13 AUGUST 1864, Page 22

CURRENT LITERATURE.

Rome under Pius 17f. By S. W. Fullom. (Charles J. Skeet.)—It is nearly impossible to write an uninteresting book about Rome, and this is a very pleasant one. But Mr. Fullom is not the right man for the task. As he tells us in his preface, he saw very clearly that Rome ought to be regarded from a lay point of view, but a few days in Roma convinced him that the religion leavened the lump, and could not be left out. In other words, Mr. Fullom is a very strong Protestant, and could not put his Protestant feelings aside, which is far from discredita- ble to him. But then to readers who do not care for a repetition of the ordinary Protestant arguments against the Romish system a con- siderable part of the book will not be very valuable. Mr. Fullom's descriptions are very good, though not equal to Mendelssohn's in his. letters from Italy. Nor will his work as a picture of Rome and Roman. life bear any comparison with Mr. Story's "Roba di Roma."