16 DECEMBER 1865, Page 20

The Rook's Garden. By Cuthbert Bede. (Sampson Low.)—There are many ,

things tolerable when fresh, which nevertheless, like manna, spoil with keeping, and these essays are among the number. We think it was an unfortunate impulse that induced Mr. Bede to collect papers which possibly had some sort of relevance to some subject of the hour when first dashed off for a periodical, but which now, like embalmed ephemera, have no interest whatever. Indeed in most of them a good deal of pseudo-clever writing and really good English only tantalizes by its absolute lack of substance. Its chief recommendations are good binding and good print, and the kind of smartness in style which some readers find a substitute for wit.