The American. By Henry James. (Osgood, Boston, U.S.; Triibner, London.)—An
American who has made his fortune in tho States goes to spend it, after the manner of his race, in Paris. His first experi- ence is to meet with a young lady of the adventurer type, who is copying pictures in the Louvre, not because she has any kind of skill in painting, but because this is a convenient and respectable way of exhibiting herself. The American acts the munificent patron, but sees through and checkmates the young woman's scheme to secure a prize better worth having even than high prices for worthless copies. His second experience is to meet with a lady of the highest aristocracy, who is possessed of every charm and virtue. They are engaged, the family first assenting, then for reasons which it is not easy to under- stand, withdrawing this assent. The story, if such it can be called, ends with showing us beauty and virtue in a convent, and vice triumphant in Hyde Park. There is much cleverness in the pictures of Parisian life, but except the " American " himself, there is no one for whom it is possible to feel any kind of regard. Madame do Cintrd herself, whom the hero loves, we have to take, so to speak, on trust, for we see little reason for his thinking her so admirable. It may easily be concluded, therefore, that the effect of the whole book is scarcely agreeable.
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