Its

our

Ir is scarcely exaggeration to say that the "Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers" has already become the table-talk of the town. This is just what might be expected, considering the exceedingly long life of the banker-poet, and the constancy and familiarity of his intercourse with nearly all of the most eminent celebrities of his day. Rogers' "circle" of acquaintance did really represent the geometrical idea of a circle; it seemed to have no beginning and no end. beginning was lost in the antediluvian mists of the "good old days," when George III. was a very young man; when Frederick the Great was in the midst of his victories; when Napoleon and Wellington were unheard of; when that mighty confederacy, the United States, was only plantations in North America." And as to its end, where shall we find it? Young and old, patrician and plebeian, rich or poor, wherever there was talent, or eminence, or promise in the future, or performance in the past, there was an acquaintance of Samuel Rogers. Mr. Rogers. it must be premised, was one of those who to the last loved society-the society of the talented in all spheres; and nothing gave him more pleasure than to "talk" over his hospitable board, of what he had seen and heard in the old times, and in the new times, too, of the brilliant sayings of the wits, poets, statesmen, philosophers, who had so often sat around it, of the peculiarities. the characteristics, of all noteworthy men, and of not a few noteworthy women, during a space of some seventy years, at least. And his acquaintance was not merely an English one. When "abroad," he was "at home," almost as completely so as in his own drawing-room. The "table-talk" of such a man, himself, a wit would be a poet-in a degree-somewhat of a philosopher, moreover, was, as will be readily conceived, of no ordinary unction. The selections from it

which appear in these volumes, comprise, in short, a treasury of good things. But with the good things, we are forced to say, are mingled many which had better been left unsaid and unrecorded. Rogers, there is little doubt, was a man of generosity and good nature in many respects; but he could both think and say a bitter thing. Of this, the proofs are but too abundant. The work is indeed interesting in an extreme degree; it would be scarcely possible to conceive any one more so. It will create for Mr. Rogers a posthumous reputation for cleverness which the quality of his poems could never have procured him whilst living; but it will not increase our regard for him as a man of amiableness-we had almost added of truthfulness; for already there are serious imputations on the veracity of some of the anecdotes related by him.

Ir will be a very great comfort-a source of exceeding ease of mind-to many thrifty, timid, care-taking individuals, should it really turn out that Mr. W. H. Smith has made good his promise to tell us "How to Detect Forged Notes." Quite readily we admit that the instructions which he gives for that purpose appear to be practical and useful, and may serve to put many persons on their guard against the more clumsy description of imitations; but we really are not prepared to admit "that any schoolboy taking such base paper after the genuine note and forging had been explained to him, ought to be well whipped, and that any person, however humble, deserves the loss of it." This is a hard saying-a very hard saying, seeing that forged notes are taken, not so very unfrequently, even by clerks at bankinghouses, and other persons who may be considered as not the least instructed in the texture and

London: Effingham Wilson.

characteristics of bank-notes. Making allowance for our author's somewhat hyperbolical view of the potency of his instructions, it is only fair to say that his manual is calculated to be useful, and that shopkeepers ought to make it a point to provide themselves with copies.

Ir is a pity that gentlemen who have done so much real good to society as those who were engaged in organizing and carrying out the valuable Lancet Sanitary Commission-through which terrible, but at the same time useful disclosures were made of the murderous adulterations of food which are too generally practisedshould have got into a violent quarrel amongst themselves as to the person most entitled to credit in respect of that good work. A pamphlet is before us on the "Controversial Correspondence," which has taken place relative to this squabble. Its intention is to prove that Dr. Hassall is the gentleman whom the public has to thank for initiating the inquiry. A triple array of authors, the Rev. Raymond S. Daniell, the Rev. John Power, and Mr. James Cæsar Durnford, -all men of reputation and station-have taken part in the composition of the pamphlet, and make out a very strong case on behalf of Dr. Hassall. We only allude to the brochure for the purpose of suggesting to all parties how mournful it is that such bickerings are allowed to diminish the satisfaction which should be felt at what has been done, and perhaps to prevent a still further prosecution of the work.

MR. W. BLEW, M.A., favours us with a new translation of Eschylus' famous masterpiece, Agamemnon the King."+ Not one of the Greek tragedies has been subjected to more murderous distortions and mutilations by English "renderers" of all degrees of incapacity, than the "Agamemnon." The version before us is, upon the whole, about the best that we have seen, and though disfigured by not a few barbarisms of style, arising, as it seems, from the translator's excessive anxiety to keep close to the text, possesses the merit of giving, generally, a faithful idea of the spirit of the original. Mr. Blew is, manifestly, a man of much erudition, and this he takes care the reader shall be made aware of through the medium of a multiplicity of notes and illustrations, most of them, certainly, not without utility.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS-the well-known coloured narrator of the horrors of that slavery, with which, from bitter experience, he is as well acquainted as any man-has given the world another exposition of the evils of the system. "My Bondage and my Freedom," is a powerfully written (in some places, a painfully written)

• London: Tegg and Co. + London: Longman and Co.

book, interesting from beginning to end. Few men can tell a tale of hardship and wrong with more force and pathos than the author, and he makes no sparing use of his talents in this way. Indeed, the incidents are so appropriate to the subjects illustrated, the coincidences so opportune, the very names of some of the actors so appropriate to the parts which they respectively play, that if the work had been sent forth by Mr. Douglass as an authentic narrative, relating to real events and persons, one might almost have imagined that we were perusing a dramatic story, in which fancy and colouring had not been spared.

ONE of the most interesting symptoms of the process of improvement which has characterized the present age--and which, dismally interrupted as it was by the unhappy exigences of war, will, ere long, it is to be hoped, resume its auspicious career with greater vigour than ever-is the imMr. portance attached to sanitary questions Joel Pinney has contributed, under the title of "The Influence of Occupation on Life and Health," a useful, practical addition to what we may designate as "sanitary literature." The book abounds in sound advice relating to many of those every-day subjects which, though too often disregarded, materially influence the length, as well as the happiness of life-much more so than even that wealth, in the eager pursuit of which, the chief of earthly blessings is so frequently sacrificed. We shall not be surprised if, even in our day, the resort to drugs, drastics, and all the "villanous compounds" of the pharmacopoeia shall be, to a considerable degree, superseded by attention to those hygeinic rules which conduce alike to health and comfort. The people are being gradually educated into habits warring, more potently than medical prescriptions, against those destructive diseases which formerly were always amongst us. The idea, "every man his own doctor" may come in time to be not quite so absurd, so meaningless and impracticable, as of old.

OF a somewhat similar character to the above is a small book, by Dr. G. Wyld, entitled, "Health and Comfort their Attainment and Preservation." + But it is less pretentious, as well as infinitely less elaborate, being, in fact, chiefly designed as a vehicle for the dissemination of useful health-rules amongst working people. We can conceive no present more useful, in its way, to a working man's family, calculated as it is to avert an infinite amount of pain, misery, disease, and premature death; and we heartily second the author's benevolent wish, that it may attain a very extensive circulation.

* London: Trübner and Co. + London: Longman and Co. London: Marshall.

CHAPTER IX.

THE JOURNEY INTO KENT.

CYRUS LOXWOOD believed in the great truth, that beauty and utility, when combined, act favourably on each other, Thus in devoting his life and genius to the elaboration of a class of architecture, which, including the principles of cheapness, easiness of construction, and durability, would meet the crying need for a better house-accommodation in towns, he saw that, after the wants of the lowest social section were met-that section which had unfortunately to learn the worth of privacy, decency, and cleanliness-beauty must, in some measure, aid utility; or failure would be the result. In the first and widest section, there was, to absolutely create the very conditions themselves, in which beauty could in the least degree take root and thrive; whilst in the class beyond, that of the artizan, it was necessary to minister to, to elevate, to increase tastes more or less existing. Viewed in this way, it was desirable to elaborate two distinct conditions from the same primary elements; the first leading to, and creating the second; the second destined to make advances of its

own.

Considered, therefore, under one wide and comprehensive scheme, as respected the essential conditions of warmth, light, ventilation and durability, Cyrus Loxwood's proposals in architecture, bore reference to an undecorated, as well as a decorative scheme. Not that the first was to be devoid of beauty; its very simplicity, extent, and power, as implied by apparent strength and durability, gave the idea of beauty in some degree; but it was the second that would have the aid of other arts, as supplement to its own resources.

In relation, therefore, to what might be styled his decorative purposes, his holy inclination to surround common domestic life with such graces and effects as might tend to elevate and refine it, young Loxwood's visit to Mr. Wroxeter's country-house had been productive of the most important results. It was often repeated-fresh intro

* Continued from page 204. VOL. VIII. N. S.

ductions took place-as valuable to Cyrus in their way, as those of his first visit to Mr. Danehill and M. Louvain; and thus as the winter wore away,, no small share of sympathy and good feeling had arisen between him and the wealthy merchant.

Fortunately for his peace of mind, his mother had kept silence with respect to Mr. Wroxeter's gift. She knew his stern sense of independence, and the hindrance she might place in the way of this valuable friendship, were her son conscious of pecuniary obligation; she, therefore, laid the little sum by for future use, either when some emergency might occur, or the time arrive when she might tell Cyrus whose gift it had been. On his part as well, Mr. Wroxeter did not make further presents; he saw the worthy character of those he had to deal with, and that whatever assistance he might render, it must not take a pecuniary shape. But he found many other ways of generous assistance. He let Cyrus a yard and premises in the vicinity of Blackwall, at a rent merely nominal; he procured him various kinds of iron at contract prices, and sought out practical workmen, whose knowledge of improved ventilation, as well as several kinds of decorative work, might be useful.

Assistance in one artistic branch was still wanting. Some one who, combining the handicraft of the glazier with a knowledge of stained glass, might assist in eliciting the harmony of its effects in relation to the dark tones of decorative iron-work. A few such men there were, but their services were not to be procured except in connexion with the wealthy firms which employed them, though it was said that an old man named Gray, who wandered about the country with a grandson, a youth of fourteen, and earned his subsistence by casual repairs to church and cathedral windows, possessed extraordinary skill in relation to decorative glass. Him Cyrus had long sought in vain, for his wanderings were most strange and erratic in their character; to seek and fail in finding him had been the cause of Major Ball's abrupt visit to his old friend Canon Maydew; but now spring broadening out into full beauty, fresh tidings came that old Gray was again at work in Kent, whereupon the good

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