14 MAY 1892, Page 25

The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard, Member of the Institute. From

the French of Anatole France by Lafcadio Hearn. (Osgood, McIlvaine, and Co.)—We hasten to assure our readers that there is nothing tragic about the crime of M. Sylvestre Bonnard. On the contrary, it is a really meritorious action, though it might have exposed the perpetrator to serious legal penalties. More it would not be fair to the author to say. The story is not at all sensational, but a charming study of character, worked out with the most delicate skill. The old scholar; his housekeeper, Therese; the schoolmistress, with her designs upon the scholar's peace;

the heroine, daughter of an old love, from whom he has been separated by a most unhappy fortune,—are all vivid figures. And there is a most picturesque scene from the past, when M. Bonnard the elder, the old aristocrat, and the fire-eating Captain who has fought in the armies of the Empire, appear upon the scene. And then the exquisite style !—an attraction which has been success- fully transferred to the translation by the skill of Mr. Hearn.