26 JUNE 1897, Page 43

The Wise and the Wayward. By G. S. Street. (J.

Lane.)—This is a " society " story, very clever and very depressing. We are introduced in the first chapter to two worthies of the older generation.—" old Mrs. Rowe, of Ashton, and Mr. Wilmot, her oldest friend," and they are people well worth knowing. Alas ! they are the only true samples of the kind that we are permitted to see. We are forced to recognise the truth of Mr. Street's por- traits. They are only too lifelike. But what a dreary procession they make! The story is naught; it is not the thing for novelists of Mr. Street's kind to have much of a story. But if we must be content with studies, let there be something noble about them.