14 DECEMBER 1895, Page 23

A Fallen Star : a Tale of the Seven Years'

War. By Charles Lowe. (Downey and Co.)—Mr. Lowe's story is mainly concerned with the Scottish adventurers at the Court of Frederick the Great. We hear a great deal of these gentlemen, and certainly they did Frederick yeoman service in his wars. Prince Charles Edward, the Pretender, comes and goes in the narrative in a meteoric fashion, and his vicissitudes furnish some lively scenes in the story,—he is the "fallen star." We do not see much campaigning, but see much of Frederick's statecraft, and the terms on which he lived with his faithful Scots. There is, perhaps, a little too much dialogue, but the story is readable ; and Frederick, Marshal Keith, Captain Grant, and the Young Pretender, stand out in strong relief from Mr. Lowe's pages. and the historical interest of the tale is kept up throughout.