The Pace of a Soul. By Joseph Dawson. (Unicorn Press.)—
Perhaps the assumption of the rank of a Baronet on a card would be the least likely to be detected of such forgeries, but the author should have known better than to trespass on common- sense by making Gilbert Horkley, a wealthy man who had been to Eton and Cambridge, capable of such a barefaced imposture. There are good things in The Face of a Soul, but improbabilities of this sort rather weaken the interest of the story. The visit of Horkley to the studio of the artist whose picture had upset Horkley's plans is really farcical. The idea which gives the title to the volume is a striking one, and it is a pity that such absurdities should spoil it.
Two volumes may be mentioned together as dealing with the same subject and covering nearly the same period. These are A School History of English Literature, by Elizabeth Lee, Vol. I., Chaucer to Marlowe (Blackie and Son), and The Intermediate Text- book of English Literature, by A. J. Wyatt, M.A., and W. H. Low, M.A., Vol. I., to 1580 (W. B. Clive) Miss Lee, though nominally taking Chaucer as the e,arliergimit, gives alconsiderable amount of space to the writers before him. On the other hand, Marlowe, who was only a lad in 1580 (he was born in 1564), does not come within the range of Messrs. Wyatt and Low. Between the two volumes we do not see much difference. Messrs. Wyatt and Low are a little fuller, especially in their references (an example may be found in the notice of Sir John Mandeville). On the other Land, we are inclined to prefer Miss Lee's style. The Intermediate Text-book is, we should say, one of the "University Tutorial Series."
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