there exists the deepest enmity. Also there is a philosophic porter, who is very tiresome; and a mathematician, Hypatia's father, who is not more lively than other men who addict themselves to triangular pursuits. These constitute the chief materials of the romantic pottage which Mr Kingsley has set on to seethe for our delectation and refreshment; and they agree like oil and vinegar.

Philammon is received by Cyril, and quartered among the parabolani or deacon visitors. But on the very first night of his arrival there is a row in the town, owing to a report that the Jews had risen and set fire to a church. Next day Cyril retaliates by marching the Christians into the Jews' quarter, which they pillage with amazing dexterity. The nonchalant Raphael Aben-Ezra, though warned by the respectable Miriam to escape in time, remains until the mob is in his house, but manages to withdraw uninjured, owing to his admirable coolness, and the terror which the jaws of the mastiff-bitch inspire. The Jews are driven from Alexandria. Cyril next attempts to put down the philosophical lectures, and Philammon declares himself ready to attend the college and defy Hypatia in the midst of her discourse. Of course it was not to be expected that an ignorant savage like Philammon could maintain a controversy for a single moment with the accomplished Hypatia; but the shrewd Cyril, who never stuck upon trifles, conceived that he might be profitably expended as a martyr, and that, if murdered by Hypatia's pupils, which was not unlikely, his death might furnish a pretext for a direct attack on the philosophers. So the offer of Philammon is accepted, and he is directed to attend the lecture of the female philosopher on the following morning.

As a lecturer, Hypatia is above the average. The discourse, of which Mr Kingsley gives us a considerable specimen, is not worse, or more unintelligible, than many lectures which we have heard delivered at philosophical institutions; in short, it is passable small-beer with more froth than body. However, the young lady becomes rather free in the course of her remarks upon the Christian reli

gion; whereupon Philammon starts up, and charges her with blasphemy. Then arise those exclamations so familiar in our modern theatres when a drunk sailor in the gallery attempts to interrupt the performance, and Philammon would certainly have been pitched from the window had not the gifted lecturess interfered. At it she goes again, blazing away with artificial fireworks; until the hour is up, when she dismisses the class, and sends the door-keeper after Philammon, who is considerably ashamed of himself, with a message desiring him to wait upon her on the following day.

Perhaps Philammon, who was as uneducated as a jackal, did not understand very much of Hypatia's lecture; but education was not necessary in order to appreciate the charms of rippled hair and "waxy morbidezza of skin." He had expected to behold a minister of Satan, but on the contrary had gazed on a celestial vision. So he went back to Cyril doubtful and desponding, and quite in a mood to contrast unfavourably the coarseness and brutality of the Nitrian monks, with the elegance and culture of which he had just obtained a glimpse. Nor had he much time to reflect; for short as his sojourn in Alexandria had been, he had already contrived to make an enemy of Cyril's right-hand man, ycleped Peter the Reader, with whom he shortly came to words and afterwards to blows. As a matter of course he was at once ejected from the society of the parabolani. So being virtually excommunicated by the Church, he went to the dwelling of Hypatia, craved pardon for his offence, received a free ticket of admission to her lectures, and took up his abode with the philosophic porter. Nor was the female professor altogether insensible to the personal qualities of the youth, whom she acknowledged to be "beautiful as Antinous . . . . Rather as the young Phoebus himself, fresh glowing from the slaughter of the Python."

For some months Philammon attended the schools, and in the acquisition of science gradually forgot his early fanaticism-in fact, became a kind of Gallio. Meanwhile there have been

political conspiracies and plottings of all kinds. Heraclian, the count of Africa, has rebelled, and sent an expedition against Rome; and Orestes, the Alexandrian prefect, is awaiting the issue, in the hope of turning it to his own advantage. But these things affect not our globular-headed friends the Goths, who remain in that extraordinary harem of theirs, feasting, sleeping, and drinking, and, on the whole, pretty well contented with that sensual state of existence-all, except old Prince Wulf, the rath-geber or councillor of the party, who opines that it is time to be up and doing. Yet a certain degree of ennui, which all the blandishments of Pelagia and her nymphs cannot dissipate, has evidently stolen upon them, so by way of recreation they make up a party to hear Hypatia lecture; and Amalric the Amal; and Wulf, the son of Ovida; and Smid, the son of Troll; and Goderic, the son of Ermenric; and Agelmund, the son of Cniva, go forth with Pelagia and other accommodating damsels to listen to the philosophic wonder. We are sorry, very sorry to say, that Pelagia was not courteously received-nay, was positively insulted by several of the students who had previously been on familiar terms with her, and who taunted her with living as the mistress of a barbarian after having plundered them. At last a general cry of "return the money!" broke from the band of philosophasters, to which the magnanimous Goths, yielding to the frantic adjurations of Pelagia, replied by dashing their purses, bracelets, and ornaments, in the face of the reclaimers! Wulf, however, took a more sensible plan for quelling the disturbance, by giving the Alexandrian youth a glimpse of a brown blade, bearing certain ominous brown stains, at the sight of which they recoiled, and the party entered the lecture-room. Hypatia knew all about Pelagia, and hated as well as despised her, for the two were rival beauties; but, measuring her feelings, she deter mined to go on, and commenced her lecture as usual. Pelagia behaved pretty well at first, keeping the other girls in order; but gradually somnolence overcame her, and she dropped her head on the shoulder of honest

Amalric, who was already snoring like an ogre. The only Goth who stood it all out was old Wulf, who opined that Hypatia was very like an Alruna maiden, and, at the end of the discourse, laid his purse at her feet! Philammon, who had also attended the lecture, encountered at the door, to his great surprise, old father Aufugus, or rather Arsenius, whom he had left at the Laura, but who, having heard tidings of his defection, had come to Alexandria to look after his strayed sheep. Then come family discourses, by which it appears that Pelagia is the sister of Philammon; the one having been purchased while a child by Miriam the Jewess, whilst the other was, in fact, the legal property of Arsenius. The old man had no intention whatever of divulging this latter secret, which was thundered in the ears of Philammon by the malignity of Peter the Reader; and poor Philammon, in the frenzy of horror at the discovery that he was a slave and not a free man, and quite misunderstanding the intentions of Arsenius, threw himself before the chariot of the Prefect Orestes who was passing by; and that worthy, being no way disposed to favour the monks, advised him to knock down a few of them, and to give leg-bail, upon which sage hint he acted, and sought refuge in the house of Pelagia. After him in full cry came various strong-backed ecclesiastics; but fortunately Wulf and Smid were in the courtyard, and whipped his persecutors out. But a greater danger attended the Prefect Orestes, who was hideously unpopular with the monks, as being an admirer and supporter of Hypatia, and no friend to Cyril; so they surrounded his chariot, overpowered his guard, and would have torn him to pieces, but for the timely aid of the Goths, who, armed with whips only, made a sally and rescued him, conveying him also into the house of Pelagia. But we must not become too minute. Suffice it to say, that while Orestes and Amalric, with the other Goths, sit down to dinner with the laudable intention of becoming particularly drunk, old Wulf pumps Philammon, discovers his relationship with Pelagia, and his earnest desire to convey her away to the desert, and devote

her to a life of repentance-a scheme which tallies wonderfully with the views of the old warrior. For, as we have said, Wulf was thoroughly disgusted with the life which his companions were leading, and was resolved, if possible, to rouse Amalric from his Circean lethargy; and he saw no better way of effecting this, than by getting rid quietly of Pelagia. Therefore he was kind to the boy monk, and allowed him to escape from the house when the revellers broke into the hall, in the midst of their Bacchanalian orgies; and four hours afterwards, when all the rest were sleep ing off their liquor, he and Smid, the son of Troll, whose thirst was unappeasable as that of the desert, and whose head was harder than that of any mountain bull, discussed matters over a huge pitcher of liquor, and settled that Pelagia should be surrendered to Philammon-that Hypatia, whom Wulf fondly called the Alruna woman, should be wedded to Amalric-that the Goths should make themselves masters of Alexandria, which they might do by debauching the Prefect's guard that Orestes was to be put out of the way, and that Africa was to be made a Gothic kingdom! Never mind probabilities, my masters! It is true that there were but forty Goths in Alexandria, but you are now in deep water, far too deep for the plummet of credulity. Let Mr Kingsley go on.

But no. We shall not follow him exactly; for there is a scene in which Philammon, after his escape from the house of Pelagia, has an interview with Miriam the procuress, so hateful in expression, though not in action, that we shall not refer to it further than by stating that the old hag, whose slave Pelagia is, works upon the excited feelings of the brother, to gain him to her own villanous purposes, and insinuates that the possession of Hypatia may be the reward of his services. Then there is plot and Orestes has received counterplot. false intelligence that the enterprise of Heraclian had succeeded, and that the Count of Africa was master of Rome, whereas, in reality, he had been signally defeated, and sure tidings to that effect had reached Cyril. So the Prefect resolved to become

Emperor of the South, to marry Hypatia, and to restore the worship of the ancient gods; for with a lesser bribe than that the female philosopher, who really disliked him, would not be satisfied. So the bargain is made, and it is settled that Pelagia is to appear as Venus Anadyomene, and there are to be gladiatorial combats, and exhibition of white elephants, and Pluto knows what else. Philammon, who goes nearly mad at the idea of his sister dancing in the open theatre as Venus, is sent to prison. Meanwhile a monk, who had been taken in the act of striking Orestes in the attack upon his chariot, has been crucified, and the body carried off by the Nitrian monks, and the honours of canonisation bestowed by Cyril. Then comes the amphitheatre scenevery horrible-in which Hypatia, in the character of affianced bride, sits by the side of Orestes the Prefect, and witnesses, with a blanched cheek, the most revolting butchery. Then Pelagia enters as Venus, and we have a scene which few laymen would have chosen to write, save under the influence of a sense of necessity or duty. Philammon, who has made his escape, dashes on the stage to rescue his sister from her degradation, and of course there is a frightful riot. But, the occasion being pressing, Orestes rises up, addresses the multitude, informs them that Heraclian has taken Rome, and winds up with the following suggestive peroration:-"Let the conqueror of Rome balance his account with that Byzantine court, so long the incubus of our trans-Mediterranean wealth and civilisation; and let a free, independent, and united Africa rally round the palaces and docks of Alexandria, and find there its natural centre of polity and of prosperity."

To which rather modern sounding harangue the voice of the populace replied, and

"Hypatia, amid the shouts of her aristocratic scholars, rose and knelt before him, writhing inwardly with shame and despair, and entreated him to accept that tutelage of Greek commerce, supremacy, and philosophy which was forced on him by the unanimous voice of an adoring people.

"It is false !' shouted a voice from the highest tiers, appropriated to the

women of the lower classes, which made all turn their heads in bewilderment.

"False false ! You are tricked! He is tricked! Heraclian was utterly routed at Ostia, and is fled to Carthage, with the emperor's fleet in chase.' "She lies! Drag the beast down!' cried Orestes, utterly thrown off his balance by the sudden check.

"She? He! I, a monk, brought the news! Cyril has known it-every Jew in the Delta has known it, for a week past! So perish all the enemies of the Lord, caught in their own snare !'

"And bursting desperately through the women who surrounded him, the monk

vanished.

"An awful silence fell on all who heard. For a minute every man looked in his neighbour's face as if he longed to cut his throat, and get rid of one witness, at least, of his treason. And then arose a tumult, which Orestes in vain attempted to subdue. Whether the populace believed the monk's words or not, they were

panic-stricken at the mere possibility of their truth. Hoarse with denying, protesting, appealing, the would-be emperor had at last to summon his guards around him and Hypatia, and make his way out of the theatre as best he could; while the multitude melted away like snow before the rain, and poured out into the streets in eddying and roaring streams, to find every church placarded by Cyril with the particulars of Heraclian's ruin." We are becoming weary of this. Philammon sees Pelagia, but Pelagia will not leave Amalric; so her brother, at the instigation of Wulf, forms a design to carry her off. Hypatia has done with Orestes for ever, and finds that she is so unpopular in Alexandria that she must shut up her lecture-room and depart. After this point the whole concern is chaos. You see, indeed, in the witch caldron, the heads of the old characters popping up and down, but you cannot tell why they rise or why they sink. splendid absurdity monopolises our attention. The leading feature of Hypatia's character is the restoration of the worship of the ancient gods, whom she tries to believe in with all her might of mind, but cannot gain any response. In this mood Miriam forces her way into her presence, and, by dint of magnetism and drugs, persuades her that she can afford her a personal interview with Apollo! The representative of Apollo is Philammon, who is partially hocused by Miriam,

One

dressed in a white tunic, and made to assume an attitude. Let Mr Kingsley describe what follows:

"On our side of the room he perceived a doorway, filled by a curtain of gauze, from behind which came the sound of whispering voices. His fear, growing with the general excitement of his mind, rose into anger as he began to suspect some snare; and he faced round towards the curtain, and stood like a wild beast evil spirits, male or female." at bay, ready, with uplifted arm, for all

How

"And he will show himself? known voice-could it be Hypatia's? shall I accost him?' whispered a wellAnd then the guttural Hebrew accent of the old woman answered

"As you spoke of him this morning-'

646 "Oh! I will tell him all, and he must -he must have mercy! But he?-so awful, so glorious !

"What the answer was, he could not hear but the next moment a sweet

heavy scent, as of narcotic gums, filled the room-mutterings of incantationsand then a blaze of light, in which the curtain vanished, and disclosed to his astonished eyes, enveloped in a glory of luminous smoke, the hag standing by a tripod, and, kneeling by her, Hypatia her self, robed in pure white, glittering with head thrown back, her arms stretched diamonds and gold, her lips parted, her out in an agony of expectation.

"In an instant, before he had time to

stir, she had sprung through the blaze, and was kneeling at his feet.

"Phoebus! beautiful, glorious, ever young! Hear me ! only a moment! only this once!'

"Her drapery had caught fire from the tripod, but she did not heed it. Philammon instinctively clasped her in his arms, and crushed it out, as she cried

"Have mercy on me! Tell me the self-I am thy slave! Kill me, if thou secret! I will obey thee! I have no wilt: but speak!'

"The blaze sank into a soft, warm, mellow gleam, and beyond it what appeared?

"The negro-woman, with one finger upon her lips, as, with an imploring, all but despairing, look, she held up to him her little crucifix.

"He saw it. What thoughts flashed through him, like the lightning bolt, at that blessed sign of infinite self-sacrifice, I say not; let those who know it judge for themselves. But in another instant

he had spurned from him the poor deluded maiden, whose idolatrous ecstasies he saw instantly were not meant for him

self, and rushed desperately across the room, looking for an outlet."

Pelagia

Let us be done with it. will not leave Amalric, who tries to pitch Philammon from the battlement of the tower for interfering, but the young and active monk takes tight hold, they both roll over, and the skull of the Goth is battered to pieces, while Philammon escapes by the moat. Hypatia is rent asunder by a Christian mob at the high altar. Miriam is mortally wounded by Smid, the son of Troll, but has life enough to find her way to her lodging, and to inform Raphael Aben-Ezra that she is his mother. We have purposely avoided following the said Raphael during his episodical wanderings in this romance. Philammon becomes abbot of the Laura, and Pelagia dies as a saint and a recluse. So ends the phantasmagoria.

And what is the value of it? Really we have been unable to discover. Is it an improving book? We should say decidedly the reverse. What moral does it inculcate ? We have not been able to discover any. Some works of fiction, we know, are intended simply to convey pleasure, by the agreeable pictures which are presented. In this instance, the pictures are loathsome, distorted, and revolting. We must take the liberty of saying, with all deference, that a clergyman of the Church of England might occupy his leisure more usefully than by writing books of this kind. If there is to be no restriction whatever as to subjects, and if men of talent may blamelessly select any period for the purpose of exhibiting to us the grossness of ancient practices, this work of Hypatia may be defended. But we do not recognise the propriety of unroofing ancient sewers, for the sake of disgusting us with their smell. There is danger of new typhus from the old exhalations; and there are many parts and passages of history which, out of respect for public morals, had much better be left unexplained.

Mr Kingsley, we trust, will do us the justice to believe that we have not arrived hastily at this conclusion, and that we have anything but a wish to misrepresent the tendency of the book. It occurred to us at one time that Hypatia might be intended to convey

a wholesome lesson of toleration; and that the many scenes of religious and sectarian violence which he has introduced, might be regarded as deliberate warnings against the indulgence of passion and prejudice, to the influence of which, ecclesiastic champions have been at all times peculiarly exposed. But this idea was entirely dissipated by a perusal of his last work, Westward Ho! In it, we are glad to say that there is no trace of pruriency, and that there is no repetition of such offensive scenes as we have been forced to condemn in Hypatia. The rush of passion is directed in another channel. Deep, abiding, and inveterate hatred of the Spaniards and the Pope, and lust for blood and plunder, are expressed in almost every page; and Mr Kingsley seems rather proud than otherwise of the spirit which animated his countrymen. His aim throughout the book is to represent the freebooting expeditions from England, which were so numerous in the reign of Elizabeth, as so many pious crusades; and he is quite welcome to retain his opinion. Ours is slightly different. We believe that the object of these expeditions was to plunder the Spaniards, as the Spaniards had plundered the Indians. "We two saw you four set on four; you bound them, and were masters of their wealth; then did we two set on you four, and with a word outfaced you from your prize, and have it." That is the simple state of the whole matter; and we are really at a loss to understand how Mr Kingsley, who is a very clever man, and moreover well read in history, can attempt to maintain any other hypothesis. No considerations of Protestantism or humanity dictated those marauding expeditions. No doubt, as Protestants, the English hated the Spaniards; and no doubt their animosity was heightened by the knowledge of the diabolical cruelties which had been practised by the Spaniards against the natives; but booty was the main object which stimulated these private adventurers. Let us call things by their proper names. The young ardent spirits, whose exploits Mr Kingsley chronicles with so much satisfaction, were neither more nor less than buc