’Fresh, beautiful, and winsome.’—­Among the living poets of England there may be many who are popularly regarded as ‘greater,’ but certainly there is none more unaffectedly natural or simply delightful than WILLIAM ALLINGHAM.  We are pleased at his probably unconscious Irish-isms in his humbler lyrics, which have deservedly attained the proud eminence of veritable ‘Folk-songs’ in the mouths of the people, and are touched by the exquisite music, the tender feeling, and the beautiful picturing which we find inspiring his lays.  It requires but little knowledge of them to be impressed with the evident love of his art with which our Irish bard is filled.  It would be difficult to find in the same number of songs by any contemporary so little evident effort allied to such success.

THE CHURCH MONTHLY.  Edited by Rev. George M. Randall, D.D., and Rev. F.D.  Huntington, D.D.  Vol.  II.  No. 6.  Boston:  E.P.  Dutton & Co. 1861.

This beautiful and scholarly magazine, which abounds in ’the elegant expression of sound learning,’ contains, in the present number, a noble article on Loyalty in the United States, by Rev. B.B.  BABBITT, which we would gladly have read by every one.  Almost amusing, and yet really beautiful, is the following Latin version of ’Now I lay me down to sleep,’ by Rev. EDWARD BALLARD.

  In Canabulis.

  ’Nunc recline ut dormirem,
    Precor te, O Domine,
  Ut defendas animam;
  Ante diem si obirem,
    Precor te, O Domine,
  Us servares animam. 
    Hoc que precor pro Iesu!’

WORKS OF BAYARD TAYLOR.  Vols.  I. & II. 
New York:  G.P.  Putnam.

BAYARD TAYLOR has the pleasant art of communicating personal experiences in a personal way.  It is not an unknown X, an invisible essence of criticism, which travels for us in his sketches, but a veritable traveler, speaking, Irving-like, of what he sees, so that we see and feel with him.  In these volumes, the ups and downs, the poverties and even the ignorances of the young traveler are set forth—­not paraded—­with great vividness, and we come to the end of each chapter as if it were the scene of a good old-fashioned comedy.  CORYATT without his crudities, if we can imagine such a thing, suggests himself, with alternations of ‘HERODOTUS his gossip’ without his craving credulity.  Perhaps these volumes explain more than any of their predecessors the causes of TAYLOR’S popularity, and like them will do good work in stimulating that love of travel which with many becomes the absorbing passion sung by MULLER,—­’Wandern! ach!  Wandern!’

THOMAS HOOD’S WORKS.  Edited by Epes
Sargent.  New York:  G.P.  Putnam. 1862.

A beautifully printed and bound volume, on the best paper, with two fine illustrations,—­one by HOPPIN, setting forth Miss Kilmansegg and her golden leg with truly Teutonic grotesquerie.  It contains Hood’s Poems, never made more attractively readable than in this edition.  As a gift it would be difficult to find a work which would be more generally acceptable to either old or young.