CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Rev. W. Benham sends forth (Macmillan) a new translation of the De Imitations Christi, to which a preface is prefixed, discussing the authorship, and giving a brief estimate of the work itself. That Thomas Kemple was not the author seems beyond a doubt. He was a monk of Mount S. Agnes, near Zoll, and devoted himself to the work of transcrip- tion, this treatise being one of the works -which passed through his hands. The real author, Mr. Benham thinks, was one John Gersen,—not the famous John Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris,—who was Abbot of St. Stephen's, Vercelli, in the thirteenth century. It is inter- esting to learn that the Gerson family still exists in the village. The book before us is a handsome volume, with, its margins decorated in exeellent taste. To give an idea of Mr. Bonham's translation, a specimen will serve best :— "Ho who loveth flyeth, runneth, and is glad ; he is free, and not hindered. He giveth all things for all things, and bath all things in all things, because he resteth in One who is high above all, from whom every good floweth and proceedeth. He looketh not for gifts, but turneth himself to the Giver above all good things. Love oftentimes knoweth no measure, but breaketh out above all measure ; love feeleth no burden, reckoneth not labours, striveth after more than it is able to do, pleadeth not impossibility, because it judgeth all things which are lawful for it to be possible. . . . . Love is swift, sincere, pions, pleasant, gentle, strong, patient, faithful, prudent, long-suffering, manly, and never seeking her own ; for wheresoever a man seeketh his own, there he falleth from love. Love is circumspect, humble, and upright; not weak, not fickle, not intent on vain things ; sober, chaste, steadfast, quiet, and guarded in all the senses. Love is subject and obedient to all that are in authority, vile and lowly in its own sight, devout and grateful towards God, faithful and always trusting in Him, even when God hideth His face, for without sorrow we cannot live in love."
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