stulates, are nakedly
romantic. In them the author deliberately lends enchantment to his
view by withdrawing to a convenient distance from real life. But, once
more, the enchantment is everything and the distance nothing. If I
must find fault with the later of the stories, it will not be with its
general extravagance--for extravagance is part of the secret of
Romance--but with the sordid and very nasty Madame Delhasse. She would
be repulsive enough in any case: but as Marie's mother she is
peculiarly repulsive and, let me add, improbable. Nobody looks for
heredity in a tale of this sort: but even in the fairy tales it is
always the heroine's _step_-mother who ends very fitly with a roll
downhill in a barrel full of spikes.

But great as are the differences between _The God in the Car_ and _The
Indiscretion of the Duchess_--and I ought to say that the former
carries (as it ought) more weight of metal--they have their points of
similarity. Both illustrate conspicuously Mr. Hope's gift of
advancing the action of his story by the sprightly conversation of his
characters. There is a touch of Dumas in their talk, and more than a
touch of Sterne--the Sterne of the _Sentimental Journey_.

"I beg your pardon, madame," said I, with a whirl of my hat.

"I beg your pardon, sir," said the lady, with an inclination of
her head.

"One is so careless in entering rooms hurriedly," I observed.

"Oh, but it is stupid to stand just by the door!" insisted the
lady.

To sum up, these are two most entertaining books by one of the writers
for whose next book one searches eagerly in the publishers' lists. If,
however, he will not resent one small word of caution, it is that he
should not let us find his name there too often. As far as we can see,
he cannot write too much for us. But he may very easily write too much
for his own health.

"TRILBY"

Sept. 14, 1895. Hypnotic Fiction.

A number of people--and I am one--cannot "abide" hypnotism in fiction.
In my own case the dislike has been merely instinctive, and I have
never yet found time to examine the instinct and discover whether or
not it is just and reasonable. The appearance of a one-volume edition
of _Trilby_--undoubtedly the most successful tale that has ever dealt
with hypnotism--and the success of the dramatic version of _Trilby_
presented a few days ago by Mr. Tree, invite one to apply the test.
Clearly there are large numbers of people