23 SEPTEMBER 1893, Page 23

King's Mead. By Henry F. Buller. 3 vols. (Hurst and

Blackett.)—This is a novel decidedly above the average of merit. Its interest chiefly lies in the love-affairs of a certain Mar- garet, who loves a most unworthy cousin, and has to be dis- enchanted in a very painful way. Margaret is a well-drawn character, being just the enthusiastic kind of woman that falls in love with and makes an ideal of a most unsuitable man. The Admiral and his son Charlie are more familiar types,—the bluff seaman, who seems to have gone out of fashion along with the old men-of-war, and the "agreeable rattle," who is, happily, still with us. Mr. Buller writes, for the most part, with good taste. Hence our surprise at a deplorably ill-judged paragraph about the "Good Samaritan." He would do well in future to correct his proofs a little more carefully.