able marriage. A lover who means well and a lover who means ill present themselves, and the latter for the time makes the running; but the former wins on the post, with the additional satisfaction of knocking his rival down first and putting him hors de combat in a duel afterwards. The preliminary knocking down is an audacious and salutary innovation. Also let it be noticed that this is one of the first French novels in which yachting plays a part. They are improving across the Channel. To speak more seriously, 'L'Aventure de Mlle. de Saint-Alais' is a book of very considerable merit, and is worth comparing with similar books of twenty years ago-say with 'La Petite Comtesse.' CHRISTMAS BOOKS. From Crown to Crown: a Tale of the Early Golden Legends of the Olden Time. By John Fritz and Eric; or, the Brother Crusoes. By The Queen of the Arena, and other Stories. By Mrs. Field's 'Mixed Pickles' is a pretty story of a little girl who had many adventures and hairbreadth escapes. The illustrations are good. Dr. Stoughton's 'Golden Legends of the Olden Time' is a pleasant book. The beautiful legends of St. Christopher and St. Elizabeth are always welcome. In the introduction Dr. Stoughton says: "I have been the more drawn to this attempt by thinking of pictures in English and foreign galleries, with which, in these days of artistic culture and continental travel, people are becoming more and more acquainted." The owls in the church tower, very precious to the rector, who is an ornithologist. How the old owls act as policemen and save the church plate-though the thieves steal their young ones to praise Mr. Caldecott's illustrations. in revenge-is cleverly told. It is superfluous Major Harrison, in his preface to 'The Queen of the Arena, and other Stories,' speaks too modestly of his handiwork. He promises a second series if the first is successful; the appreciation of his readers ought to ensure the fulfilment of his promise. The death of the Queen of the Arena is full of pathos, while 'My Uncle's Cashier,' a tale of deep laid villainy un'La Fleur de Ruel,' masked, is most exciting. a tale of poisoning in the days of Mazarin, is a ghastly tragedy. Mr. Farjeon's 'Christmas Angel' is emphatically not a book for children. In the guise of a dream all the horror and all the misery of child life in the slums of London are set forth. The terrible story is powerfully told. It is meant for those whose motto, like the dreamer's, is "Let every one look after his own; it is a sufficient burden." The readers of Aunt Judy will be sorry to hear that this is the last of the yearly volumes. The magazine has existed for nineteen years, being founded by Mrs. Gatty, and has proved interesting and instructive reading, especially for girls. LAW BOOKS. The Parliamentary Election Acts for England and Wales. By J. M. Lely and W. D. I. Foulkes. (Clowes & Sons.)—This edition of the Election Acts is excellent. It is, indeed, more than an annotated edition, for it includes a history and a summary of the law relating to the franchise, which are models of conciseness. The book contains the text of 149 enactments, notes giving the effect of all the decided cases, a general index very well compiled, and separate indexes for the four most important statutes. It is obvious that the authors have worked hard at their laborious and difficult task, and a close of haste, though some part of their work must examination proves that they have left no signs have been done with great rapidity. In the notes they have drawn the line admirably beTo take one tween timidity and rashness. instance, - the judicious character of their remarks on the effect of the new enactments with regard to the Oxford and Cambridge voters has been established by a recent decision. tested in practice, and the best praise of Messrs. The worth of such a book is only to be Lely and Foulkes's work is that, although it is a new book, and not a revised and enlarged edition of a standard work, it has than he has done at present. As for the exact lawyer, he feels some distrust of the advice of a person who calls the Statute of Frauds by the name of the "Statute of Frauds and Forgeries," and who quotes the famous seventeenth section as containing exceptions which make the contract of sale "good if the buyer accept part of the goods or gives something unearned to bind the bargain." But Mr. Williams does give some good advice, especially about the conduct t cases in the County Court. The advice to an honest defendant is very wise; he should al his witnesses and make no speech. In another place Mr. Williams just misses what might have been an epigram, for the gist of his advice in doubtful matter is,-"Don't go to law, but go to a lawyer." People are too apt to put off going to a lawyer till it is too late. OUR LIBRARY TABLE. THE name of Maurice Kyffin is unfamiliar that of an English poet; and, in fact, we believe he was a Welshman whose not very numerous productions were chiefly in his own native la guage. Nevertheless, his loyal poem on The Blessednes of Brytaine, originally published 1587 and reissued with additions in 1588, fully deserved to be reprinted as a piece of fine English versification not without historical interest. It is, in fact, a high eulogy on the government of Queen Elizabeth and an exhortation to loyalty, provoked, as it would seem, by Babington's conspiracy, in which two Welshmen were implicated. A reprint of the first edition has just been issued by the Cymmrodorion Society from a copy sup posed to be unique, in the Lambeth Palace library, a former reprint, which appeared in Huth's 'Fugitive Tracts in Verse, being described as by no means accurate. MR. THOMAS ARNOLD'S History of the Cross of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, Paterson) is a booklet called forth by the restored" cross which has been erected at the expense of Mr. Gladstone. Some of Mr. Arnold's assertions regarding his torical matters are more patriotic than correct nor are his ideas of what constitutes a "sham antique" at all admissible. idea is not new, but it is well wrought out by already come into general use and is likely to Mitra, Dr. A. F. R. Hoernle, and Baboo P. V. Dr. Stoughton. Dot is a poor little girl whose mother-an outcast-died after terrible suffering. Dot was brought up by a fish-woman, kind-hearted, but given to drink. The woman's wicked husband caused them both much suffering. The story is very sad, too sad for children, but it ends happily and shows how much good is done by ragged schools and homes for destitute children. There is rather too much Lancashire dialect. It is a very good story for persons who lead easy, selfindulgent lives. Mr. Pym's illustrations are, as usual, effective. Too many Crusoes have followed in the wake of the immortal Robinson. Fritz and Eric, Mr. Hutcheson's "Brother Crusoes," are pleasant young men, but surely their adventures are too many and too hackneyed. The desert island is not reached till the book is half way to its close. The reader is first treated to a detailed account of the Franco German war, from the point of view of Fritz. Asiatic Society of Bengal: Centenary Peter of the Researches of the Society, 1784-1883 (Calcutta, Thacker, Spink & Co.) The firs century of the existence of the Society closed on the 15th of January, 1884, and the present review is in the manner of a general stocktaking of its labours during that period. The work. which, considering the intricacy of the subjects with which it deals, is remarkable for its succinctness and at the same time its comprehensive ness, has been prepared by Dr. Rajendrala's Bose. It consists of three parts, viz., a shart history of the Society since its foundation in 1784 at the instance of Sir William Jones: a resume of the papers published by the Socie on science generally; and a précis of its researches into archæology, history, literature, de It would be obviously impossible in the space at our disposal to refer even to the many subjects connected with Oriental knowledge upon which the researches of the Society have throwa new and valuable light. The details given appear fully to support the modest contention which the authors of the review put forward D behalf of the Society, namely, that it has ade quately carried out the objects of its existence To sum up in the briefest manner the servers siderable cost, buildings for the use of scholars in of the Society, it has provided, at a very con men. The first chapter shows the honest man has established a museum and a library already how he is to avoid going to law, and it may of importance; it has made collections of cons be hoped, as the book is doubtless for sale to medals, and pictures; and it has published in all the dishonest as well as to the honest, that the 354 volumes, of which twenty-one are volumes of dishonest will take the reasons as an à fortiori Asiatic researches and 187 of Oriental works of argument. If Mr. Williams would write a work different kinds. We may add that the review com for dishonest citizens and induce them to refrain tains several copious and excellent indexes to the from going to law, he would do a greater service subjects dealt with in the Society's publications, become a text-book of authority. It is hardly necessary to point out, in the case of a work by such practised legal writers, that it has one quality not always to be found in law books, namely, that the history and summary are written in good English, and in a style which leaves nothing to be desired in the way of terseness and perspicuity. About Going to Law. By Arthur John Williams. (Cassell & Co.)-Mr. Williams's little book is prefaced with no excess of modesty. It bears a sort of superscription which may indicate that it is one of a projected series of "Hints to Honest Citizens," and the author thinks that though popular in expression it will bear the criticism of the exact lawyer; and he asserts that it will be found of service only to honest h will be very welcome to the students of ntal literature and science. R. SAINTSBURY has produced a lucid and able account of Marlborough, which Messrs. man have printed in clear type and bound hideous cover. A few maps are sorely led to elucidate the story of Marlborough's paigns. WERAL books of reference are now before among them the excellent Handbook of aica (Stanford) of Messrs. Sinclair and Fyfe; second annual issue of the valuable Directory Building Societies (Kent & Co.), compiled by H. Kent and Mr. V. M. Braund; and Mr. iner's London Banks, which has nearly comed the twenty-first year of its existence. trated, imp. 8vo. 8/ cl. VE have a number of booksellers' catalogues Howells's (W. D.) Tuscan Cities, roy. 8vo. 16/ cl. Buchheim's (C. A.) Modern German Reader, Part 2, 2/6 cl. Harrison (J. A.) and Baskervill's (W. M.) Handy Anglo- Kelke's (W. H. H.) Epitome of English Grammar, 4/6 cl. Nixon's (J. E.) Prose Extracts arranged for Translation into 8vo. 36/ cl. Holder's (C. F) Marvels of Animal Life, 8vo. 8/6 cl. We have on our table Abyssinia, translated Warlomont's (Dr. E.) Manual of Animal Vaccination, trans- Alcott's (L. M.) Lulu's Library, 12mo. 3/6 cl. Briton's (E. V.) Some Account of Amyot Brough, cr. 8vo. 5/ Eliot's (G.) Essays and Leaves from a Note-Book, Cabinet LIST OF NEW BOOKS. ENGLISH. Theology. ble Conquests in Many Lands, cr. 8vo. 3/5 cl. ble Tales for Infant Minds, illustrated, imp. 16mo. 3/6 cl. dersheim's (A.) Israel under Samuel, Saul, and David to Birth of Solomon, cr. 8vo. 2/6 cl. ske's (J.) The Idea of God as affected by Modern Knowledge, cr. 8vo. 4/ cl. ardman's (W.) Stories and Teaching on the Litany, 5/ cl. ordan's (Rev. L. H.) Pastor's Diary and Clerical Record, 2/ ur Friends in Paradise, with Introduction by Right Rev. W. D. Maclagan, imp. 16mo. 3/6 cl. arse's (M. G.) Some Aspects of the Blessed Life, 16mo. 2/6 mon's (D. W.) The Bible an Outgrowth of Theocratic Life, cr. 8vo. 4/6 el. Cory of the Resurrection of Christ, by R. E. H., 4/ cl. Poetry and the Drama. yron's Childe Harold, Intro. by H. F. Tozer, cr. 8vo. 3/6 cl. mery's (A.) Orpheus, and other Poems, 12mo. 3/6 cl. all's (N.) Songs of Earth and Heaven, cr. 8vo. 3/6 cl. eywood's (J. C.) Antonius, a Dramatic Poem, cr. 8vo. 5/ el. olmes's (O. W.) The Last Leaf, Poems, illus., folio, 42/ cl. obinson's (A. M. F.) New Arcadia, and other Poems, 6/ cl. tory's (W. W.) Poems, 2 vols. 12mo. 7/6 cl. Cennyson's (Lord) Tiresias, and other Poems, 12mo. 6/ cl. Francis's (F.) Eric and Ethel, a Fairy Tale, 12mo. 3/6 cl. Gladstone Umbrella (The), Political Dainties, ob. 4to. 2/6 Gronlund's (L.) Co-operative Commonwealth in its Outlines, authorized English Edition, cr. 8vo. 2/ swd. Halek's (V.) Three Stories, Under the Hollow Tree, &c, translated from the Czech by W. W. Strickland, cr. 8vo. 5/ cl. Harrison's (Mrs. B.) Folk and Fairy Tales, cr. 8vo. 7/6 Heather Belles, a Modern Highland Story, by Sigma, 3/6 cl. Hibberd's (S.) The Golden Gate and Silver Steps, with Bits of Tinsel Round About, 12mo. 6/ cl. Hodgetts's (J. F.) The English in the Middle Ages, 8vo. 6/ cl. Marks's (A. J.) Hidden from the World, 3 vols. cr. 8vo. 31/6 cl. Payn's (J.) Talk of the Town, cr. 8vo. 3/6 cl. Proctor's (R. A.) Strength and Happiness, cr. 8vo. 5/ cl. Reed's Supplement to Shipowners' and Shipmasters' Handy Book, cr. 8vo. 2/ cl. Russell's (W. C.) In the Middle Watch, cr. 8vo. 6/ cl. Silke's (L. C.) Turning Points, or Two Years in Maud Vernon's Life, cr. 8vo. 3/6 cl. Thackeray's (Miss) Mrs. Dymond, cr. 8vo. 12/6 cl. Thorpe's (Mrs.) King Frost, the Wonders of Snow and Ice, 12mo. 26 cl. Warren (E. P.) and Cleverly's (C. F. M.) Wanderings of the Beetle, 4to. 7/6 cl. Wood's (J. G.) Illustrated Stable Maxims, 4/ sheet. Zola's (E.) The Rush for the Spoil, a Realistic Novel, cr. 8vo. 6/ cl. FOREIGN. Theology. König (A.): Schöpfung u. Gotteserkenntniss, 3m. Coppée (F.): Les Jacobites, 2fr. 50. History. Baillon (Comte de): Henriette Anne d'Angleterre, 7fr. 50. Durand (La Générale): Mémoires sur Napoléon et Marie Louise, 3fr. 50. Richter (G.): Annalen der Deutschen Geschichte im Mittelalter, Div. 2, Part 1, 4m. 50. Philology. Aristophanis Comoediae, ed. F. H. M. Blaydes, Part 12, 9m. GORSE. BLOOM of the Common, common bloom, gold honey, reason. Wild wealth of merry May, of dim December! Swedish Linnæus fell upon his knees To thank with joy the Everliving Power (No scraps of lore forbade him to remember) Giving such wondrous beauty to a Flower, To Man the beauty-loving eye that sees. WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. THE BYRON QUARTO OF 1806 AND ITS VARIANTS. LORD BYRON'S juvenilia are not as other men's juvenilia any more than his mature personality is to be confounded with that of his contemporaries. "The Byronic energy" is a thing apart, and it is to be found with all its faults and some of its excellences in his early poems. Fuller of personal character than of poetry, they yet compare favourably with the juvenile effusions, say, of Shelley, even as poetry, and always supposing their dates to have been correctly inserted by the author, and 'Queen Mab' not to have been written, at all events in its ultimate shape," when Shelley was eighteen." Considering how far the mature Shelley surpassed the mature Byron in the distinctive qualities of song, this earlier comparison is sufficiently noteworthy; but all comparisons apart, the fact that a thoroughly characteristic start in letters was made by Byron must always confer upon his primitia a peculiar interest. It was therefore with no ordinary satisfaction that we recently found ourselves in a position, through the kindness of Mr. H. W. Ball in lending the quarto, to arrive at a clear understanding concerning the composition of all the four separate volumes which go to make up the collection generally known as "Hours of Idleness." The considerable body of verse currently called by that title has only a partial and limited claim to be so called. In the current editions of Byron's works there are no data whereby to discriminate precisely between what are and what are not entitled to be called Hours of Idleness." The book issued under that title in 1807, though not properly speaking scarce, is, of course, out of currency, and the other three volumes equally or more so. Even 66 the English translator of Elze's 'Life of Byron,' though contributing in his appendix some information about the books in question, affords no means to the student for arriving at a knowledge of what each book contains. He deals in generalities: "Various changes were introduced into each of these volumes; there are some poems common to all of them; one or two which appeared in the first were withdrawn in the second impression; many contained in this are not given in the first edition of the 'Hours of Idleness,' and some which were published therein were suppressed in the second edition, to which again were added several pieces, the most interesting and full of promise of any of the poems of this youthful period." Of the quarto the translator gives the number of pages, quotes the dedication and preface, records the absence of table of contents, and says: "The dates appended to the poems-and all, we think, are dated-range from 1802 to October 9th, 1806." He also quotes a quatrain from the poem 'To Kaempf (W.): De Pronominum Personalium usu apud Mary on receiving her Picture,' a quatrain, Poetas Scaenicos Romanorum, 1m. 60. Science. Maisonneuve (S.): La Lumière Électrique, 5fr. Boisgobey (F. de): Le Cri du Sang, 6fr. however, not peculiar to the quarto, but repeated in the privately printed octavo; and he justifies Mr. Becher's censure of the verses to Mary by saying: "There is nothing in them to compensate for their silly viciousness --not a single felicity of thought or expression; they are weaker than the feeblest of all the early poems, a poor imitation, in short, of the 'Poems by Thomas Little.'' But not a single word of the poem is put in evidence ; its subject and metre are undescribed; and as regards the book we are not even told how many poems it contains. We demur to this account of the poem, which, however objectionable, is not feeble; and before passing to further details we may mention that the dates range beyond October 9th, 1806, the last piece in the book being dated November 16th, 1806, while no fewer than sixteen are undated in a total number of thirty-eight pieces composing the volume. The contents are as follows: On leaving Newstead. To E. (Let folly smile"). On the Death of Miss Parker. To D. ("In thee I fondly hop'd to clasp"). To("Think'st thou I saw"). To Caroline ("You say you love"). To Maria (" Since now the hour"). Fragments from the Prometheus Vinctus.' Answer to Lines in Letters of an Italian Nun.' On a Change of Masters at a Great Public School. Epitaph on a Beloved Friend. Translation of Adrian's Address to his Soul. To Mary (the peccant verse3). "When to their airy hall." To("Oh! when shall the grave"). "When I hear you express." *On a Distant View of Harrow. Thoughts on a College Examination. To Mary on receiving her Picture. On the Death of Mr. Fox. To a Lady ("These locks which fondly thus entwine "). *To a beautiful Quaker. To Julia ("Julia! since far from you I've rang'd"). To Woman. Occasional Prologue to the Wheel of Fortune.' To Miss E. P. (Eliza! what fools"). The Tear. To a lady whom the author frightened by a Translation from Catullus, Ad Lesbiam.' pistol-shot. Translation of Epitaph on Virgil and Tibullus. Imitation of Tibullus, Sulpicia ad Cerintum.' Translation from Catullus, Luctus de Morte Passeris.' Imitation from Catullus ("Oh! might I kiss those eyes of fire"). The foregoing titles are not copied in all cases from the headings of the poems, but are often abridged or condensed. They will suffice for the identification of those poems which are already known; and those not already known are the stanzas to Mary, the stanzas to Caroline ("You say you love"), and the latter part of the poem to Miss Pigot ("Eliza ! what fools'). The rest, substantially, were reprinted in the private octavo of 1807, which contains forty-eight pieces, namely, the thirty-six from the quarto and the following twelve : To M. S. G (" Whene'er I view those lips of thine"). Stanzas to a Lady with the Poems of Camoens. To M. S. G. ("When I dream that you love me"). Translation from Horace ("The man of firm and noble soul"). Fragment of a Translation from Virgil (Nisus and Euryalus, 16 lines). *The First Kiss of Love. *Childish Recollections. Answer to Montgomery's Verses The Common Lot.' *Love's Last Adieu. Lines to Becher (" Dear Becher, you tell me"). *Reply to a friend who complained that a description was too warmly drawn. Elegy on Newstead Abbey. The verses to Maria in the quarto are addressed to Emma in the octavo; two poems headed 'To and one without title or heading in the quarto are addressed to Caroline in the octavo; the stanzas to Julia in the quarto are to Lesbia in the octavo; the address to A. in the quarto is to M. in the octavo; and the 'Imitation from Catullus,' headed with the name of Anna in the earlier book, has that of Ellen in the later. The Hours of Idleness,' regularly published in 1807, contains thirty-nine pieces, twenty-seven of which are repeated from the private octavo of the same year. The of that collection poems omitted from the 'Hours of Idleness ("Oh! had my fate been join'd with thine "). The Nisus and Euryalus episode from Virgil is, moreover, given at length. The volume of 1808, though called a second edition, has a new title, Poems Original and Translated.' It contains thirty-eight pieces, of which thirty-three are repeated from the Hours of Idleness.' The six omitted are marked with asterisks in the lists above; the five new ones are:Song ("When I rov'd a young Highlander "). To the Duke of Dorset. To the Earl of Clare. Stanzas ("I would I were a careless child"). The only complete copy of the 1806 quarto now forthcoming is a small roughly printed volume, without title-page, but having the words Fugitive Pieces' printed by way of fly-title. The second leaf has the dedication on the recto and the preface on the verso, for both of which see the appendix to the English version of Elze's 'Life of Byron.' Then come the sixty-six pages of text, the last page having the imprint Printed by S. and J. Ridge, Newark." The only thing that prevents the book from being anonymous is that 'The Tear' and the lines to Pigot are signed "Byron." The first line of the first poem in the collection is his subject after the manner of "Little," in the same metre as before, but with a profusion of double rhymes expressive of levity. Stanza 1 to 3 are as follows:- By all her torments deeply curst, Of hell-born passions far the worst, What hope my pangs can now assuage? I tore me from thy circling arms, To madness fir'd by doubts and fears, Heedless of thy suspicious tears, Nor feeling for thy feign'd alarms. Resigning every thought of bliss, Forever, from your love I go, Reckless of all the tears that flow, Disdaining thy polluted kiss. These expressions are quite sufficiently explained in the remainder of the serious part of the poem; but the rest reads as if the poet had taken up his composition later on, after having found solace elsewhere, and had chosen to write a cynical comment on it. On the whole, Mr. Becher's remonstrance with Byron on account of the "high colouring" was well merited; and the disposition which prompted the young post to defer to his Mentor's judgment, and destroy the issue of the whole book to make sure that poem was put out of the way, must be credited to the right side of his account with posterity. But what, after all, are we to say about the reverend gentleman who superintended the destruction of all the other copies except Pigot's (wanting this poem) and yet kept his own? When the condemned poem comes out-as it assuredly will, sooner or later which line stands transformed in the privately let it be duly remembered that the young poet printed octavo to Thro' thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle; You say you love, and yet your eye Which racks my heart when far from thee. And mantle through my purpled cheek, Nor e'en your eyes your love bespeak. Your voice alone declares your flame, The young lady appears from the sequel to when he wrote them; and he wrote them in a earnestness-the metre of In Memoriam. The levity only comes in at the seventh stanza, from which to the end (stanza 14) he toys with | who wrote it did his best to unwrite it; and that it was his clerical friend of mature years who frustrated the generous impulse by with holding from destruction and hoarding up his own copy, and leaving it to find its level with posterity. interesting on different grounds from any yet menThere is one small point in the poem which is tioned; the piece contains the locution "you as the dearest," which we do not recall elsewhere in Byron's works. In the report of his granduncle's trial by the House of Lords on the charge of murdering Mr. Chaworth, that form of speech appears as the general usage of the aristocracy; but its appearance here shows that even as late as 1806 it had not passed wholly out of aristocratic use. The stanzas to Miss Pigot, Eliza what fools are the Mussulman sect, are but four in number in the current editions; but in the quarto they are ten. After the line Though women are angels, yet wedlock's the devil, comes a series of references to the Bible, which we can imagine to have been very objectionable in Mr. Becher's eyes; but as he has left them to us we will not hesitate to give our readers the benefit of some of them : This terrible truth, even Scripture has told, Ye Benedicks! hear me, and listen with rapture; If a glimpse of redemption you wish to behold, Of ST. MATT.-read the second and twentieth chapter. 'Tis surely enough upon earth to be vex'd, With wives who eternal confusion are spreading; "But in Heaven" (so runs the Evangelist's Text) "We neither have giving in marriage, or wedding." From this we suppose, (as indeed well we may,) That should Saints atter death, with their spouses put SIR,-I received a letter from Byron yesterday and abuses himself worse than the Edin Reviewers, he ys if I have any regard for him I never will menon his Poetry to him more as he wishes to forget as a Schoolboy it was well enough, but as a Man has done with it forever, he says however that has been better treated than he deserved to be r that out of ten Reviews he has been praised by but that it is not any thing that could be said ven, him that would prevent his writing, but that he s really no opinion of his talents in that way and snow no pleasure in the employment. Now the plain English of all this is that he is lly discouraged and depressed, and that this ious Review has convinced him that he really has Talents. I am really grieved to the Heart at all this, and I ve it to your own judgement to make what use 1 please of this information, God help him if he so easily discouraged he will neither be a statesn or an Orator, in short he will do no good. I ve seen the Satirist (if so it can be called) and lever read such nonsense in all my life as Dr. tler's friend has written. Dr. Barrow told me terday that it was easy to see the E. R. had deteraed to abuse Byron before they read his book that nothing like cander [sic] was expected m them, for my own part I think these gentry ve paid him a very high compliment without ending it as they cannot point out any fault atever, but confine themselves to general censure, the only thing they can find to turn into icule is what he says concerning his Ancestors, ich has nothing to do with the Poetry. y ridiculous circumstance has happened conning the Pigots, a letter inten[d]ed for Hall lover in India has fallen into my hands from s. Pigot, and ah dire mishap tho' last not least etter intended for me filled with Byron's praises doubt has been sent to the Indian lover, there is old saying but a true one that honesty is the best iev Mrs. Pigot never could deceive me I always see what she was, this is what she says of I certainly would not have read the letter not seen his name mentioned-"I cannot miling at what you say of Lord Byron he is a very elegant clever pleasant young Man, he ways visited at our House in the most intimate Friendly way, but I assure you seriously that Elizabeth regards him very much as a friend, ild ΤΟΥ al A es all his faults clearly and there is not a rk of anything the least like love." 'oor Eliza love never can exist long without hope, 3there ever anything so mal a propos that Hall's er should fall into my hands, and it will be still if mine falls into his. I remain Sir your obed. Sert. C. G. BYRON. The tone of consideration towards her son re shown by Mrs. Byron is an agreeable Piation on the current notion of that lady's aracter, and has an air of genuineness. She evidently alive to the meanness of reading e letter of Mrs. Pigot which chance had rown into her hands; but what woman could thstand the temptation to read a letter which e first glance showed to be full of allusion to hey are r Son? SALE. THE sale of Mr. Ellis's collection of books ded on Saturday last at the rooms of Messrs. theby, Wilkinson & Hodge. We gave last eel the prices realized by the most interesting oks included in the first six days; we now 10te those for the remainder of the sale: Heures lu aige de Rome, printed on vellum, 1498, another printed about 1500, 24.; another inted in 1503, 251. Heures à lusaige de aris, printed in 1525, 47l. Higden's Polyon ycon, black letter, 1527, 421. L'Iliade Homère traduictz par H. Salel, the earliest rench translation of the Iliad, 1545, 30l. Horæ eatæ Mariæ Virginis, MS. on vellum, illuinated in the French style, Saec. XV., 1041.; not her manuscript Horæ, executed in the fteenth century, 1467.; Horæ, an illuminated anuscript executed for a member of the Bouron family in the fifteenth century, 121l.; an lluminated French manuscript Horæ, of the ifteenth century, 1097.; Hora intemerate Virrinis Mariæ secundum Úsum Romanum, printed n vellum in 1502, 56l.; Horæ intemerate Dei Jenitricis Virginis Mariæ, on vellum, printed in 1507, 791.; Horæ deipare Virginis Mariæ, on vellum with illuminated capitals, 1520, 73l. ́An 1755-59, 1011. Icelandic manuscript of the fourteenth century on skin, 321. A series of twenty-two autograph love letters from J. Keats to Miss Fanny Brawne, 443l. 10s. Fourteen books on the various patterns for lace, printed in the sixteenth century, 3671. 10s. La Fontaine, Fables Choisies, four volumes on large paper with Oudry's plates, Madrid Gallery, three volumes, 1826-32, 401. The Workes of Sir Thomas More, black letter, 1557, 37l. 10s. S. Morgan, Sphere of Gentry, large paper, 1661, 37l. 10s. Duke of Newcastle, Horsemanship, two volumes, large paper, 1743, 427. Three Pageants representing the entry of King Henri II. into the towns of Paris in 1549, in Rouen in 1551, and in Lyons in 1548, 400l. C. de Passe, Speculum Vitae Scolasticæ, 1612, 421. Passover Service printed in Hebrew characters for German and Italian Jews, 1568, 431. Le Pastissier François, 1655, 50l. Plinii Secundi Naturalis Historia, editio princeps, 1469, 951. Prynne's Records, three volumes, 1666--68, 477. Psalterium Davidis cum Calendaris, an illuminated manuscript on vellum, written between 1420 and 1430, 71. Purchas, Pilgrimes, five volumes, imperfect, with the reprinted title page, 1625-26, 51. Saxton, Maps of England and Wales, 1573-79, 401. speare's Plays, first folio edition, 1623, 405.; second edition, 1632, 271.; fourth edition, 1685, 251. 10s. Sowerby, English Botany, 1790-1849, 31l. 10s. The Newe Testament, by W. Tindale, with several leaves in facsimile, printed in AntNovum Testamentum werp in 1534, 116. Bohemicum, without the title-page, Praze, 1497, 221. Tortorel et Perrissin, Quarante Tableaux de les Guerres, Massacres et Troubles advenues en France en ces derniers Années, without the dedication, 1574, 611. Turner, Views of England and Wales, two volumes, largest paper, 1838, 871.; Turner, Views of the Southern Coast of England, large paper, 1826, 251. Euvres de Watteau, 333 prints, 401. Hora Beatæ Mariæ Virginis, illuminated manuscript of the fifteenth century, of French execution, 811. The sale produced 15,996l. 18s. Shak CHARLES LAMB AND THE OLD BENCHERS OF THE INNER TEMPLE. Athenæum Club, Dec. 1, 1885. I MAY claim to have anticipated Mr. Pickering in first publishing in the notes to my edition of 'Elia' the full names and dates of creation of the benchers mentioned by Lamb. I am inclined to believe that though the Honourable Society had a Twopeny on their list of students, he was not the same person as the old stockbroker of that name who lived in the Temple, and, being contemporary with Lamb's benchers, was mistaken by him for one of them. The subject reminds me of an incident which naturally has some interest for myself. Many years ago, when dining with the Bench of the Inner Temple in the hall of their Society, it was my good fortune to be seated next to the late Vice-Chancellor, Sir John Wickens. During the progress of dinner I noticed him at times carefully scrutinizing through his eyeglass the arms of the benchers ranged along the walls of the building. I ventured to ask him what he was in search of, and he explained that he was picking out the names of all those who had been celebrated by Lamb in the memorable essay. There, you see," he went on to say, "is Salt, there Mingay with the iron hand, and there Jackson," and so forth. I found the ViceChancellor as well read in Lamb and as full of information on every topic connected with him as he seemed to be, and indeed was, on every other subject touched upon; and on my inquiring about the case of the "unfortunate Miss Blandy," he gave me in detail every incident of her crime and subsequent trial. It was on that evening that it first was strongly impressed upon my mind that the time had come for an annotated edition of 'Elia.' ALFRED AINGER. Literary Gossip. MR. THOMAS HARDY's new novel, entitled The Mayor of Casterbridge,' will begin shortly in the Graphic, with illustrations by Mr. Robert Barnes faithfully representing the old country town which is the scene of the story. THE Rev. John Mackenzie is writing a narrative of Sir Charles Warren's successful expedition to Bechuanaland. Mr. Mackenzie, who resided in that country first as a missionary and then as Her Majesty's Deputy Commissioner, was a personal observer of the important events which he will record. He is now in London. appear in the volume. WE much regret to have to record the death of Mrs. Gilchrist, which took place on Sunday last at her house, Keats Corner, Well Road, Hampstead. COL. YULE will contribute an article to the first number of the Asiatic Quarterly Review. Among other notable papers in the same publication will be 'China and Burmah,' by Prof. R. K. Douglas, and 'The Chinese Brave,' by Shway Yoe (Mr. George Scott), who from his Tonquin experiences discusses the prospects of the Chinese army. THE author of the anonymous work 'How to be Happy though Married,' which has been well received, is the Rev. E. J. Hardy, chaplain of Her Majesty's forces at Gosport. MR. CLARK RUSSELL, who has been rendered almost helpless by chronic rheumatism since March last, sails for the Cape of Good Hope on the 17th inst. MANY Cambridge graduates, as well as others, will be glad to learn that a weekly bulletin is now issued from the University Library, containing the titles of the new books added from week to week, as printed for the General Catalogue of the library. The weekly numbers may be purchased at the low price of one penny. UNDER the title of Gladstone's House of Commons,' Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P., is going to print a selection from the accounts of the debates of the last Parliament, which he contributed nearly every day to the newspapers. Messrs. Ward & Downey are the publishers. MR. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL since his return to America has received urgent invitations to lecture in what are called "lyceum courses,' ," but has steadily declined. The only exception he has made is in the case of Concord, Massachusetts. MR. GEORGE W. CABLE, author of 'Old Creole Days,' who has settled at Northampton, Massachusetts, has become a sort of evangelist, and is teaching a large class of men and women in a church named young after Jonathan Edwards. MR. E. F. ARBER is now engaged upon the fifth volume, consisting of the index, of his invaluable transcripts from the Stationers' Registers. THE once popular volumes known as the "Family Library Series," which were in course of publication by Mr. Murray half a century ago, are probably unfamiliar to many booksellers and bookbuyers of the present day. Ten thousand volumes of the series were announced for sale this week by Messrs. Hodgson at their rooms. We believe the entire remainder was purchased from Mr. Murray by the late Mr. Thomas Tegg some forty years ago. MR. NIMMO is preparing for publication a new edition of Walpole's 'Royal and Noble Authors,' newly edited and brought down to date, and fully illustrated with portraits. A NEW novel by Mr. Westall, the author of Red Ryvington,' entitled Two Pinches of Snuff,' will be commenced in Cassell's Saturday Journal of December 16th. THE collection of rare books known as the 'Napier Library," which was formed by the late Mr. Napier, of Alderley Edge, near Manchester, will be disposed of in the spring of next year by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge. To the January number of Time Mr. Walter Besant will contribute an article on 'The Science of Recreation,' and in the same issue there will appear part i. of 'The Narrative of the Rev. Mr. Gowles,' by Mr. Andrew Lang. MR. GEORGE MOORE, the author of 'A Mummer's Wife,' has finished a new realistic novel, called 'A Drama in Muslin,' treating of Dublin Castle and Irish life at the present day. It will make its first appearance in the columns of the Court and Society Review. THE body of the late Mrs. Jackson (H. H.) has been brought from California and buried on Mount Cheyenne, a hill near her Colorado home where she loved to pass her Sunday afternoons. Mrs. Jackson destroyed all private letters that she had received during her life. Mr. Mabie, who is at work on her biography, is editor of the Christian Union, in which her novel 'Ramona' was originally published. DESSAU, the native town of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, is making preparations for the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the day of his death. A committee has been formed of members of the Gemeinnützige Verein, the heads of the Jewish Kultusgemeinde, and other notabilities. THE Wordsworth Society has, it seems, begun work on its proposed selection from Wordsworth's poetry. Mr. Browning has promised his aid. SCIENCE SCHOOL-BOOKS. Outlines of Natural Philosophy, for Schools merit of the book. Thom & Co.)—This serviceable little book will Arithmetic. By A. G. Blake, M. A. (Dublin, probably find its way into the hands of many students of arithmetic, and it will be valued both by them and their teachers. It adequately covers so much of the subject as is usually required for examinations and for calculations in practical life. Mr. Blake is very skilful in exposition, and his statements and explanations of the various arithmetical processes are terse and clear. In the solution of problems the "method of unity" is preferred to the old "rule of three," and the advantage of reducing the working to a fractional form is early pointed out. Discretion is shown in dividing the explanation of the precedes the sections treating of vulgar and decimethod of unity into two parts: the first, which mal fractions, deals only with simple problems; and the second, coming after decimals, deals omit the usual practical applications of arithmewith complex problems. Mr. Blake does not and his concluding sections are devoted to tical rules: interest, stocks, profit and loss, &c.; "Measurement of Surface and Area," "Involution and Evolution." In a few instances the definitions given need amendment; e.g., the definition of proportion is hazy, while that of fractions is distinctly insufficient; but such defects are infrequent, and do not seriously affect the general merit of the work. A Practical Arithmetic. By John Jackson. (Blackie & Son.)-The most striking feature of this work is the complacent assumption of THE Association for Promoting a Teaching arithmetic "on an entirely new method," and its superiority with which it is introduced. It is an University for London held its annual meet-author says of it: "It may be claimed for this ing last Wednesday. The Association has arithmetic that it is an entirely unique producreason to be satisfied with the progress it tion, and that in no treatise extant are the same has made. If the University of London excellencies [sic] attempted or even suggested." declines to reform itself, so much the worse That the work has many good points, and that it for it. It will gradually lose reputation as immediately connected with arithmetic contains much information-not always, however, a knowledge of what education is becomes readily admit; but that it will revolutionize the more general. usual methods of calculation, or even be a serious we rival of the text-books in general use, we very much doubt; while that its excellences are so transcendent as never before to have been either attempted or even suggested we are strongly tempted to deny. To affirm that this is an arithmetic "on an entirely new method" is tain novel processes in calculation and modif mere foolish boasting. Mr. Jackson adopts cer several old ones-both often with considerable ingenuity-but as he has discovered no "entirely new" principles underlying arithmetic, he can Further, we find on investigation that most of not well introduce any "entirely new method" the new or modified processes-in our judg ment all the best of them are already per fectly well known to thoughtful teachers and by the elimination of subtraction, for which students of the subject. The first four rules of arithmetic are by Mr. Jackson reduced to three, 66 stituted, "it is believed, for the first time. simple complementary addition" is now subThis is a good method, and we are glad to see although we hardly expect to see it very widely it explained in a handbook for students' use, adopted. We are at a loss to understand how Mr. Jackson can assert any claim to originality in its introduction, for arithmeticians are already familiar with it, and it was given to the public years ago by De Morgan. When we turn further to multiplication, we find it treated under two multiplication is more or less what we are used heads, simple and "C contracted." Simple to in other text-books, but baldly stated, ard in the introduction. The arrangement of the with none of the "excellencies" foreshadowed lines in a sum where the multiplier contains fail to see why the first written digit of any many digits is often a puzzle to beginners, who given line should be placed under the second of the line above it. No explanation is given of culty is not lessened by the appended note, "The this; an illustrative sum is worked, and the diff multiplication turns out to consist of a collection example needs no explanation." Contracted of artifices for performing multiplication in certain cases. useful, or very difficult about them. They are There is nothing very new, very and such difficulties as they may present to thoroughly known to skilful arithmeticians; unskilful ones are considered to be met by "ex planation unnecessary," "reason for process is obvious," and the like. Processes such as these are mere arithmetical tricks, and four or five pages cellence should not, in our opinion, be devoted of a text-book purporting to be of unique ex relegated to an appendix or foot note. Be to them; they should, if inserted at all, be ginners should be so taught arithmetic that they can face the longest sum with a consciousness of power, and not with a timid seeking for tricks and dodges to help them in difficulty. Mr. Jackson does not devote much space to be fully taught in works on algebra and g ratio and proportion, which, he says, "can only metry," and what little he says about them ap pears under the heading of "Variation." The old cal statings is superseded by the fractional form. and troublesome rule of three with its mechani We are not sorry to lose the old rule, but its successor is so introduced to us as to be nearly taught in a work on algebra; but there can be as confusing and difficult. Proportion is best no doubt that its principles can be to a great extent exhibited and explained in an arithmetical treatise, and it is surprising that in a text-book he may in a set of procrustean rules which the |