CURRENT LITERATURE.
In the Universal Review for this month, there is no lack of subjects provocative of discussion. The outlines of a repulsive tale by Tolstoy, "The Kreutzer Sonata," are given by Mr. Dillon, who heard the manuscript read in the salon of a noble lady in St. Petersburg. The tale, which recounts the murder of a wife by her husband, is written to show that modern wedded love is simply lust disguised
by the sanction of law, and the moral for the cure of the disease, the most disgusting symptoms of which are said to be laid bare by the pathologist, is, according to Mr. Dillon, "the perfect spiritual union of the sexes, the attainment of which will naturally and necessarily coincide with the disappearance of the race." It is stated that, before the tale is fit for the British public, it will need more pruning than it is ever likely to receive from the hands of the author. "No other work of his bears such unmistakeable, nay, repulsive tokens of his strong predilection for uncompro- mising realism." Verily the Russian realist's method of ascending through nastiness to purity is a strange one, and we agree with Mr. Dillon that his remedy is somewhat heroic. There is a bright and humorous poem by Mr. Barlow in the Review called "Poetry and Science," written from an idealist's point of view, to which it is pleasant to turn. Wordsworth's desire for glimpses that would make him less forlorn, is here expressed in another and less philo- sophic way. " To know is well, but not to know is better," the writer exclaims ; and as for the science of Spencer and Tyndall, the poet will have none of it :—
" It scientists must work a revolution,
And upset all we need to hold most dear, Well, let them speak—the Royal Institution Is open—not a soul need go to hear.
sq) was great. That marvellous narrator
Made donkeys talk (since then they never cease !); But in these days we need one even greater,
One who can make the donkeys hold their peace "
Mr. Horne's noble tragedy, The Death of Marlowe, might well have deterred a writer from venturing on the same ground ; but Mr. Courtney's " Kit Marlowe's Death " is too good to need an apology. Although by no means a great poem, it is a brilliant piece of work, and contains some finely pathetic touches. Some time ago Mr. Carnegie wrote an article called " The Gospel of Wealth," to which Mr. O'Connor Power, with the help of an imaginary artisan, undertakes to reply from the standpoint of the Socialist. If he has the best of the argument, he should remember that logic is not Mr. Carnegie's forte. Mr. Alfred East had promised a series of illustrated papers, entitled "A Trip to Japan," of which the first portion should have appeared in the present number. The editor, however, has been forced to write the letterpress from notes supplied by the artist, who is indis- posed, and a capital paper he has made of them. The final passage is significant. After observing that in America not one person out of fifty in a carriage turned to look at a remarkable sunset, the writer adds :—" I have seen the same class of people in Japan stand and watch a sunset across Lake Biwa with rapt attention, and at every change they turned to speak to an appreciative audience." An interesting article upon Gloucester Cathedral, with attractive illustrations, appears from the pen of the Dean. The paper is historical and architectural; and incidentally it affords another illustration of the good work done by our Cathedrals as centres of religious life. There are week-night people's services held in the Cathedral at which, the Dean states, two or three thousand of the hard-worked artisans of the city commonly attend.
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