REVIEW:

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8264, 24 May 1890, Page 1 (Supplement)

REVIEW:

English Men of Letters. Edited by John Morley (Macmillan and Co., London.) The subject of the present volume is Keats the poet, by Sidney Cohrin. With the name of Keats that of his first biographer, the late Lord Houghton, must always justly remain associated, but as a record of a poet's life Lord Houghton's work can no longer be said to be sufficient. Since the revised edition of the " Life and Letters" appeared in 1867, much new information concerning Keats has been brought to light, while of the old information some has been proved mistaken. Mr. Colvin has ably executed the task entrusted to him.

Things Worth Thinking About, by Professor Tucker. George Robertson and Company, Melbourne. Under this title, Professor Tucker has published a series of lectures upon literature and culture delivered before various societies in Melbourne. They include the following subjects:— " Our Earliest Ancestors and their Beliefs," "The Nature and Province of Poetry," "Literature, Science, and Education," "Culture and Cant," "The Teachings of History," " The Teachings of Travel," "Literary Judgments." They will be found, says the author, closely connected in intention, since they all alike aim at encouraging in an undogmatic way that humaner culture, and that open-minded-ness and receptivity which alone can counteract the harsh and .vulgarising materialism wherewith our future development as a people is palpably threatened. Professor Tucker has done well to publish these lectures in their present convenient form. If it is impossible to always accept his judgments on men and books and things fn general, it is at least always pleasant to read an author who can write so agreeably and who possesses such a vast and varied fund of knowledge of the subjects on which he treats. The only fault we have to find with this interesting little book is that we are conscious at times of an assumption on the part of the author of a lofty professional superiority which reminds us of the prayer of the Scotch minister in Max O'Rell's book—" O Lord, give us receptivity—that is to say, 0 Lord, make us susceptible to impressions !" Esop Rkdivtvcs. By Mary Boyle (Field and Tuer, E.C.) This little work contains over fifty fables, illustrated. They are written in a pleasant style, and each contains a wholesome moral.

The Story of Bradshaw's Guide. By Percy Fitzgerald, M.A., F.S.A. (Field and Tuer, E.C.) The story is an interesting one, as that of a small attempt, developed into a great and successful one by the energy and perseverance of Mr. William Bradshaw. The records start with the infant " Bradshaw's Railway Time-tables" of 1839, and come down to the fully matured, flourishing, rather corpulent, "Bradshaw's Guide" of 1889, which no practised railway traveller is, or indeed can be, without. Scientific Reviews and Essays. By Charles Kingsley (Macmillan and Co., London). —The subjects treated are Town Geology, Bio-Geology, the study of Natural History, Science, Superstition, and the Natural Theology of the Future. The series of geological papers are planned on Sir Charles Lyell's method. Kingsley begins by trying to teach a little about the part of the earth's crust which lies nearest us, which we see most —namely, the soil; and leading deeper and deeper in each paper, to rocks and minerals which are probably less known than the soil in the fields. .111 of the papers in the work are interesting and instructive.

We have to hand Chambers' Journal for March. It contains some interesting articles, and the literature is as usual pure, healthy, and instructive. Blackwood and Sons' republish volume No. S of " Tales of Travel, Adventure, and Sport," from Blackwood's Magazine. The present volume contains " Albert Smith's Ascent of Mont Blanc," "Summer Sport in ]Sova Zembla," " A Ride to Magnesia," " Aland—the Baltic in 1854," by the late Colonel Charles Hamley. The " Centennial for May contains some interesting articles, namely, "The German Villages of South Australia " Reminiscences of the Eureka Stockade," " The Heart of Australia," etc. The general reading is also quite up to the previous numbers.

The "English Illustrated Magazine" for March (Macmillan and Co., London) is a good readable number. There is an article on "Rugby Union Football," by Henry Vassail, and another on " How to Increase the Revenue Without Taxation," which should prove of interest at the present juncture. There is "also an interesting article on " The Forth Bridge," by Arthur J. Knowles, with illustrations.

The Westminster Review for April is an especially readable number. There is an able article on " Prince Bismarck's Position," by W. Miller ; " Thirty Years of Colonial Government" is a review of Sir George Bowen's recently published despatches (two vols.); "The Irish Union: its Legality," by John R. Eyre, is an attempt to prove that it wa3 an injustice to force such an Act (the Act of Union) on the Irish nation against its will. A sequel to it is " The Commission Debate," by James Douglas Holmes, which is strongly Parnellite in tone. There is an interesting article on "The Decline of Divorce," by Elizabeth Rachel Chapman, which affords much food for thought.