CURRENT LITERATURE.

.Art and Letters gives its readers an ample supply of illustrations. There are twenty in all, of which the most attractive are the two views of Mont St. Michel. The pieces of detail are not so good. Wood engraving of the orthodox kind does not find it easy to hold its ground against etching, on the one hand, and the wonderful effects produced by American artists on the other. The frontispiece of the present number, "The Poultry Market, Paris," for all its merit as a drawing, strikes one as being a little hard. The chief articles, besides the description of the Abbey of Mont St. Michel and its surroundings, are "Pottery and Porcelain" and "Modern French Sculp

ture." Literature is represented by Mrs. Comyns Carr's tale of " Fortanina," which is brought in thin number to a conclusion.—It is

almost needless to say that St. Nicholas is very good. The adven

tures of a crew of three on a cabin that was carried off by a Mississippi flood and "Recollections of a Drummer-boy" are full of interest. So, in another way, is the account of the "Fresh-sir Fend," an admirable New York charity, which last year gave a fortnight's holiday in the country to between five and six thousand

poor children. We wish that something of the kind could be done in London. Possibly there is, and yet we, so vastly overgrown is this city, know nothing about it. The story of these little creatures' ignorance of country things, and delight in country ways, is touching in the extreme. One is glad to have the relief of a little mischief, as when some youngsters paint the deacon's young pigs, while the good man is at church. The illustrations of St. Nicholas are plentiful and excellent, and there is a great store of puzzles and enigmas of all kinds.—Aunt Judy's Magazine begins with a pretty fairy-story, "Midsummer's Eve in an Old Oak ;" the two tales are carried on another stage, and the useful has its due share. There is an article on "Signals," beginning with Agamemnon's message of fire from Troy to Argos ; and ending with an Australian invention, for which a name has yet to be invented, by which electricity projects to a distance the images of objects. It might be called " telephany." Another describes "Summer Flowers."

The Portfolio. The gem of this number is the etching, by M. Menpes, of a "Breton Beggar," an admirable figure. The editor carries on his description of Paris, but the formal and monotonous outlines of the Louvre do not lend themselves very readily to graceful illustration. There is a very interesting account of a Greek vase found in Kertch (the ancient Panticapream), the design on which Mr. W. Watkiss Lloyd interprets to be the warning of Themis to Zeus against his marriage with Thetis.

About Yorkshire. By Thomas and Katharine Macquoid. With sixty-seven Illustrations. (Chatto and Windus.)-1 partnership of a pleasant kind has been undertaken by Mr. and Mrs. Macquoid. Already they have travelled together in the Ardennes, through Normandy, and through Brittany, and in each instance an attractive. looking volume has been the fruit of the tour. Mrs. Macquoid pictures what she sees with the pen and her husband with the pencil, and the workmanship both of author and artist is excellent of its kind. About Yorkshire will do admirable service, if it. induces many readers, as it may well do, to visit a county so full of historic interest and of natural beauty. Emerson said that to see England properly would take a hundred years, and if so, several years out of the hundred should be devoted to Yorkshire, which, for things of fame, if not for things of beauty, ranks even above Devonshire. The pretty volume before us makes no pretence of describing the county,. and in what it does describe is of necessity superficial. Mrs. Macquoid has a bright, cheerful style, and carries her readers over the ground without any feeling of exhaustion. She can tell a story well, and her descriptions of scenery are appreciative and judiciously brief. Indeed, from the literary stand-point there is no fault to be found with About Yorkshire, if it be regarded as an agreeable drawing-room book. To work of a higher character, the writer probably does not aspire ; but her achievement is no idle labour. Kindly feeling, a hearty sense of enjoyment, an unaffected style, a love of what is beautiful, an interest in the associations of literature and history,—these are no mean virtues in a traveller, and they are conspicuous in the volume. The illustrations are admirable. They recall familiar spots at once, and feed the memory, if they do not satisfy it. This, indeed, would be impossible. Who, for instance, that has lingered with a lover's incapacity of saying farewell by the ruins of Bolton and Rievaulz, which have so much more than their own beauty to commend them, or has spent summer days amidst the scenery of Scott's " Rokeby," can be contented with the restricted scope of a colourless illustration ? The artist has done his best, however, and deserve our thanks.

P. Ovidii Nasonis Ibis. Edidit R. Ellis. (The Clarendon Press4 This volume reminds us of the days when scholars were learned men. We have scholars now more than it would be easy to number, men versed in the difficulties of moods, particles, and the like, but our learned scholars we might almost count on the fingers of one hand. School-books, admirably done for the most part, and forming a most satisfactory contrast to the almost worthless books with which our fathers, and even the middle-aged among ourselves, had to be content., come forth in multitudes. But they are confined within a narrow round, and editions of books that may be called extra-academical are very rare. We welcome, therefore, all the more this work of Mr. Ellis. There is no particular value in the This, though it is an ingenious composition, but it is optimi exempli that a great scholar should busy himself with work that lies outside the narrow circle of academical requirements. The Ibis seems to have been a translation or an adaptation of a poem written by Callimachns against Apollonius Rhodias. Against whom Ovid directed it is not certain, nor is it certain how great were his obligations to his original, as of that original not a fragment remains. Its chief claim on the reader's attention is its relation to the poems of exile,—a part of Ovid's surviving work which has scarcely received the attention which it deserves. • A good edition of the " Tristia " and. the "Epistolae ex Ponto " is a desideratum. There has, indeed, been no edition, good or bad, for many years in this country. Mr. Robinson Ellis gives us "Prolegomena," in which he discusses tha origin of the poem and its critical history ; a text abundantly illustrated with various readings, "Scholia in Ibin " reaching to more than sixty pages, and a " Comnientarius " amounting to eighty-eight more. Altogether, we have here a model of completeness and careful labour.

Transplanted. By M. E. Fraser-Tytler. (Bintley and Son.)— Em Jiingling liebt em n Mitdehen, Die bat siren andern erwdhlt ; Der andre liebt eine snare, Lind— " The above quotation from Heine, which stands on the title-page, supplies a better clue to the contents of this book than does its name ; and the reader must be prepared to follow young people whose affections have a tendency rather to pursue each other in a circle, than to come to a satisfactory meeting-point. This naturally gives a sort of half-plaintive tone to much of the work, something like that of a piece of music wherein the minor key predominates. One peculiarity about the story lies in the difficulty of determining precisely who is meant to be the hero, as there are two brothers whose claim to that honour is so evenly balanced as to make it hard to tell which of them had the preference in the mind of the author. The tale is not an exciting one ; but it is told smoothly and gracefully,. and will beguile a spare hour pleasantly enough. The characters would have been all the better for additional force of colouring.

The Chronicle of James I, King of Aragon (written by himself). Translated from the Catalan by the late John Forster, Esq., M.P. for Berwick, with Historical Introduction, dm., by Pascual de Gayangos. 2 vols. (Chapman and Hall.)—These bulky volumes present us with a translation of the "Commentari dels Feyta Esdevenguts en la Vida del molt alt Senyor," James I., of Aragon, whose long reign (1218-1276) forms one of the most interesting and important epochs of Spanish mediarral history. The most remarkable events of which these Commentaries give a detailed record are the conquest of the Balearic Isles, which was completed in 1232; the expulsion of the Moors from Valencia, accomplished towards the middle of the thirteenth century ; and the abortive crusade, undertaken at the instance of the Khan of Tartary, in 1265. The King had not been long at sea when a storm arose, and so battered his fleet that be came to the conclusion that God "thought it was not for our good nor for that of Christianity" that they should not return home. Towards the close of the second volume, a curious account will be found of tho King's interviews with Pope Gregory X. at Lyons, where a Council had assembled, in 1274. The Pope could not sufficiently praise his visitor for the readiness he had shown in organising an expedition for the conquest of the Holy Sepulchre. James thought the opportunity a good one for getting crowned by the Pope, but Gregory made a slight difficulty. He wanted the Aragonese monarch to confirm a tribute granted by the latter's father to the Holy See, "which was of two hundred and fifty masmodines juseficlas " (golden MaSmadis, struck by the Yusuf dynasty, according to a foot-note), together with payment of arrears ; but James replied that he had come as a guest, not as a tributary, and that he would rather return home without the crown than with it at such a price. A preface, together with numerous explanatory foot-notes and several appendices on the Moorish annals of Spain, by Don Pascual de Gayangos, greatly enhance the value and interest of these volumes, and the simplicity and quaintness of the narrative are additional attractions to the student of old-world annals and manners.

Q. Horati Opera. (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—A very elegant little volume, printed in beautiful type, on dead-white paper. But why the gilt top ? Surely the rough edges are better, especially when the process of gilding seems to leave a disfiguring brown mark, for which we cannot account otherwise. So very pretty a book ought to have no drawback. The text has been carefully edited by Mr. F. W. Cornish.

The Galilean Gospel. By Alexander Balmain Bruce, D.D. (Macniven and Wallace.)—We heartily commend to our readers this little volume, as giving an outline, ably drawn, of the teaching of Christ, as it is found in the Gospels. The "Beatitudes," "The Sympathy of Christ," "The Vicarious Virtue of Faith," "Christ the Great Innovator," are among the subjects discussed. We cannot do better than quote, as a sentence representative of Professor Bruce's teaching, the following :—" These miracles may be regarded in three lights, in all of which they are full of permanent significance : as a revelation of Ohrist, as a prophecy of better days, and as an inspiration to all who honour the name and cherish the spirit of Jesus."

Bishop Ewing. By James Cameron Lees, D.D. (Macniven and Wallace.)—Dr. Lees has given us, in this little tract, one of the series of " St. Giles' Lectures—Scottish Divines," an admirable picture of the Bishop—the finest mind that the Scotch Episcopal Church has had since Leighton. Dr. Ewing's influence was perhaps more felt -outside his own communion than within it. Such men as Dr. Lees himself in the Established Church, and Dr. Forbes Robertson in the Free Church, would acknowledge him as one of their teachers. Here, in England, he is remembered with affection and gratitude by many who recognised in him the characteristics of the true prophet, the bold speaker-forth of hidden things into which it was given him to have an insight.

Sir William Hamilton, the Man and his Philosophy. By Professor Veitch. (Blackwood and Sons.)—Professor Veit& had two hours to talk of his subject ; and it would have been difficult, perhaps impossible, to compress more within the narrow limits of space thus imposed. The reader who wishes to learn something about this great thinker and his work cannot do better than possess himself of this little volume. And if he goes on to make himself acquainted with the longer account which the author has given of his subject, in the series of "Blackwood's Philosophical Classics," be will certainly not repent it.

The Poems of T. B. Aldrich. (Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., Boston, U.S.)—We have seen the chief, if not all, of these poems before. "Judith" certainly, in which the writer has worked out the fancy, not very happily conceived, of making Judith in love with her victim, Holofernes, "Spring in New England," perhaps the gem of the collection, "Friar Jerome's Beautiful Book," and "The Legend of Ara Caeli," revive, as we read them, an impression generally favourable of Mr. Aldrich's poetical powers. He always works as one who knows his craft ; there is no slovenliness about his execution. Perhaps there is commonly a want of fire, except when, now and ther, some real feeling seems to stir him. It only remains to say that the volume is of a handsome appearance. We do not wholly believe in these loose-parchment covers, which it is the prevailing fashion to use for binding. The illustrations, the work of the "Paint and Clay Club," are of various merit in design, but in point of engraving almost invariably good.

&noon noorcs.—The First Greek Book. By Thomas Kerchever Arnold, M.A. Edited by Francis David Morrie, MA. (Rivingtons.) —We are glad to see these very useful school-books of Mr. T. K. Arnold's adapted to the newer methods of teaching. Excellent as they were, they wanted, above all things, simplification ; and this they have received, at the hands of the skilful editors to whom they have been entrusted. One considerable change now introduced into the book before us is the postponement of all discnsion of the dual to the end. Prima facie, it commends itself to us, as tending to diminish the very great difficulties which Greek accidence presents to the beginner. Generally, the considerable remodelling which the manual has received seems to have been judicious. But what does Mr. Morrie mean, when he says that " ai ' is sounded as ai in ` aisle ' ?" Surely the sound is much more full.—Mr. T. T. M‘Lagan's Latin Course : Second Year (W. and R. Chambers), strikes us as scarcely giving the good Latinity which we should expect. The writer of a school-book may often find it convenient to construct his own sentences, but he must be very careful about the construction. Is there any authority for " Babylone discessit [died] Alexander Magnus," or for the accusative in "/arum diem pontem in flumine Araro Comer fecit, idem Helvetii viginti dies confecernnt " ? In Ex. xxi., 2, Mr. M‘Lagan quotes Cremes own words, " Diebus viginti confecerant."—We have before us two excellent specimens of "Bell's Reading Books,"—Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, and Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield, edited by H. Coorthope Bowen, M.A. (Bell and Sons.)—The originals have been abridged, but abridged, it would seem, with judgment, by the editor.—Mr. C. L. Dodgson publishes a second edition of his Euclid, L, IL (Macmillan.)—Mr. Dodgson does not think with those who would supersede Euclid altogether, but he regards the "Elements" as being capable of improvement. The changes are not great, but they are of some importance, and all tend towards simplicity. There is a very neat alternative proof of ii., 8, reducing the length by about nine parts out of ten. In this edition, words have been introduced, in the place of algebraical symbols.—Shakespeare's King Richard IH., with Notes, Examination Papers, and Plan of Preparation. (W. and R. Chambers.)—The "Plan of Study" is much to be commended.

NEW EDITIONS.—We are glad to see that a third edition has been called for of Professor Bruce's valuable work the Training of the Twelve. (T. and T. Clark.) Professor Bruce is one of the thinkers, happily becoming more common among theologians, who know how to learn and to move, and it is satisfactory to perceive that his contributions to theology are properly appreciated.—The new edition of Studies in Church History, by Henry C. Lea (Henry C. Lea's Son and Co., Philadelphia), has been supplemented by an interesting essay on "The Early Church and Slavery." Mr. Lea has studied the authorities, both classical and ecclesiastical, with care ; but why does he speak of the Younger Pliny "having amused himself" with torturing two female slaves suspected of Christianity ? The truth is, that the account which those who had abjured gave him of Christian practices seemed to contain nothing that could account for the popular feeling against them. He could not but believe that something more remained behind. "Wherefore," he continues, "I thought it the more necessary to find out, even by torture from two female slaves, who were called ministers, what was the truth." Pliny was a humane man, and his fault was that he believed, as men long continued to believe, that truth could be drawn out by torture.

We have also received a handsome, illustrated edition of Sacred Allegories, by the Rev. William Adams, M.A. (Rivingtons.)—These Allegories, if we put out of account Bunyan's great work, are as beautiful as anything of the kind in our language. "The Old Man's Home," in particular, is a masterpiece of vivid writing, so vivid, indeed, that not a little to the anther's distress, it was commonly taken as the account of an actual person. A short memoir is prefixed. The illustrations are of varying merit, the landrampes good, the figures not so pleasing.—The Invasion of the Crimea. By A. W. Kinglake. Vol. VII. (Blackwood and Sons.)

MAGA ZI NES, Exc.—We have received the following for June :—Part 1 of a reissue of the serial edition of the Dord Dante, embracing the "Inferno," "Pnrgatorio," and "Paradise," illustrated with the well known full-page illustrations by Gustave Dor& (Cassell and Co.)— The Magazine of Art, the article on "The Slade Girls" in which will be interesting to those engaged or concerned in the work-for-women question.—Part 33 of Picturesque Palestine.—L'Art, the illustrations in which are above the average.—Part 8 of Greater London.—Part 1 of The Fisheries of the World, being an illustrated and descriptive record of the International Fisheries Exhibition.—The Antiquarian Magazine, which is now published by D. Bogue, St. Martin's Place.— Decoration, completing Vol. V. of the new series.—No. 2 of the Social Zoo, entitled "Nice Girls."—Science Gossip.—The Gentleman's Magazine, containing a paper by Karl Blind on "The Holy Grail' a Coral Stone."—Time, completing Vol. VIII.—Belgravia, in which the story by Mr. Wilkie Collins is concluded, and a new one commenced by Mr. C. Gibbon.—The Theatre, completing Vol. I. of the new series.— To-Day.—Lorylon Society.—The Oxford Magazine.—The Nautical Magazine.—The Army and Navy Magazine.—Colburn's United Service Magazine.—Ifealth.—The Folk-lore Journal.—The Catholic Presbyterian.—The Month, containing the first instalment of an account of a personal visit to Ireland, by the editor.—Good Words.— Cassell's Magazine, containing an interesting paper on "Alligator Farming," by C. F. Gordon Cumming. The extra holiday number of this magazine also contains a well selected collection of stories, &c., by well.known writers, the illustrations to which are good.—All the Year Round, in which a series of "Chronicles of English Counties" is commenced ; also a new serial story by MrsPender-Cudlip.—Chambers's Journal.—Letts's Household Magazine.— The Sunday at Home.—The Sunday Magazine.—The Leisure Hour.— The Ladies' Gazette of l'ashion.—The Ladies' Treasury.—The Continent. —The Atlantic Monthly.—Harper's Monthly, the opening illustrated article in which is devoted to "Lambeth Palace." The woodcut illustrations to the paper on "The Home of Hiawatha" are of a very high class.

We have received from the Fite Art Society a portrait of Dr. John Brown, etched by Mr. C. 0. Murray.