11 MAY 1867, Page 19

The Vicar of Southbury's Story. A Christmas Poem. By a

Poet. (Alfred W. Bennett.) A Wreath of Shamrocks. By John K. Carey (Leo). (Dublin, M‘Gee.)—More verse, and unluckily mere verse, though the author of the second volume writes with a good deal of Irish national spirit. His ballads are almost entirely patriotic, of the patriotism of '98. Almost the only point to be noticed in the first volume is that it discusses the comparative guilt of premeditated murder and manslaughter in a strain that would edify Mr. Walpole.