THE QUEEN MOTHER AND ROSAMOND.*-Mr. Swinburne has recently come into knowledge and favor as the writer of the dramatic poems which are named upon the title-page of this volume. It is not easy in a few words to do justice to either his excellencies or his defects. That he posseses no little poetic power it were easy to see and to say; power both to imagine and to express. But we cannot say that he turns them to the best uses, nor that he achieves the best results. His subjects are too uniform and his treatment of them is far too monotonous. His verse is too elaborate, his sentiments are overwrought, even to conceits, and the one theme on which he lingers and to which he returns with ever excited zest is voluptuous and sensual love. That this is represented and defended by its votaries in a drama might of itself be no ground for objection, but that it should absorb the chief interest of the writer and be the theme, of all others, which kindles his imagination or evokes his power to describe, does not speak well for his culture, his taste, or his morals, especially if it be considered that the counter sentiments and actions, which ought to be called forth, are so coldly represented, and do not seem to be prompted by either the earnest convictions or the better feelings of the author.

ESPERANCE.-The author's object in this story is very apparent. It is to describe the development of a genuine religious experience under the influence of God's great educator, sorrow. In the opening chapter we are introduced to Esperance (Hope), at her home in the vicinity of New York City. She is a proud, quick tempered, wayward girl. Her mother dies while she is yet a little child. Her father's ill treatment of her intensifies her proud reserve, and creates a morbid melancholy, bordering on misanthropy. Sent from home in disgrace for an attempt to warn her father against the intrigues of a dissolute and unprincipled step-mother, her morbid fancies are greatly increased by feeding in her boarding school on such food as the pages of Byron and Shelley afford. A companion and congenial spirit lends her Paine's Age of Reason, and under the combined influence of the book and the living

*The Queen Mother and Rosamond. By ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE, author of "Atalanta in Calydon," and "Chastelard." Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1866. New Haven: T. H. Pease. Price $1.50

Esperance. By META LANDER author of "Light on the Dark River," "Marion Graham," etc. Sheldon and Co., New York.

voice she embraces infidelity, though with a school girl's embrace, timid and shy, and with but little real knowledge of the character of her new love. A revival of religion commences in the school. Under the influence of a hard, dogmatical, and fatalistic theology, against which her whole nature revolts, Esperance is transformed at first from a secret infidel to an open and avowed enemy of religion. "I hate God," is her bitter exclamation. But her very audacity alarms her. The remembrance of her pious mother's prayers, and the strong influence of the wide-spread religious feeling among her companions, beget a struggle with her pride and her morbid passion, from the wretchedness of which she is only relieved by a submission to the claims of a God, whom she still mistakenly regards as a despotic king rather than as a loving Father. She yields to law, not to love. She is a servant, not a child. In her new bondage to the claims of conscience she finds at first little comfort. In the service which she attempts she achieves little

success.

But under the guidance of a good Providence, and in the school of sorrow, she is eventually brought, though not without many struggles, out of her bondage into the liberty of the children of God, and a life of love, and joy, and peace, and hope in Christ. Two-thirds of the book are devoted to this story of her gradual emancipation.

The office of the true critic is not to pick at words and phrases, but, comprehending the object of the author, to determine whether the object has been well and truly accomplished. In this case we have simply to ask—is this a true story of religious experience? Is this the way, or one of the ways, in which souls grow into the kingdom of God. The question whether the pet names are in good taste, and the few French phrases introduced are well selected, is nothing to the purpose. Neither are we to ask whether the incidents here recorded are of common occurrence. We trust not. Though the recent developments in our courts attest the fact that they are not impossible. But it is not the object of the author to give a true picture of American life, but to depict the development of a religious experience under the influence of peculiar sorrows, and for this purpose she has carried her heroine through sorrows that are peculiar, as she had a novelist's right to do.

The secret history of a soul is here written, and well written. The authoress, the wife of a gentleman well known as equally successful in the pastorate and the theological professor's chair, and

herself favorably known to the public by her pen, has had peculiar facilities for acquiring an acquaintance both with the mental philosophy of the schools, and the actual experiences of life; and the fidelity of her analysis and experience shows that she has well improved her opportunities.

THE RESTORATION.*-This treatise is written to support the doctrines of millenarianism, and is brief, pointed, and earnest. It contains the usual arguments and interpretations, but nothing more. It is written in the best spirit and with fervent love of the truth and of Christ. To those who feel interested in propagating these interpretations of prophecy, it may be recommended as a very acceptable and able treatise of its kind.

REBELLION RECORD.-Fifty-eight numbers of this valuable documentary history of the Slaveholders' Rebellion are now published. The last number (lviii.) contains the rebel official reports of the operations of their armies around Richmond in the summer of 1862. [D. Van Nostrand, publisher, No. 192 Broadway, New York. Agent in New Haven, T. H Pease. Price 60 cents per number.]

REPUBLICATION OF THE British RevieWS BY THE LEONARD SCOTT PUBLISHING COMPANY.-The publication business heretofore carried on by L. Scott & Co., will be continued hereafter under the name of "The Leonard Scott Publishing Company." No other change is at present contemplated, beyond that of mere form from a Copartnership to a Corporation. [T. H. Pease agent in New Haven.]

RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS.

A Discourse delivered January 31, 1866, at the funeral of the Rev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, D. D., Pastor of the North Church in New Haven. By Leonard Bacon. 1866. 8vo. pp. 32. With a portrait. For sale in New Haven by F. T. Jarman. Price, 25 cents. For which sum it will be mailed on receipt of the money.

Memorial of Elisha Lord Cleaveland, New Haven. 1866. 8vo. pp. 70. T. H. Pease, publisher, New Haven. Price, 50 cents. For which sum it will be mailed on receipt of the money.

*The Restoration or the hope of the early Church realized. By Rev. HENRY RILEY, late Pastor of the First Presbyterian church, Montrose, Pa. Philadelphia : Smith, English & Co. 1866. 24mo. pp. 288.

Sermons preached on different occasions during the last twenty years. By the Rev. Edward Meyrick Goulburn, D. D., Prebendary of St Paul's, and one of Her Majesty's Chaplains in Ordinary. Reprinted from the second London edition. Two volumes in one. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1866. 12mo. pp. 391. The Holy Comforter; His Presence and His Work. By J. P. Thompson, D. D. Sq. 16mo. pp. 210. New York: A. D. F. Randolph.

Christian Unity and its Recovery. 12mo. pp. 119. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

The Restoration; or the Hope of the Early Church Realized. By Henry A. Riley. With an Introduction by Rev. J. A. Seiss, D. D. Philadelphia: Smith, English & Co. 16mo. pp. 288. (Price, $1.25. Upon receipt of which it will be sent by mail, prepaid.)

Discourse on Human Depravity. By S. S. Schmucker, D. D. Gettysburg. 1865. 8vo. pp. 15.

History of Congregationalism from about A. D. 250 to the Present Time, in Continuation of the Account of the Origin and Earliest History of this System of Church Polity, contained in "A View of Congregationalism." By George Punch. ard. Second edition. Rewritten and greatly enlarged. Two volumes. 12mo. pp. vii., 562; xiii., 519. New York: Hurd & Houghton. 1865.

The Prominent Characteristics of the Congregational Churches. A Lecture. By George Mooar. San Francisco. 1866. 16mo. pp. 60.

The Theater. A Sermon delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, Dayton, Ohio. By T. E. Thomas, D. D. With the subsequent discussion between T. E. Thomas, D. D. and I. A. McMahon, Esq. 16mo. pp. 56.

The Cross in the Cell. Conversations with a prisoner while awaiting his execution. By a Minister of the Gospel. American Tract Society. Boston. 16mo. pp. vi., 236.

The Living Forces of the Universe. The Temple and the Worshipers. Know and Govern Thyself. By George W. Thompson. Philadelphia: Howard Challen. 1866. 12mo. pp. 858.

pp. 39.

Union Chapel in Santiago,
Valparaiso. 1866. 8vo.

The Threatening Ruin; A Discourse for the Times. By Joseph A. Seiss, D. D. Philadelphia. 1866. Smith, English & Co. 16mo. A Discourse pronounced at the dedication of the January 7, 1866. By the Rev. David Trumbull. pp. 19. Short Sermons to Newsboys. With a history of the formation of the Newsboys' Lodging House. Illustrations. 16mo. pp. vi., 244. New York: C. Scribner & Co.

Earnest Christian's Library. Volume I. Plain Words on Christian Living. By Charles John Vaughan, D. D. 16mo. pp. 221. The Cross of Jesus; or Heaven on Earth to Me. By the Rev. David Thompson. 16mo. pp. 164. Sure Words of Promise. 16mo. pp. 499. The Soul Gatherer. By the Author of "The Way Home." 16mo. pp. 215. New York: Carlton & Porter. The Elements of Moral Science. By Francis Wayland, D. D., L.L.D.; late President of Brown University, and Professor of Moral Philosophy. Revised and improved edition. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. (This popular treatise is issued with the last improvements given it by its lamented author. The bulk of the volume is not enlarged, but several chapters have been rewritten.)

Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church: Part II. From Samuel to the Captivity. By Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. 8vo. pp. xxx., 656. New York: Charles Scribner & Co.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.

A History of New England, from the Discovery by Europeans to the Revolution of the Seventeenth Century, being an abridgment of his “History of New England during the Stuart Dynasty." By John Gorham Palfrey. In two volumes. New York: Hurd & Houghton. 12mo. pp. xx., 408. xii., 426.

Lectures on the Study of History, delivered in Oxford, 1859-1861. By Gold. win Smith, Regius Professor of Modern History. To which is added a Lecture delivered before the New York Historical Society, in December, 1864, on the University of Oxford. 12mo. pp. 269. New York: Harper & Brothers. The Conversion of the Northern Nations. Charles Merivale, B. D. 12mo. pp. 231. Co.

The Boyle Lectures for 1865. By
New York. 1866. D. Appleton &

Notes on the History of Slavery in Massachusetts. By George H. Moore. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1866. 8vo. pp. 256.

The Story of the Embarkation of Cromwell and his Friends for New England. Boston. 8vo. pp. 11.

The Life of John Brainerd, the brother of David Brainerd and his successor as Missionary to the Indians of New Jersey. By Rev. Thomas Brainerd, D. D. 12mo. pp. 492. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication.

Life of Emanuel Swedenborg, together with a brief synopsis of his writings, both philosophical and theological. By William White With an introduction by B. T. Barrett. 12mo. pp. 272. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Temperance Recollections, Labors, Defeats, Triumphs; An Autobiography. By John Marsh, D. D. New York. 1866. Charles Scribner & Co. 16mo. pp. 373.

Four Years of Fighting: A Volume of Personal Observations with the Army and Navy, from the first battle of Bull Run to the Fall of Richmond. By C. C. Coffin. 8vo. pp. xvii, 558. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

Life and Times of Andrew Johnson, Seventeenth President of the United States. Written from a national stand point By a National Man. New York. 1866. D. Appleton & Co. 12mo. pp. 363.

BELLES LETTRES.

The Lost Tales of Miletus. By Sir E. B. Lytton. 16mo. pp. 182. New York: Harper & Brothers.

The Maiden and Married Life of Mary Powell, afterwards Mistress Milton. New York: M. W. Dodd. 16 mo. pp. 271.

Poems. By the Author of "John Halifax, Gentleman," Etc. Miss Dinah M. Mulock. 16mo. pp. xi., 260. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. "Blue and Gold." A Noble Life. By the Author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." New York: Harper & Brothers. 1866. 12mo. pp. 302.

The Dove in the Eagle's Nest. By Miss Yonge. 12mo. pp. 339. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Asphodel. Boston. 1866. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. pp. 224.

Shakespeare's Delineations of Insanity, Imbecility, and Suicide. By A. O.