IV. Obras completas de Fernan Caballero. 13 vols. Ma- V.- The Life of Richard Porson, M.A., Professor of Greek in the University of Cambridge from 1792 to 1808. By the Rev. John Selby Watson, M.A. London: 1861, Die Gräfin von Albany. Von Alfred von Reumont. VII. Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, with Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the Chase of the Gorilla, Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and other Ani- mals. By Paul B. Du Chaillu. London: 1861, IX.-1. Della Riforma Cattolica della Chiesa. Frammenti di Vincenzo Gioberti pubblicati per Cura di Giu- seppe Massari. Volume unico. Torino: 1856. 2. Delle cinque Piaghe della Santa Chiesa. Lugano: 3. La Costituzione secondo la Giustizia Sociale. Mi- 4. An Outline of the Life of the Very Rev. Antonio Rosmini, Founder of the Institute of Charity. Edited by the Rev. Father Lockhart. London: 1856. 5. Discours du Comte de Cavour, et Discussion à la Chambre des Députés sur la Question de Rome. 6. Deuxième Lettre à M. de Cavour, President du Conseil des Ministres à Turin. Par M. le Comte de 7. La Questione Italiana nel Novembre 1860; al Sommo Pontefice, Papa Pio IX. Asisi: 1860. 8. Allocuzione detta dalla Santita di N. S. Papa Pio IX, nel Concistoro Segreto del 18 Marzo, 1861. 9. Devotion to the Pope. By Frederick William Fa- 130 ART. I.-1. The History of England from the Accession of James the Second. Fifth Volume. By Lord Ma- caulay. Edited by his Sister, Lady Trevelyan. 2. The New Examen; or an Enquiry into the Evi- II.-1. Les Moines d'Occident, depuis Saint Benoît jusqu'à 2. The Monks of the West, from St. Benedict to St. Bernard. By the Count de Montalembert. Au- thorised Translation. 2 vols. Edinburgh: 1861, 318 III.-Economie Rurale de la France depuis 1789. Par M. IV. 1. Historical Memoir of the O'Briens, with Notes, Appendix, and a Genealogical Table of their several Branches. By John O'Donoghue, A.M. Dublin: V.-1. The Church History of Scotland from the Com- mencement of the Christian Era to the present Cen- tury. By the Rev. John Cunningham, Minister of 2. Lectures on the History of the Church of Scotland from the Reformation to the Revolution Settlement. By the late Rev. John Lee, D.D. LL.D., Principal of the University of Edinburgh. With Notes and Appendices from the Author's Papers. Edited by his Son, the Rev. W. Lee. 2 vols. 1860, . VI.-The Story of Burnt Njal, or Life in Iceland at the end of the Tenth Century. From the Icelandic of VII.-1. The Province of Jurisprudence Determined. Being the first part of a series of Lectures on Jurisprudence or the Philosophy of Positive Law. By the late John Austin, Esq., M.A., of the Inner Temple, Bar- rister-at-Law. 2nd Edition. London: 1861. 2. Ancient Law: its Connection with the early His- tory of Society, and its Relation to Modern Ideas. By Henry Sumner Maine, Reader of the Civil Law in the Middle Temple, and formerly Regius Pro- fessor of the Civil Law in the University of Cam- IX. — 1. Poems. By Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 4th ed. X.-Sunday: its Origin, History, and present Obligation; considered in Eight Lectures, preached before the University of Oxford in the year 1860, on the Foundation of the Rev. John Bampton, M.A., Canon of Salisbury. By James Augustus Hessey, D.C.L., Head Master of Merchant Taylors School, Preacher to the Hon. Society of Gray's Inn, &c. XI. 1. Slavery and Secession in America, Historical and Economical. By Thomas Ellison. London: 1861. 2. The American Crisis considered. By Charles Lempriere, D.C.L. London: 1861. 3. Causes of the Civil War in America. By John Lothrop Motley. (Reprinted by permission from 4. The Great Conspiracy and England's Neutrality. Mr. Jay's Address at Mount Kisco, New York. . 456 486 THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, JULY, 1861. No. CCXXXI. ART. I.-1. Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the State of Popular Education in England, and the Reports of Assistant Commissioners, Evidence, &c. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. Six volumes 8vo. March, 1861. 2. Popular Education in England, being an Abstract of the Report of the Royal Commissioners on Education: with an Introduction and Summary Tables. By HERBERT S. SKEATS. London: 1861. 3. The Popular Education of France, with Notices of that of Holland and Switzerland. By MATTHEW ARNOLD, M. A., Foreign Assistant Commissioner to the Education Commission, one of H. M.'s Inspectors of Schools. London: 1861. 4. Suggestions on Popular Education. By NASSAU W. SENIOR, Esq., one of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the State of Popular Education. 8vo. London: 1861. MIX IXED Commissions of Inquiry, composed of able and independent men, have on many occasions rendered great service to the work of legislative improvement and social reform in this country. These bodies, selected for a temporary and defined purpose, partake at once of the character of a Parliamentary Committee and of that of an Administrative Board -they have something of the representative composition of the former, and something of the unity of purpose of the latter. But their responsibility is, like that of a jury, rather personal than collective; the members of such a Commission are com VOL. CXIV. NO. CCXXXI. B monly selected, not because they agree, but because they differ, each of them representing some one class of opinions prevailing in society; they have no antecedent bond of union; and they have no interest as a body in the ulterior results of their own proceedings. Hence it arises that although these Commissions are excellent instruments for the purpose of inquiry, they are usually less effective in the work of legislative construction or positive administration. In truth, notwithstanding the eminent services which these Commissions have frequently rendered, they neither can nor ought to attempt anything which properly falls within the duties and the responsibility of the Government itself. The Royal Commission, whose elaborate Report is now before us, yields certainly to no preceding Commission in the high character of its members-the Duke of Newcastle, a Secretary of State; Sir John Coleridge, a member of the Privy Council, known alike for his remarkable attainments, for his attachment to the Church of England, and for his private virtues; Mr. Senior, whose services on the Poor Law Commission of 1832 and the Handloom Weavers Commission entitle him to the lasting gratitude of the country; Mr. Miall, an earnest and intelligent representative of the Nonconformists; and from the Universities three eminent men the Rev. William Charles Lake, the Rev. William Rogers, and, last but not least, Professor Goldwin Smith. Assistant Commissioners were sent to the agricultural, the manufacturing, the mining, the maritime, and the metropolitan districts of England. These inquiries were even extended to Germany, France, Switzerland, and Holland. An enormous mass of evidence has been taken and digested, and the result is that a complete history of the proceedings of the Committee of Council on Education, and a full account of the state of the lower branches of education in England, is now before us. The Reports of the Assistant Commissioners, especially that of Mr. Fraser, are of the very highest merit and interest; and we know of no publication which has thrown such a flood of light, not only on the special subjects of education, but on the habits and opinions of the population of England at the present day. We shall not attempt, in this place, to lay before our readers any abstract of this voluminous production, which fills no less than six large octavos. Those who require an abridgement will find it executed with ability by Mr. Herbert Skeats, in a little work, which may be procured for half-a-crown. shall confine ourselves to a brief selection of the leading facts necessary to the object we have in view, namely, the discussion We |