28 SEPTEMBER 1889, Page 23

Reminiscences of Half - a - Century. By William Glover. (Reming- ton and Co.)—This

is a miscellaneous volume with not as many good stories in it as one might have been expected. Music is the specialty of the author, but he has something to tell us about cricket, d propos of which he bestows well-deserved praise on a.

great player of the past, Fuller Pilch, and, indeed, about many other things. Among the interesting matters touched upon there is a controversy as to the original from which Dickens drew the Brothers Cheeryble." Mr. Glover claims the honour for a certain pair of brothers named Grant. There is certainly a difficulty in the way, for Dickens declared that he had never had any com- munication with the real persons, whereas he certainly met one of the Grants. One can certainly say, after reading what Mr. Glover has to say about this gentleman, that he might well have been the original, even if he was not. The book has some good reading in it, but is too long.