history of the period in which it was produced, was laid before the public. In a pamphlet, No. 17 of the Society's issues, were presented, side by side, extracts of test passages from twenty-nine different MSS. of Piers Plowman.' From this comparison, Mr. Skeat, who at that time undertook the editorial labour which the present text brings almost to a close, came to the conclusion that it would be necessary to put forth three texts, before the student would have in his hands material on which to form a correct judgment of the poem, and its place in English literature. The 'Vision' had been for some time in the hands of the public, printed from the very MS. from which this third text is now taken, and put forth under the editorial care of Dr. Whitaker, of whose labours Mr. Skeat has given a full notice in his Preface. But the critical notes at the end of the present volume prove abundantly that at first Dr. Whitaker was not able to read the MS. correctly, and so the work was of little or no value, for no reliance could be placed on the readings. And not only were there faults in the text, but a most perverse endeavour was often made to wring from what was printed a pre-conceived sense. One example will suffice: In Passus XIX. line 193, occurs the word surlepes, meaning separate. Of this Dr. Whitaker gave the marvellous explanation, surlepes sur le pes sur le thèse, i. e., "subjects of disputation in the schools." Well might he add that he had "no high opinion" of his explanation. = The exhaustive examination to which the present editor submitted all the MSS. of the poem to which he could obtain access, established satisfactorily that the text which Dr. Whitaker had attempted to edit was the latest form in which the poem appeared. In consequence of this, two copies of a more brief character had first to be published. These are respectively the A, or "Vernon" text (1867), so called because it was edited from the noble Vernon MS. in the Bodleian Library at Oxford; and the B, or "Crowley" text (1869), which derives its title from being of that form which Robert Crowley, the printer, put forth so long ago as 1550. The present, or C-text, is styled the "Whitaker," after the name of its former editor. It will be seen that eight years have been devoted to the production of these three texts, and Mr. Skeat looks forward to spending two or three more in preparing "a General Preface, General Notes, and a full Glossarial Index." But it has been labour well bestowed, and for which the thanks of all who desire to know as much as may be known of Old England and Old English are due. If the Early English Text Society had done no more than call forth the painstaking labour which has been bestowed on these texts, it would have stood high among similar Societies; but when we learn that this Whitaker text is the fifty-fourth of its publications, we must see in it one of the greatest of modern educational agencies. For the completion of the three texts of this poem, forty-four MSS. have come under the editor's examination, and the results of that examination are recorded in the footnotes. These alone furnish most valuable lessons on the changes of form which the words of our language have undergone; and, if properly studied, are far from being the dreary matter which at first sight they may appear. not only so, but when a Lombard merchant proposed himself to lend the king the sum required, they cruelly maltreated and wellnigh killed him. But it is more than anything else for the insight with which they furnish us into the history of the time when they were produced No word of all this would have been approthat these volumes deserve our attention.priate in 1377; but how forcibly such language How the accretions which enlarged the thin would be felt in England twenty years later, all Vernon text into the bulky volume now before the closing events of King Richard's reign bear us were inserted it would not be easy to say. testimony. Alterations and additions to the Mr. Skeat assigns as dates for the three texts text of a like nature are to be found in every the years 1362, 1377,. and 1399. And it passus. might well be that the author of the original poem lived through all those years, and gave form to his work from time to time, so as to suit the changing aspects of the period. But some of the later versification seems hardly perfect enough to have come from the hand of the original writer. Very few periods of equal length could be found, until we reach comparatively modern times, in which changes of such great importance were brought about. The French and English elements were just being welded together to form our noble tongue. The men who had fought shoulder to shoulder in the French wars had learnt to feel that they were one people. The English language was winning its way to full recognition. The state of serfdom was rapidly coming to an end. At the commencement of the period, England was rejoicing under the glorious and victorious rule of the third Edward. This glory seemed likely to be continued, and even exceeded, by the reign of his son; but death snatched away the hope of the nation, and left the country to a minority and a regency, and the reign which followed was one continuous record of insurrections and excesses, till it ended, at the date assigned by Mr. Skeat to the last of these forms of the poem before us, in the deposition and death of the monarch. A comparison of the several texts gives us numerous evidences of the stirring events of the times. Lines are altered in form, and long sentences added in the later texts, and particularly in the one we are now considering, dictated by the circumstances under which the writer lived. We will take one such passage for an instance, from the close of Passus V., which corresponds to Passus IV. of the texts A and B. In the earlier versions, Reason is represented as in conference with the King, and consenting to abide with him for ever, provided he will take Conscience to be of his council, and be guided thereby. But between 1377 and 1399 those changes had come about which Shakspeare makes one of his characters describe so forcibly :— And daily new exactions are devised As blanks, benevolences, and I wot not what. Writing in the midst of these doings, the poet has a fruitful theme for exhortation to the monarch, and bids him "ne seele youre pryveie letteres, ne sende supersedeas," and then he continues: And ich dar legge my lyf þat love wol lenepe sulver, More pan al by marchauns' oper by mytrede bishoppes, Oper Lumbardes of lukes pat lyven by lone as lewes. There is a story told by Walsingham, to which this is an evident allusion. Richard, he says, had sent to the citizens of London, and asked them to lend him a thousand pounds. With more obstinacy than, in Walsingham's judgment, was becoming, they refused to accede to the royal request. And Again, for a vivid picture of the manners and customs of our forefathers, the author has left us most ample material. We may see how "bydders and beggers" went about as they do now, till their bags and their bellies were bretful ycrammed": how "merchaunts" took "Guile," and made him stay with them, And shutten hym in here shoppes to shewen here 66 ware, And parailed hym lyke here prentys be puple to serven. So that it seems the nineteenth century is not alone famous for tricks in trade. We find a lady making confession, and chaffering with the priests about what she should do to adorn the church in return for absolution. In the confession of Avarice, in Passus VII., we have the knaveries of drapers and merchants, weavers and "spynnesters," brewers and tavern-keepers, painted in most forcible language; and further on we can be introduced into the whole company of the tavern, men and women of all characters and stations, as Sir Piers of Pridie, Cis the Sempstress, Tom the Tinker, Clarice of Cock Lane, the Clerk of the Church, Pernel of Flanders, hurdy-gurdy men and rat-catchers, all are there, and all as natural as personal observation and a keen sense of humour can depict them. But it is, perhaps, with the clergy that the poet deals most severely. Some of these make themselves hermits only to live at ease. They preach to the people for profit of their bellies; they climb into secular offices, to the neglect of their religious duties and vows; they give pardon for pence, pound-meal about; they will assoil a sinner for a seme of wheat; they will do more for "a dosene capones than for oure Lordes love"; they ride about on palfreys, followed by their hounds, and the knave must kneel that holds the priest's cup. Nobles are fools, who give away from their heirs money to support the evil lives of any of the orders four, each one of which is painted as worse than the others. There can be no doubt that the 'Vision of Piers Plowman,' as much as Wycliffe's preaching and translations, laid the foundation of our Reformation, and had almost, as Milton has it, "made the glory of reforming all our neighbours completely ours." In these volumes Mr. Skeat has given to us the means of becoming thoroughly acquainted with this most interesting period in such a way as was never before possible, and when to the texts are added the notes and glossary, the whole will form a work of which the value can hardly be over-estimated, and which none but a thorough lover of his subject could have produced. Mr. Skeat has appended a short poem, in the same metre as the "Vision," on Richard the Second, entitled Richard the Redeles,' as an illustration of the character of that ill-advised and foolish monarch, and another on the early times of Henry the Fifth. These need no further notice from us than to say that they have met with the same careful treatment and editorship which has been accorded to the more important poem thich they serve to illustrate. A Correspondent, writing from Bath, volunteers to correct our allusion, in the notice of Mr. Small's edition of the works of Gawin Douglas (Athen. No. 2443, p. 240), to the author of Piers Plowman' as William Langland, while, according to our Correspondent, it "was neither John, as given by Mr. Small, nor William, as the writer of the article says, but Robert Langlande, or, as he is more generally known, Longlande, (v. Warton's History of English Poetry,""&c. Whence it appears that there are still people professing some interest in English literature, who know nothing of what has been done for 'The Vision of William concerning Piers Plowman,' and its author William himself, during the modern period of scientific study of Early English. We had hoped that, thanks mainly to the magnificent work done by Mr. Skeat, William Langland was now as distinct a personality as Geoffrey Chaucer, and that everybody knew even the history of the blunder originated by John Bale in the middle of the sixteenth century, who, in opposition to old MS. authority and the statements of the author himself, dubbed Langland Robert, evidently from misreading the line, The Science of Law. By Sheldon Amos, M.A. (H. S. King & Co.) MR. AMOS, in his Preface, after observing that his former work, entitled 'A Systematic View of the Science of Jurisprudence' (reviewed in our columns two years ago, Athenæum, No. 2349), was written especially for law students, states that "the present work is designed for the instruction of all serious students, whether of the Physical or of the so-called Moral Sciences, whatever be for the time the prominent topic of their study, and whatever be the general or special object they have in view." He further says, that "there are two senses in which a treatise or a lecture may be said to be popular." It "may be intended to serve as a substitute for real and serious study," or it "may be intended to do no more or less than to translate technical terms back again into the terms familiar in common speech; to examine afresh the meaning and scope of conceptions which the persistent jargon of specialists has clouded; to bring men of various pursuits and tastes into intellectual contact with one another; and by opening out to novices an unsuspected region of interest, to whet their curiosity, and to stimulate them to further research. It need not be said that it is the aim of this treatise, as I would have it that of all my lectures, to be popular in this latter sense, and not to be so in the former one." We cannot congratulate Mr. Amos upon the measure of success he has had in translating technical terms back again into the terms familiar in common speech, for it has seldom been our lot to peruse a more pedantically written book than the one now before us. The unnecessary use of long words frequently renders it a matter of It appears to us that the author's definition With the substance of most of the author's statements, however, we have no fault to find, and in some of his views we heartily concur. We entirely agree with him in his remarks as to the establishment of State trustees. After speaking of one mode of appointing trustees, that is, by private persons, he goes on to say (page 143), History of Christian Theology in the Apostolic "The other mode of appointment is to nominate In the chapter on International Law the Prof. Reuss's object in the work before us is not identical with that of an Introduction It is simply to set forth the theology of the Apostolic age as it is contained in the Christian writings of the first century. His part is that of the exegetical historian, showing. without prejudice or partiality the theological views promulgated in the works of that age. His office is not to pronounce an opinion on them. He does not weigh their value. All that he undertakes is merely to extract them from the text and place them in the best light for apprehension. He is the impartial expositor, not the judge. Transferring the reader to the first century and the inspired men who unfolded the ideas of the Master, he gives their sentiments about God, man, the future, the purposes of Deity towards his creatures on earth, and the relations which the latter sustain towards Him. In a word, the theology of the New Testament is the great theme. It is a large one, and surrounded with difficulties. The interpreter who essays it needs extensive preparation. He must have studied the records with great care, be familiar with preceding inquiries into their structure, discard embarrassing theories of his own, and calmly explain what is before him. His knowledge must be varied, his fairness unimpeachable. If it be hard to restrain the expression of his own opinion on those whose sentiments he seeks to set forth, the recollection of the duty imposed must check the impulse to transgress the bounds of the impartial historian. The Professor has set about his work in the style of one who is well acquainted with it. He arranges it systematically in all its extent. No part has been overlooked. He shuns no difficulty. The book comprehends all that could be expected from the historian of apostolical theology. It is full and interesting. The author writes excellently and eloquently. He carries the reader along with him. His analysis is neither so abstract nor refined as to repel the ordinary student. The spirit and tone of a masterly interpreter inspire confi dence in the reader, who feels that he has to do with a man who has pondered long and earnestly upon the topics he discusses. Reuss is an able scholar, whom we can follow in the full belief that he is conscientious and honest, not only in expressing the conclusions he has arrived at, but in the processes leading to them. Few men have the stores of knowledge respecting the entire Bible which our author possesses; few have devoted so much labour to the theology of the Christian Scriptures as he. He has spread himself over a wide field, and is well acquainted with it all. After a brief introduction, explanatory of the method and plan pursued, the work branches out into seven books, entitled Judaism; The Gospel; The Apostolic Church; Judæo - Christian Theology; The Epistles of Paul; The Epistles to the Hebrews, that of Peter, Barnabas's, Clement's, The Acts of the Apostles, Matthew, Luke, and Mark; and The Theology of John. The first book, which is properly introductory, gives a brief summary of Judaism, especially about the time when Christ appeared. The second volume is almost wholly occupied with the theologies of Paul and John, which are examined at great length. Throughout, the historian seeks to separate the essential parts of theological systems from the accidental and accessory. He distinguishes occasional ideas from such as are fundamental; Judeo-Christian from Hellenic-Christian elements, accommodation to prevalent opinions from those genuine to the persons he describes. All that belongs to St. Paul and St. John is admirably described. The ability of the writer appears more prominently here than in any other portion. He is clear, eloquent, discriminating, impartial. The following is a specimen : "We cannot pass from this subject without calling the attention of our readers to a series of expressions relating to the future life and the condition reserved for each individual, which appear to be in contradiction with the whole Pauline system. These are the passages in which the purely legal point of view is maintained, at the sacrifice of the evangelical, and where we find allusions not to election and grace, not even to the simple co-operation of man in the work of salvation, but to merit and claims which he may plead before the Judge. We may enumerate the terms render, reward, repay, recompense, the prize, the crown, all used in figurative connexion with man's own works, fightings, efforts, athletic games. We might further cite the passages in which Paul glories in his own labours, as something which will form a plea for him with the Judge. What shall we say to all this? Can Paul have so far forgotten the principles on which he elsewhere so eloquently insists? This is not possible. His theory remains intact, his doctrinal system is ever ings of the grain of mustard-seed piercing the earth; but his eyes, dazzled by an ideal image, saw not the light-so faint it seemed-which was about to dissipate the chill darkness of the night of ages; they closed under the axe of the executioner, still gazing towards the far horizon to catch the first beams of the rising sun, and never saw the myriad drops of sunlit dew, which within two paces of his prison already told the awaking of the dawn and of the spring." The book must contribute to a juster acquaintance with the subject. The author has brought out fearlessly and fully all that is comprehended under the various phases of the apostolic theologies. Careful to seek the essence and spirit, he does not shrink from exposing the inconsistencies apparent or real, the imperfections, the defects, that belong more or less to the system of each writer. In the apostolic men whose views he explains, the domains of reflection and of feeling are candidly marked; and his phraseology respecting them is very happy, especially in the chapter entitled 'Paul and John.' true to the principles of the Gospel, as he has Sometimes the author becomes almost a preacher, rising to an eloquence which could "John the Baptist's conviction with regard to With all the ability which our author possesses, and the excellent contribution he has made to a most important subject, some will discover grave defects or even serious errors in the history. They will hesitate at once to admit the assumed basis of the work, requiring proof, not the writer's mere dictum. books now unanimously placed in the canon "We declare at once that we consider all the of the New Testament to belong to the first century, with one exception only." Another work, it is true, is referred to for the critical grounds of this opinion; but it will not comconsideration from German critics. mand general assent, and has received little The basis is a very large one, facilitating in one respect the labours of the exegetical historian, but rendering it more difficult in another, such as the bringing Pauline theology out of the Pastoral Epistles, as well as those to the Romans and Galatians. And though chronology is not a very important element in the hands of the historical theologian, it affects his treatment of the books to a considerable extent, especially with such as Dr. Reuss, who acknowledge development in apostles and apostolic men. His succession of the Pauline Epistles we hold to be erroneous. Thus, after the Epistles to the Thessalonians and that to the Galatians are put between A.D. 57 and 59 the Epistle to Titus and the first to Timothy. Those to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon are placed in the captivity at Cæsarea; that to the Philippians comes last of all. Criticism cannot accept these hypotheses. They are wholly inadmissible. Nor are the notions of Dr. Reuss about the origin, authorship, and date of the Gospels correct. The manner in which these documents are employed by him seems to convey the belief that they were written at once just as they are. Hence he argues that historical facts were the sole object of the Evangelists' search, and that they did not choose them from any predetermined point of view. All this is doubtful, as is the opinion that Mark's Gospel is the oldest. In everything relating to the synoptists, and the use he makes of them, Prof. Reuss is an uncertain guide. Even with respect to the fourth Gospel, which he attributes to John, he puts it into the first century. The most difficult and delicate point treated of is the extraction of the theological, or rather ethical, teachings of Jesus out of the Gospels, because the historian admits that they sometimes appear distorted, perverted, or misapplied in the records. In expounding these our author is not sufficiently precise or clear. He applies the principle of accommodation, and so gets rid of some objectionable views assigned to Jesus; but the principle in question is used arbitrarily. The question, how far did Christ share current Jewish opinions? is not satisfactorily resolved. And the Professor leaves us in the dark as to development in the mind of Jesus in regard to the admission of the Gentiles into the kingdom He was about to set up, His claiming to be the promised Messiah, and His future personal re-appearance immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem. We cannot suppose that the teaching of Jesus is adequately or correctly educed from the four Evangelists; and regard it as hazardous to use the fourth Gospel as well as the synoptists for that purpose. In connexion with this point, we may remark, that there is occasional haziness about the representations of Christ's Person, as Dr. Reuss gives them from the writers he expounds. Once he tells us that Paul calls him God in two passages, which are disputable and disputed on that head. And there is too evident an anxiety to find the germs of all subsequent teaching in Christ's own words. St. Paul and St. John alone are said to unfold what lies in the Master's language more or less obscurely. Here a finer analysis is needed than that which our author possesses. It may also be noticed that the sentiments of St. Paul which he got from Judaism, and those which are original, are insufficiently separated. The severance given is neither full nor accurate throughout. The apostle's Judaism does not occupy the exact place in his system as here given which it ought to do. But Prof. Reuss appears to entertain wrong ideas about Jewish Christianity, as it was after the middle of the first century and onward into the second. He assigns to it a decrease far too great before the close of the apostolic age. The entire conception of Paulinism and Petrinism needs revision; for some of the Christian documents classed as Judeo-Christian, such as the Epistle to the Hebrews, are tinged with Paulinism, and should not be classed indiscriminately with works like the Apocalypse. Hence he fails to give a right account of St. James's Epistle and the first of St. Peter. He does not reconcile St. Paul and St. James on the subject of faith and works. Nor can his ideas about the Acts of the Apostles be admitted; though he says in one place that the theology of St. Paul is singularly impoverished by his biographer, and that there may be reason to question if the writer was really a disciple of St. Paul. In this our historian goes some way towards the view of Zeller; but he is timid and wavers, for he had said before that the same author "had made use of the most ancient narratives, whether written or traditional, without changing in any way their primitive character." Many other things in the work seem to us imperfect or erroneous. Much is excellent; much too is questionable. Perhaps the book is too long and diffuse. It needs condensation and precision. In copious exposition an author will almost necessarily fail in sharp distinctions, or state what is erroneous. Thus he attributes to St. Paul the assertion that those refusing to believe shall receive eternal death as their penalty, which is an unscriptural phrase. In like manner the word allegory is unscientifically used. Prof. Reuss is an interpreter much more than a philosopher, a theologian more than a metaphysician. Philosophy and metaphysics, however, were not necessary to his present task; conscientiousness and knowledge were more requisite. But we cannot help thinking that a philosophical tendency and talent would have benefited the nature and method of his exegesis, removing bluntness, imparting caution, checking oratorical fulness, and fashioning sharpness of outline. We are surprised to meet with bold broad statements, such as "James had no reference, direct or indirect, to Paul, his predecessor "; or, "if we consider in a general manner the conviction so fully expressed of the divinity of the person of the Saviour, we should place the two apostles (Paul and John) upon the same level"; or again, "Jesus designed to found a church." But with all drawbacks, and some of them are weighty, the work possesses inherent value, proving its author's admirable spirit, and theological grasp of the New Testament. Conservative and reverent, he is, withal, free and fair, conceding much that will offend official orthodoxy. He will help many to a better appreciation of Biblical theology, and, along with it, to a juster apprehension of the inspiration belonging to the apostles and their associates. In some respects his book lags behind the conclusions to which a well-established criticism has come, and reflects opinions which will remain the property of the writer himself. for the powers of one who brings so many writings into the first century in obedience to the voice of tradition. Yet the gratitude of every friend of the Bible is due to the man who, like Reuss, undertakes the work with confidence, and sketches it in luminous outline after his own fashion. Little can be said in commendation of the editor's notes, which are generally opposed to Reuss, and generally wrong. The book had been better without them, because, so far from enhancing the value of the original, they rather detract from it. The editor's measuring reed is small, and cannot reach up to the height of the Professor. A specimen or two will show their character. Reuss says truly, that the Hebrew code as it exists contains a considerable number of books subsequent to Ezra; the editor says this is indefensible, because there is "a good weight of authority on the other side." Real authority on the other side is wanting. In contradiction to himself the note-writer, at page 102 of the first volume, approves of Reuss's assignment of various Psalms to the age of the Seleucidæ. The Professor asserts that the terms petávola and μeravoeîv are not found in St. John's Gospel, but that he employs instead of them yevvnova. The note-writer adds, "this is a misapprehension." Can a matter of fact be a misapprehension? We protest against such trifling. It is still more reprehensible for the note-writer to insinuate against Reuss his readings of the New Testament in favour of the wicked's non-existence after death, as though that were their eternal punishment or destruction; an idea equally unscriptural and unphilosophical. The translation is readable, and does full justice to the original. Here and there, new words are introduced,-majorat, for example, simply retained from the original French; others incorrectly spelled, such as metonymy and metonymic, which are regularly divested of y in the middle; but such things are slight blemishes. We regret to say that the Greek of the notes is very incorrect; and that the Index is meagre, not to be depended on, and altogether unworthy of the book. A full and correct Index should have been annexed. The French has two excellent ones. A Concordance to Shakespeare's Poems: an Index to every Word therein contained. By Mrs. Horace Howard Furness. (Philadelphia, Lippincott & Co.) Other books must be studied along THIS work supplies an undoubted want, and, with this, that out of them all the full truth we are happy to add, it supplies it in an may be gathered. They will supplement and admirable manner. To those who know little correct one another. Besides Baur's 'Neu- or nothing of Shakspearean difficulties-of the testamentliche Theologie,' there are Bieder- vexed and vexatious questions of authenticity mann's 'Christliche Dogmatik,' Hausrath's that beset the thorough student, or of the perNeutestamentliche Zeitgeschichte,' Pfleiderer's petual troubles that are connected with the 'Paulinismus,' with the contributions of Holtz- great dramatist's vocabulary-it may, perhaps, mann (in Bunsen's 'Bibelwerk'), Holsten, seem a waste of labour to have chronicled with R. Schmidt, and others, not to speak of the all possible pains and accuracy every word that somewhat juvenile production of Köstlin on occurs in his Poems. The sole use that a the Johannine Lehrbegriff. Though none of Concordance serves for such persons is that these has the extensive sweep of Reuss's, it enables them to find a quotation. Mrs. all may help to interpret parts of the New Cowden Clarke's famous compilation is valuTestament better than the Strasbourg Pro-able in their eyes on this account only; and fessor, whose aim has been more ambitious such an end may well seem to fail in justifying than theirs. The entire subject is far from the means, seeing that the means involve being exhaustively cleared up, and probably weariness and painfulness and watchings. cannot be by a single scholar. It is too vast | But far other is the estimate of such produc tions that is made by the student. Familiar as he is with the wild assertions incessantly volunteered as to what is Shakspeare's and what is not, he is profoundly grateful for any help in analyzing the genuine work of the poet. The existence of Concordances, and the judicious use of them, might have stifled half the follies of which many a criticaster has been proudly guilty. And the age of criticasters is not past; perhaps, indeed, it is only now fully come. The effrontery of these gentry is amazing. They "have no bands" in their statements. Conscience never makes a coward of them. Now against such persons what is the antidote? How are we to disinfect ourselves and get rid of them? The unfailing antiseptic is facts. They cannot away with facts. Only let facts be laid about everywhere, and they will soon be extirpated. For them and their kind it is difficult to conceive a more deadly book than a Concordance. It is mere hemlock. "By my troth" they "cannot abide the smell of" it. The appear ance, therefore, of a companion volume to that of Mrs. Clarke is really a memorable event. The new volume is in shape uniform with the valuable 'Variorum Shakespeare' now issuing by the husband of the compiler. In point of typography there is nothing to be desired. It contains a record of every word occurring in the Poems, even of prepositions and conjunctions, in short, of every word without exception. The tabulation of the, for instance, occupies no less than twenty columns. "As it is impossible," runs the Preface, "to limit the purposes for which the language of Shakespeare may be studied, or to say that the time will not come, if it has not already, when his use of every part of speech, down to the humblest conjunction, will be criticized with as much nicety as has been bestowed upon Greek and Latin authors, it seems to me that in the selection of words to be recorded, no discretionary powers should be granted to the 'harmless drudge' compiling a Concordance. Within a year or two a German scholar has published a pamphlet of some fifty pages on Shakespeare's use of the auxiliary verb to do, and Abbott's Grammar shows with what success the study of Shakespeare's language in its minutest particulars may be pursued. I have, therefore, cited in the following pages every word in his Poems." prints, against which it seems no human vigilance can guard, and I shall be grateful to the kindness that will notify me of them." It would, indeed, be a marvel if every entry was faultless, or if no claimant for enrolment had been overlooked; for there are some 33,000 entries, each one consisting of several words, and from one to five figures. Surely the most "hanging" judge in the world would be lenient in such a case, and wink with the utmost readiness at an occasional slip of the pen or the compositor's fingers. Ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis Offendar maculis quas aut incuria fudit Aut humana parum cavit natura. We say that everybody would be willing to show indulgence towards such a minute register. Mrs. Cowden Clarke, with all her excellence, is not independent of indulgence. But we must not speak as if Mrs. Furness stood in special need of consideration. So far as we have at present used her work, we have only found reason to be astonished at the accuracy with which it is executed. We may just add, that by "the Poems" Mrs. Furness means the pieces usually printed along with Shakspeare's Plays. Some of them are not by Shakspeare; but Mrs. Furness has done well, we think, in following the popular attribution. Those to whom her Concordance will be most useful are in no danger of being misguided. We heartily thank Mrs. Furness for her work. It is a credit to herself, to her sex, and to her nation. Properly considered, it is a most valuable contribution to true Shakspearean study, by the side of which much of what passes for Shakspearean lore is shown in its full worthlessness. ** Animal Magnetism (Mesmerism) and Artificial Somnambulism. Being a Complete and Practical Treatise on that Science, and its Application to Medical Purposes. Followed by Observations on the Affinity existing between Magnetism and Spiritualism, Ancient and Modern. By the Countess C* de St. Dominique. (Tinsley Brothers.) WHAT the "trinity of stars" may imply mixed Also the number of the line, not only the up with the author's name on the above titlenumber of the poem, in which each word occurs page we are not informed. If it signify a is given, a detail which will save the explorer" Dieu me pardonne," we can only say "Ainsi many a minute. In these two respects, Mrs. Furness's work is more exact than that of Mrs. Cowden Clarke. In one way it is less complete; but no one will grudge the differ ence. "Having adopted," says Mrs. Furness, "the rule of recording every word, I thought it needless expenditure of space to insert in every instance the entire line in which a word occurs. I have given the clause in which the word stands and the number of the line, and then, that nothing may be wanting to the convenience of the student, the Poems themselves are reprinted at the end. If in any case the citations appear meagre, the original is instantly accessible." soit il" to the prayer of Madame la Comtesse. It is doubtless of great import, and, on the title-page, it reminds us of the horseshoe nailed to country thresholds, which are thereby supposed to have the power of averting evil influences. That there were, are, and ever will be, more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, we have been told by Shakspeare, and doubtless the belief is even older than the times of the Prince from whose lips our national poet gave it expression. We believe this, too, with Hamlet and the Countess C* de St. Dominique; but we do not accept all the would-be philosoOf phers say. The practical men are the real philosophers. Wheatstone has done more with the newly-discovered powers of electricity than Mesmer and all the magnetizers or Mesmerists who have lived after him, and most of whom have made the confusion worse confounded. When Bede tells us of a simple Englishman who "did the rope trick," and Mrs. Furness's design is most satisfactory; happily, the execution is no less so. course it is improbable that there are not some few errors both of omission and commission. Mrs. Furness is as conscious of this possibility as her "dearest foe"-only there cannot be any such monster-could be. "As the pages are stereotyped," she writes, "corrections can be made at any time of mis got out of captivity by it, we laugh at the Davenport jugglers and their pupils who pretend to do it by spiritual aid, and who always make the first knot themselves, the key to the mystery which is supposed to be a part of Spiritualism. ** Any person who takes up a subject seriously has a right to be met seriously, and we are disposed so to meet the Countess C de St. Dominique. Her history of manipulation in ancient times is not a bad one, and Plautus would have helped her to increase her illustrations. When, however, she says that "Jesus unquestionably possessed in the highest degree the power of emitting the medical fluid," meaning the electrical, we are disposed to ask her how she came by that knowledge. We agree with her when she treats of the public performances of Mesmerists. A well-packed crowd of spectators, she says, "emit a large quantity of fluid, whose presence is sensibly felt after a certain time, and which assists the efforts of the operator." In a crowd of Gods this "fluid" was called "celestial ichor," and ambrosia was made from it. With spectators and audiences packed like Norfolk biffins, it is simply carbon, if it be nothing worse, and is rather poisonous than otherwise. With regard to the performer, himself or herself, the Countess says, "the magnetizer is bound, from the very beginning of the sitting, to assume an air of authority, which should preclude all idea of discussion or of argument." He must "rid the company of all noisy, scoffing, chatty people." If he cannot put down those who have the impertinence to question, he is not to mind either their impertinence or their questioning. He is to address himself only to the faithful; in short, he is to resemble Archbishop Manning, who, when questioned the other day, in the Times, as to the soundness of his historical incidents, cleverly replied, more suo, that he only addressed himself to persons who believed what he told them. The Countess C. de St. Dominique leads us rather a "dance." We cudgel our brains to unravel some of her mystic revelations. We make nothing of them. If reception in the brother- and sister- hood depend upon understanding, we despair of ever becoming a member. At this moment we are nothing better than a "Novice of St. Dominique." In the time of Tertullian there was a famous controversy as to the lawfulness of wearing wigs. The great writer denounced them on laics and churchmen alike, and when they wore wigs notwithstanding, Tertullian blew them off every one's head by the solemn assurance that the blessing by a priest could not possibly pass through the wig to the head! The false hair clogged the benediction. How much more effective is magnetism! "The impregnation is not superficial, as some people would feel inclined to fancy. Blocks of marble have been magnetized and subsequently chipped or submitted to the corrosive action of of their magnetic virtue. Neither has fire nor air acids, broken into pieces, without depriving them any effect upon it; metals after undergoing fusion, sheets of paper after being burnt, have still produced sleep. The washing process is less efficient still, the effect, in a word, only disappearing before a regular course of demagnetization.' It is the old story,-"The scent of the roses will hang round it still." But there is something oppressive in the idea, that if you |