Bernie's Bargain. By J. Chappell. (J. F. Shaw.)—" Bernie" makes
a friend of a lad, whose acquaintance he had made under not very favourable circumstances, by some very honourable conduct in the matter of a purchase. The story tells us how his honesty turns out—it must be confessed, by very round- about ways—te be the best policy. Surely the coincidence of the child's father suddenly appearing to rescue him from a burning house is an unnecessary demand upon our faith. From the same publisher we have Lilian's Hope, by Catharine Shaw, a tale of domestic life with a strong religious purpose, insisted upon in a way that is not altogether in accord with our way of thinking.—Miss Mollie and her Boys, by L. Marston (same publisher), is a story told with a certain pathos, and with some literary skill. But one asks, for whom is this kind of book meant ? Surely not for children, whose young hearts ought not to be saddened with such reflections, and who cannot be expected to take in whatever deeper meaning they may have.
We have received reprints of three tales bearing the common title of The Woodruff Stories, by the Rev. F. A. Goulding (Rout- ledge and Son). The three are :—Sal-o-Quah ; or, Boy-Life among the Cherokees,—Nacoochee ; or, Boy-Life from Home,—and &pet° ; or, Child-Life on the Tide-Water. Mr. Goulding was the author, it will be remembered, of " The Young Marooners."
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