Winged Words. (John Lane. 7s. 6d. net.)—The anonymous author puts
together, some sixty essays of varying length, and, we may add, of varying merit. Some of them we could very well do without altogether (pp. 106-124). In others there are things which would be better omitted. The essayist admires the "Old Evangelical Party" as typified by such men as Bishop Heber and Henry Martyn. But why does he interpolate such a sentence as this :—" They were possessed by a delusion in regard to the 'divinity' of Christ and the theory of the Atonement" ? The common belief of Christendom cannot be disposed of in this fashion. It shows a want of good manners, to say the least, to talk in such a way. Then the criticism on translators is far too sweeping. Translation is badly paid work, and often ill done ; but there are many translations which overcome the vast difficulties of the work quite admirably. On the whole, we prefer our essayist when he is dealing with literary topics. His critical judgment is commonly intelligent and sober.
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