The Crossing-Sweeper; or, a Broken Life. By Felix Weiss. (Grif-
fith and Farran.)—A former tale by Mr. Weiss was favourably noticed in these columns. The present one was written, as the preface informs us, many years ago, when the author was quite a young man, and the idea of its publication arose from the suggestion of friends who had read some copies privately printed by the author's children for their amusement during winter evenings. The work makes no pretension to remarkable originality or literary execution, but it is a story pleasantly told, and generally in a simple, but effective manner. One or two little touches there arc of a melodramatic tone ; but after all, there is really a good deal of melodrama in the sayings and doings of the class with which the tale is chiefly concerned. The characters of the old crossing-sweeper and his friend the waterman are really well drawn, and the chapters describing the associations of an invalid's life in an
hospital are particularly well written. We can sincerely recommend the little tale as one above the average of this class of literature:
Previous page
