And the wise old Roman bondsman saw no terror in the dead-- Children when the play was over, going softly home to bed, have a pleasant Tennysonian ring. The Ballad of the Old Year is rather depressing. 'Bury the Old Year Solemnly' has been said far too often, and the sentiment is suitable only for Christmas crackers. The best thing in the book is The Poet's Vision of Death, which is quite above the average. Mrs. Dobell informs us that she has already published sixteen volumes of poetry and that she intends to publish two more. The volume that now lies before us is entitled In the Watches of the Night, most of the poems that it contains having been composed 'in the neighbourhood of the sea, between the hours of ten and two o'clock.' Judging from the following extract we cannot say that we consider this a very favourable time for inspiration, at any rate in the case of Mrs. Dobell: Were Anthony Trollope and George Eliot Alive--which unfortunately they are not-- As regards the subject of 'quack-snubbing,' you know, To support me I am sure they hadn't been slow-- For they, too, hated the wretched parasite That fattens on the freshest, the most bright Of the blossoms springing from the--Public Press!-- And that oft are flowers that even our quacks should bless! (1) Poor Folks' Lives. By the Rev. Frederick Langbridge. (Simpkin, Marshall and Co.) (2) Pictures in the Fire. By George Dalziel. (Privately Printed.) (3) Women Must Weep. By Professor F. Harald Williams. (Swan Sonnenschein and Co.) (4) Joseph and His Brethren: a Trilogy. By Alexander Buchan. (Digby and Long.) (5) God's Garden. By Heartsease. (James Nisbet and Co.) (6) Voices of the Street. By Cyrus Thornton. (Elliot Stock.) (7) In the Watches of the Night. By Mrs. Horace Dobell. (Remington and Co.) LITERARY AND OTHER NOTES--IV (Woman's World, February 1888.)