er to say, that "The Pilot" was the first, and
still is the best, of nautical novels; we say this in fell recollection
of its trace of stupid heroines. The very air of the book is salt. As
you read, you hear the wind in the rigging,--a sound that one never
forgets. The form and motion of waves, the passing of distant ships, the
outlines of spars and cordage against the sky, the blue above and the
blue below, all the scenery of the sea, here for the first time found an
appreciative artist.

We have not space to mention these novels separately. We are glad to see
an edition which is worthy of the author's genius,--each volume graced
with the designs of Darley. The style in which the work has been issued
is creditable to the publishers, and cannot fail to be remunerative.

* * * * *

_Ettore Fieramosca; or, the Challenge of Barletta_. The Struggles of an
Italian against Foreign Invaders and Foreign Protectors. By MASSIMO D'
AZEGLIO. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, & Co. 16mo.

The recent war led to the publication of a great number of books upon
the state of Italy and the relative positions of the contending powers;
now that the wave has receded, all these are left high and dry. This
novel, however, does not depend upon any transient interest in the
affairs of Italy for its success. As the production of an eminent
author, who is also one of the first of Italian statesmen, it demands a
respectful consideration. The condition of the country in the sixteenth
century presents a striking counterpart to that of the present year: two
foreign monarchs were at war in the Peninsula; and then, as now, it was
a question whether unhappy Italy had not as much to fear from her allies
as from her invaders.

The scene of the story is laid in the little town of Barletta, on the
Adriatic coast, in the present kingdom of Naples. The action turns upon
the fortunes of the day in a contest _a l'outrance_, wherein a dozen
French knights, the flower of the invading army, were met and vanquished
by an equal number of Italians, of whom the hero, Ettore Fieramosca, was
the chief. The English reader will not expect to find in this book any
of the traits with which he is familiar in the novels of our own
authors. There is little scenery-painting, few wayside reflections, and
no attempt at portraying the comic side of human nature, or even the
ordinary gayety of domestic life. The times did not suggest such topics;
and if