20 JUNE 1868, Page 24

La Palingenesi. By Signor Mario Rapisardi. (biennia° : Florence.)— This

is a remarkable book, coming from such a quarter as Sicily, and not from the head-quarters of Sicily, but from Catania. The author believes that the root of all the evils of Italy and Europe is false reli- gion, the belief that things are first and of necessity which are really secondary and at times evil. Among such things he classes the Papacy. The Reformation of religion is, therefore, the first thing that he urges, and he speaks of Luther with a respect rare indeed among Italians, and which is a favourable sign of progress. The poem is divided into ten cantos—Tradition, the Coliseum, the Cross, Luther, Italy and Pio None, the Emperor Napoleon, are some of their titles—and we can heartily wish it success. It has, apart from its poetical merits, of which, indeed, a foreigner can scarcely judge, a breadth of view not common in Italy, if, indeed, anywhere.