Heart. By Edmondo de Amicis. Translated by G. S. Godkin.
(Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.)—This " book for boys," written in substance, we gather from the preface, by a boy, is translated, the title-page informs us, from the "158th Italian edition." It may be taken, therefore, as true to what an Italian school is or ought to be, for a school is the scene. One great difference between England and Italy is the mixing of various social grades. Then there is the variety of the provinces. A boy from Calabria in a Roman school would be more of a novelty than a Northumbrian or Cornish boy in London. That there is a more effusive sentiment in the relation of the boys to each other, and of the boys to the masters, is only to be expected. The "First Form," as we should call it, is taught by women, we observe. From the novelty of its subject, the book would in any case be interesting; the treatment makes it so in an especial degree.
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