inence of the soul, and Whitman stands for the independence and fellowship of man. Other writers are grouped with the two who name the book,—Lowell, Emerson, Wagner,—and the author says a great deal about them all that is penetrating and sympathetic. But he writes with the air of one who has a thesis to prove and a world to persuade, and the result is something partly one-sided and partly rhapsodical. The former effect is produced by his seeming lack of sympathy with poets like Wordsworth; the latter effect by the extremely large number of poetical citations. Out of 140 pages there are hardly a score that are not broken into by quotations. After a while this produces a monotony which materially and unjustly detracts from the author's prose. All in all, the book is spirited and thoughtful, and if it does not persuade everyone to its wide-reaching optimism, it is because America is still far from being democratic in our author's sense.
BRIEFER MENTION.
The second volume has just appeared of Green's "Short History of the English People " (Harper), in the magnificently illustrated edition that we owe to the painstaking scholarship and industry of Mrs. Green and Miss Norgate. This installment carries us through the Reformation period to the death of Elizabeth, two more volumes being necessary to complete the work. The illustrations are very numerous, a mere list of them, with brief descriptive notes, filling nearly thirty pages. It would be superfluous to praise the execution of this work, which is in all respects mechanically satisfactory. It should be found in every library, public or private.
"The Yearbook of Science" for 1892 (Dodd), edited by Professor T. G. Bonney, is the second issue of the series to which it belongs. The departments have been undertaken by the best specialist authorities, and the work offers a manual indispensable to every worker in physics or chemistry, in geology or biology. References are given with unusual precision, and results are so concisely summarized as to permit the inclusion of a vast amount of matter.
Mr. Francis H. Underwood's study of "The Poet and the Man" (Lee & Shepard) gives us both a brief biography of Lowell and a generous tribute to his personal qualities. The author knew Lowell quite intimately for nearly forty years, and, while his book gives us little or nothing that is absolutely new, it has the effect of bringing us very close to the lovable personality of its subject, and to make us realize afresh how worthy were the ideals for which Lowell stood, and how consistent was his devotion to their service. The volume, which is an expansion of an article written for "The Contemporary Review," is prettily printed.
Four pamphlet sermons that come to us from the Rev. James De Normandie, of Boston, are of timely interest. Two of them are memorials, respectively of A. P. Peabody and Bishop Brooks. The others are on "Sunday and the Columbian Fair" and "The Injustice to the Chinese," upon both of which subjects the author discourses with graceful and persuasive eloquence from the humane standpoint. We cordially commend these books to our readers. (Boston: Damrell & Upham.)
Literary Notes and News.
Mr. W. H. Bishop has been appointed instructor in French and Spanish at Yale University.
"The Builders of American Literature," by Mr. F. H. Underwood, a work in two volumes, is announced by Messrs. Lee & Shepard.
Professor Goldwin Smith is writing a book upon "The Political History of the United States," and the first volume is announced for autumn publication by the Macmillans.
The life of Sir Richard Francis Burton, upon which his widow has been engaged almost continuously since his death, will be published soon. The first portion is mainly autobiographical. It will be in two volumes, with portraits, colored illustrations, and maps.
The final posthumous volume of Victor Hugo's poetical works is to be published immediately, with the title "Toute la Lyre, Seconde Série." M. Auguste Vacquerie and M. Paul Meurice have classified the contents into eight parts, corresponding with the seven strings of the ancient lyre, with the addition of an eighth suggested by a line of the poet's, "Et j'ajoute à ma lyre une corde d'airain."
"The Californian" for July comes to us with a new cover, probably the most beautiful that has ever adorned an American magazine. It is printed in gold and colors, and has the California poppy, in leaf, flower, and fruit, for its characteristic ornament. The cover is made particularly charming by its wayward grouping of the poppy-blossoms, which are of natural size, and in no way conventionalized.
The Trinity (Dublin) correspondent of the London "Academy" has the following about one of our recent guests: "The return of Professor Tyrrell from America has relieved the College from some anxiety, for during his stay in the West he suffered from serious illness, which, though it did not stay or spoil his lecturing this was due to his indomitable character marred his enjoyment, and caused much alarm amongst his colleagues. He is now restored to health, and he speaks in the strongest terms of the sympathy and hospitality of his American friends."
The London house occupied for over half a century by Samuel Rogers is to be sold. It may be said that there is scarcely a single representative of literature who during the first half of the present century was not a more or less frequent guest within its walls, from Lord Byron, Shelley, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge down to Thomas Campbell, Sir Walter Scott, Moore, Sydney Smith, and Mrs. Norton; and there is scarcely a single celebrity of that age in whose memoirs the hospitable breakfasts of Sam Rogers and his constant "Table Talk" do not stand recorded.
Mr. Longworth, the British Consul at Trebizond, reports that all books, pamphlets, and papers, even those for Persia, undergo the strictest censorship along that coast. Stationery is also examined for writings in invisible inks. Such as contain a likeness of the Sultan, disparaging remarks on Mahomedanism, or political reflection unfavorable to Turkey are condemned. The long list includes Greek and Armenian proscribed books, besides thirty French and four English namely,—the Koran, Byron's works, the handbook to Turkey in Asia, and the "Pacha of Many Tales," by Captain Marryat.
The subscriptions to the Shelley memorial amounted to about fifteen hundred dollars, of which more than
