Literature.

Traits of Character rs a pleasant book for a rainy day , affcei tho fatigues of travel , a turn of hard work , or under the various circumstances that we turn to an amusing work , in order to wile away the time without being positively idle .

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

An excellent little handbook has just been published , written by Mr . Frederick T . Mott , of Leicester , under the title of "A Guide to the Country Lodgings , in the Neighbourhood of Leicester , Loughborough , ancl Ashby-de-la-Zouch , including Charnivoocl Forest . " "Among the many problems solved , or partly solved , by the dry science of statistics , " says Mr . Mott , " the great Sanatory Problem stands pre-eminent . It is now proved , and chiefly by

'statistical evidence , that the number of our days , aud the cheerfulness of them , depend in a vastly greater degree than was ever before imagined , upon the quality of the air we breathe . Until recently , chemists were unable to detect any appreciable difference betiveen the air of large toivns and that of the surrounding country ; but a long-continued series of observations in various places , recorded

anel compared , has shown that tho mean temperature of toivns is slightly higher than that of villages or open country ; so thafc the common expression thafc town education is a ' hot-house growth / is to some extent literally true . But a Avonderful and delicate instrument , lately invented , has still further exposed tho unwholesome quality of the air of towns , and shoivn that its actual impurity is in direct

proportion to the density of the population , and the imperfect provision for ventilation ancl drainage ; that in the heart of great towns the air is loaded with imiA'holesome vapours and destitute of azone , and becomes gradually purer in all directions toivards the suburbs . This , it must be remembered , is no longer a supposition , bufc a proved fact . In most toiA-ns the merchants and manufacturers have

already removed their families to the outskirts , or to the neighbouring villages , and the tradesmen are noiv following their lA'ise example . But these outskirts themselves arc fast becoming populous districts , and the necessity for purer air , especially for the children , is still felt . Anxious parents discuss the advantages of removing altogether

into the country , to some old-fashioned house in a small village , the lower rent of which would allow of the luxury of a poney and phaeton ; but the alternative disadvantages ofthe absence of the father from morning till night , the inferior facilties for education , the separation from society , and the discomforts ofthe winter season , generally prevail in the discussion , and the scheme is given up . Still something must be done . Towards tho end of spring the

children groiv pale and languid , and chronic complaints make their appearance ; much of what was formerly attributed to the season of the year , is now understood to bo the result of closer confinement , ancl therefore more imperfect respiration , during the ivinter . Fresh air is felt to be the one grand requisite , and with tho Midsummer holidays begins

a general exodus , of mothers , children , and nursemaids , to the fields , the hills , anel the sea . No doubt this is the best thing that can he clone under the circumstances , and Providence has surely provided railways at this particular epoch , that the groAving thirst for air might not bo checked for AA'ant of means . To the inhabitants of Leicestershire , however , situated as they are

nearly in the centre of England , a journey to the sea , in any direction , is still tedious and expensive , especially with a family of children ; and as few business men can be away themselves for more than tivo or three weeks , they must either shorten their children ' s holidays , or be separated from them for a considerable time . These di-aivbacks to a sea-side excursion are inducing many

families to investigate the resources of their own neighbourhood , and the result is a growing conviction that the air of Charnwood Forest , and even of most of the Leicestershire villages , is quite sufficientl y pure and invigorating to bring back the roses to the children's cheeks , and the elasticity to their limbs , while the shortness of the distance saves travelling expenses , and prevents the necessity

of the father's separation from his family . " Another week ive trust to have space for Mr . Mott ' s beautiful description of Charnwood Forest ; in the meantime we can only express our wish , that every locality had a man of intellect and of warm sympathies like Mr . Mott , to guide the stranger and the pent-up citizen to those lovely nooks of old England which are as yet too much neglected because they are so little known .

The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville , afterwards Mrs . Delang , with many distinguished Persons of her Time , edited by her grandniece , Lady Llanover , are about to be published by Mr . Bentley . These memoirs extend nearly over the whole of the last century , viz ., from 1715 to 1738 , and present pictures of the Court of George I ., George II . and Queen Caroline ,

and of George III . and Queen Charlotte , whose friendship Mrs . Delany enjoyed . A work of great interest has just appeared at Paris under the title Documents et Pieces Authentiqiies , laisses par Daniel Manin it is in tivo volumes , and quite calculated to attract the notice of the public at the present moment .

Temple Bar is the name of a neiv magazine of light literature , to be edited by Mr . Sala , the first number of ivhich is promised for the 1 st of December . Mr . Bentley announces for immediate publication Valentine Ducal , an Autobiography , to be edited by the popular authoress of Mary Powell . Messrs . Nisbett and Co . are about to publish what to many will

be an acceptable giffc-book—Expositions of the Cartoons of Raphael , by E . II . Smith , jun ., illustrated by photographs from the originals . An interesting work is about to be issued by the Messrs . Longman—Mr . Hind ' s account of The Canadian Eed Elver ami Assiniboine anil SasTcatctiewan Exploring Expedition , of 1857-8 , which extended over a large area never before described , includiv . g

the country within the limits of the neiv CI-OAITI colony of Bed Elver , as well as the region traversed hy the proposed overland route from Canada to British Columbia . Messrs . Hurst and Blackctfc promise the Hon . Grantley Berkeley ' s record of American experiences , The English Sportsman in the Western Prairies , and a new work of Frederika Bremer , Two Years

in Switzerland aud Italy , to be translated , once more , by Mary Hoivitt . A Saunter through the West End , by Leigh Hunt ancl Mr . William Tegg ; A Walk from London to Eulham , by the late Mr . Crofton Croker — papers which originally appeared in Eraser ' s

Magazine , and both worthy of re-publication , will be shortly brought out . Mr . H . Simmonds has just completed a noble engraving from Mr Hobnail Hunt ' s Light of the World . Notwithstanding the difficulty of reproducing the effect of mixed light , peculiar to this picture , by the burin , the engraver lias been extremely successful ia giving its fidelity to Nature .

During the recent restoration of St . Peter ' s Church ., in . the Isle of Thanet , by Mr . Clarke , a curious piece of panel sculpture ( in alabaster ) of the Crucifixion ivas discovered : tlie more curious inasmuch as it had evidently been left unfinished . It is , as far as it goes , of considerable vigour . It was found face downwards . It is a good rule of some architectural societies—thafc of

Northamptonshire for instance—to obtain photographic pictures of all old buildings of any architectural character in their neighbourhood , before they are destroyed or restored . The works of alteration at the National Gallery aro rapidly progressing . The eastern wing is in great part unroofed , and the circular room in the rear has almost disappeared . The present

sculpture-room of the Academy is being enlarged by the addition of portions of the tivo entrance halls , ivhich of old ivere used for the National Gallery and for the Koyal Academy ; the light ivill be obtained from the l'oof of the present den , and from the staircases to the National Gallery and Koyal Academy . Over this enlarged