10 JULY 1869, Page 22

Twice Refused. By Charles E. Stirling. 2 vols. (Tinsloy.)—This tale

is fairly up to the mark in cleverness and interest. There are some well-conseived and well-described scones in it ; the characters are dis- tinct, and the reader, though-ho will exclaim more than once as he pro- ceeds against the improbability of the story, will most likely go on to the end. And the moral is beyond all reproach. Hero and heroine are punished for their errors, but not with a punishment that revolts the moral sense. Worldly-minded young men will learn that they should

might have been compressed into three words,—" they want Sin- not trifle with the better temper that prompts them to prefer true love cerity,"—and a remarkable paper by Mr. Proctor on the "Ever- to self-interest ; and young ladies generally, that if they say "No" when Widening World of Stars." Mr. Proctor thinks he has proved, and, they mean "Yes," they may have to suffer the horrors of a voyage to we believe, is held by astronomers to have proved that some at Australia and the greater retribution of being driven to ask, rather than answer.