12 JANUARY 1884, Page 22

'Twixt France and Spain. By E. Ernest Bilbrongh. (Sampson Low

and Co.)—We must own to feeling a prejudice against "gossip- ing guides," a class in which Mr. Bilbroagh avowedly includes his volume. Gossip is not always unwelcome, but it should not have a permanent form. Let it be forgotten, as soon as it has ful- filled its function of amusing. A joke that is good enough for the moment is apt to grow terribly vapid by being kept. If the author had cut out all his fan, and especially his poems, he would have made his volume of a more handy size,—and, if we may judge of others by ourselves, more acceptable. Some marked qualities of the guide he certainly possesses, and his appendices, which are devoted to useful information, are just what are wanted.