Kate. By Asmodeus. 3 vols. (City of London Publishing Com-
pany.)—This is certainly a clever book, though the writer wants practice in his art. The good things—and the career of Marisa, the too ingenious and ambitions hero, and the sayings and doings of the municipal authorities, are particularly good—do not make up a good story. There is much, too, that is certainly not good. Not even the ultimate reformation of Delamoor, and the satisfaction of seeing how the germ of something good can be made to grow even in a roué, can reconcile us to this introduction of his character. We found also the incidents of third.rate sporting life very tedious. These and his dis- agreeable characters the author introduces with an excellent purpose; but he has hardly sufficient skill at present to deal with them satis- factorily. That there is much promise in the book, however, is evident.
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