wonderful mastery over scenes of English life, was the subject of regret at the outset with some readers, whilst others looked with curiosity and hopeful expectation to the opening of a new mine. "Romola" must be considered as an historical novel, and as such it must take a high and permanent place in English literature. We quote a passage from a criticism of the day, as a record of the contemporary impression produced by a book about which readers will doubtless long hereafter continue to form their own opinion. "As an historical novel 'Romola' is very rich; one may even say, very learned. There has been a study of history, topography, and bygone manners and customs in its preparation as extensive and minute as that which a conscientious painter goes through in preparation for an important historical picture. We have the climate of Florence, the streets and churches of Old Florence, the costumes of the old Florentines, their very diet and dishes, their peculiar humours and ways of expression, their open-air life in shops and markets, their religious processions, their political factions and excitements, and their sense of their relations to the Italian world around. So fully and minutely has the art of the authoress striven to reproduce the medium in which the story moves, that, to some extent, she must have repelled less educated readers that may have rushed at first to the novel. In the very opening we are introduced to matters of books and scholarship, and enthusiasm in art and archæology and philology, all really belonging to Florentine life at the time in question, but of a kind in which only readers of some learning have the due preliminary knowledge, and in which the mass of readers, impatient for the love-scenes, and the rage, and the revenge, and the possible murder, and the other well-known constituents of the thrilling interest,' will almost certainly find themselves caught, as in a thicket which they can hardly get through. For example, the scholarship of Romola's blind old father, Bardo, and his care about his guns and codices, and the bequest of his library,-essential as they are to the story, and beautiful as they are to those who have some apprehension of these things,—will have something of caviare in them to ordinary novel-readers. In short, 'Romola' is, and the authoress must have intended this from the first, a novel ad clerum rather than ad populum. Not that there are not, even among the historical or quasi-historical reproductions, elements of rousing popular interest for those who read steadily, so as to come upon them. There are the street tumults which it requires no special learning to appreciate; there are the capital humours of the barber Nello all through; one is in a real whirl of strong Italian life and politics. Above all there towers through the story the great historical figure of Savonarola; one of those characters which, though their complete appreciation may task the minds of the most philosophic and the most cultured, belong so naturally to men's imaginations all the world over, that, whenever they are spoken of, all will attend. The authoress has evidently taken great pains with Savonarola; and one of the effects of Romola' will be that henceforth the great Italian reformer will be a far more distinct and grand personage in the British mind than our dry ecclesiastical historians have ever succeeded in making him. We wish that young Macchiavelli had been omitted from the novel. He was hardly necessary; and the portrait of him, as compared with that of the grand Savonarola, must irritate all who know any thing of Macchiavelli 1."

In the novel called "Sylvia's Lovers" Mrs. Gaskell sustained the reputation which she won long ago by "Mary Barton" and "Ruth."

The extraordinary interest excited by Captain Speke's discovery of the source Reader," July 11, 1863.

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of the Nile commands popularity for the book in which he has detailed his adventures in search of this mysterious region, although it has been drawn up with evident haste. "We look in vain here," says a recent notice, "for any thing like the masculine strength, learning, and rich local information of Abyssinian Bruce; for the series of exquisite soft-toned pictures which charms all, young or old, who examine the pages of Mungo Park; for Burton's poetic genius, dramatic faculty, and general omniscience; or for the laborious collection and careful generalization of facts for which Livingstone is distinguished. There will be found, however, what to many readers will become acceptable, a plain narrative of personal experiences, freely and freshly told, by an energetic and somewhat self-opinioned English officer. The introduction, in which the gallant explorer essays to give a general account of the country which he visited, is a very poor confined affair, in some passages not even consistent with itself. That portion of the journey which lay between Zanzibar and the immediate neighbourhood of the later Victoria N'yanza, though it might have made the reputation of a less ambitious and less fortunate traveller, is comparatively of small interest, because the country was not new, and it had been better described before. It is when Speke gets into Karague, Uganda, and Unyow, which before we knew only from the accounts Burton collected from the Arabs, that new ground is entered upon, and the traveller's strangest experiences are met with. The actual space he got over in these provinces, and which constitutes his new contribution to African exploration, was only about three hundred miles, but, owing to the conduct of two or three monarchs, about a year was occupied in doing so."

It is proper to remark that the merits of Captain Speke, in achieving that wherein so many other travellers have failed, have been brought into question, and an indisposition on his part to allow others their fair share of credit, in paving the way for his discoveries, has led to a warm controversy which still continues.

One of the most successful explorers in the Upper Nile regions, previous to Captain Speke, was Captain Richard Burton, famous as a traveller in many lands of the East. In 1861 Mr. Burton became Consul at Fernando-Po, and the results of his observations in that neighbourhood have recently been given to the public under the title of " Abbeokuta and the Cameroons Mountains." The book contains many novel revelations of the highest interest. We quote the words of a reviewer as to Captain Burton and his work. "We may soon look for a new epoch in West African literature. This remarkable country, of which nothing whatever is known, except a few strips of sea-board, the banks of certain rivers, and one or two inland tracts-mere specks in a universe-is beginning to attract the attention of practical mankind. To such the two volumes which Captain Burton has just published will have a deep significance. There is, perhaps, no man living in whom great faculties of brain and body are so remarkably combined as in Richard Burton. He has not only achieved great physical triumphs in these continents. He has skimmed all the sciences; possesses no slight knowledge of geology and botany, and is a profound linguist. Unsurpassed as well in the athletic acquirements of a sportsman and a soldier, he reminds one of those Athenian philosophers who were as skilled in them as in the schools, or of those Roman officers who could use with equal ease the sword and the pen."

Upon Japan and China several works of importance have appeared, among which must be placed first Sir Rutherford Alcock's "Capital of the Tycoon."

This is a narrative of the British Envoy's three years' residence in Japan, and, besides the political matter, contains a mass of interesting observations on the manners and customs of a people hitherto little known to Europeans. Mr. Fortune's "Yedo and Peking" is a narrative of a journey to the capitals of Japan and China, and presents those peoples as seen from another point of view, Mr. Fortune's object being principally the collection of horticultural rarities. Mr. Fortune having lived in China, India, and Japan for eighteen years, had great knowledge of the languages of the people, and opportunities of appreciating their peculiarities such as few other Englishmen can command. Dr. Gordon's "China, from a Medical Point of View, in 1860-1," contains, in addition to the professional statistics, a description of the neighbourhood of Teintsin, and an account of the natural phenomena of Northern China. A long stay at Teintsin had familiarized the members of the medical staff with the natives, and enabled them to become acquainted with most of the details of their domestic life.

Commander Bedford Pim's "Gate of the Pacific" discusses the important political and commercial question of the transit of the Isthmus of Panama, and suggests the possibility of another passage across the Mosquito territory, and the Republic of Nicaragua, by means of a railroad.

"Adventures and Researches among the Andaman Islanders," by Dr. Mouat, opens up a new and curious subject. The Andaman islanders are perhaps the most mysterious race on the face of the earth. It has been found nearly impossible to obtain any information respecting them, and many speculations have been offered as to their origin. A view lately propounded by Professor Owen, that they are an aboriginal people, and unrelated to any others known, has aroused curiosity concerning them, but the hostility which they have invariably shown to strangers has made it impossible to collect any but the scantiest information of their habits. A convict settlement was established on these islands by the Indian Government towards the close of the last century, but was given up on account of the great mortality among the prisoners. In the time of the Indian mutiny the idea of using the Andamans for this purpose was revived, and Dr. Mouat was despatched by Lord Canning to explore them. It was found impossible to hold intercourse with the natives. Dr. Mouat's book is calculated to increase rather than satisfy curiosity, and it is evident that a field of research of the most interesting character remains here to be explored.

The subject of spiritual manifestations can hardly be left out in any notice of the doings of the year 1863. Mr. William Howitt treats the question on a large scale in his "History of the Supernatural in all Ages and Nations;" while Mr. Home has given the world the history of his own life, containing marvels of a startling kind. Mr. Spicer's "Strange Things among us" is a work intended to lead to some elucidation of the mysterious phenomena. Lastly, a work entitled "From Matter to Spirit, the Result of Ten Years' Experience in Spirit Manifestation, by C. D.; with a Preface by A. B.," excited considerable attention; it being well understood that A. B. is Professor De Morgan, and C. D. Mrs. De Morgan. Professor De Morgan appears to vouch for the existence of certain singular phenomena to explain or systematize which no theory has yet presented itself to him. This testimony, together with that of several other writers of repute who have publicly expressed their opinion to the same effect, leads to the conclusion that there is something for philosophers to examine. In the expositions of the professed mystagogues little satisfaction can be had.

Of books devoted to science in different branches we will group a few together.

A work on "Chemistry," by Doctors Brande and Taylor, is intended to furnish the elements of this science in a more simple and intelligible form than preceding manuals. A good account is given of the present state of knowledge of spectrum analysis, and of the new metals that have been discovered by its aid. A "Manual of Geology," by Professor Dana, an American, is devoted chiefly to the consideration of American geology, but contains much that is of the highest utility to European students. In Professor Huxley's "Six Lectures to Working Men" is given an elementary exposition of the causes of the phenomena of organic nature in accordance with the Darwinian hypothesis. A third volume of the magnificent work of the brothers Schlagintweit, entitled "Results of a Scientific Mission to India and High Asia, undertaken between the Years 1854 and 1858, by Order of the Court of Directors of the H.E.I.C.," deals with the topography of the countries surveyed. This work, when complete, for another volume-devoted to meteorology, natural history, botany, zoology, ethnography, and language—is yet to follow, will certainly be one of the most magnificent monuments of scientific research in existence. The present volume is accompanied by an atlas of splendid panoramas, views, and maps. A new edition, by Mr. Carter Blake, of Dr. Knox's translation of Milne Edwards's "Manual of Zoology" testifies to the esteem in which the great French naturalist's work is held in England. Mr. Lovell Reeves' "Land and Fresh-water Mollusks, Indigenous to or Naturalized in the British Isles," is a beautifully illustrated manual of the subject, which it completely exhausts. The "Introduction to the Study of the Foraminifera," by Dr. Carpenter, is another careful and useful illustrated contribution to the science of natural history. Professor Tyndall's "Heat considered as a Cause of Motion," being a course of twelve lectures delivered at the Royal Institution in 1862, is intended to be a popular book. It is "to bring the rudiments of a new philosophy within the reach of a person of ordinary intelligence and culture." It discusses a subject which continues to be one of the mysteries of science, and upon which philosophers of the highest name are divided in opinion. "Lectures on Jurisprudence," by the late John Austin, vols. ii. and iii., edited by his Widow, are calculated for the perusal of a very narrow public only, but have an importance inversely proportionate to the number of those who will study them.

No great manifestation of poetical power has excited attention, though the usual stream of poetical volumes has flowed throughout the year. The works of Thomas Hood have been edited by his son, and Lord Houghton has published a collection of his small poems. If we may trust the critics, the poems of Jean Ingelow, and the "Story of Queen Isabel," by M. S., rise somewhat above the average level of merit.

Mr. Hawthorne's criticisms and observations on England and the English, in his work entitled “Our Old Home," have naturally been read with interest. The two volumes are compiled from notes made in his journals during the years he spent in England as United States Consul at Liverpool. Mr. Hawthorne does not spare his relations, and the book is worth studying in reference to the phenomena of British and American antipathies, which recent events have brought into greater prominence than ever.

Periodical literature forms an important feature in modern life. Quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily publications act as the guides and the records of public opinion, and mark the progress of mind in every department of thought with a wonderful minuteness. Through these mediums the public is, as it were, perpetually communing with itself, canvassing and reviewing actions and events,

opinions and discoveries, and forming and correcting its own judgments. Some general notice of this class of publication is therefore required in our survey of the literary annals of the year 1863.

A catalogue of periodicals, published by Messrs. Longman at the beginning of the year (1864), gives the names of 81 quarterly, 359 monthly, and 254 daily and weekly publications issuing from the London press. Besides these there are 49 Transactions or publications of Learned Societies and Printing Clubs, giving a total of 743 metropolitan periodical publications. A small number of works included in this list are however mere serials, that is, works of a limited extent, such as cyclopædias and works of science or fiction, which it is found convenient to issue in parts instead of bringing them out at once in a complete form. The Quarterlies, an important class, include some which take cognizance of things in general, literature, science, art, and politics, and some which are devoted to special subjects. The prices range from one penny to ten shillings. The Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews take precedence by virtue of age, but are considerably encroached upon by their younger rivals, the "British Quarterly Review," "The Christian Remembrancer," "The Dublin Review," "The Home and Foreign Review," The London Review," "The National Review," "The North British Review," and The Westminster Review," which have risen up from time to time as the organs of different sects or sections of the community, and have established themselves with more or less success in the public favour.

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The Monthly publications present great variety, both in object and in execution. A large number are devoted to religion, missionary societies, and education. More than a score are intended, as their titles indicate, solely for boys and children, and many more certainly do not affect to rise above the level of the meanest capacity. Halfpenny publications are not uncommon among them. The titles of some of the obscurer organs of opinion, which no doubt do their work in certain strata of society, are curious. We find an Anti-Tobacco Journal," "Band of Hope Review," "Bond of Brotherhood," "British Millennial Harbinger," "Cheering Words," "Co-operator," "Daystar," "Dewdrop," "Earthen Vessel," "Girdle of Truth," " Lamp of Love," "Last Vials," "Pearls from Golden Streams," Progressionist," Rainbow," "Sower," "Sunbeam," "Sunshine," "Zion's Trumpet," and many others of mysterious and symbolical character. The British workmen and cottagers, the coach-builders and saddlers, the cutlers, the farmers, the paper-makers, and perhaps a few other trades, have monthly publications expressly intended for their improvement or information. Monthly publications of a higher character, and known as important organs of literature and art, are Blackwood and Fraser's Magazines, venerable from old associations; the "Cornhill Magazine," which has grown into fame in the memory of the youngest; "Bentley's Miscellany," the "Dublin University Magazine," "London Society," "Macmillan's Magazine," "New Monthly Magazine," "St. James's Magazine," and "Temple Bar." The Gentleman's Magazine," the Nestor of English periodicals, still survives.

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Law and physic, the army and the navy, have several monthly organs. In music we find a "Musical Monthly," a "Musical Times," and "Tonic Sol-fa Reporter." As a representative of art we have the 'Art Journal," a work of very wide circulation, which continues to maintain a high reputation for the excellence of its specimens of engraving.

A new mania which has lately seized the public, that of collecting postagestamps, has given rise to a "Stamp-Collectors' Magazine." A small monthly, of literary and didactic character, entitled "Good Words," conducted by a Scotch