Literary And Antiquarian Gossip.

Messrs . Routledge ancl Sons have just sent out a new volume of the later poems of Longfellow , entitled " Ultima Thule . " It contains some twenty pieces of almost perfect verse , which plainly evince that " the old man eloquent " has lost none of his peculiar poetical power .

Mrs . Leith Adams has again assumed the editorial control of Kensington , a meritorious monthly magazine of fact and fiction . In the October edition is part of a serial from that lady ' s accomplished pen , and Professor A . Leith Adams , F . R . S ., has a graphic chapter on the migratory birds of Malta . This month ' s poetry is hardly up to the usual high standard , but the concluding " Chit-chat—Literary , Artistic , ancl Theatrical , " is very lively .

Our readers will be pleased to learn that , according to the Athenceum , at last the armouries of the Tower of London are to be opened to the public in an intelligent manner , as other museums are . The "beef-eaters are to serve as " attendants , " and not as guides ; their archeeological dissertations and histrionic demonstrations are to be replaced by concise handbooks . It is to be hoped that Mr . Ohilders will put a stop to the devastation which is damaging some of the most important historic portions of the Tower . Prodigious

mischief has been done under the plea of " restoration " and an affectation of military necessity . Sham Gothic features have replaced not a few of the genuine , if incongruous , elements to which the Tower owed so much of its picturesqueness , its antiquarian value , and its pathetic interest . We have a foolish " castle" in exchange for a fine historic relic of great dignity .. It is said that some of the famous dungeons have not escaped the craze for meddling . We trust it is not so , ancl appeal to the Secretary of State for War to restrain the costly follies of his deputies .

The enterprising publishing house of Messrs . Oassell , Better , and Galpin have added to the hebdominal press a novelty entitled The Boys' Newspaper . It is a high-class serial , combining a resume of that portion of the week ' s intelligence which has a special interest for the rising generation , with all manner of entertaining reading matter . Everything objectionable in the way of new items is excluded , and no stone left unturned to win the sympathy and support of " our boys . "

" An Attempt towards a Glossary of the Archaic and Provincial Words of . the county of Stafford , first brought together by Charles Henry Poole , A . D . 1880 , " is the full title of an important philological booklet just issued from the St . Gregory ' s Press , Stratford-on-Avon . Though Mr . Poole modestly chooses to call his work an " attempt , " the reader who carefully peruses it will be impressed that it is a very successful one . A large number of dialectical words are included in the alhabetical arrangementand lucidl lained and

p , y exp copiously Elustrated by quotations , generally well chosen , from old authors . To the glossary is added an appendix of local colloquial sayings , placerhymes , specimens of Staffordshire phraseology , etc . Mr . Poole merits the thanks and encouragement of all interested in the preservation of old-world words .