17 JUNE 1871, Page 22

" Express from marble" is a false metaphor; why not

" work " or " ex- press in marble " ? "Tell the risings of the stars " would be, anyhow, shorter for surgentia eiders dicent." "Make it your business" is somewhat prosaic for "memento," and "to enforce the maintenance of peace " more decidedly so for "pads imponere morem." Might we sug- gest, "Care, Roman, thou to rule the nations with thy sway, these be thy arts,—to establish the rule of peace, to spare the vanquished and subdue the proud." But while we criticize, we do not forget that in this volume we have what is, so far as our knowledge serves, the best prose version of a classical poet that our language possesses. The book is one which every student of Virgil should possess, and it is rendered more useful by a most commendable feature, a running analysis of contents. The Great Social Evil. By William Logan. (Hodder and Stoughton.) —This is a book full of the facts of a very loathsome subject, which it is very painful to read ; but which, as they must be known if we are to do anything by way of remedy, Mr. Logan deserves well of the com- munity for collecting. Mr. Logan declares that one-fourth of the prostitutes in Glasgow have been servants in inns aid public-houses. What do the publicans say to that ? The fact is that the practice, now almost universal, of adding to the attractions of a drinking-bar in the shape of good-looking attendants who will not be suited to their place if they are too modest, is a most detestable one. One story occurs to us as we write. The English refreshment contractors at the Great Exhibition of Paris took a sort of pride in the beauty of the attendants who served at their counters, but we have been strangely misinformod if there is not a hideous tale of the number who were left behind to a life of vice in that city. One criticism we must make on Mr. Logan's method of treating his subject. Like most men who have interested themselves in fallen women, and who hear only their account of the matter, he talks too much of "seduction." In truth, there is an inconceivable recklessness and want of modesty in the women from which this class is mostly supplied. Even a well-conducted servant-girl thinks no harm of making acquaintance with any stranger that may accost her in the streets. And there are not a few who deliberately sell themselves for a day's treat or a visit to the theatre.