Reviews. Literature.

stem man ' s face , but nothing like pity was there : all was cold—hardunrelenting . Remove the prisoner , ' said the Baron . "' Stay , a few words before . I go , ' said Antonio , the eye flashing , a look of contempt upon his lips , ' do people call this a court for the administration of justice ! Oppressors of my country , you stand there now surrounded by wealth and power , a day of retribution will come , however ; if not on earthwhen stand before judfar

, we a ge more merciful , but far more just , more awful than you are ; when the souls of innocent men will rise up as witnesses against you for murder , you will then wish this place , had been a court of justice , and that you had given those men a fair and impartial trial . ' "Take the prisoner away , ' ordered the Baron , a second time , biting his lips whilst his face flushed purple with passion . ' ¦ Back to his gloomy prison Antonio was conducted by the soldiers ; and when "

once alone again the first thing he did was tofling himself upon his knees to pray for strength . " Evidence is eventually brought before the stern judge of the entire absence of complicity on the part of Antonio , and a pardon is handed to his sister , who arrives at the prison with it just in time to see his lifeless body ; he has been executed with the other victims of Austrian tyranny . There is also a description of the

exodus of the Swiss , from Milan , which is painted with much feeling . ^ These are the best scenes ofthe book , and if the authoress had availed herself more of the stirring events which were passing around her , she would have written a much more interesting tale . As it is , in order to eke out the necessary quantity to fill the volumes , a complicated love story is introduced , which is imbued too strongly with the thcatrical ' dement ; there is also a long

account ofthe love passages of one Ilanz , a German student , and his sweetheart , which , have nothing on earth to do with the plot , and mi ght more appropriatel y have lieen worked up into a separate storv . ' .

The hero of the story , Carlo Eomelli , is an Italian painter , who , though in love with a wealth y English widow ( by whom his passion is returned ) , singularly ' enough is prevented ' by his bashfulness and pride from offering her his hand—a lusits va / urce , which must , we think , be considered extremely rare , as far as our knowledge of foreign artists extends . Eventually the rascally " agent " of the rich widow invests her property in ' shares in the "C '

Company , " which comes to grief andthe " agent" levants ; the lady returns to London and goes out as a daily governess . Carlo marries another young lady for some mysterious reason , whom he neither loves nor admires , and is consequentl y very unhappy . The obtrusive wife , however , dying properly out of the way , Carlo comes to London and sends a picture to ' the Koyal Academy . Rachel ( the widow ) meanwhile has promised her hand to a very

estimable and gentlemanlike British merchant whose children she is teaching ; but going to the Exhibition sees Carlo ' s picture , very soon finds that he is a widower , and eventually declines the British merchant , who ( like a sensible man ) resigns her to the foreign gentleman . ISTearly the whole of a volume is devoted to tho underplot of Hanz and Marie the scene of which is in Germany , and German domestic incidents are introduced to an

almost tedious extent . There is one character however of an old maiden aunt which is lifelike , and redeems the German chapters of much of their insipidity : but she is accompanied by an old doctor and some other characters who are very old theatrical acquaintances , and go about their business in genuine stage style . As the work of a beginner there is much here upon which to congratulate Miss Crichton : but if she be desirous to ensure

success , she must in- her next story be more elaborate and much less diffuse . Had the present tale been confined to half its extent , it would have been far more pleasing ; and in all kindness we would warn our authoress that a novel now a days is seldom acceptable unless it is reall y a romance : or unless the writer possesses humour and . descriptive powcrs ' sufficicnt to render his characters prominent as types of his fellow men , with their weaknesses , their virtues , and their characteristics both of good and of evil . ¦

XOTES OX LITERATURE , SCIENCE AND ART . LORD BIIOUCUAM will lie installed as Charerllor of the University of Edinburgh on Wednesday , the lGth of May . The installation was deferred till the Whitsuntide holidays , the noble lord , who is at present at Cannes , being unable to visit Edinburgh at present . He has just accepted the office of President of the Philosophical Institution , Edinburgh , rendered vacant by the death of Lord jVlacaulay . The Scotsman announces that on the occasion of the installation of

Mr . Gladstone on Monday , the Senatus conferred the honorary degree of IJIJ . B . on the following distinguished men : —The flight Hon . W . E . Gladstone , the flight Hon . the Lord Justice-General , the Hon . Lord leaves , the Solicitor-General , tkeVvery ; Hev , . "Dean llamsay , Principal

Reviews. Literature.

Forbes , the Rev . H . L . Mansel , Professor of- Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy , Oxford . Of these , the only strangers are Mr . Gladstone and Mr . Mansel . " Of the rector ' s pre-eminent right to the highest title we can give him ( says our contemporary ) we need say nothing ; of Mr . Mansel , we may be sure that , as one of the most distinguished psychologists in Europe , and recognized as such in France and America ; and , moreover , as the representative in Oxford of those studies which

have given so much of their fame to Scottish Universities , and par excellence , to our own—he is a man whom the whole academic constituency to be assembled for the first time to-morrow will delight to honour . " Sixteen scholarships , of £ 50 per annum each , will be open to competition in June next , at St . John ' s College , Cambridge . Of these four are minor scholarshipsopen to all persons under twenty years of age ,

, whether students in the university or not , who have not yet commenced residence , or who are in the first term of their residence . A minor scholarship is tenable for two years from the day of election , or until the scholar be elected to one of the foundation scholarships . The remaining twelve are foundation scholarships , open to all undergraduate members of the college who have kept one or more terms of residence , and tenable until the scholar shall become of sufficient standing to be

an inspector in arts , or shall be elected to a fellowship . In the forthcoming number of the Quarterly Review there will , we arc told , be found among its most important contents an article on the "Shakspeare Documents , " taking , it is expected , a view of the case which by no means coincides with that of Mr . Collier and his friends . The writer is said to have gone very fully into the whole question ; and Mr . Murray has caused facsimiles of many of the documents to be made , which are to enrich and illustrate the text of the article . This will indeed be a most important contribution to a- controversy which seems to increase rather than to decrease in interest as it proceeds .

Among the numerous praiseworthy undertakings which . mark the increasing taste of our age for literature and the fine arts is the Library and Literary Association which has been founded by the employed in the service of the General Post Office . The first annual meeting was held , on Tuesday , at the Money Order Office , and an elaborate reportpresented , congratulating the members on the rapid and confirmed success of the institution . It now possesses a library of more than

3 , 000 volumes , many of which have been presented by their authors . The committee state that they have expended £ 127 in the purchase of books , and that during the past year nearly 6 , 000 volumes were issued . Including nearly 7 , 000 obtained from Mr . Mudie , it is computed that the total issue amounted to 15 , 000 volumes . The proportion of works of fiction forms four fifths of the whole issue ; and this is not deemed disproportionate , under the circumstances . The authors whose works

have been most in demand are indicated—Sir E . Lytton , G . Eliot , Dickens , Thackeray , and Kings-ley , being apparently most popular among tho Post Office staff . The particular works of a miscellaneous character most in demand are also specified . The attendance of members in the reading room has not been so numerous as was anticipated , and fell off considerably after the conclusion of the war in Italy . A larger room , in a more central situation , is suggested as desirable by the committee . The annual income , including the balance of preliminary

receipts , was £ o 5 o is . Id ., leaving a surplus o £ . £ 220 8 s . 10 « . An important French work , the "History of the Press" was commenced last year by M . Hatiu , and attracted some attention . Messrs . Didier have just issued the fourth volume ofthe work , which includes the period of tho revolution from 17 S 9 to 1792 . Amongst the most notable of its contents is the character of Mirahcau as a journalist ; but the volume contains a great deal of matter of interest .

Some very interesting specimens of ltoman pottery have just been discovered at Worcester , and by a singular coincidence the discovery has been made close to the site of tho existing celebrated Pi 03 'al Porcelain Works in that city . Some workmen employed in diggiug in the garden of an old bowling-green came upon some vases or jugs , most of which they broke before their nature was discovered . In the same spot were also found some decayed bones , two coins , one of which is a brass of

Domitian in good preservation , and some Samian ware . This discoveryled to further researches , when a quantity of grooved tiles , several other vases , and an urn of red clay were exhumed . The top of the urn had been broken , and a quantity of soil had been pressed in , which had mixed with some fragmentary bones , supposed to have been previousl y in the vessel . All the relies are in the care of the Worcester Archaeological Club , and various speculations have been raised as to their original deposit , The spot where they wore found is near to the river Severn ;