CURRENT LITERATURE.
Memoir of Chief Justice Lefroy. By his Son, Thomas Lofroy, M.A.,' Q.C. (Dublin: Hodges, Foster, and 0o.)—Tho life of that Irish Chief Justice who remained on the Judicial Bench till the ago of ninety, and who was generally supposed to be the original of one of Lever's most brilliant portraits, might properly bo expected to present much interest. Wo regret to say that this book does not answer any such expectations. From first to last it is insufferably tedious, it gives us no idea of the character of its subjects, and the facts it contains are the mere dry bones of biography. It is natural that a eon of Chief Justice Lofroy should look upon the remarks made about his father's ago as effusions of party- jealousy dictated solely by a desire for the appointment of a successor. But with the exception of the statement that the Chief Justice, whose eyes had been weak in youth, could road the newspaper without {spectacles when ho was ninety-three, wo have nothing in this book to chow that the criticisms on him were unfounded. All wo learn about his character is that he was affectionate to his family and had strong religious feelings. It is said that the only time he was put out by the weather was when ho was prevented from flying a kite which he had been making for his grandchildren. With regard to his love of religion, wo hear of his reading the Bible in his private room while waiting for a Verdict, and in one of his charges to the grand jury he says that the -cause of the disturbed state of the country may be found in any indict- ment for murder, being the absence of the fear of God and the instiga- tion of the devil. Wo have no doubt that the author of this book has a sincere attaothment to the memory of his father, but wo do not think be has raised a fitting monument.
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