Reviews.

odd R . A . Chapters of England and AVales range from No . 1 to 1055 , but the 95 lodges of Mark Masters of England are numbered in the same manner as the Craft lodges . Tho Masonic information relating to foreign countries and to British America contains some 20 pages more than it did in the previous annual . The list of 248 lodges , under the " obedience " of the Grand Orient de France has been given here in full ; however"it is

, not intended as a permanent feature of the book , but has been got up this year specially for the information of brethren who may visit France during the forthcoming Exhibition . " AA e would advise the editor of the Calendar that not only the preservation of this list of French lodges , very laboriously compiled , would be conducive to the success of the book in future years , but the introduction of similar lists of German and

'Italian lodges would greatly enhance its value . Many of the readers of the Calendar do not visit France during Exhibition times only ; iu fact , a large contingent of the British tourists on the Continent belong to the Masonic body , and fuller information on things Masonic in Continental Europe will be of permanent , not merely ephemeral utility . The vidimus ( should it not rather be videmtts ) of foreign lodges in general is greatly improved this time ; besides the greater extent of the data

relating to France , British America , and the United States , it gives us pleasure to find that the whole of the foreign department has been recast , and proper regard paid even to the changes recently wrought in Germany by the civil war of last summer . Thus , the Grand Lodge of Hanover and the Ecletic Grand Lodge of Frankfort are now ranged under tbe heading Prussia , and in an annotation the state of the law as regards Masonry in that country is explained . On the wholewe

, may congratulate the compilers ancl publishers of the Calendar for having reached in this year's publication the greatest perfection that has yet been attained by auy Masonic annual in Europe and America , and hope that further improvements , such as we have suggested , will ensure its permanent success in future years .

The Poets and Poetry of Scotland from James I . down to the Present Time , with Biographical Sketches and Critical Remarks . By the Rev . ASDEEW R . BONAB , Minister of the First Charge of Canongate , Edinburgh . Second edition . London : Simpkin , Marshall , and Co . Scotland , beyond a doubt , is the true land of song . Her towering mountainsher smiling valliesher turbulent rivers

, , , and her wimpling brooks , each give a character and a tone to the lays of her bards , not to be found in those of any other country . The songs of the Fatherland are the nearest approach , hut there is too much of the student beer and smoke about them at all to render them competitors with the verve , tbe mountain spirit of Scotland . They even want that tone of distinct nationality , that love of country , which , by the way , they

boast so much about , ancl that inherent independence of thought which constitute the birthright of a Scot . Our Brother , the Rev . A . R . Bonar , has just issued a second edition of his Poets and Poetry of Scotland , " which is deserving of more than praise . Many great poets have attempted to give a vidimus of Scots poetry , but the attempts have proved comparative failures . Motherwell , Hogg , and Aytoun each have essayed the task , and have each fallen short of perfection . The

reason ot this is simple . They went in for too much , and were forced , before half done , to stop short , from the multiplicity of material . Bro . Bonar has not attempted anything on a gigantic scale , but , curious to say , he has succeeded in a gigantic manner . He has taken about forty of the most celebrated Scots poets , from such he has selected one or two specimens of the best style , affixed a charming but concise biography , with a critical ' remark here and then ' and the work before us is a

, complete success . Aytoun ' s ballads of Scotland are only a phase in Scots poetry , and the same may be said of all other collections . Bro . Bonar has given us a bird ' s-eye view of Scots poetry , clear , concise , and most satisfactory . If to be a poet one must be born a poet , so to be a successful compiler of poetry one must be a poet . Bro . Bonar comes of a famil which has left its mark on the granite of Parnassus

y , and he is no mean supporter of the family credit . Dr . Horatius Bonar is widel y known as a sacred minstrel , and the live examples given in " the present work are alive with fire aud burning thought . Bro . Bonar , under the head " Burns , " gives as his own '' Burns'Centenary , " a commemorative poem read before Lodge Edinburg h St . ' Stephens—a poem which is surpassed by none and equalled by few of the good poems which

rose above the awful trash which heralded in the poet ' s natal day . Bro . Bonar , however , appears to have but a modest opinion of his own poetical powers , which is a pity , for in many of his prose works , especially in his Sermons , and in the Sketches contained in the present volume ,, we find the deep and solemn music of thought , swelling into that harmony of words which always indicate the true poet .

In our limited space , it would bo absurb of us to attempt giving any just idea of the contents of the volume before us , or even to give one single extract . The fact of its being already in its second edition is the best proof of its excellence . For us to sit clown ancl criticise the forty or so sketches would be impossible , for we fear we should have to quote them all . AVe will content ourselves with merely glancing at the contents .

The work opens with four pages of " Introducing Remarks on Scottish Poetry , " in which Bro . Bonar has said all that has been said by another , but awfully verbose collector , in ninety . "The Romantic Scottish Ballads" follow , and here we have " The Battle of Otterbourne , " that stream of fiery song , that makes the blood course like a levin-bolt through the veins . The sadsad songsthose drops of bloodwrung from the very

, , , heart , " The flowers of the Forest , " " The DowieDens o' Yarrow , " and "Fair Helen of Kirconnel , " with the grand chant of "Sir Patrick Spens" are among tbe rest . Then comes " Barbour " with his shout for " Freedom , " and his war song of " The Bruce , " two names well represented in " The Battle of Bannockburn . "

King James the First and Gawin Douglas follow , with thafc bitter old jolly satirist Sir David Lindsay . The sweet Willie Dunbar , the gallant Montrose , the pawky Allan Ramsay , Drummond , Thomson , Smollett , Beattie , Falconer , Blair , unhappy Ferguson , and our own Bobbie Burns , are on the list . Then Montgomery , Scott , Hogg , Farinahill , Campbell , Tennant , Cunningham , Motherwell , Gilfillan , Delta Moir , Aird and Aytoun charge , all glorious sons of song , beneath the Ruddy Lion . The

living Poets are represented by Mackay , Smith and others . This is a volume which , when ruralising on a summer day , one may pass a few pleasant hours , stretched under the shade of some leafy tree , with the Tweed , or the Spey , or the Tay , flowing past at one ' s feet . Poetry never reads well in the bouse ; you might as well expect tbe lark to sing blithely behind the bars of a cage , as poetry to impress you over a coal fire . Out to the open air , to the sea-sivept shore , the lonely corrie , or the

silent churchyard , —these are the places to feel your heart melt and your eyes moisten , as the words of the hards rivet your attention . AA e should have liked to have clipped into this volume , we should have liked to have said something of the author . Another time the opportunity may come ; meanwhile we can only heartily recommend it to our readers , as a work gemmed with the rarest jewels of Scots poetry , fretted with biographical sketches of rare excellence , and finished off in a body of ink , paper , and binding of the most gorgeous beauty .

N0tes On Literature, Science, Music, Drama, And The Fine Arts.

N 0 TES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , MUSIC , DRAMA , AND THE FINE ARTS .

Marshal Mel , tlie new French Minister of "War , is collecting materials for a life of Yauban . The Orchestra says Artemus Ward is still in had health , and his lecture is discontinued . Mdme . Eistori has signified her intention of remaining twelve months longer in the "United States

, and , at the end of that time , of retiring from the stage . Mr . John Erancis Barnett has been invited by the Birmingham Festival Committee to compose a cantata , ancl he is no-w writing it . Mdme . Parepa , who is now in America , is about

to marry Carl Eosa , the German violinist , with whom she is travelling on a musical tour . Mr . Sims Reeves will receive £ 1 , 500 for twelve special performances at Drury Lane Theatre , which are announced for the week following the 16 th of March . The Eev . T . Iveble announces that he intends publishing an edition of The Christian Year without