Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

died , is that clay to be sold by auction ; but , as all Shaksperians well know , tbe house of tbe poet was pulled down by Gastrell , in 1759 , so that the ground on which the present house stands is all that can be said to have any connection with Shakspere . A terra-cotta bust of William Hogarth , modelled by Roubiliac , has been added to tbe National Portrait Gallery . Lord Granville

has also presented to the same institution a marble bust of the Hon . William Pitt , executed by Nollekens . The Rev . George Oliver , a Roman Catholic priest at Exeter , on whom Pope Gregory XVI . conferred the title of D . D . in 1844 , has recently died at the age of eighty-one years . Dr . Oliver was the author of several antiquarian works , chiefly relating to the local

history of the county in which he has resided for upwards of half a century ; his Lives of the Bishops of Exeter , and a History of the Cathedral , having only been delivered to the subscribers just before his death . Some of the papers seem to have mistaken the announcement of his death for that of our Bro . the Rev . George Oliver , D . D ., author of the History of Beverley , and of numerous

eloquent works on Freemasonry . The Chemical Society now numbers 312 fellows , thirty foreign members , and ten associates .

Mr . J . R . Clayton ' s statue of " St . George slaying the Dragon " has been fixed on the column in the Broad Sanctuary , Westminster . The column is decorated with the shields of the Westminster scholars who fell in the Crimean War . A cheap mode of transferring photographs to glass has been perfected by M . Joubert , by means of which we can have correct views of places of interest , or portraits of illustrious men or dear friends ,

placed in our windows , which may be cleaned without injury to the picture , and which will not fade with exposure to the light . For staircase aud library windows , the new invention will be of great value ; so that the dream of a Lancashire poet , Bolton Rogerson , will be realised , who simg : — " And I would have one spirit-haunted room ,

Piil'd with the thoughts of great and glorious men , Those glorious minds which have outlived tbe tomb , And shine as stars above a gloomy fen , Cheering our hearts with pure and holy light—The beacon -fires by which we steer aright . " Dyed should its casement be with many a stain , Limning the features of th' illustrious dead ;

And every sunbeam shining through the pane Should shed its glory on a hallow'cl bead ; So that I could not look upon the skies Unless I gazed through some immortal eyes . "

Wilson ' s painting of Shakspere , and Gainsborough ' s painting of Bro . David Garrick , have been taken from their frames in the Town Hall of Stratford , ancl "cleaned" by the genius who has heen paid twenty guineas for daubing Shakspere ' s bust red and blade . Surely the Stratford municipal ancl church authorities must be talcing leave of their intellects just now . As tbe vicar of

Stratford is a Freemason , we are sorry that the disfigurement of the poet ' s monument should have taken place whilst under his care . The new edition of Shakspere , of which only two parts have yet been issued by the Messrs . Chambers , seems likely to bring down on the heads of the editors ( Robert Carruthers and William Chambers ) as much odium as Archdeacon Bentley ' s edition of Milton's

Paradise Lost did upon the meddling churchman . The Critic of last Saturday remarks : — " No man , or woman either , who has any real love for our great dramatist , will content himself or herself with a Rowdier edition of his works . But if Bowdler be bad , we lave no hesitation in saying that Carruthers and Chambers are far worse . The former editor did not venture to tamper with the text of Shalcspere , but confined himself to the simple task of expurgation . edited

He Shalcspere by means of a pair of scissors , ancl not a goose-quill ; and though many of his omissions serve to prove the truth of the remark , that the nicest people have often the nastiest imaginations , the reader has the consolation of reflecting that he is reading the writings of AVilliam Shakspere , ancl not of Thomas Bowdler . This is not so , however , with the learned Thebans whose names adorn the title page of this new edition of Shalcspere . . . . These gentlemen have expurgated with such diligent heartiness , j

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

that if we hold with them we must at once drop all acquaintance with about a third of the English language . " John Coke Fowler , Esq ., Barrister-at-Law , and Stipendary [ Magistrate for the Merthyr Tydfil District , Glamorganshire , has on the eve of publication a work entitled Collieries and Colliers : a Hand-booh of the Law and the leading Cases relating thereto .

Poetry.

Poetry .

THE GAME OF LIFE . BV EWZA COOK . With eager hand hope deftly weaves The mantles that our pride would don , While busy-fingered Care imreaves The garments as we put them on .

We rear our palaces of joy , And tread them with exulting shout , Till , crumbling round , 'tis plainly found Some corner-stones have been left out . Ancl thus ive play the game of life , Shadow and substance ever blending ,-'Mid flowers of peace and tares of strife Gaily beginning , sadly ending .

Tbe cooing infant ' s rosy mouth Aptly receives the sweeten'd potion ; When waves are calm , and winds are south , None see the death-rock in the ocean . The rich man toils to " gather up /' Meaning to bask in fortune's clover , Ancl while he pours into his cup , Perceives not it is running over .

And thus we play the game of life , ' Now simply snared , now wisely brooding , Now bribed by smiles , now spreading wiles , Living deluded and deluding .

The poet prattles to the stars , Philosophers dissect the thunder , But both are stopp'd by crystal bars , Ancl stand outside to watch and wonder . We moralise on battle-plains , Where blood has poured , ancl fame was won ,. We turn and see the baby's glee Over his mimic sword and gun .

And thus we play the game of life , 'Twixt holy thought and fearful deed . Some only stay to work ancl pray , And some but live for crime and greed . RAIN IN SEPTEMBER , BY JIOBTDrEB COLLINS .

( From the Dublin University Magazine . ) 0 sweet September rain I I hear it fall upon tbe garden-beds , Freshening the blossoms which begin to wane ; Or 'tis a spirit who treads The humid alleys through—Whose light wings rustle in the avenue—Whose breath is like the rose , When to the dawn its petals first unclose .

Swift , swift , the dancing lines Flash on the water , brim the dusky pool , Brim the white cups of bindweed , where it twines Amid the hedgerows cool . Eastward cloud-shadows drift "Where the wet Autumn breeze is flying swift—Bending the poplar tree—Chasing white sails along tlie misty sea .

Drenching the dry brown turf , Softening tbe naked eornland for tlie plough , Fretting with bells of foam the eddying surf , Loading the heavy bough With moisture , whose relief Slakes the hot thirst of every porous leaf—0 sweet September rain I We welcome thee across the Western main .