CURRENT • LITERATURE.
The Wreck of' the Grosvenor.' (Sampson Low and Co.)—We do not undertake to answer for the accuracy of the nautical details of this extraordinarily interesting story, our own ignorance in these respects being such as to render us perfectly content with the " handling " of the Grosvenor 'as heroin described, but we do not hesitate to pro- nounce the book a fascinating ono. It has all the attraction which belongs to stories of perils by sea, more peculiarly than to any other kind of adventure, and is also a very pretty and sympathetic love-story. It is admirably written, in a clear and fluent style, which never permits the reader's attention to flag for a moment, and it abounds in descriptive passages, full of force and colour. Considering that the mutiny of one ship's crew at sea must necessarily be very like the mutiny of another ship's crew, and that stories of mutiny are numerous, the author has contrived a sufficiently ingenious variation on the theme ; and the pro- voking cause of the mutiny, the rascally cheating of the crew in the matter of the provisions for the voyage, is detailed with a matter-of-fact plainness which enhances the effect of the terrible scenes to which the men's exasperation gives rise. There is one incident so dramatic, that in this season of revived melodrama we fully expect to see it repro- duced upon the stage. The faithful boatswain, who has contrived to have it believed that he has fallen overboard, while he is in reality con- cealed in the hold, waiting for the villain who is coming below to scuttle the ship, is a fine fellow, and his brave deeds revive some of the enthusiasm with which we used to read sea-stories when we were young. The abandoning of the ' Grosvenor' and the description of the fright- ful storm, in which the gallant ship sprung a leak, are very fine, and the characters of the persons concerned, the second mate and the rescued girl, are well drawn, not in any way exaggerated or over-sen- timental. Although sea-stories are very much liked, whore they are liked at all, they are not to every one's taste, otherwise we should be tempted to foretell a great popularity with novel-readers for the story of the mutiny of the crew and the wreck of the Grosvenor.'
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