Literary Gossip.

lations of all the more important schools of unbelief , and , as a set-off , gives also the mute , unanswerable replies of Nature in a clear , concise , and forcible manner . The work is from the pen of Mr . Percy Russell , a clever London litterateur and philosophic thinker , ancl is the result of years of conscientious labour and an immense amount of studious reading . Here the earnest man

may find read y to his hand a sufficiency , ancl more than a sufficiency , of logical weapons wherewith to meet and put to flight the sturdiest Atheist or Agnostic on his own chosen battle-ground of reason ; for Mr . Russell has shown how a triumphant vindication of revealed truth can be accomplished upon grounds altogether apart from revelation , and outside the standpoint of faith , which is above ancl beyond all reason . We commend his book , therefore , to the attention of every thoughtful man .

A neat little volume of very meritorious verse has reached us from a Hull publisher , Mr . C . H . Barnwell . Mr . Edward Lamplough , whose rythmical contributions to magazine literature have left upon our mind a favourable impression , is the author , ancl he has elected to call this , the first published collection of the efforts of his muse , " The Siege of Hull , ancl other Poems . " The piece de resistance is the historical poem which affords a title : a wellconceived and well executed picture of Hull ' s attitude during the direful civil war , when the Third Port was the first place to take a stand for freedom . Then we have numbers of miscellaneous poems ancl sonnets dealing with many ancl varied themes . Here is a specimen of the poet ' s style : —

AUTUMN REVERIES . In the twilight of the autumn , When the grey mists veil the earth , Lo , our pensive mem ' ry wanders To far scenes of beauty's birth ! And a weird and wistful longing ,

Like a grey mist , cometh down : Yearningly the sad soul searcheth Where life's autumn leaves are strown . And , with earnest voice , the present Supplicates the cherished past , Praying that one blooming floweret Through the mists of time be cast !

Praying that one angel-whisper From the land of spirits come : Praying with a strong soul-longing , Though the lips of clay be dumb . For we think the dear dead watch us , 'Mid . the toil anil storm of life ,

And the angel-eyes behold us , As we , faint , pursue the strife ! Then in twilight , we remember , That life ' s beauty shall endure , And its spirit-life shall greet us When we pass life ' s narrow door ! At the close of this enjoyable volume there are five pretty poems from the pen of Mr . D . D , Lamplough , the best of which is one entitled " A Legend of Grime , " dealing with the quaint tradition which professes to account for the foundation of the now flourishing town of Grimsby .

Reference to this Hull published book reminds us of a prospectus we have received from Bro . M . C . Peek , of the same town , which sets forth that his firm will shortly issue an important illustrated serial topographical work , under the