CURRENT LITERAT LIRE.
MARY CHRISTIE.
A Tardiness in Nature, and other Papers. By Mary Christie. Edited, with Introductory Note and Memoir, by Maud Withers. (University Press, Manchester. 3s.)—This volume contains a selection from what her friends think most worth preserving in the literary work of Mary Christie, and few will read it without wishing that there was twice as much to read. The present writer, who was not personally acquainted with Miss Christie, recognises with pleasure articles contributed in past years to the Spectator and the Guardian, and does not forget how the initials "M. E. C." in the latter newspaper came to mean a writer with a real talent for thoughtful and suggestive criticism. Miss Chriatie's independent mind and excellent taste were by no means limited to such familiar, though always interesting, subjects as the work and influence of Thackeray, George Eliot, Stevenson. The article on Mrs. Ritchie's stories, reprinted here, is a charming tribute to one of the most fascinating, though not now the most popular, of writers ; and there were others, not included in this collection, which showed a clearness and wideness of view not always to be found among distinguished critics. Miss Christie was for many years a valued contributor to the Spectator. She was also on the staff of the Journal of Education and other papers. To the Spectator, about ten or twelve years ago, she contributed several delightful papers on Hew Gardens, as well as one on Stonehenge, and others dealing with the West of England. The short and clever article on Cordelia, "A Tardiness in Nature," which gives its name to this volume, has never before been published. There is mush of more purely personal interest in the book; letters, and a long article dealing with the writer's religious experience and her return from Positivism to the Church of England. This, with the Memoir, gives a true and touching picture of a singularly beautiful and attractive character, whose influence, as well as her active work in the world, were consider- able, and always directed towards the help and support of weaker fellow-creatures. We hope that this record of Miss Christie's life and work may meet with many and appreciative readers.
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