Caught in a Trap. By John C. Hutcheson. 3 vols.
(Newby.)— The gentleman who is " caught " is a certain adventurer who runs off with a half-witted girl, expecting to get a fortune with her. The for- tune is hers if she reaches the age of twenty-one, or, marrying before, marries with her mother's consent. The adventurer has boon told that her birthday is on August 27, and marries her on the 28th, and afterwards discovers that she was not born till the 29th. So he loses the money. But is it not a fact—we speak with the diffidence of a lay- man—that a person is legally of age on the day before the birthday ? The plot is made up with a scheme of vengeance, a supposed murder, the love-making of a good couple, and other accessories. The most
noticeable thing in the book is the strange blundering in matters of which one would hardly suppose any man to be ignorant. Ima-
gine a " ritualist" clergyman reading prayers from a lectern, or any clergyman being presented to a living for a period of five years because the patroness wanted to keep a hold upon him. The Latin and the English which Mr. Hutcheson employs are equally extraordinary. In one place we hoar of a bride being led to " Hymen's sacrifical font," and in another are edified with this reflection on the troubles of human life, " Tali sunt sollicit,e yam," a corrupt passage, the emendation of which wo should suggest as a useful exercise for young scholars.
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