16 OCTOBER 1897, Page 26

By Sartal Sands. By Edward N. Hoare, M.A. (S.P.C.K.)— This

is a very curious, but also in a way very effective, story of the Isle of Man, of smuggling, and of adventure chiefly as a chastening moral and religious discipline. Michael Thutall, who has the most of this adventure to go through, recalls to some extent Tom Thurnall in Kingsley's "Two Years Ago." He and

his relatives are the best sketches in the book. Mr. Hoare writes with great care, and has taken great pains in constructing his plot. At the same time it may be said without any disparage- ment that he might have made more of the Isle of Man, Black Quaggin, and the smugglers. His dialogues are also a trifle too long.