CURRENT LITERATURE.
The most readable article in what can only be considered a good average number of Longman's is a "travel-paper," by Mrs. W. E. H. Lecky, bearing the rather romantic title of "The Eye of the Grey Monk." Here Mrs. Lecky describes a visit paid in the superb summer of last year to the island of Schiermonnikoog, off the north coast of Friesland, which derives its name—translated, "Eye of the Grey Monk "—from the Cistercian monks, who once had large possessions in the north of Friesland, and wore grey gowns. Mrs. Lecky makes one quite as fascinated as she herself was with this delightful little island, which has had many masters, and which has had a long and severe struggle with the elements. "There is only one policeman on the island, and crime, theft, and immorality are almost unknown." Further, "It was exhilarating to feel there was nothing between ourselves and the North Pole. There was a peculiar fascination about the evenings, when the sun had set in all its glory over the sea, and the deep-blue sky above melted towards the horizon into soft, transparent hues of yellow and red, a single star appearing here and there." Mr. C. T. Buckland's "Reminiscences of Indian Saurians ; " a gloomy, but thoughtful, poem by Professor Beealy, entitled " Mortmain ; " and "In Ambush at the Lake Side," a really poetical description of a shooting episode in Russia, by Mr. F. Whishaw, are among the more notable of the April contents of Longman's. Mr. Lang's "At the Sign of the Ship" contains a kind but not at all too appreciative notice of Mr. R. F. Murray, a promising young poet, the laureate of St. Andrews. Of Mr. Murray's lighter verses contained in "The Scarlet Gown "—a volume published about two years ago—Mr. Lang says : "The parodies are not, I think, inferior to those of Mr. Calverley and 'J. K. S.'"
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