compass, a selection from the notes of his many commentators, was a book much wanting, and this want Mr. Prendeville s book in part supplies. It is of convenient size, is, for the most part, carefully printed, and the selection of notes not injudicious. A life of Milton is prefixed, written on the plan of Hayley's, so as to make the poet, by large extracts from his letters and political tracts, his own biographer. We are dissatisfied with but one thing in Mr. Prendeville's book, which is his arbitrary alteration of the punctuation of former editions. The interposition of notes of admiration and dashes-even supposing them rightly placed, and exhibiting that the editor understands his author-may be too frequent. In any republication of Milton, the punctuation of the editions printed during his life, and, in particular, the second, should not be unnecessarily deviated from. In the few cases in which it may be deemed unavoidable, (if, indeed, there be any such, for Milton's works were printed with great correctness,) the editor should always communicate such changes by a note. On the whole, however, this edition is creditable to the author's scholarship; and although, for the reason we have mentioned, it is not quite such an edition as would be best for purposes of reference, it is likely to be found a very convenient and useful schoolbook. The quotations from the Greek and Latin poets, familiar as they in general are, add very much to the value of the book, and will save both master and pupil much trouble. Geometrical Propositions Demonstrated, or a Supplement to Euclid, being a Key to the Exercises appended to Euclid's Elements. By W. D. Cooley, A.B. 12mo. London. 1840, We do not know any work more useful for the purposes of school instruction in geometry than this new collection of exercises on Euclid. The propositions are admirably selected not so many nor so difficult as to deter the young student from the task of making himself master of them, and yet containing a greater variety of propositions both of practical use and (a far more attractive quality to a true lover of geometry) intrinsic beauty, than some of our most popular collections of formidable size and extravagant price. The demonstrations are beautifully concise, clear, and simplethe diagrams admirably executed, and the abbreviations made use of so clear as to cause no difficulty to the student, while they very materially diminish the size and cost of the book. It contains only 120 propositions; but we do not know any book containing three times the number which will convey more useful instruction to the young student, or suggest more elegant modes of demonstrating other theorems. The Dream of Life: a Narrative Poem. Waterford. 1840. The Austrians in Italy: a Cosmopolitical Ro. mance. By Eugene Gustavus Von Swinney. Cork. 1838. Religious Poems, IN VERSE. Belfast. 1840. THREE books, in three provincial cities born, The counters of three booksellers forlorn, John Bull, John Bolster, John McComb adorn Why with such bibliopolists at home As Bolster, Bull, and sweet Will Honey Comb, Should our three native bards to London roam? The first in gauzy sentiment surpast, The next in leaf-gold phrase-in both the last; One strange blunder occurs page 93-plantain is printed for "platane." The mistake is mentioned in a note, and attributed to inadvertence. The page ought to have been cancelled when the blunder was observed. INDEX TO VOL. XV. Austrians in Italy, by Eugene Von Banking and Currency, Part I. 3; Part Bernays' Translation of Goethe's Faust, Bridal, the, by E. M. H. [Miss Hamil- British America, 93. Browne, M. A. Morning Prayer in a Sick Bulwer's, Sir Edward L, Dramas, Re- view of, Part I. 267; Part II, 412. Celibacy Statute, Trinity College, 355. Church of Ireland, Review of Bishop Confessions of Harry Lorrequer, Chap. Cooke, Dr., the Synod of Ulster and the National Board, 326. Cooley's Euclid, Critical Notice of, 596. VOL. XV. 360; Smith's Ancient History, 360; Curiosities of Law Books, 315. Currency and Banking, Part I. 3; Part De Foe's Works, new edition, Critical Devotions of the Scapular, 284. Doyle, Martin, Our Portrait Gallery, Dream of Life, Poetico-Critical Notice Dublin Penny Journal, 112. Edinburgh Cabinet Library, British Fellow Lodgers, Our, by the Rev. R. Female Portraits, No. IV. Agnes, 188. Fitzgerald, Hardress, an Adventure of Eleventh Extract from the Legacy of 3 B Fynn, R. N., Trial Extraordinary of, for Goethe's Faust, translated by Birch, Goethe's Faust, Part Second, translated by Bernays, Critical Notice of, 360. Hamilton's, Miss E. M. the Bridal, 307. Herefordshire Glossary, Critical Notice How Long are we to live under a Petti- Ireland, Church of, Review of Bishop Kelly's Polish Mother, Critical Notice Law Books, Curiosities of, 315. Malcom's Travels in South Eastern Asia, Mant's, Bishop, History of the Church of Milton's Paradise Lost, with notes, by McClure's Latin Potential, and Subjunc- New Year's Gift from Coul Goppagh, Oak's Death Song, the, 29. O'Malley, Charles, the Irish Dragoon, Petticotocracy, How long are we to live Plunket, Lord, our Portrait Gallery, No. Poetry, Arabian, Persian and Turkish, Poetry, Modern Romance, Rhetoric-- from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Poetry. The Oak's Death Song, 29; Sonnets by 1. K. I., 170; Morning Pope, Rev. R. T. P. Roman Misquota- Pope's Bull, the, by H. L. W. 689. Portraits, Female, No. IV. Agnes, 188. Reminiscences of a Connaught Ranger, Remembrances of a Poetic Childhood, Reviews-Malcom's Travels in South Reynold's Modern Literature of France, Robert's East India Voyager, Critical Roden, Earl of, Our Portrait Gallery, Rogers' Antipopopriestian, Critical No- Romish Misquotation exposed, 685. Rough Notes on a Rough Ride from Scapular of Dr. Stock, 284. Session, the present, (May, 1840,) 599 Smibert, Thomas, Scottish Songs by, Smith's Ancient History, Critical Notice Society, Church Education, Rev. W. A. Stanzas written in dejection, by W. B. Stanley's Lord, Irish Registration Bill, "Stewart, Robert of Broughshane," the Stray Leaflets from the German Oak, Swift, Gallery of Illustrious Irishmen, Taylor's Ancient Christianity, Review Thuggee in India, and Ribandism in Ire- Trial extraordinary for High Treason Trinity College, the Celibacy Statute, 355. Ulster, a Legend of, in 1641, 294. University Magazine, the National Board, Walsh, Rev. Dr., Our Fellow Lodgers, Walsh, Dr., Portrait Gallery, No. V. 172. Way we do things, 66. Wilde's, Dr., Madeira and the Mediter- Willoughby's, Sir Nesbit, Extracts from Village Wonder, Recollections of a Por- Voice of the Season, Gethsemane, Cal- END OF VOL. XV. DUBLIN PRINTED BY JOHN S. FOLDS, 5, Bachelor's-Walk. |