28 JUNE 1902, Page 39

The Frown of Majesty. By Albert Lee. (Hutchinson and Co.

6s.) We found Mr. Lee's story less easy to follow than we could have wished. He brings a great multitude of characters upon his stage, and it is somewhat puzzling to follow their movements. That

there is a plot we do not deny, but it is over-complex. Writers of fiction cannot expect a reader to spend as much time over them as one might give to Thucydides, or even Gibbon. Nevertheless, The Frown of Majesty is good. It reminds us, without suggesting a disparaging comparison, of Mr. Stanley Weyman. One thing, however, leaves just a little feeling of nausea,—that the hero, after showing so much resource and constancy, expresses such delight " to have exchanged the frown of Majesty for the royal smile."