The Quality of Mercy. By Harold Vallings. 2 vols. (Gardner
and Co.)—The writer claims the authorship of an earlier book which, by its title of " The Superior Sex," seems to indicate a satire on man ; the book itself we do not remember. If this be so, The Quality of Mercy must be intended to restore the balance. It is woman here who suffers the lash. " Their meanness suffocates me," as one of the characters remarks, and the story is a not in- appropriate comment on the saying. But for downright, outrageous villainy, man still bears the palm. A certain Mr. Fawkes is quite heroic in this respect. After other misdeeds, he contrives, in the course of a few pages, nearly to drown a rival, and actually to drown a woman whom he loves, to commit a murder, and then to kill himself. The reader may suppose that the story is not a very pleasant one, and he will be right ; but it is not without relief and occasional brightness.
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