CURRENT LITERATURE.
On Southern English Roads. By J. J. Riney. (Bentley and Son.)—In this book Mr. Hissey gives an account of a driving- tour made in the summer of 1805. To say that his volume bears a strong family likeness to its forerunners will be taken as a word of praise by his numerous readers. It seems astonishing that Mr. Hissey should still be able to find so much country still un- explored in the South of England, yet we learn that he has by no means exhausted the devious ways of his "home-county "of Sussex. Mr. Hissey always writes in an agreeable style, and he is blessed with a cheerful spirit, ever ready to make the best of things. His unaffected love of English scenery is one of the pleasantest features of his books. Amiably assuming the character of "guide, philosopher, and friend," he takes his readers from his starting point, Eastbourne, through the Weald of Sussex, over a district which was once the seat of extensive ironworks, having their centre at Busted. This delightful and most lovely region is now entirely given up to quiet rural life. It is difficult to imagine that the furnaces and forges of these peaceful villages supplied the guns and shot that were used so effectu- ally against the Armada, and that during the seventeenth century they were the source of his Majesty's stores of artillery, and of articles of hardware of all kinds. The last furnace, at Ishburnham, was not blown out until 1809. The scene of the industry is now to be recognised only by the numerous hammer- ponds which remain, and by the characteristic place-names, such as "Cinder Hill," "Forge Farm," "Furnace Field," and many others. Travelling northward through this district Mr. Mosey attained the heights of Ashdown Forest and Crowborough Beacon, a stretch of breezy upland most attractive in its wildness, and affording some wonderfully extensive views, but so poor in soil that local tradition declares that it would make a crow shed tears to fly over it. After visiting Tunbridge Wells, Mr. Hissey drove on to East Grin stead and through the forests of Worth and St. Leonards to Horsham. Advised by his faithful "Paterson," he pursued his way through Steyning and Storrington to Arundel and Chichester. To those who know the line of country these names will recall visions of some of the loveliest and most varied scenery in the South of England,—of a region of unspeakable beauty and charm. It is strange bow little these parts are known. Mr. Hissey journeyed westward through Southampton and the New Forest to Wareham. Near the last-mentioned town be visited Wool House, the exterior of which he describes at some length and gives a drawing of it ; but he neglects to add that this ancient mansion is the original of " Wellbridge House," so well known to readers of "Tess of the D'Urbervilles." The tour was extended through Dorset and part of Somerset, by way of Dorchester, Sherborne, and the Avon Valley to Trowbridge, and; thence through Devizes and over Salisbury Plain to Andover and Winchester. Our traveller returned by the delightful route through Petersfield, Midhurst, and Pulborougb, thence to the sea at Worthing, and through Lewes and Seaford, and so over the downs into Eastbourne, completing a tour of four hundred and sixty-seven miles without a mischance of any kind. His readers will thank Mr. Hissey for a pleasant account of a pleasant journey. Some excellent woodcuts by Mr. Pearson are given in the volume. We should like to ask where the quotation, " The finger of God touched them, and they slept," which Mr. Hissey gives as "a line of our own Tennyson," is to be found. We are told that as an epitaph it was vetoed by a certain Burial Board as being irreverent.
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