2 APRIL 1887, Page 23

A Strange Affair. By W. Oatram Tristram. 9 vols. (Ward

and Downey.)—This is a tragedy in prose,—a tragedy in which there is little or nothing of elevation or nobility, scarcely even of outward dignity, to redeem the horror. A foolish woman, a revengeful Amme-de-chambre, a profligate man, a worldly priest, are the prin- cipal characters, and they work out between them a squalid drama of crime and vengeance. There is a certain power in the story ; but its faults more than counterbalance its merits. Artistically, the greatest mistake is, we should say, the inconsistency between the Cardinal Gaisgole of the epilogue, and the vulgar, sensual prieet, who thinks at least as much of rich Burgundy as of anything else, of the early chapters. It is not of such men that Cardinals are made.