Politics, Science, and Art. 545 the coral must be deposed from his place of poetry among the toilers of the sea. It no more toils at making itself a home or a sepulchre than we do in making our own bones. The geological conclusions founded on this theory of coral-making are ingenious, and some of them, perhaps, open to question; but on the whole this is an able monograph on an interesting subject. Annals of a Fortress. By E. VIOLLET LE DUC. Translated by BENJAMIN BUCKNALL. Sampson Low and Co. M. Viollet le Duc's genius as one of the first of living architects seems to have a special development in military fortifications. He is a recognised authority in military engineering, and was frequently consulted respecting the permanent defences of his country by Napoleon III. His translator goes so far as to say that had his recommendations been carried out, the investment of Paris would have been impossible. As colonel of Engineers he assisted in its defence. Every operation planned and directed by him during the siege was successful. He published a memoir on the siege, and avoided compulsory military command under the Commune only by a timely escape. The present work is very artistically conceived, and is full of scientific and popular interest. The fortress of La Roche-Pont, in the Côte d'Or, is traced from its first rude beginnings, in the days of bows and stone hatchets, to the wars of the Great Napoleon; seven successive sieges of it are described, with that blending of the imaginary and the historical which is sufficient to give minuteness of detail and vividness of representation. The interest and value of the work lie in these details of assault and defence, into which of course we cannot enter. The study of them, however, will be of great value to the scientific engineer; while to the general reader, thanks to the great literary ability of the author, they are interesting as a romance. Throughout one feels in the hands of a master: clearness, precision, force, and graphic power carry on the most unscientific through the details of the various sieges; while plans and perspectives, abundantly scattered through the book, and most admirably executed, make every detail perfectly comprehensible and simple. M. Viollet le Duc teaches military engineering as pleasantly as Walter Scott taught history. A System of Christian Rhetoric, for the Use of Preachers and Other Speakers. By GEORGE WINFRED HERVEY, M.A. Houlston and Sons. There is no positive indication in any part of this volume of the Transatlantic source of its somewhat remarkable contents, yet its paper, type, peculiar shape, and general style of meditation and exposition, suggest such an origin. It deals with the whole subject of Christian oratory and homiletics at greater length, with more attempt at generalization on the one hand and philosophic depth on the other, and with more profession of establishing by inductive process such generalisations, in combination with practical ethical advice, than we have ever before encountered. More than 600 closely-printed large octavo pages certainly give scope and verge enough for a full discussion. It would be difficult to convey in outline the specific purport and main principle of the work. Suffice it to say that Mr. Hervey seeks to discover in the Prophetic and Inspired writings of Holy Scripture the ideal of the highest rhetoric. He believes that a partial, not a plenary, inspiration is the great birthright of the Divinelycalled preacher; that we must study the specimens which the Scriptures preserve of these breathings of the Divine Spirit, in order to discover their secret, and to receive, with the old Prophets and the Apostles of Christ, the same spirit of persuasion, the same baptism of fire. The author draws a sharp distinction between partial and plenary inspiration, and, a priori, investigates the influence of the Spirit upon all the human faculties, as affecting invention, style, delivery. He delivers some able cautions as to the 'meaus and conditions of inspiration.' All this would be very good and sensible if the method and pretension of the argument were not raised to a key which the author's wise advice seems to fail in reaching. The second book, on Invention, after seventy pages of general views, is divided into two parts, on the matter and form of sermons. Every subject is discussed with extraordinary amplitude. Illustrations are drawn from the writings of great preachers, and the literature of each topic is adduced at the close. The third book is devoted to the question of style, which occupies 130 pages. Interesting contrasts of Hebrew and Hellenistic and English eloquence in the matter of "number" and "cadence are introduced, and the various kinds of style are discussed from this high platform of prophetic excellence. The fourth book, on 'Elocution,' is followed by indices of 'figures' and forms of expression used by writers on rhetoric. There is a complete mine of wealth in every department of this great subject, the veins of which no preacher could pursue without advantage. The book would be far more useful if the author could have exercised the grace of compression, and in this respect have proved that he belonged to the minor prophets.' 6 The Skull and Brain; their Indications of Character and Anatomical Relations. By NICHOLAS MORGAN, author of Phrenology, and How to use it in Analysing Character,' &c. (Longmans and Co.) To persons who take an interest in phrenology, once so popular, but now to a certain extent in the sere and yellow leaf,' this volume will be welcome. The subject is discussed with calmness, fairness, and intelligence, and is illustrated by a variety of excellent and appropriate engravings.Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874. By WILLIAM G. Brooke, M.A. (Henry S. King and Co.) This little volume consists of three parts-(1) an Introduction, in which the state of procedure in this branch of the law under the Church Discipline Act, 1840, is briefly noticed; (2) the Public Worship Act, 1874, commented on section by section; its Poetry, Fiction, and Belles Lettres. 547 legal operation discussed and illustrated by reference to decided cases; (3) the Act itself, printed in extenso. Mr. Brooke, who is already well known as an author on ecclesiastical law, has treated this interesting branch of it, which just now has a special interest, with considerable judg ment and learning, not perplexing the reader with too refined distinctions on the one hand, nor laying down vague and unsustainable propositions on the other. He writes clearly and pertinently, and his little book is eminently suited for popular reading. The Act, however, denationalises the English Church by the provision of it which restricts the benefit of its operation to those only who solemnly declare that they are members 'of the Church of England as by law established,' a clause bigoted in its spirit and vague in its terms, which are purposely left undefined because incapable of any satisfactory definition.—Cremation of the Dead; its History and Bearings upon Public Health. By WILLIAM EASSIE, C.E. With Illustrations. (Smith, Elder, and Co.) Mr. Eassie is very successful in his case against old churchyard and cemetery interments. He recites some of the horrors brought to light by the Parliamentary Commission in 1843. Nothing can be more atrocious than that the dead should so poison the atmosphere, the churches, the homes, and the water of the living. There is reason to fear that our cemeteries are not an effectual remedy. Whether cremation is the necessary alternative is still a question. Mr. Eassie makes out a strong case for it. He sketches its history and practice, ancient and modern, and describes processes whereby it may be best accomplished. He is quite right in maintaining that religion has nothing to do with the question; but sentiment has, although even sentiment must not be permitted to perpetuate causes deleterious to health and fatal to life.Common-Sense Management of the Stomach. By GEORGE OVEREND DREWRY, M.D., author of treatises on Dyspepsia, Cholera, Typhus, &c. (Henry S. King.) The practical medical directions issued by physicians and surgeons are very numerous, and are of varied value. That now before us is not inferior to any we have seen. It justifies its title, and is full of practical common sense, and will be found useful in families in all matters connected with the stomach. POETRY, FICTION, AND BELLES LETTRES. The Tweed, and other Poems. By JOHN VEITCH, LL.D., Professor of Logic and Rhetoric in the University of Glasgow. Glasgow: Maclehose. Profesor Veitch combines two qualities seldom united in such measure -the reflectiveness, meditative depth, and what we may call dreamful instinct for Nature, which we are most inclined to identify with the name of Wordsworth, and the vivid sympathy for human character, especially as embodied in action and daring deed, which suggests the name of Sir Walter Scott. This union of reflective firmness, giving rise to a kind of gentle, chastened melancholy, with the true ballad dash and concentrated fire of the old Border minstrelsy, sufficiently marks out Professor Veitch from the ordinary run of second-rate poets, and suggests that, whatever may be the ultimate fate of his two earliest volumes, Hillside Rhymes '-published anonymously some two years agoand the present one, he unites in his own person the traditions of two separate schools, and has it before him as a possibility to produce something that will live. 'The Tweed,' though it lacks a little the complete modulation that might have been given to it, contains passages which are in themselves complete poems, suffused with quiet thought, and coloured with the subdued tints of fancy, deepened by loving and constant association with the great presences of Nature, which poets have always been so prone to magnify. Critically, we should say that Professor Veitch, in his effort after a complete and superficial order, has so far sacrificed spontaneity. There is an order of the logical faculties, and there is an order of the imagination and the emotions; and considering how in the outset he has tied himself by the former, it is remarkable how clearly the movement of the latter shows through the somewhat alien medium, 'like pebbles in a brook.' This description of Cademuir Hill is in the true spirit. 'Let me but speak thee as I've seen thee oft On a sweet day in early June; o'erhead White streaks of wind-slashed clouds calmed on the blue; Is pranked with tiny tormentil, that loves The mountain slopes, and yellow violets Of nunlike mien, that group themselves afield Of sunsmote heights, unfolds its fluttering flowers Here surely we have keen observation embodied in subtly-musical form. Of the ballads in this volume, The Lord of Oliver and Neidpath' is perhaps the best in point of execution; but for rendering of the weird association and superstition of the Border, 'Lady Fleming's Dream' is singularly full of power. Neither, however, to our thinking, surpasses 'Hay of Talla,' which lingers in the thoughts with a kind of spell. Light, Shade, and Toil. Poems by WILLIAM CAMERON. With an Introductory Note by Rev. W. C. SMITH, D.D. Glasgow: Maclehose. Dr. Smith is certainly right when he says in his somewhat patronising preface that Mr. Cameron has a true note. We have not for long read anything finer for pure domestic sentiment and sweet simplicity of music than Little Mary,' and 'Eveline,' and 'Alaney,' and 'Little Jessie.' Poetry, Fiction, and Belles Lettres. 'I weep, I mourn, I am forlorn : Its sweetness with my Mary dies.' This is a more cheerful glimpse of 'Little Jessie.' 'Her rosy lips-a scarlet thread- Two pearly teeth shine through the red, Her tiny, plump, wee, fairy feet, Encased in slippers blue, Make music to my ear more sweet Than words can ever do.' 549 Mr. Cameron does not go far to find his poetic material. Bairns, birds, and wife are enough; and he sings as he works, for he is a working 'man,' and we doubt not works the better that his brain is filled with such pure, inspiring, albeit sometimes mournful thoughts. 'In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts When he does wander a little afield, he is not so successful. Such poems as 'The Seasons' have a force of their own, but appear more laboured, and Echoes' a little too truly answer to their title. There are some vigorous verses in 'The Poet,' but 'The Poet's Death' is by far the best poem of this class in the volume. Altogether we are inclined to give Mr. Cameron a high place in the class to which he belongs—the poets of pure domestic sentiment-and hope that this volume will not be the last in which we shall meet with him. In the Studio: a Decade of Poems. By SEBASTIAN EVANS, Author of Brother Fabian's Manuscript,' &c. Macmillan and Co. There is certainly power in this volume, and as certainly some wasted ingenuity. Mr. Evans has fancy, graceful wit, and sarcastic playfulness, as seen more especially in 'Jones and Calypso,' a poem of serio-comic, classico - modern character, in which several present day tendencies are rather sharply hit. And now and then, too, a valuable thought is given forth in such guise as makes one incline to laugh outright. The idea of fame thus set forth has a ridiculous aspect, which, however, only makes the underlying idea the more impressive. 'Fame at best! would you know what she is? Mark Yon photographs there in the shop: Patti, Darwin, Anonyma, Bismark, And the Siamese twins at the top. |