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CHILDE HAROLD. THIRD CANTO.
Among the recently announced desiderata of orie of t he big book concerns no little prominence is given the "The Castaway," a book to which particular attention is called because it is the "romance of the loves of Byron." Now the perusal of such a " romance" may be diverting occupation- there are many reasons why it should be so, of course-and such reference to the publication as may be made here is not to be construed adversely. The book will easily lend itself to popularization among a certain class of readers for to Milady the thing !1ext in interest to her own affairs d'amour is that of someone else, be it historical or current, real or fictional. vVe can have no quarrel with the writer or publishers of such a book,for the nib of our pen is guiltless of any of the toppling crowns of L'etterdom and we do not now intend to tarnish our escutcheon with the downfall of any of the lights in the path of knowledge. But we beg leave to say that equal in interest to and far surpassing the "loves of Byron'' in value is the study of the poet's heart as he himself chose to reveal it to us in his works. "Erudition," said a clever man, "threatens to usurp the function of taste." The knowledge of the tangled condition of Byron's heartstrings is a species, however dubious, of an erudition. Inasmuch then, as there are those whose taste is to be stimulated rather than their erudition is to be encouraged and insofar as those most likely to read "The Castaway" with avidity are the very ones to whom the protagonist's greatest message is addressed, do we dissent from the project of widely disseminating the none too wholesome details which went to make a portion of the life story _of the bard of Newstead Abbey. But we travel too swiftly-anon we will come to the