Evenings on the Thames. By Kenelm Henry Digby. 2 vols.
Second edition. (Longman and Co).—Serene hours and what they require are the theme Mr. Digby undertakes to treat, and if all the conditions he enumerates are really requisite, serenity must be a very, pre attribute of humanity. A ;crew life is what he rather means. 'Among his requisites are a sense .94 beauty, a youthful disposition, simplicity of character, the absence of vice and of worldliness, besides a host of others, each of which forms the subject of a diffuse, learned, graceful, and kindly essay. Regarded as a work of art the book is too long, —there are too many quotations, and not enough definite purpose. But it is not, we think, meant, certainly not fitted, for continuous reading. It is the book to fill up a leisure hour, or accompany one on a fishing excursion, when the mind is undisturbed, and able to appreciate the author's spirit of wise contentment and vein of cheerful piety.
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