28 JULY 1888, Page 23

had at least the merit of furnishing the late Mr.

Grant with a series of subjects for his military novels. His plan was to mix the ingredients of love and war, and to mix them in such a proportion as might seem to suit the importance of the special campaign

which it was his business to introduce. In the case of Love's Labour Won it was the last Burmese War that furnished him with

a subject. As this was not a very important matter as far as fighting was concerned, whatever its consequences may be, it occupied a comparatively small part of the story. This is to be regretted, because Mr. Grant was never so successful as in describing the camp or battle-field. In the drawing-room scenes he did not do more than passably well. The tale now before us has little distinction about it. Its chief interest lies in the fact that it was, we suppose, the last work of an accomplished novelist, who, though he fell below the standard of his early work, was never dull, and certainly never anything but wholesome.