Lorraine : a Romance. By R. W. Chambers. (G. P.
Putnam's Sons. 6a.)—This is a very spirited story of the fall of the Second Empire. The heroine is finely imagined; there is a touch of real genius in the way in which she is made the centre of the action of the tale. But the mystery of her parentage is a little extravagant, while it leads to no particular results. The descrip- tions of fighting are given with power and are effective with their sombre colouring. We could willingly have spared the episode of Sir Theodore and Alixe ; it is painful and superfluous. Mr. Chambers, too, goes out of his way to disparage Gambetta. Such digressions are an offence against art, not to speak of what we cannot but think the injustice of this particular estimate. The verdict of history so far has not been that Gambetta was nothing but an empty declaimer.
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