An" Ill-Regulated Mind." By Katharine Wylde. (Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh.)—Miss
Wylde has given us an original tale under this title, which may, with a little alteration, be applied to her book; for although it contains good scenes, vivid description, and much real pathos, it might be well described as an "ill-regulated novel." The leading characters are uninteresting, except the unlucky heroine, and she is imbecile. The book is carefully and thoughtfully written, and very dull notwithstanding. It is imbued throughout with a spirit of philosophic melancholy, which suggests the idea that our authoress may have taken George Eliot as her model, without possessing the wit
and humour which enabled that great writer to induce her readers to swallow much philosophy in the guise of a novel, almost without dis- covering it. Many people found out afterwards that they had been imbibing wisdom with somewhat of the exultation of the Frenchman when he was told that he "talked prose" every day. But there are, indeed, few people who can follow in the footsteps of the greatest novelist of the age with any prospect of success; Miss Wylde is not among the number.
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