regarding the calamity are in
keeping with their characters, and though any reader will agree with
Christy that Esther was the more deserving of happiness, no one will be
sorry that her own love-story should find a pleasant denouement. As an
argument in favor of mixed marriages the book would have been stronger
if Esther's lover had been separated from her only by prejudice, and not
by unworthiness as well, but the pathos of the story is in no way marred
by the neglect to clinch an argument. Like all Miss Laffan's novels, it
is simple in plot. Construction is not her strong point, and though
_Christy Carew_ has more story to it than her former books, it is by no
means technically perfect. There is a certain hurry about it: its good
things are not driven home, and effects upon which more skilful artists
would dwell at length are dropped in a concentration upon other objects.
The book, in the American edition, is also marred by numerous
typographical defects that betray a singular laxity in proof-reading.

_Hogan, M.P._, was published in 1876: Miss Laffan's career as a novelist
is therefore only four years old. We will not attempt to cast its
future: we have simply endeavored, as far as space would admit, to point
out the soundness of its foundation and the method by which it has been
laid. In all that she has written there is a reserved strength, a
sincerity and conscientiousness, which mark her work as unmistakably
genuine. A large store of observation lies behind all her writing, and
an intellectual power of a very high order is apparent throughout. What
she lacks is a mellowness and breadth of art which would enable her to
blend and concentrate her qualities--to bring the realism of _Hogan,
M.P._, into unison with the grace of _The Honorable Miss Ferrard_ and
the pathos and sympathy of _Christy Carew_--to give form and
completeness to her work. Then Ireland would have a great novelist.

The Reminiscences of an Idler. By Henry Wikoff. New York:
Fords, Howard & Hulbert.

The reminiscences of idle men are apt to be more entertaining than those
of busy men. The idler, passing his time in search of amusement, can
hardly fail to communicate it when he yields up his store of
experiences. Being disengaged, his mind is more observant and more
retentive of the by-play of life, which is the only amusing part of it,
than that of one of the chief actors can possibly be. Moreover, idlers
are the natural confidants of