his
heroine.

The charm the elder Hawthorne threw over the rocky land of New England
is evident in the _Pot of Gold_, by Edward Richard Shaw (Belford, Clarke
& Co.). Here is the barren, sandy coast, with a few rough fishermen, the
cold, heaving sea, enlightened by no love, but made attractive by the
shadowy play of adventure found in piratical ships, that come and go as
if they were phantoms of a half-forgotten past. With all the dim, misty
character of the piratical craft, the author gives us the coast and its
atmosphere, the rough, ignorant characters of its inhabitants, in a way
to prove that he is an artist and has made good use of his study. To the
average reader, as well as the more cultured, this book is very
attractive.

Edgar Saltus, whose immature book, _The Truth about Tristrem Varick_,
won him wide mention as the author of a grotesque bit of immorality,
comes to the front again in _Eden_, a novel published by Belford, Clarke
& Co. There is the marked progress in this volume we prophesied in the
young author. He has great ability, marred by certain affectations, that
will in time, we hope, disappear. Mr. Saltus has been roughly assaulted
by the critics. He probably deserved all that he got. We can say to him,
as the fond parent said to his son after the youth had been kicked in
the face by a mule, "He will not be so handsome hereafter, but he will
have more sense."

Mr. Saltus builds his novels on the French methods. His narrative and
conversations find expression in short epigrammatic sentences. To the
average reader this is easy and delightful, for there is a sense of
wisdom that to such is quite captivating. To the more cultured it has
the effect of an old-fashioned corduroy road over a swamp. It simply
jolts one, and the knowledge that the short sticks and logs cover a
quagmire is not comforting. The characters are nearly all alike; and
their conversation so much so, that to a listener to one who reads
aloud, omitting the names, it seems to be one person dealing out worldly
wisdom in short, jerky sentences. As a specimen of style we quote:

"Then, Miss Menemon, you must know the penalty which is paid for
success." He straightened himself, the awkwardness had left him,
and he seemed taller than when he entered the room. "Yes," he
continued, "the door to success is very low, and the greater is he
that bends the most. Let a man succeed in any one thing, and
whatever may be