In beginning his life of Adrian IV., he quotes Matthew of Paris, who makes him son of Robert de Camera, said by William of Newburgh to have been a poor scholar; then cites Camden's statement that he was born at Langley, near St. Alban's; but he slips in a charge, hunted up in the filth of the wretched Bale, that he was illegitimate; as though the assertion of such a man, in the most virulent stage of the Reformation abuse, could be authority as to a fact of a period so long past. Even Fuller, as he admits, with all his readiness to belittle the papacy, only "insinuates that he was an illegitimate son." Yet Mr. Williams, on the assertion of a Bale and the insinuation of a Fuller, says, "There is reason to believe that he was the natural son of a _priest_," and on this supposition he proceeds to erect his whole superstructure. From such a writer no book can emanate that any man can read who does not wilfully wish to be misled. ----- {141} Goethe And Schiller. An Historical Romance. By L. Mühlbach, author of "Joseph II. and his Court," "Frederick the Great and his Court," "The Empress Josephine," "Andreas Hofer," etc., etc. Translated from the German by Chapman Coleman. Illustrated by Gaston Fay. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 283. 1868. A careful perusal of this, the author's latest production, has not caused us to modify, in the slightest degree, the opinion heretofore expressed in these pages concerning the volumes comprising what is now known as the Mühlbach series of historical romances. That they are ably written we admitted then, and we are not now disposed to deny. But this, their only merit, in our judgment, can be claimed equally as well for many literary works which no prudent father, no careful mother, would dream of keeping within reach of, much less of placing in the hands of, their guileless offspring. Illicit love, in some instances covered by a thin veil of Platonism, the intrigues of courtiers, duplicity and meanness, are the pivotal points on which the incidents principally turn. For these and similar offences against morality, the author has no word of censure, while as for the _dramatis personae_, their _virtuous_ indignation, when given utterance to, is always directed against the criminal and not the crime. In fine, we look upon these as books by which not a single person can become better or more enlightened, while very many will rise from their perusal worse than before. ----- Father Cleveland; Or, The Jesuit. By the authoress of "Life in the Cloister," "Grace O'Halloran," "The Two Marys," etc., etc. Boston: P. Donahoe. Pp. 178. 1868.