14 DECEMBER 1889, Page 25

Colonel Russell's Baby. By Ellinor Davenport Adams. (Walter Smith and

Innes.)—There is merit in this story ; the affection between the Colonel and the " Baby," and what it worked, can

hardly fail to touch any reader's heart. But surely there is some absurdity also. Here is a child of ten taken away from school because she has been overworked, and sent to attend a Latin class at an " Institute," as something of a compromise, we suppose, between work and play. Her class-fellows are big girls ; and she rises to the position of due. What could be more full of strain to a young child's mind than the effort to keep the place? It seems to us absolutely impossible that a man such as Colonel Russell is described to be could have behaved as he did.