3 APRIL 1880, Page 23

CURRENT LITERATURE.

Loyal and Lawless. By Click Ralph Burke. 2 vols. (Chap- man and Hall.)—Mr. Burke's novel deals with subjects which are

not appropriate to these columns. "Loyal" and "Lawless" are intended, we suppose, to represent India and Ireland respectively (though, indeed, the obedience of India, as Mr. Burke describes it can hardly be characterised by the epithet " loyal ") ; and the story is mainly a vehicle for conveying some very pointed and emphatic reflections on the right and wrong methods of government which ought to be or are employed in dealing with the two countries. Ono thing is quite certain,—that an eminently readable book is tho result. The personal interest of the tale is not so subservient to the political purpose as is commonly the case. On the con- trary, the hero and heroine are quite vivid personages, whose fortunes we follow with sympathy. The episode of Clementine, might have been spared ; nor do we understand the purposo of Mr. Burke, in the strange tale of tho horoscope. Surely it is not likely that Lord Belmont should have been ignorant of the relationship between Mrs. Crayshaw and Lady Cecil.