Review.

by refinement of feeling , it becomes at once apparent that this monthly forms , apart from any other raison d'etre , a capital family magazine of varied reading . A second instalment of what bids fair to be a very interesting story by the Editor Afr . Leonard Lloyd ) occupies ( he place of iirst p iece dc resistance at the literary banquet . Being , as wo have said , interesting , we need hardly say further that " Nothing Venture , Nothing Have , " is tho " old , old , story "—Love .

Another Novel , in prose , of course , " Silas Dome , " by George B . Burgin , is boldly and effectively written ; ire must , however , be pardoned for saying that , although doubtless " virtue will be triumphant" in the long run , there is a touching upon delicate ground that we think better left alone . The onl y other prose contributions are some remarkably pungently written reviews .

Of the longer poems ive must speak of Percy Bussell ' s " King Alfred " in terms of almost unmeasured praise . The subject is good , so too is its manner of treatment , whilst the versification is pleasantly regular and melodious . Here is a really beautiful stanza containing the commencement of Athelstan ' s reproachful warning to Alfred

;" Oh King ! was it to feast away the time That holy hands anointed thee with oil , Shall youth ' s mad thirst for pleasure sanction crime , Shall warriors slumber while marauders spoil— ' The crown of Egbert turn into a toj r , And all thy care bo—only to enjoy ?" The foundation of England ' s naval greatness is admirably told : —

¦ '• 'An opalescent sky smiled on that shore Tho unborn Norman was to make renowned , As gaily the King ' s fleet with sail and oar Put out to sea ; oh ! many a heart did bound "With fearful hope , thus going forth to seek The dread encounter of a Viking ' s beak .

Not with thc grandeur of the Greek trireme , Nor the wild beauty of thc frigate swift , Came England ' s war-barks—bulky in the beam , —¦ Like shapeless rafts upon thc waves they drift ; While the coarse rigging of their rude equipment

A building's scaffold rather than a ship meant . They were but floating platforms—somewhat small—Tho moving section oi a bnttle-iield ; And as for tactics—there were none at all ! Since those would conquer who could longest wield The axe , most dread of weapons—but a test Of valour true , surpassing all the rest !

The King stood on tho leading hark and cried , Gladdened with an exhilarating joy , Imparted by the motion of the tide , " When ive those spoilers four hear its destroy I'll pass a law to make each man a Thane

Who builds one ship and passes thrice the main . ' A passing thought—how little men could tell AVhat was thc issue that from this should burs A thousand years have not expanded well ; Or that the spirit in those moments nursed Should grow in glory till a quenchless star It rose victorious over Trafalgar ,

Three days passed by , and then , at set of sun The first of Admirals that England knew Her earliest naval triumph proudly won , And chased tho Vikings , where we now may view That mighty sea-wall that so well defies Atlantic waves that seem to scale the skies . ' 12