Up to the Mark. By Harriett Boultwood. (J. F. Shaw
and Co.) —Harold Seymour gives us, in the form of a diary, a year's ex- perience of a schoolboy's life and temptations. With a little of the prig about him, he is yet a thorough boy of the genuine type, and his diary is a faithful reflection of all that is impulsive and best in a boy of his age. But we would ask the writer, does she really believe that any boy of from thirteen to fourteen years old, not decidedly above the average, could write such a grammatical diary, and use such smooth periods ? Now and then occur sentences which no boy could write, and, indeed, they are hardly masculine. Not the less, however, does the writer show a quick insight into many of the ruling motives of a boy's existence and sympathy with his feelings. And to do so successfully is an art not given to many.
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