Literature.

how to manage with two shirts and three pairs of stockings , and in what way to wash them yourself . Mr . AVilliams offers the following picture of the shops in Christiana , the capital of Norway : — " Opposite the Hotel du JNord is a baker ' s shop , ivhieh may be taken as , i type of some of the peculiarities of the shops in Christiama . It appears like a private house—a mansion , I might almost say , from its

dimensions . There is no shop front , merely the common dwelling house windows , which , are decorated with growing flowers in pots ; but the flowers are not floury , nor does shopkeeper look whiter than other -Norwegians . I should never have guessed that bread was made or sold there but that swinging over the door is a wooden effigy of a convoluted loaf—the usual true lovers' knot clone in bread , common here and in North Germany . Most of the food venders have shops of this kind . There are a few with shop frontsbut these are chiefldevoted to the

, y sale of fancy articles ; other shopkeepers place a few samples of their wares in plain parlour windows . " " On making some purchases of books , maps , and minor articles of clothing , I find in every shop some one who can speak English , and that generally it is well spoken . English articles prevail at the drapery ancl haberdashery establishments ; the latest devices iu shirt collars ancl

similar articles are there , stamped with the names of the best knoivn London houses , and retailed at the same price as in London . " AVe are next treated to an insi ght of the Christiana Cremorne , but it would be intolerably slow to the fast young gentlemen who are inthehabit of patronising our Bro . Simpson , ancl frequently behaving in so rude a manner that their more northern , and , as they would tell us , less enli ghtened , pleasure seeking companions

would blush to imitate . From this we learn that oranges arc dear there , being sold at o \ d . each , and it is reckoned " the thing" for a lover to purchase one and divide it with his lad } ' love . Arrived at Soknaes our author found two English gentlemen who had taken up their quarters in that nei ghbourhood for the deli ght of angling . This taste much surprises the Norwegians who look upon fishing as a menial occupationand are as much

, surprised at it , as our travelling author assures us , as our own laundresses would be , " if Chinese Mandarins were to migrate annually to England , and pay large sums of money for the privilege of turning the mangle . " On the road to Soknaes , JMr . AVilliams lost his way , ancl in endeavouring to ascertain his whereabouts , came on the unexpected si ght of three in a bed , of which he says : —

• Turning back , I made inquiries at the first house , by knocking at the window . Though nearly eleven o ' clock it was not dark , and a bed was visible close to the window ; and it rather surprised me to see three heads start up out of this bed , two belonging to men ancl one to -. _ woman . AVhether this sort of sleeping . arrangement is the custom of the country , or of the district , or was a special peculiarity in this case , I am not able to decide ; but it does not accord with Laing ' s statement relative to the careful separation of the sleeping apartments of the sexes in the rural districts of

Norway . That they ivere sleeping thus in all innocence , without any idea of impropriety , was evident from the manner in which one of the men reached to the window and opened it ; all of them joining very kindly in telling me the way and the distance to the station . As the Norwegian bedstead is an oblong wooden box , this might possibly have been a double bed , a , box with a partition down it ; the two men lying on one side and the woman on tbe other , or two boxes , side by side ; but I did not see any partition . "

Mr . AA ' illiams confirms what had alread y been reported of that legend to wliich we hacl , in our younger days , given full credence —the Maelstrom , and tells us that there is no whirlpool . One after another , our early stories are upset by some matter of fact investigator , and although we are anxious to be always truly and faithfull y informed , yet the sweeping away of those fables in which we had formerly delighted greatly shakes the faith in the belief of many wonders ive have heard of , but not seen , and which still linsrer in our affections .

_ On Mr . Williams ' s arrival at Alton , he had to pay a steward ' s bill headed in the following descriptive fashion— " He with the large beard , " and lie says : — " This account requires some explanation . Krst , as to the title of the debtor , ' He with the large beard . ' The steward , not knowing our names , gave us descriptive designations in his ledger . There were five Englishmen on boarcl who were thus described : 'He with the rod beard , ' 'He with the large beard , ' ' He without a beard , ' and ' He with a veil . "

_ Even m Norway , with all its simplicity of maimers among the inhabitants , they arc not a whit more unsophisticated , in some parts , than their nei ghbours . Take for example the following bit of genuine pious imposition : — ' At the station of Haegheim I encountered the first example I have met with m Norway of an attempt at petty imposition . I called for a bowl ot milk , for which the hostess demanded four stuffings , or nearly twopence , the usual charge being two shillings , and sometimes only one .

I threw two shillings on the table , and looked fierce ; whereupon the woman picked up the two shillings and slunk away to the adjoining room , ivhere a lazy looking man was sitting . A grumbling dialogue followed , from which , ancl the physiognomy of both , I inferred thatj the poor woman was honestly disposed , but hev husband forced her to overcharge the guests . On leaving the house I observed written over the door in conspicuous letters some proverb or motto about fearing God . I have unhappily found it a rule , without any exception , and applicable in all countries , that people who parade their religion outside , and set up pious signposts in their actions or conversation , are mean , selfish , ancl dishonest . "

There arc several very valuable and practical hints in Mr . Williams ' s book , one of which is so apt to the purpose that we shall g ive it in his own words : — "As the best means of preventing drunkenness is by supplying au agreeable substitute for intoxicating drinks , any improvement of the poor man ' s coffee is of great social importance ; I therefore suggest to the benevolent ladies who so nobly exercise the attributes of woman by

visiting with kind intent the dwellings of the poor , that they might do great service by teaching them how to roast , and grind , and make coffee ; and , ivhere it is practicable , by presenting the poor man's wife with an apparatus for the purpose . It appears to me that the iron tvivy and the wooden pestle and mortar answer their purposes admirably ; and the two might be profitably manufactured ancl sold for one shilling , if a quantity were in demand . From what I have seen , with the wooden pestle and mortar , the newly roasted coffee may be pounded as quickly

and effectually as it can be ground in a small coffee mill ; and , if kept exclusively for this purpose , it would be a valuable addition to the domestic furniture of a cottage . One of those , with a roaster , a pound or two of coffee berries , ancl a lesson in the use of them , would be a most suitable marriage present to the bride of an agricultural labourer ; for by their j udicious use she might win her husband from the beer shop , ancl thus avert the domestic miseries so commonly associated with it . " There is also a hint to he gathered by our political economists

as to supporting the aged poor , but wc presume , from the absence of any mention to the contrary , the great incubus of our poor law S 3 stem , able bodied paupers and vagrants , are unknown , to any considerable extent : —

" Iu Norway there are no poor rates , but the farmers have to support the aged poor as inmates of their houses . These old people generally do some light work , such as gathering wood and the like . The custom is primitive , and lias many advantages . Charity thus becomes an active virtue , dwelling at the fireside of home , ' it blesseth him that gives and him that takes ; ' for in kindly treating such a pensioner a happy influence is spread throughout the house , and the little children are trained in the exercise of gentle benevolence by a course of instruction that no maxims

or sermons can substitute ; for moral training must be a training in deed and feeling : mere ethics only inform tho intellect . " Of course it is no business of readers , generally , to inquire if the author of a ivork is married or single , nor do we venture to give any definite information on this point , as far as Mr . Williams is concerned , but wc think the truth leaks out in the following extract :

" At Honstadt , where I dined on the day following , raw smoked salmon was brought to me , and I very diffidently suggested to the hostess that I should prefer it fried a little . She would listen to nothing of the kind , ancl told me many times over that it was ruled ( smoked ) , and that she liked it roh . l ivithout frying , and her husband liked it the same ; ancl she intimated that , if I clid not like what she ancl her husband and other people did , I must be a disreputable character . This sort of despotism is common to women of all nations , and its universal

system is my main argument against strong minded women who advocate a female House of Commons . " The persecutions I have had to endure because I usually drink cold water at breakfast are too incredible to narrate . I have heard a lady , otherwise gentle and kind hearted , assert to my face that a man who does not love tea and coffee , and chink it like other people , is au iindomestio monster , deserving the dreadful doom of perpetual bachelorhood . If we hacl female legislators , summary laws would be enacted for the punishment of all such offences , and bachelors above thirty-five would perish at the stake . "

Altogether Through Norway with a Knapsack , is one of the few readable books that are suited both for old and young , the grave and gay , and we shall he very much surprised if it does not go through several editions . There is a manly tone , sli ghtly egotistical , about Mr . Williams's writing , yet it is so thoroughly honest that we rather like to see the character of the author ni his ivork , feeling assured that where he writes in this style he is thoroughly master and con amort : of his subject .

The City of the Dead ; and other Poems . B y Jonx C OLLETT . London : Hardwiekc . YOUTH is a season of joyous innocence , and it is usually the practice of those whose words , or actions , have much to do with children to present to them the bri ght and sunny side of life , for