18 JULY 1903, Page 22

Nine Points of the Law. By Wilfrid S. Jackson. (John

Lane. 6s.)—It is a mistake, as greater novelists than Mr. Jackson have found, to begin by making your hero a fool, and giving him such a name as " Wayzgoose." There comes a time when he has to be taken seriously. Some kind of a love-story is de rigueur ; and how is this to be provided, seeing that the public will not have both principals fools ? Nine Points of the Law is somewhat thin. The plot might serve for a scene or two, possibly for an act, but not for a whole comedy. It is sufficiently amusing, though not always easy to follow. Perhaps the best thing for the reader to do is to take it as it comes, and get what entertainment he can without thinking of what has gone before or what is to follow.