The Adventures of Don Lavington. By George Manville Fenn. (S.
W. Partridge and Co.)—We are always glad to see Mr. Manville Penn's name on the title-page of a tale. It promises good entertainment, and never fails to fulfil the promise more or less to our satisfaction. We cannot help thinking, and possibly have said, that of late Mr. Fenn has become somewhat too chary of incident and prodigal of dialogue. This was not the method by which he made his reputation. For studies; of character we look elsewhere. Mr. Fenn makes his personages distinct, and knows how to make them striking. His heroes, too, have a certain distinction. They are not the fortis Gyas, fortisgue Cloanthus, to which we are accustomed in this class of story. This, we may say, is a tale of the press-gang, an old subject, and of New Zealand a century or so ago, one comparatively new.
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