. A Short History of English Literature. By George Saintsbury.
(Macmillan and Co. 8s. 6d.)—We cannot, of course, undertake to review the judgments which Professor Saintsbury passes on some hundreds of authors, from Caeduion down to present-day historians, poets, and novelists. Every one knows that he is a very sane critic, who can express himself on occasion with very considerable vigour. Here, for instance, is a powerful apprecia- tion of Mark Pattison's autobiography,—as "showing with admirable literary finish, but with somewhat hideous veracity, the trials of a wounded soul, incapable of earthly medication and rejecting heavenly." We give 'a few lines only to this volume, not because it is not of at least equal value to many volumes to which we allot much more space, but because to say emphatically that it gives in a comparatively small space a satisfactory account of a vast subject is the best criticism that we can give.
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