Reviews And Reviews.

are not without a tincture of later Arianism , and most of the piece is little better than an indifferent metrical paraphrase of the Authorised Version . The speech of Judas in Aceldama has fine points , reminding us of what Mr . Home could once do ; but , perhaps , nobody but Marlowe conld ever quite have grasped the situation in toto . We confess that we should have liked a more favourable notice had we written and published " The Shepherd ' s Dream ! " though it is rather a

sheepish title , is it not ? Little need be said about " The Shepherd ' s Dream : a Dramatic Romance , " by Henry Solly ( Brook and Co . ) ; it is tedious to read , and would be still more so in performance . The plot turns on the career of a Suffolk hind who , in Tudor times , wins the love and hand of a titled lady , —a highly probable incident , as all will allow . This phenomenon nearly gets burned for a heretic in the Marian persecution , and the martyrdom of Dr . Rowland Taylor figures prominently in the action . It maybe remarked that the good priest in question was not a Lollard , which epithet Mr . Solly seems to imagine a synonym of Protestant ! The attempts at humour are depressing , and make one inclined to sympathise with Sir Roger , when he addresses Master Carey as " vulgar ninny ; " he had certainly endured much .

Poor Erro ! It is not necessary to break butterflies upon the wheel , so that " The Vale of Hermanli , and Other Poems , " by "Erro " ( Newman ) , may pass with little more than the comment that the title is a misnomer , as there is not a single poem in the book , though it contains some feeble attempts at blank verse , evidently by a novice with no musical ear . There is a good deal in the reviewers " protest" against morbid verse .

There is a vast amount of " morbid verse" afloat just now , alike in the sensational and sentimental , the classic and the realistic school . Some of our readers will recollect in " Our Street . " The poetess of " withering verse " and " morbid outpourings , " ivho eat a " hot mutton chop " and drank a glass of warm brandy and water " every ni ght of our bli g hted existence . " There is a fashion in such things . But to the review .

"My Old Portfolio" ( C . Kegan Paul ) was probably intended for private circulation , and contains some sympathetic verse , with one or two attempts at a higher strain . " Too Late , " "A Lay of Provence , " and "One in a Thousand" are pleasant , thoughtful songs , and "He Would be a Sailor" is rather a good ballad , though the ending shows most exaggerated morbidity of sentiment . But will nobody write us a few cheerful verses ; ' Surely this world is not all made up of dust and ashes ! The rhymes are occasionally very faulty .

The following three reviews seem not unkindly meant as sound advice to writers of a similar stamp from obtruding under any pretence , their cherished " bantlings " on a generous but suffering public . " Other Days" ( Simpkin , Marshall ) is an unpretending little volume of verse of a rather old-world nature , —as will be supposed when we mention that one piece deals with the death of the Princess Charlotte . The subject of Henry II . and his Clifford love has been better

treated , and once for all ; but the version of David ' s lament has merit , —it reminds ns rather of some of N . P . Willis's serious pieces . Two little scholastic volumes are the first and second parts of a " Poetical Reader for Schools " ( Marshall , Japp and Co . ) Whatever may be said for the plea of novelty put forward in the preface , ive cannot think the selection has been wisely made . Most of the pieces ave taken from unknown or third-rate authors , and where a well-accepted name doeB appear it is not , as a rule , suitably represented .

" Hymns for Children of the English Church " ( William Poole ) professes to give " simple verses for every Sunday and Holy Day in the Christian year . " As a matter of fact , none of the Black Letter festivals are noticed , and the verses are of a very low order . Even the dramatic writer does not please this stern " Censor Morum " and of verse . The nature of the type used is almost fatal to the chances of " Bernice : a Tragedy , " by J . H . Pearce ( Charing Cross Publishing Company ) ; a strong microscope would be indispensable to the enjoyment of such beauties as the play may possess . It is described as a " tragic triology " ( sic ) , and is very tragic indeed , as the wicked heroine more or less in-