26 FEBRUARY 1876, Page 23

The Fool of the Family, and other Tales. By John

Dangerfield. 2 vols. (Sampson Low and Co.)—The story from which these volumes get their name is a good one on the whole. We do not see exactly the author's point. Edward Wynter may have been misjudged by his family, but it must be allowed that the brilliant stroke by -which he achieved fortune was an uncommon success, which, according to his biographer's account, he had given his friends no reason to anticipate. The love-story is prettily told. Among the other tales, Splendide Mendax may be mentioned, for its bright picture of life in the North. On the Stage is a vigorous and graphic sketch. Generally the book is very readable. What does Mr. Dangerfield moan by contrasting the scholarship of " the Scaligers, the Casaubons, and the Bentleys" with "the modern hair-splitting school of verbal criticism ?" Is philology, to which modern scholarship becomes constantly more devoted, " hair- splitting ?"