6 year 1609, whilst Bosio was labouring over his ponderous folio on the Triumphs of the Cross;' and he pauses accordingly, half doubtful whether he ought to say anything about the stupendo e maraviglioso fiore' of which he had been told, seeing that it was a matter almost too mostruosa e straordinaria' for belief; but quite unwilling to omit all notice of it, especially as he was daily receiving new confirmation of its wonders. This maraviglioso fiore' was the Passion flower of the New World. 6 Drawings and descriptions of the Passion flower were published for the first time, in both Spain and Italy, in 1609. Bosio's chief authority was Father Emmanuello de Villegas, an Augustinian monk, and a native of Mexico, who was at this time visiting Rome. But Father Emmanuel's wonderful account had been confirmed, we are assured, by many personages 'di qualità e di gravità' who had travelled in New Spain, and especially by certain Mexican Jesuits. It would seem, says Bosio, that in this wonderful and mysterious flower of the five wounds' ('flor de las cinco llagas '), as the Spaniards called it, the Creator of the world had chosen to represent the principal emblems of his Son's Passion; so that in due season it might assist, when its marvels should be explained to them, in the conversion of the heathen people in whose country it grew. He goes on to describe the flower as follows:-The upper petals are tawny (di color leonato') in Peru; in New Spain they are white, tinged with rose colour. The fringelike filaments above are blood-red; as though referring to the scourge with which Our Lord was beaten.' In the midst of the flower rises the column to which He was bound; and above are the nails, both of a 'clear green.' Above, again, is the crown of thorns, surrounded by a kind of veil of threads-seventy-two in number-(the traditional number of the thorns on Our Lord's crown) coloured like a peacock's feather ('di color pavonazzo'). In the centre of the flower, and under the column, are five marks or spots, of a blood colour, 'clearly representing the five chief wounds that Christ received on the cross.' The plant, he continues, is rich in leaves, which in shape resemble the iron of a pike or lance-head, and refer to that with which Our Lord's side was pierced. At nightfall the flower closes entirely; and in the day it only half unfolds itself, keeping always the form of a bell, so that the mysteries so wonderfully enclosed in it cannot be generally seen. Bosio, however, thought proper to draw it fully opened, 'per gusto de' pii lettori' -who would thus have the comfort of contemplating in the flower the profound marvels of its, and of our own, Creator.' The close shrouding of the flower, he suggests, may have been designed, designed, by infinite wisdom, as an indication that the mysteries of the cross were not to be revealed to the heathen people of those countries until such time as it seemed good to Him. In spite of the suggestion of our own Master Parkinson, who was the first to describe the Passion flower in England, that it should be assigned to that bright occidental star Queen Elizabeth, and be named in memory of her the Virgin climber,' the Passion flower has retained its original name and significance. It is the one great contribution of the Western hemisphere to the symbolical flowers of Christendom; and its starlike blossoms have taken a worthy place beside the mystical roses and trefoils of ecclesiastical decoration; never more appropriately than in the ironwork of the beautiful choir-screens at Lichfield and at Hereford. Before concluding, we must say a word or two about the 'Floral Calendars' which we have placed at the head of this article. A complete arrangement of the plants and flowers named after certain saints, or recording the festivals of the Church, so far as such plants exist, would be of very great interest and value. It would not only record much curious folklore, now rapidly passing away, but would bring back to us many a graceful and touching association with which earlier ages regarded the commonest flowers of the field and the hedgerow. Something of the sort is attempted in the pamphlet entitled 'Flores Ecclesiæ,' which, following the Roman calendar, assigns a particular flower to the saint who is recorded on each successive day throughout the year. Many are thoroughly appropriate, but by far the greater number are selected in the most arbitrary fashion; and we can see not the slightest reason for associating St. James the Less with red bachelors' buttons ;' St. Mammutus with Lancashire asphodel;' or St. Willibrord with the Mexican tiger flower.' If colour alone is the rule, we may surely be allowed to choose our own flowers. For anything else there is no other guide than tradition; and the compiler of the Flores Ecclesiæ' seems in most instances to have followed a peculiar tradition of his own. In the beautiful volume which stands next on our list-The Church's Floral Calendar '- -we find something of the same fault. We can see no reason why certain flowers should be chosen, rather than others of the same colour and time of flowering, as characteristic of the saint whose festival they illustrate. But in this case the arbitrary selectionwhich after all is but rare-is balanced by the beauty of the illuminations, which, in true Mediæval fashion, ornament each page; and by the well-chosen verses which Miss Cuyler, gathering them from poets old and new, has brought to illustrate her subject. subject. In truth, every such book is welcome, provided it display a true love for the flowers of the field.' They are their own best interpreters; and there is not one that cannot preach its own sermon. 'With all, as in some rare limned book, we see The camomile, we should be patient still; The rue, our hate of vice's poison ill; The woodbine, that we should our friendship hold; ART. VIII.-Roba di Roma. By William W. Story. Second Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo. London, 1863. THE HE author of this book is a son of the celebrated American Judge Story, and has risen to high eminence as a sculptor. His 'Cleopatra' attracted much admiration in the International Exhibition of 1862, although open to the serious objection that, whereas the artist had laboured to give beauty and refinement to the African type of face, the daughter of the Ptolemies was really of Greek descent; and among the most remarkable novelties of the Roman studios last winter was Mr. Story's model of 'Saul tempted by the Evil Spirit'—a figure of extraordinary power, and, as we believe, thoroughly original, notwithstanding the remembrances which it almost inevitably suggested, of King Claudius in Maclise's 'Hamlet,' and of Scheffer's 'König in Thule.' Mr. Story is not one of those Americans who, with the unfailing red book in hand, 'do the whole Vatican and Peter's easily in one day;' who in a few hours make up their minds that Rome is a one-horse place,' and will never allow us to enjoy anything there, or in any other part of Europe, without some disparaging comparison with things beyond the Atlantic. His knowledge of Rome is the result of long residence; he loves the place; he has gone among its people, and knows their ways; and when he draws a comparison with other nations, it is not for the sake of running down the Romans, but rather by way of vindicating them. How far he is disposed to carry this at times may appear from his plea for the stiletto, the use of which he attributes not merely to the passionate nature of the Italians, but *Henry Peacham. also also to their entire distrust of the possibility of legal redress in the courts. He observes, that in the half-organized society of the less civilized parts of the United States, the pistol and bowie-knife are as frequent arbiters of disputes as the stiletto is among the Italians. But it would be a gross error to argue from this, that the Americans are violent and passionate by nature; for, among the same people in the older States, where justice is cheaply and strictly administered, the pistol and bowie-knife are almost unknown.'-i. 112-3. The chief fault of the book is, that the author is not content with his proper work. In the opening chapter he professes to write for travellers, to whom the common out-door pictures of modern Roman life would have a charm as special as the galleries and antiquities, and to whom a sketch of many things, which wise and serious travellers have passed by as unworthy their notice, might be interesting. . . . . The common life of the modern Romans, the games, customs, and habits of the people, the every-day of To-day this (he says) is the subject which has specially interested me' (i. 7). We expect, therefore, to find in Mr. Story's volumes the result of his observation of actual Roman life-sketches of things which every traveller may see, but sketches drawn with an understanding which is beyond the reach of the mere passing traveller; and such is the best part of the book. But, unhappily, Mr. Story is not satisfied with the character of a skilful observer and sketcher, but is bent on showing us that he is a man of vast learning and profound research; and hence it has come to pass that by far too large a portion of his pages is occupied with matter fitter for the grave and sober treatises with which, in the passage just quoted, he disclaims all rivalryfit for anything rather than for a work of light and agreeable gossip. Nor can we say that the learning which is thus ostentatiously thrust on us is of any very satisfactory kind. There may be simple persons in the world who would look with awe on such a string of references as the following: 'Tertullian de an., cap. 46; id., lib. i. cap. 82; lib. iii. cap. 28; lib. iv. cap. 25. Artemidorus de Somn., lib. xi. cap. 14 and 49. Fulgentius Mythol., lib. i. Cicero de Divinat., lib. i. See also Leopardi, Dei Sogni, p. 68.'-i. 134. But there is something about the physiognomy of this note which to any one who has had some experience of the artifices of literature, must suggest an uncomfortable suspicion; and, without having attempted to 'see Leopardi,' we are pretty certain that the other references are borrowed from him wholesale. And so it is with Mr. Story's learning throughout. It has a second-hand look; and, in proportion as his references become more plentiful, we find ourselves the less inclined to give him credit for acquaintance with the writings which he cites. The continual blunders in Latin and other foreign words may be charitably accounted for by the supposition that Mr. Story was not in England while his book was in the press, and therefore had not the opportunity of correcting his proof-sheets. We cannot suppose that he wrote such things as Circus Agonale' (ii. 113, 199); or Suetonius in Vit. Titus' (i. 227); or Vopiscus in Vit. Probus' (ib.); that it was he himself who repeatedly gave us cloacina for cloaca (i. 316-7), and Lepsius for Lipsius; who put 'old Jason' for Eson (ii. 315); who made 'versipelles' singular, and 'naumachia' plural (i. 231); or that, when he thought it expedient to mention Philo's Legation to Caligula by its Greek title, he was unable to give us anything more like the correct form than • Πρεσβειας Γπρος αιον (ii. 44). Yet surely Mr. Story, if unable to superintend his own printing, might have secured the help of some competent corrector; or, at least, he might have set the matter right in his second edition. But what are we to say to such a specimen of Mr. Story's Latin as the interpretation of the Italian name for spring-primavera-by 'the first true thing' (i. 87)? Or what excuse can be made for the blunders which crowd the page when he displays his knowledge of history? But we must beg the reader to understand why we notice his blunders, whether of language or of history. It is not that we would blame him for not knowing things which he is in nowise bound to know, but because he pretends, out of place, to a knowledge which he really has not; because he affects an acquaintance with somewhat recondite books, whereas he seems really to know them only through the medium of other books. Little as we like Mr. Story's learning, we relish his wit still less. His jocosity is really overwhelming, and will never leave us any peace. In the midst of descriptions which ought to be simple, he douches us with puns, tags of quotation distorted to facetious uses, and other bad jokes of all sorts, in a way that is quite distressing; and both in the comic and in the graver parts there are, as is common in American writings, too evident traces of a study of cockney models. The style, as might be expected, has all those latest improvements which are fast changing our English tongue to something very different from its older self. Here is a specimen : 'May has come again,-" the delicate-footed May," her feet hidden in flowers as she wanders over the Campagna, and the cool breeze of the |