2 APRIL 1887, Page 23

In Four Reigns the Recollections of Althea Allingham, 1785-1842. By

Emma Marshall. (Seeley and Co.)—This tale has something of the air of eelf-conaciousness which it in so difficult to remove from the autobiographical form of narrative, but it is a pleasant and thoughtful book. The time is well chosen, for there is a great difference between the manners of 1785, when Althea's experiences begin, and those of 1842, when they end. This is given without exaggeration and with- out effort. The moral is unpret,endingly inculcated, and the story, if without any very startling surprise, is distinctly interesting.