“And then the shiver, as the first breath sweeps along the sky, and the low, far sound of the thunder gives warning of its approach; and the fierce excitement as the tempest comes sounding on, marshaling the armies of the clouds, increasing fast and loud the roars of their artillery; then the first shudder of the forest as the blast of the strong wind strikes it, and the mighty trees bow down, and rise again, and toss their huge arms, battling with the blast. “These were the storms that thrilled him. He could moan with the moaning wood; he could struggle with the strong oak’s struggling; he felt himself o’erthrown, as the lightning crushed it to the earth; and when the calm and the silence had followed, he could say to his pride of heart, ‘Thou seest how vain and how feeble is the might of the creature when it warreth with its God.’ “For the rest, he wondered that it did not make the porpoises dizzy to turn so many somersets; and when the hawks caught Mother Carey’s chickens, and brought them on board to eat them, he noticed that the little things were very fat, and presumed that but for their fishy taste, they would be very good in a pot-pie.” Our limits warn us to quote no further, though we would do so willingly, and leave us only room to say that if this book do not make its mark, we cannot conjecture the reason why. * * * * * _Men and Women of the Eighteenth Century. By Arsene Houssaye. New York: Redfield. 2 vols. 12mo._