28 NOVEMBER 1874, Page 25

Ironopolis. By the Rev. E. G. Charlesworth. 2 vols. (Morgan

and Hebron.)—One expects from the title a tale about manufacturers and artisans, -with the scene laid in some busy town of forges. But "Ironopolis "—an unnecessary and atrocious barbarism, by the way— has very little to do with the story. A certain bank in it comes, or very nearly comes, to ruin, and puts the hero of the story, if there be a hero, to much inconvenience, and that is the only important fact that we hear about it, except, indeed, that one of the characters commits a forgery, which has something to do with it. Generally the scene of the story lies elsewhere. Though not positively ill written, it is a very rambling and ill-contrived affair. Does not Mr. Charlesworth know, for instance, what a prejudice he excites against himself in every sen- sible person by such a name as "Stethoscope," with which he labels his first sketch? Surely this is a very rude way of letting us know that this particular character is too self-conscious or too fond of self- inspection. All that we can say for the novel is that it is a little better than the last which we saw from the same pen.