Lectures on Literature and Art. (Bell and Daldy.)—These lectures, delivered
in the Museum of Irish Industry in the spring of 1865, vary in merit, as most displays of the kind do. Mr. Justice Keogh had the courage to proclaim his admiration of Milton's prose, and the skill to make his admiration worth having, and most people remember how Cardinal Callen came down upon him. The introduction of his essay alone renders the little volume before us valuable ; it does not lose by the addition of Mr. Isaac Butt's interesting sketch of Berkeley, and perhaps Professor Thomson's pretty common-places about " History " and "Progress " will increase the popularity of the book, as they are as sparkling and disconnected as the utterances in a salon, and leave just the same impression at the end. We have not the least idea whether the Professor considers Dr. Arnold or the author of the Lxst of the Barons the more trustworthy historian, and as for progress, we have only to say that he cracks his jokes impartially upon the weak points of ancients and moderns, and leaves us in doubt whether in his opinion a dress coat is not an equivalent for slavery, and the character of the Chris- tian gentleman too dearly purchased at the price of bad architecture and the semicircular costumes of women.
Previous page
