Opposite Neighbours. A novel in two volumes. (Bentley.)—The au thor
commences this work by introducing us to two families, whose sole connection is that they chance to live opposite to each other. The one consists of Mr. Waylie, his wife, and daughter, and a certain Mr. Smith, who eventually turns out to be Mr. Waylie'a elder brother ; the other of Captain Winchester, his wife, two sons, two daughters, and certain infants who shall be nameless. To these the author adds two other families ; Mr. Studding (whose first wife was Mrs. Winchester's sister), his second wife, and his daughter by his first wife. 2. Mr. Hensleigh, a very wicked man, his wife, two daughters, and son. The author then traces the history of these seventeen people. We do not know which is the hero or the heroine, and except that Mr. Hensleigh has robbed Mr. Smith, alias Waylie, of 30,0001., and that a son of Captain Winchester marries Miss Waylie, the destiny of no one of the seventeen persons is in any way controlled by the conduct of any other of them, and even these incidents merely come out at the end of the book, without having influenced the story in any way. We would gladly tell the reader what were the criminalities of Mr. Hensleigh, if we could only understand them. And he should know why Mr. Waylie called himself Smith, and why he resumed his real name, if we could make out ourselves. As it is, we will give a fair average specimen of the writing. Richard Winchester is employed in some iron works, where he soon makes himself indispensable. Mr. Shell, his employer, therefore, calls on Captain Winchester, and proposes to marry Richard to his only daughter and heiress. The Captain replies, "You are as honourable as candid ; let me be candid too .. . . your daughter is clever and hand- some, and has received an education which she has known how to profit by. You know my circumstances. It was with a struggle that I gave up the idea of a learned profession for Richard ; but his talent is not lost nor his excellence wasted; I see the hand of an overruling Providence in all this. Mr. Shell only wrung his band and went away." The gram- mu is throughout of a most peculiar character.
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