Barbara. By Louise Clarisso Reynolds. (Ward, Lock, and Tyler.) —There
is a fashion in plots, as in other things. Tale-writers, of late, have been inclined to a combination of this kind :—A. young ward and a middle-aged guardian cherish for each other an unknown affection. But the guardian has a son ; the young people, he thinks, must be in love with each other. Then we have the noble resolve to give up his evil) feelings. Then some such incident as the discovery that the son is somebody else's son will occur ; and finally, things will be brought to a conclusion more or less satisfactory. There is nothing particularly attractive about this. On the contrary, the suggestion of a rivalry in love between father and son is odious. Beyond this, we do not see any- thing to be objected to in Barbara, except it be an objection that it can scarcely even amuse any one to read it.
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