diabolical tortures to extort confession, and of the still more diabolical ingenuities by which, with the cord, the axe, the sword, the faggot, or on the wheel, men were done to death. No savage tribe could surpass in atrocity the legal punishments of the first nation in Europe until the guillotine was invented. Its humane projector, for it was not really invented by the man whose name it bears, was impelled by the most compassionate of feelings; and there can be no doubt that of all instruments of capital punishment it is the most merciful. Interesting details of the invention are here given. It is remarkable that Charles Henri Sanson was summoned to aid in the exhibition of the new invention to Louis XVI., who suggested important improvements in the knife. The next time they met was on the scaffold, when Louis was its victim. We can hardly say that a book on such a subject is lively reading, but it is marvellously divested of what might seem necessary horrors, and is full of interesting and important information which apparently may be substantially relied upon.

GOETHE AND CORONA SCHRÖTER.

Vor Hundert Jahren. Mittheilungen über Weimar, Goethe und Corona Schröter aus den Tagen der Genie-Periode. Festgabezur Säkularfeier von Goethe's Eintritt in Weimar, 7 Nov. 1772. Von ROBERT KEIL ZWEI BÄNDER. Leipsig: Verlag von Veit & Co. 1875.

These two volumes are intended to commemorate the opening of Goethe's life in Weimar, the centenary of which was on the 7th November last. However we may deprecate the extremes to which the Germans carry the fashion of centenary observances, which they no longer confine to commemorating the birth and death of their great men, but seek, through them, to keep green the memory of the different epochs of their lives as well, we need not be too critical of an impulse which has given us these two pleasant little volumes. Yet the impression their perusal leaves on the reader is by no means one of increased respect or admiration for Germany's greatest poet. They tell the story of a love, faithful and tender through many years, but too fitful to last in the case of Goethe, and which at length, in the case of Corona, was mellowed into feelings of tender friendship before her death. It is impossible to retain the old veneration for Goethe when we see him professing equally passionate devotion at the same time to the Frau Von Stein and Corona Schröter. This is the revelation made to us here, given in Goethe's own writing; and there can be little doubt that for a time he had a genuine passion for the gifted and lovely musician who realised the ideals of some of his most famous characters, and, during the early years in Weimar, occupied so large a space in his thoughts and life. In the first of the two volumes we have a copy, printed here entire for the first time, of Goethe's diary from the year 1776 to 1782. It is a valuable document for the light it throws on Goethe's Weimar career and on his character. Not that

there is anything really new, but there are many illustrations of Goethe's familiar characteristics-his untiring industry, great laboriousness, the width and variety of the interests which occupied him, and the spirit in which he did his work in those early years. What is new is the information regarding the poet's relations to Corona. It is impossible to doubt the reality and power of the passion for the intellectual artist, the first German Iphigenia, and one of the most attractive of German singers, who is closely associated with German poetry and German art. And as Goethe fled from his own passion, and after his journey to Italy had succeeded in obliterating her image from his heart, so that he was able to think and speak of her with indifference and coldness, we have a fresh illustration of the sensuous impressibility which Goethe was seemingly able to silence at the word of command.

The second volume is wholly devoted to Corona, and tells the tale of her public and private life in a fresh and agreeable fashion. It is a narrative interesting on its own account; but of course a more vivid interest attaches to the parts illustrating the Weimar life and the relations of Corona with Goethe. All the world knows the exalted selfishness of the great poet, and the disclosures of these volumes bring it into more vivid relief than ever. It was an odd idea to glorify the opening period of his public career by the publication of such a record; but to the Gerinans, Goethe is so much of a god, that his very imperfections are dear to them. The fate of Corona may not have been so sad as that of Frederica of Esenheim, who loved the poet the more after his desertion of her, and devoted herself to perpetual worship of her ideal, because the heart that 'had once loved Goethe must love none other;' but the story does not assuredly increase the respect we feel for the great poet.

Life of Robert Gray, Bishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of South Africa. Edited by his Son, the Rev. CHARLES GRAY, M.A. Two Vols. Rivingtons.

This work, we are sorry to say, is another instance of the small object held close to the eye, shutting out the whole world. The writer, very nearly related, idolises Bishop Gray, speaks of him as perfect, as 'the 'greatest bishop of recent times,'-and we all know what that implies, utter incompetence to be truthful, because unable to discriminate. To paint all in white is as ruinous as to paint all in black; either spread over a large surface soon wearies the eye. Bishop Gray had abilities, and many good qualities-he saw clearly in some directions, and was true to what he believed; but he allowed his Church to think for him, and held that she had a monopoly of the truth. He was pious, earnest, most assiduous in practical work; deeply concerned for others; but he would see only one way of redemption for them-by the communion-table of the Church of England. And his High Churchism led him to great excesses; he would have subdued the State to the Church, and he had enough of the bigot in him to have persecuted for conscience sake, though, perhaps, he would himself have willingly suffered had need

been. His name is so associated with that of Bishop Colenso that in future it is likely, if remembered at all, to be so chiefly in that relation, and, unfortunately, he shows but poorly in it, as a selfsufficient hater of heretics. His narrowness and his spite everywhere appear; his biographer, apparently, fancying that his zeal, too often without knowledge, may be mistaken for humility and devotion. He does not mince his words either; and in the many controversies into which he thrust himself, his cause did not lose by reserve in the use of plain, and sometimes even offensive, terms. Such words as ‘infidel,' 'heretic,' 'unbeliever,' 'impertinent intermeddler,' are not seldom resorted to. He says at one place of the Privy Council that ‘in 'that body all the enmity of the world against the Church of Christ is 'gathered up and embodied;' which is a very odd position for such a one to take, seeing that the Privy Council, on the only intelligible theory of a State Church, is but a section of the said State Church; that is, a section of the nation, administering in ecclesiastical matters. But even while he spoke thus of the Privy Council, he summarily used the word 'Dissenter ' as a term of contempt, which shows that a certain kind of consistency did not find favour in his eyes. We respect the earnestness of the man, but do not like his spirit. Something, however, may be owing to the style of his biographer, which is most inapt. Detail is crowded on detail, and what might have been readable and interesting, if condensed into due proportion, is simply tedious and burdensome. Save to a section of High Church people we cannot recommend it as a model or readable biography.

Life and Epistles of St. Paul.

F.S.A.
Sons.

By THOMAS LEWIN, Esq., M.A., Third Edition. Two Vols. George Bell and

It was to the disadvantage of Mr. Lewin's work, upon which he tells us he had bestowed the labour of forty years, that almost simultaneously with its publication the Life of Paul,' by Conybeare and Howson, appeared. It was impossible but that the two works should be judged comparatively, and there can be no doubt that the verdict, both of scholars and of general readers, was in favour of the latter work. Mr. Lewin is a writer of excellent scholarship and unwearying painstaking, but he lacks the picturesque power, the vivida vis animi of his competitors; and inasmuch as to this both added a scholarship of a very high kind, their great work found very much favour and rapidly passed through several editions. Characteristically enough, Mr. Lewin was only stimulated to endeavours to make his work in all material respects equal to its rival, and in all other practical ways to improve it. This sumptuous edition, profusely illustrated, is the result; and it is something that such has been the appreciation of Mr. Lewin's work that it has reached a third edition. We cannot go into a detailed criticism of its comparative merits, we can only speak of two or three general characteristics. And, first, in common with the work of Messrs. Conybeare and Howson, it seems to us greatly to

overlay its subject with incidental matter. The fashion of our day to build pyramids for memorials is somewhat appalling. Every allusion is made matter of a substantive discussion or of a pictorial illustration. Thus Paul must have passed the burial-ground of Corinth; in it the famous courtesan Läis was buried,—a sufficient reason for one engraving of her portrait and another of her tomb; just as Professor Masson is enshrining Milton in the entire history of the Commonwealth, so Paul is enshrined in the entire civilisation of his day. The sense of proportion is lost; instead of the symmetrical development of the man himself, he is made a lay figure for all the clothes that can be hung upon him. These Lives are dictionaries of Biblical matters. This is, we think, both an artistic and a popular mistake.

Mr. Lewin has simply brought together all the material concerning Paul and his times that can be collected. He has submitted it to careful eritical examination; has investigated every question to its last issue, and has therefore provided a repertory of information about Paul which will be rich in materials for all students,-and these illustrated in a very high style of antiquarian research and of art. Mr. Lewin is an authority on Biblical chronology, as his 'Fasti Sacri' attests. With this he has in this work taken great pains, and in this field he is very strong. We cannot, however, eulogise the narrative and graphic power with which Mr. Lewin writes. He is always intelligent, but he is almost always dull. He never glows with enthusiasm or soars in imagination. In a plain, business kind of way he works on from beginning to end. We must, therefore, accept Mr. Lewin's work as a storehouse of materials rather than as a historical picture. As such it is of great -we might almost say unsurpassed-value. But the portraiture and age of Paul have to be delineated yet. We should welcome an artist who could use, as simple accessories, the abundant materials collected and prepared, and delineate the great Apostle as he really was, the great central figure of the new religious world which he so largely created.

My Youth, by Sea and Land, from 1809 to 1816. By CHARLES LOFTUS, formerly of the Royal Navy, late of the Coldstream Guards. Two Vols. Hurst and Blackett.

We have not often met with a more interesting record than this. Mr. Loftus entered as a lad as midshipman on board one of his Majesty's ships, and saw naval service from 1809 to the close of the great war. He was present at the burning of the French fleet by Lord Cochrane in the Basque Roads; at the miserable Walcheren enterprise; at Lisbon, where he got leave of absence and visited his brother, who was in Wellington's army. He once or twice dined with the Great Duke, and had the distinction of bespattering him with mud in a hunting expedition. He cruised a long time in the Mediterranean, and, of course, saw a good deal of active service. He afterwards served in the North Sea; then was ordered to America and the West Indies. On the breaking out of the American war he took part in several engagements with American ships. After a short stay on

land, where, with his usual luck, he met with various sporting adventures, he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Duke of Clarence, and attended him at St. James's. He had a dangerous fall from the rigging to the quarterdeck, which led to his relinquishing the sea and getting a commission in the Coldstream Guards. Ultimately his illness resulted in total blindness, in 1849. Nothing can exceed the modesty and good taste of these recollections, and, as they relate to the most stirring times of our history, they are full of interesting incident and exciting adventure. Captain Maryatt's sea stories scarcely surpass them.

The Life of Samuel Hebich. By Two of his Fellow-Labourers. Translated from the German by Colonel J. G. HALLIDAY. Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday.

Herr Hebich was a missionary in Southern India, sent out by the Basle Missionary Society, and for twenty-five years did faithful and useful service. He was a man of singular devotedness and faith-literally in season and out of season' seeking to make men know and love Jesus Christ. He was somewhat eccentric and independent, and occasionally not wise in judgment; but few men have been more fearless and indomitable or self-sacrificing. He seems to have acquired an amazing influence over the natives, and to have left behind him a venerated name. The memoir is somewhat prolix in its details, but it is a stimulating record of what a man, thoroughly devoted, may do. Colonel Halliday, who knew Hebich, has been moved by his admiration of him to give us his memoir in an English translation. He merits hearty thanks, for the seeds of great inspiration are in it.

Four Years' Campaign in India. By WILLIAM TAYLOR. Hodder and Stoughton,

Mr. Taylor did a work, in some respects, resembling that of Hebich. The characteristic difference between the two men being that of the energetic American revivalist and of the energetic German pietist. Mr. Taylor is a man of masculine thought as well as of vigorous hand. in revivals, and he details results of his labours, which are analogous to those of Mr. Moody in England.

He is great

Ernst Rietschel, the Sculptor, and the Lessons of his Life: an Autobiography and Memoir. By ANDREAS OPPERMANN. Translated from the German by Mrs. J. STURGE. Hodder and Stoughton.

This memorial of Rietschel, of whom, although he attained great eminence as an artist, but little is known in this country, is characterised by much intellectual and moral beauty. In addition to the German sentiment which suffuses it, and which has a great charm for us, Rietschel, as he reveals himself in his autobiography, was a man of beautiful soul. His early poverty and aspirations, his filial tenderness, and his feelings on entering upon his career, his relations to Rauch-his master, his