m Shakspeare we regard as
a total failure. He who never repeated himself on earth, comes to us who
love him, after his long residence in heaven, and travesties his own
matchless dramas by weak quotations from them, as if he had been
cogitating only his own words through the new scenes of glory which had
opened before him. Our great Shakspeare has grown none in the passing
centuries--comes from the empyrean to gabble like a dotard of the
visions of his youth? We quote from the poem:

'Man learns in this Valhalla of his soul
To love, nor ever finds 'Love's Labor Lost.'
No two-faced Falstaff proffers double suit;
No Desdemona mourns Iago's art;
And every Romeo finds his Juliet.'

Trust us, fair and gifted Miss Doten, the spirit who sang this into your
soul was not Shakspeare, nor, unless we are much mistaken, even one of
his acquaintances.

FAITH AND FANCY. By JOHN SAVAGE, Author of 'Sibyl, a
Tragedy.' New York: James B. Kirker, 599 Broadway. Washington, D. C.:
Philip & Solomon.

We are glad to welcome this little volume of poems, some of which were
published anonymously, and received general praise from critics and
readers. They are vigorous, patriotic, rhythmical, and many of them are
marked with imaginative power. The 'Muster of the North' is a bold and
striking poem.

LIFE OF EDWARD LIVINGSTON. By CHARLES HAVENS HUNT.
With an Introduction by GEORGE BANCROFT. New York: D. Appleton
& Co., 443 and 445 Broadway.

Mr. Hunt has had great advantages in the preparation of this interesting
life, the only surviving members of Mr. Livingston's immediate family
having placed in his hands the whole mass of papers left by him at his
death. The work has a double interest. As a man, Mr. Livingston claims
our sympathies from his domestic virtues, his unvarying sweetness of
demeanor, his high ability and culture; as jurist and statesman, he is
closely related to the great epochs of our country. It fell to his lot,
after our acquisition of Louisiana, to adjust the old municipal laws
derived from France and Spain, to the new condition of the connection
with America. 'The code which he prepared at the instance of the State
of Louisiana,' says Mr. Bancroft, 'is in its simplicity, completeness,
and humanity at once an impersonation of the man and an exposition of
the American Constitution. If it has never been adopted as a whole, it
has proved an unfailing fountain of reforms, suggested by its
principles.' Mr. Livingston