Spain in Profile. By James A. Harrison. (Houghton and Osgood
Boston, U.S.; Trailer, London.)—We have had not a few charming books of travel from the other side of the Atlantic, during the forty years or so that have passed since Mr. Stephens published his "impressions of Travel," and Mr. Harrison worthily keeps up the tradition, He catches with readiness the picturesque aspects of a country that is absolutely unlike his own, and describes them with no little success ; nor does he fail to make shrewd observations on the morals and manners of the country which he has visited. Nothing could be better in its way, as exhibiting both of these powers, than the description of Seville and the Sevillani. 2 propos of Seville, we have a curious story of how a thief cut the "St. Anthony" of Murillo from a canvas in the chapel of the Baptist in the cathedral, and sold it to a dealer in New York. Another strange description is that of the "Dance of the Six," practised yearly in thc cathedral during the Corpus Domini feast. An .Archbishop of Seville two hundred years ago, tried to stop this very strange function. His action nearly brought about a revolution. The Pope was appealed to. lie saw the dance with his own eyes, and ordered that it should ha continued till the costumes that the boy-dancers wore were worn out. The cathedral authorities have taken care that they never should wear out. Mr. Harrison knows, it will be seen, how to relieve the descriptions with pleasant varieties. His is a book that can only ho judged by the impression that results from it, and this impression can scarcely fail to be agreeable.
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