VINCENTE FILICAJA’S SONNET TO ITALY. “_Dove Italia il tuo braccio._” Where is thy might, oh Italy! and why Now dost thou humbly kneel to other powers? They are thy foes, for both in bygone hours Subject before thy throne were forced to lie. And is it thus thy honor is preserved? And is it thus thy glory is maintained? Thine old escutcheon thou hast darkly stained, Widely from ancient valor hast thou swerved. Well—be it so: yet cast the crown aside, Put on the shame, the languor and the chains Of slaves, and sleep while all mankind deride— Sleep as the hireling harlot sleeps, who stains Her bridal-bed with guilt, till in thy side Avenging fate the glittering steel shall hide. F. R. * * * * * REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS. _Selections from the Writings of James Kennard, Jr. With a Sketch of His Life and Character. Boston: Wm. D. Ticknor & Co. 1 vol. 12mo._ This volume is printed for private circulation, and we should not have thought of making it the subject of a notice, were it not for the interest which attaches to the name of the author. Mr. Kennard was stricken early in life with a disease in his knee—was compelled, at the age of twenty-two, to have his leg amputated—and from that time to his death, ten years after, he was afflicted with a series of diseases, frightfully accumulating one upon another, which at last deprived him of all power of motion, and sparing not even his eyes. Yet though thus seemingly cut off from all enjoyments, and doomed to the peevishness as well as the pain of the sick chamber, he bravely surmounted by force of will the mental effects of his ailments, and developed in physical agony and deprivation one of the most beautiful and loveable characters we have had the fortune to meet in literature or in life. Serene, cheerful, hopeful, affectionate—uncomplaining in the midst of miseries, any one of which might well have quelled a strong spirit, and which, combined, seemed impossible for any spirit to bear—he not only was a genial companion, ready to talk of every thing but his own pains and deprivations, but a voluminous writer. The present volume, consisting of essays, reviews and poems, contributed to the Knickerbocker, the Christian Examiner, and various newspapers and periodicals, indicates not merely the degree of excellence to which by self-culture he had trained his talents for composition, but also the wide range of his studies, and the wider range of his sympathies. For every holy and beneficent enterprise started to alleviate the miseries of the unfortunate, to assist the poor and the ignorant, or to champion the