unintelligibility. His
rhythm is rough and unmusical, his style harsh and inverted, his imagery
cold, his invective bitter, and his verbiage immense. His illustrations
are sometimes coarse, his comparisons diminish rather than increase the
importance of the ideas to which they are applied. His pages are
frequently as chaotic as those of Wagner's music; leaf after leaf may be
turned over in the despairing search for a single crystallized idea.
Fiery sparks, flying meteors, inchoate masses of nebulous matter are
around us, but no glass in our possession can resolve them into ordered
orbs of thought and beauty. If a man have anything to say, why not say
it in clear, terse, vigorous English, or why use worlds of vigorous
words to say nothing. Some years ago, one of Browning's books was sent
for review to Douglas Jerrold, who was then just recovering from an
attack of brain fever: after reading it for some time, and finding that
he failed to arrive at any clear idea of the meaning of its lines, he
began to fear that his brain was again becoming confused, and, handing
it to his wife with a request that she would look over it in his
absence, went out to drive. Returning in the evening, his first question
was: 'Well, my dear, what do you think of Browning's poem?' 'Bother the
gibberish,' was her indignant reply, 'I can't understand a word of it.'
'Thank God,' exclaimed Jerrold, clapping his hands to his head
triumphantly, 'then I am not actually insane.'

DALETH; OR, THE HOMESTEAD OF THE NATIONS. Egypt Illustrated. By
EDWARD L. CLARK. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

A book produced without regard to expense, and of great beauty. Paper
and print are excellent. Its illustrations are nearly one hundred in
number. It has both woodcuts and chromo-lithographs exquisitely
rendered, reproducing the modern scenery and antiquities of Egypt from
photographs or authentic sources. Mr. Clark writes well, has travelled
through the land of the Nile, and tries to bring before the minds of his
readers vivid pictures of primeval times, for which Egypt presents such
peculiar and valuable materials. Our writer is a scholar as well as a
traveller, and has added to his personal experience considerable
research into the authorities from whom many of his facts are derived.
He is also an enthusiast, and somewhat of an artist, and gives us
glowing pictures of the strange old land of the Pharaohs. He says:
'Daleth, the ancient Hebrew letter ([Hebr