Literature.

Bigg very fairly demands to haA-e his proposition for facilitating that knowledge examined . He asks : "Will the plan of composition in my volumes render the statute hook more intelligible ? And will my arrangements for their publication make the statutes more accessible to the public ?" If these questions can be ansAvered in the affirmative , he ¦ trusts that the Queen's Government and the legislature

will decide to accept his proposal . Wc cannot more appropriately close this notice than by a short quotation from the book itself , which sums up the case in a few expressive sentences . Mr . Bigg says -. — " The defects of the existing Statute Book are well known . In the official memorandum before referred to , the Statute Book is

described by the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas as ' practically A SEAM 5 D BOOK . ' and a ' tttlGlITY GltTCVANCE . ' " One of the highest legal authorities , a member of the Statute LaAV Commission , has written to the Editor as follows : " I am disposed to afford every encouragement to any effort which holds out a hope of in any way mitigating THIS CHEAT AXD DISGHACEA'U L EVIL -. " and on the 31 st March last , the Chancellor of the Exchequer , while addressing the House of Commons on behalf of Governmentis reported to have

, used these words : " AVe have endeavoured to introduce measures which would make Law lleform not merely a MOCKERY ASD A BYWORD . " In any attempt , honestly made , to remedy the defects thus referred to , even failure through unforeseen difficulties would be no disgrace ; but the best evidence that the Editor has faith in the practicability of his plan , will be found in the fact that the proposal submitted to Government contains a condition that no payment shall bo made to him otherwise than on account of such parts of the

work as shall from time to time be actually completed . " With the manly tone and the Avoll-grounded confidence of our editor Ave cannot but sympathise ; and , in bidding him fareAvell , he has our sincere Avishes for the success Avhich his laborious energy so well deserves .

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

Mr . Charles Knight has laboured for five years past on the " Popular History of England , " and has brought it down to P 793 , Avith only three slight breaks in his original proposal as to times of publication , and with no break at all as to continuity of style and -substance . At this point he claims from his readers an indulgence Avhich will be readily conceded to him , as it will tend even more to the

readers' interest than to his own ease . In future he wishes to suspend the monthly issue— -so as to gain time for closer thought and more extensive research . Ho promises , however , that the work shall be completed in the course of next year .

The Glasgow Herald states that at the meeting of Council ofthe Social Science Association , Mr . William Burns , writer , intimated that a gentleman in Glasgow had offered three prizes of £ 200 , £ 100 , and £ 50 , respectively , for the three essays of most merit on the best means of promoting the elevation of the working classes . This gentleman , Mr . Burns stated , had also offered to print 10 , 000 copies

of the essay gaining the first prize at his own expense . Wo hear of the approaching publication of the autobiography and letters of Mrs . Piozzi , well known to the readers of Boswell ' s Johnson , Count de Montelambert ' s new work , " Les Moines d'Occident , " having- been published at Paris , we may soon expect the appearance of an authorised English translation .

A translation of AVieland ' s caustic " Abderites" is announced from the pen of the Rev . Henry Christmas , who will add an original investigation into philosophical romance from the time of Plato to that of Sir Edward IJuhver Lytton .

A "Book about Doctors" is in preparation by Mr . J . Cordy Jeaffreson , the novelist . The admirers of those remarkable tales , " Doctor Antonio" and " Lorenzo Benoni , " will learn Avith pleasure that a new novel by Signor Ruffim , who , though a foreigner , has notably distinguished himself as a writer of striking English fiction , is nearly read } -. A very valuable contribution to the history of the abortive Reformation in Italy during the sixteenth ] century is , we understand ,

in ' preparation by Mrs . M . Young , a lady long resident in Italy , and thoroughly versed in its history . Her work , which is nearly ready for publication , will be entitled " The Life and Times of Aonio Paleario , or a History of the Italian Reformers in tho sixteenth century j illustrated by original letters and inetlited documents . " Paleario , although not so famous as Savonarola , was a remarkable man , a victim of the Inquisition , and a foremost martyr of the Italian reformation .

Mr . Horace Mayhew has returned from a pleasure trip to Canada and tho "United States , and the reading world will probably have the results of his impressions in the shape of a book . It has been arranged that the fund raised for the benefit of Mrs . Thomson , daughter of the poet Burns , should be invested so that she may receive £ 15 half-yearly .

New currency is being given to a rumour , which dates from the death of Lord Macaulay , leaving his history unfinished , that Mr . Thackeray has in contemplation a magnum opus—a history of that Anna Augusta whom Dr . Johnson remembered as a " stately lady in black velvet and diamonds , " and who touched him for the evil . A Rev . John Marshall ( according to a Scotch paper ) states that

the late Mr . Hill of the Dundee Courier informed him that Lord Brougham was the author of tho famous article in the JScliiiburgTt , Recieio on Byron ' s " Hours of Idleness , " as he saw the manuscript in the printing office in Edinburgh where the Review Avas set up . The natural history of Liverpool and its vicinity has for some years occupied the attention of several members of the

Philosophical Society of that town , and monographs of the fauna and flora have been compiled by Dr . Dickinson , the Rev . Mr . Higgins , and Messrs . Hartnup , Byerley , and Marrat , and printed as appendices to the annual volume of the Society ' s proceedings . The one lately issued contains the hepaticai and lichens . An honourable example is thus set to other great towns .

An attempt is being made to revive the discussion as to the authorship of Adam Bede , and the claims of Mr . Liggins , of Nuneaton are again being put forward . The grounds for the claim are that Mr . Ligg ins was known to bo writing a series of stories such as were published as Scenes of Clerical Life ; that tho adventures of the heroine of Janet ' s Repentance actually occured in the town where Mr . Liggins is resident ; that the so called "George Eliot , " though denying Liggins ' s authorship , never denied his acquaintance ; and that Liggins himself , though so prominently alluded to , has avoided any public statement .

The first volume ( says a Cape of Good Hope contemporary ) of the "Flora Capensis , " by Dr . Harvey and Dr . Souder , has been placed for inspection in the Public Library . It is a portly book , of 51 G pages , clearly printed , and neatly got up . The authors , in their preface , announce that the whofe work will extend over , probably , five volumes , which can scarcely be expected to be

comp leted in less than ten years . They express their gratitude very warmly to the Colonial Parliament for the pecuniary aid it has granted for carrying on the undertaking ; as well as to the governor , Sir George Grey , for " the fostering patronage tc which the work owes mainly its existence . " They express themselves similarly indebted to their colonial friends who have so liberally furnished them

with botanical specimens . The work altogether will be of priceless value to the South African botanist ; as indeed it will ultimately be of vast importance to the colonial public generally .

While the kingdom of Italy , which , though yet unknown to diplomacy , is shaping itself and Naples at Turin , Mr . "Wyld has published a , new map of that kingdom . This map shows the theatre of the present Avar , with the most recent changes of territorial line , and will interest all readers of newspapers and telegrams . The only additions made to the National Portrait Gallery during the recess are , an excellent portrait of Cecil , Earl of Salisbury ; the "little beagle" of James the Eirst ; and a very curious full-length