Dick Temple. By James Greenwood. 3 vols. (Ghetto and Windup.)
—Mr. Greenwood is well known to have certain necessary qualifica- tions of the novelist. He has great powers of description, and he is not without imagination. But nevertheless he has not the least idea of bow to write a novel, and it is quite necessary for him to tell us, as he does tell us, in his title-page that Dick Temple belongs to that class of litera- ture. The first chapter of the book introduces us to the hero, who is awaiting, not without disgust, the arrival of a country cousin, to whom heris to show London. This gentleman, Mr. Softleigh by name, appears. He has been taken-in by sharpers with the usual money-trick, and a considerable part of the first volume is occupied with a description of how he gets his purse back. Then we have Hanwell described. Then comes an interview with an old man who is in the carrier-pigeon busi- ness, and a consequent visit to some haunt of thieves in the East of London. This brings in a tragical, and as it seems to us, improbable story, of a young woman carried away by one of the thieves from her home. Finally, we have the history of Mr. Temple and his friends going into the money-lending business,—how they are swindled, and how they avenge themselves on the swindler. All this while two love- stories have been going on. Whether these and other matters in which the friends are concerned are brought to a happy termination the reader may, if he pleases, discover for himself. Mr. Greenwood has seen a number of curious persons and places, and while he keeps strictly to this line, he is sufficiently amusing.
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