Paper and Parchment. By Alex. Charles Ewald. (Ward and Downey.)—Mr.
Ewald's new volume of " historical sketches " is interesting and readable,—that is a matter of course. But it un- doubtedly suggests book-making more than any previous volume from the same pen. The mere fact that Mr. Ewald should have included an essay on Nihilism along with papers on such subjects as " The Maid of Norway," " Lucy Hutchinson," and " The Fleet Marriages," in the category of " historical sketches," seems to indicate poverty of material, more especially as we do not learn from this essay anything more than that "two courses, and only two, are open to Russia. She must accede to the demands of the constitutional party, and thus introduce peace and prosperity into her kingdom ; or she must maintain a rigid despotism, and convert the Russia of Alexander into the Russia of Nicholaa." Mr. Ewald is seen, however, to decided advantage when he tells such a not too familiar story as that of Lucy Hutchinson, or when, by " a batch of letters," he illustrates Mary's love for the taciturn William. No more natural letters were ever published than those she wrote him when he was in Ireland, notably that piteous one which closes with : " Farewell. Do but continue to love me, and forgive the taking up so much of your time to your poor wife, who deserves more pity than ever any creature did, and who loves you a great deal too much for her own ease, though it cannot be more than you deserve." Another very good paper is that on Henry Machyn, the too slightly regarded diarist who is believed to have been carried off by the Plague when at its height in London, and whose work is an important authority on the history, and especially on the ecclesiastical history, of the reign of the " bloody " Mary. Equally good, though of a totally different character, is Mr. Ewald's sketch of Sir Fowell Buxton, under the designation of " An Abolitionist." Altogether, although Paper and Parchment cannot be regarded as one of Mr. Ewald's best performances even in book-making, it is one of those convenient and eminently readable books which can be dipped into with pleasure and profit at any moment.
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