evidence furnished by this volume that throughout Europe, even in the least advanced countries, a stimulus has been given to efforts for the improvement of the education and position of women. There is evidence also that, as the movement has progressed, certain objectionable features exhibited in its earlier stages, such for example as the tendency to render women unfeminine, have either disappeared or been considerably modified. This volume itself, though containing some sentiments which we are far from sharing, testifies on the whole to the reasonableness, as well as the ardour, of the present generation of 'advanced' female minds, many of which have contributed to its pages. It is also a valuable storehouse of facts bearing

on the subject, gathered by many hands from diverse quarters. Tiresias, and other Poems. By ALfred, Lord TenNYSON, D.C.L., P.L. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1885.)

THIS new volume of poems by the Poet Laureate will be welcomed by his whole circle of admirers. Besides some poems which have already appeared in periodicals, such as the Charge of the Heavy Brigade and the beautiful lines on Virgil and Catullus, it contains much that is new, some of which deserves to be ranked with his most successful works. The most important pieces are the idyll-he is himself responsible for this classification (p. 16)--from which the collection takes its name, and a grand poem called the Ancient Sage. Both are splendid examples of his later style in blank verse. They are marked by a severity, and at times a compression and directness of diction, which is quite foreign to his earlier works, though they are not without those picturesque touches, and turns of expression which are so frequent a mark of his style. In the first, Tiresias-the blind prophet of Thebes-is represented as giving the history of his divine inspiration to Menaceus [sic], son of Creon, that so he may persuade the boy to offer himself for his country, as the fates require. The following lines describe the effect on his mental state, of the vision of Pallas Athéné, which brought on his blindness (p. 8):

‘Son, in the hidden world of sight, that lives
Behind the darkness, I behold her still,
Beyond all work of those who carve the stone,
Beyond all dreams of Godlike womanhood,
Ineffable beauty, out of whom, at a glance,

And as it were, perforce, upon me flash'd
The power of prophesying.'

The other describes a conversation between an old philosopher, full of the matured and steadfast faith of old age, and a young Greek who is filled by the despair of scepticism, and shares the tendencies which such philosophy had in Greece to develop a mere Epicurean and sensual life. Throughout we feel that it is the poet himself who is giving expression to the seasoned and sober faith which he has so often preached. Very grand are the lines which he sums up in the words'For nothing worthy proving can be proven Nor yet disproven wherefore thou be wise. Cling ever to the sunnier side of Doubt,

And cling to Faith beyond the forms of Faith '—

And those where he warns us not to

"Break into "Thens" and "Whens" the Eternal Now.'

Compare the line in the Frincess—

'For all creation is one act at once?

Of the other poems, Despair, which is already known to many, represents another form of scepticism, arising from the revolt of the feelings against the misrepresentations of Christianity, formerly so common; it is powerfully written in the anapastic metre, which Tennyson has made so much his own, but is deficient in true pathos. The same criticism may be applied to The Wreck, another dramatic lyric, and to The Flight, another poem on his old theme, a daughter sold by unfeeling parents to an unworthy husband. This is perhaps the weakest poem in the book; it is written in the metre of the May Queen, but both subject and treatment are somewhat commonplace. The line

‘The dear mad bride who stabbed her bridegroom on her bridal night' is an instance of a kind of bad taste, of which the Poet Laureate is less guilty than most modern poets. We have also two poems in dialect-one in Irish, not without touches of Irish humour; a new idyll, chiefly attractive for the pleasant boyish impulsiveness and humility of Sir Balin, otherwise not to be reckoned with the most successful; a pleasantly written introduction addressed to Mr. Fitzgerald, the translator (perhaps more than translator) of Omar Kayam, with some lines on his death; a chatty defence of himself for writing war poems, against the attacks of the Peace Society, with other minor poems, the most striking of which are The Dead Prophet, which professes to be a very early work, and Freedom. With regard to the former, would it be unpardonable to throw out a conjecture that the poem may involve an allusion to events and circumstances far more recent than would be inferred from the date 182- placed at the head, and from some details, such as his child,' which are found in the body of the poem? The application of the latter to modern events is too obvious to be unintentional—

་

'Men loud against all forms of power

Unfurnish'd brows, tempestuous tongues-
Expecting all things in an hour-

Brass mouths and iron lungs.'

The book is a wonderful production for a man of his or of any age; all the more so, that the whole is so thoroughly characteristic of the author, showing a quiet self-reliance which does not fear to speak out on modern things, but always speaks honourably and with dignity.

CHARGES, ADDRESSES, NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS, ETC. UNDER the title of the Seven Gifts (Macmillan and Co., 1888) his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury has published the addresses which he delivered at six different centres in his Primary Visitation. Anyone who expects to derive from it that kind of details as to the

work going on in the diocese which not unfrequently, and, we may add, not unnaturally, find a place in episcopal Charges, will be disappointed. On the other hand, he will find superabundant evidence of the deep piety, genial disposition, and high-toned feeling which seem to impress everyone with whom his Grace is brought into contact. If we may presume to offer a remark on one feature of these addresses, it seems a little curious that while Dr. Benson enlarges, with a beauty all his own, on the sevenfold grace given in Confirmation to every Christian, we do not remember to have seen a single allusion to that πроσbýкη IIvεvμaroc which S. Chrysostom (Homil. xv. in Acta Apost.) -that 'excellentia potestatis in divinis mysteriis' which S. Thomas Aquinas (Summa, Pars III. Quæst. lxxxiv. 4)—held to be involved in the idea, and imparted in the rite of Ordination. As his Grace's hearers were presumably clergy, this omission of all allusion to the grace of Orders, as such, is perhaps a little singular.

The Charges delivered at his Third Visitation in September and October 1885, by Fames Russel, Lord Bishop of Ely (London and Cambridge: Macmillan and Co., 1885), are alas! a posthumous publication. Dr. Woodford had corrected his proof sheets up to page 23, but the remainder (23-55) was passed through the press by other hands. It is needless to say that the Charge is characterized by all that manliness of tone, and unshrinking declaration of principles, and of opinions, which the late Bishop of Ely always exhibited. We could not, perhaps, give a more crucial instance of this than his saying (p. 10) that he sees no reason why a branch of the Church of England Working Men's Society should not be organized in every parish or Rural Deanery.

Of the numerous addresses and sermons in defence of the Church of England, we select one for special mention because we consider it of special merit. It is called an Address on the Church of England (Axminster: C. Harris, 1885). It is divided into three heads: (1) The Beginnings of the Church of England; (2) Her Tithes and other Endowments; (3) Loss or Gain to the Nation by Disestablishment and Disendowment. We have seen nothing to equal it for pith and point; and it would be a good thing if every clergyman of every parish in England would give it as a lecture in his schoolroom.

At the close of a year we are always deluged with publications, with which from their number and multifarious nature we scarcely know how to deal. The Christian Knowledge Society is always well to the front at this season, and we suffer from an embarras du choix in singling out any for special commendation. One of the best of recent issues by this Society is a little work on Architecture in relation to our Parish Churches, by the Rev. H. H. Bishop, prettily illustrated with 112 woodcuts of interesting churches. It is not a book that aims very high, but it may serve to whet the appetite for a more advanced study of the subject. The Rev. W. Hurst contributes an addition to the series of Diocesan Histories by writing that of the Somerset Diocese: Bath and Wells. It is not very lively reading, but we have not been able to detect any inaccuracies. Juliana Horatia Ewing and her Books is a very touching biography of Mrs. Gatty's

married daughter, by another daughter, Horatia K. F. Gatty. It is thoroughly unpretentious, and that is its great charm. Thoughts for Glad Days and for Sad Days, selected and arranged by F. F Elton and L. Bourdillon, consist of a text, an extract in prose, and some verses, on one page for every day in the year. The Rev. C. R. Bail's Familiar Instructions on the Church Catechism are a very good specimen of what catechizing ought to be. We have tested it in several crucial points, and can recommend it. Aids to Prayer, by the Rev. Daniel Moore; Our Daily Lives, by Sibella E. Bryans; Ten Schoolroom Addresses, edited by Archdeacon Norris ; A Glad Service, by E. Lewis; Searching for the Stone, by the Rev. A. N. Malan, are all of them, in their measure and degree, useful books to help young and old in their path through this 'troublesome world.' Macmillan & Co. give us Truth in Tale: Addresses chiefly to Children, by the Bishop of Ripon. They are told with a quiet, quaint, yet unaffected simplicity, which gives them a real charm, and ensures them a warm welcome. We have spoken above of stories on the Collects; Messrs. Skeffington have just issued Stories and Teachings on the Litany: a Book to make that Service plain to the Old and interesting to the Young. The author is the Rev. W. Hardman, and the Rev. R. W. Randall, of Clifton, writes a commendatory Introduction. This book will be found very useful for catechizing and for Sundayschool classes. Wells Gardner, Darton & Co., with their Good Stories (issued monthly), and their well-known weekly publications, Chatterbox, Sunday, &c., provide an excellent antidote and counterfoil to the vile literature which often finds its way down country lanes and town alleys.

INDEX TO VOL. XXI.

ALLEN, Professor A. G.,. The Bonnardot, Mons. F., Le Psautier
Continuity of Christian