CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Poetical Birthday Book. Edited by the Countess of Portsmouth. (Hatchards.)—This is a very dainty little book, a collection of morceaus from the poets which illustrate the characteristics of the months and the characters of men and women. The idea has been to affix two morsels of poetry to each day, so that any man or woman referring to his or her birthday may find some lines describing him or her, or at least some lines tempting him or her to be better than before, and the idea has been worked out with great taste and skill. There is hardly a poor extract throughout the 670, while the poets quoted cover nearly the whole field of English literature. The only defect of the collection is that, with characteristic kindliness, Lady Portsmouth has omitted all verses of a satiric kind, so that any one who consults these sortes is sure of a tolerably agreeable response, and sometimes receives a compliment of a rather extravagant kind. Mr. Gladstone, for instance, being born on December 29, his sors is " His mind as far from rashness as from fears, Hating base thoughts as much as desperate rage, The world's loud thunderings he unshaken bears;' while Mr. Disraeli's (December 31) is,— " Ring in the valiant man, and free The larger heart, the kindlier hand."
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