Swanage.

A glitt'ring bay, a town upon a slope,
Stone-built and rugged, gleaming cliffs beyond;
One tiny thread of golden, rippling sand,
While, far afield, is down, and heath, and moor,
Where the sheep graze, and the strong kestrel, pois'd,
With swiftly quivering wings, awaits his prey.
Such the glad scene a full September sun

Floods with his light, and spreads a weird-like haze
O'er all beyond, the harbour and the sea.
The hills re-echo with the laugh of girls,
Spoiling the hedges of their flowers and fruit.
The shore is gladsome with the silvery plash
Of oar, or wavelets dancing round the rocks.
The leaves decay, but even Winter's frost
Seems loth to ravish Nature's golden crown,
We, in our Spring, fear not the future's frosts,
But laugh and play, in gaiety and peace.

Things.

T

TO BE SEEN.

O tell the honest truth, which we take to be our mission, there is hardly anything in the world of amusement just now really worth seeing. The Rivals at the Haymarket may fairly claim the first place. Nemesis is on again at the Strand. Mr. Hermann Merivale's The Lady of Lyons. Married and Settled is full of fun in the first act, but fails lamentably later on. It is hardly necessary to add that actors may come and actors may go, but Our Boys go on for ever.

We have been muchly amused to see the admiring crowds which gather daily round a furniture shop in Newgate Street, wherein is exhibited a pre-Raphaelitelooking painting of Temple Bar, purporting to be from the brush of "R. Ruskin." Ye worshippers of (what ye believe to be) the aesthetic, know ye not that the Professor's name is John?

St. Paul's, at last, has a peal of bells worthy of our Metropolitan Cathedral. Listen for them on All Saints' Eve.

Dr. E. B. Aveling has secured the laboratory and class-rooms at the Royal Polytechnic, and has commenced a series of Practical Science and other Classes for students preparing for University Examinations. On Friday, 25th inst., he will give a lecture on "Tom Hood and his Works," with illustrative readings.

TO BE KNOWN.

Holders of gas shares, don't be rash! The electric light, for reasons which it would take half our magazine to explain, is not going to suddenly supersede gas for ordinary purposes.

It is to be hoped that the new patent harness, invented by Mr. Kosminski, may be found to work well, and come into general use. Its object is to permit the immediate

disconnection of the shafts from a fallen horse by the simple extraction of a pin.

If some of our country friends, instead of hammering and thumping their barometers till the poor things don't know which way to turn, would obtain a copy of the circular which the United States Meteorological Department is now issuing, they would learn much about forecasting the weather.

The interesting experiment that has lately been made at Hemel Hempstead as to the practical utility of artificial incubators proves that very satisfactory results may be obtained, without any skilled manipulation, from the hydro-incubator.

Alas! the Boucherie de Cheval has not proved such an attraction as we pictured it. Its doors are closed.

TO BE READ.

Poems and Ballads, Second Series. By Algernon Charles Swinburne (Chatto). Had we not so often been told that Swinburne is a great poet, we might be tempted at times to think that he cared nothing what words he brought together, so long as he accomplished a particular metre. Yet this volume contains some pieces of extreme beauty. "A Wasted Vigil” and "In Memory of Barry Cornwall," for example, are poems to be read again and again. We are glad to notice the absence of what has rendered previous works of this author objectionable. Some translations from the French could well have been spared. From a gem

of poetic thought as well as expression, we quote this description of—

A FORSAKEN GARDEN.

In a coign of the cliff between lowland and highland
At the sea-down's edge between windward and lee,
Walled round with rocks as an inland island,

The ghost of a garden fronts the sea.

A girdle of brushwood and thorn encloses

The steep square slope of the blossomless bed,

Where the weeds that grew green from the graves of its roses,

Now lie dead.

The fields fall southward, abrupt and broken,
To the low last edge of the long lone land.
If a step should be heard, or a word be spoken,
Would a ghost not rise at the strange guest's hand?
So long have the grey bare walks lain guestless,

Through branches and briers if a man make way,
He shall find no life, but the sea-wind's, restless
Night and day.

Shores of the Polar Sea. By Dr. Edward L. Moss (Marcus Ward). We know of no book ever published that excels this for the beauty of its illustrations of Arctic scenery. There appears to be too much color in most of the chromo-lithographs.

Recollections of Writers. By Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke (Sampson Low). Genial and kindly reminiscences of hundreds of literary people that have been known to the authors.

George Moore, Merchant and Philanthropist. By Samuel Smiles, LL.D. (Routledge). The author might well doubt whether the every-day life of a man of business would afford materials for an interesting volume. He has produced one that must have succeeded far beyond his expectations. There is a remarkable "go" in the book that well typifies George Moore's temperament. Little is said of his early business life, possibly because little was known. We "could a tale unfold," but is it worth while? We would have it remembered, however, that the City of London contains many men who have not risen as George Moore did, because more scrupulous, and no one would have been more ready to admit this than himself. The amount of real good he accomplished after he had made a fortune was immense. As is frequently the case with biographies, the latter part might have been condensed with advantage to readers not personally interested. The portrait, presumably a good one, is not recognizable by those who had not seen the original for some few years before his death.

William Caxton, Mercer and Courtier, Author and Printer. By Arthur N. Butt, F.R.Hist.S. (Kent). This is a reprint of articles of which our readers have already formed their own opinion. The illustrations give an idea of the originals which is attainable only by the aid of photography.

Old and New London. By Walter Thornbury and Edward Walford (Cassell). Ye patient ones, who have seen families growing up around you, and a suspicion of greyness making itself visible in your hair, since you rashly invested that first sevenpence (why that odd penny always, Oh, C. P. & G. ?), "Old and New London" is ended at last. We had grave suspicions of late that an endless spiral arrangement was being adopted.

Multum-in-Parvo Gardening. By Samuel Wood (Crosby Lockwood). This is a book professing to show how £620 per annum clear profit may be realized from one acre of land, and other equally wonderful things. Supposing that all the vegetabilia grew just as they were told, that no animalia were so rude as to interfere, that the sun shone equally on walls of every aspect, and that obliging dealers would buy up the products regularly at more than the retail price, we are inclined to believe such results might be achieved. The author has a soul above science, and, may we add, grammar? Nevertheless, some useful hints may be gathered herefrom as to garden management.

The Bulb Garden. By the same Author. To our mind a much more satisfactory production than the above. It is well illustrated, and, although crude and unscientific, contains much useful information on the cultivation of bulbs, the result of practical experience. We note the author strongly advocates planting most bulbs early, and allowing hardy ones to remain undisturbed from year to year in order to secure good heads of bloom.