14 FEBRUARY 1880, Page 22

CURRENT LITERATURE.

The New Quarterly Magazine. January. (C. Began Paul and Co.) —This number contains many interesting articles, the most important of which is probably the review of " Italian Affairs," the work, it is evident, of a competent and well-informed observer. " Fucinus : a Lost Lake and a New Found Land," tells a story, probably new to many readers, of how Prince Tortonia has drained the Lake Facintu‘ and realised a scheme older than the Christian era. Nearly 40,000 acres of land have been recovered, at a cost of £2,000,000. Readers of Tacitas will remember the picturesque account of the futile opera- tions that were undertaken in the days of Claudius. Mr. Mark Pattison writes a striking article on " Middle-Class Education." Many teachers will accuse it of being vague, but it at least suggests an ideal, which the writer, on the serene eminence which he occu- pies, has peculiar facilities for contemplating. The late Education Commissioners were less fortunate students of the same subject. Mr. Pattison laments their extinction ; but after all, it is necessary to have some regard for the actual.