2 JUNE 1888, Page 25

Mellony. By Abel Pallion. (Remington and Co.)—Mellony, an orphan, goes

to live with her four aunts, and consequently leads a somewhat uninteresting life, until, when conveying an invalided aunt to a warmer climate, there seems a chance of her getting married. This auspicious event does not, however, come off, and she goes home to become a successful schoolmistress, married just before the book closes. We cannot say that any of the characters inspire any but the most lukewarm interest, Mellony possessing, perhaps, the most defined outline of a character, though it is a most decidedly unprepossessing one. Is it right to speak of a gentle- man's suicide as being consequent on the failure of a bank ? Do bankers always commit suicide on the failure of their business ?