CURRENT LITERATURE.
GIFT.BOOKS.
John Standish ; or, the Harrowing of London, by the Rev. E. Gilliatt (Seeley and Co.), is one of those carefully written and admirably printed historical romances which Messrs. Seeley and Co. have lately acquired a deservedly high reputation for pub- lishing. It deals with the period in English history, to a certain extent of both political and intellectual awakening, which pre- ceded the peasant rising under Wat Tyler. Historical personages such as Chaucer, Langland, and the giant monk of Westminster, of whom Dean Stanley speaks in his "Memorials," figure in it. In some respects it covers the same ground as Mr. Minto's novel, " The Mediation of Ralph Hardelot," and those who wish to appreciate the freedom allowed to, or at all events taken by, romancists, should compare the story of the death of Wat Tyler as told by Mr. Minto, with the same story as told by Mr. Gilliatt. But most of the readers of this book will enjoy the portions of it which are decidedly romantic, rather than decidedly historical, such as the two love-affairs of John Standish and Carlotta Langland, and of Alured of Dene and Sybil de Feschamps, which cross each other. It is rather a pity, however, as we think, at all events from the artistic point of view, that Sybil, from being a frivolous girl, should have become a political traitress, even although this leads up to the best-told incident in the " harrowing of London,"—the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon of Sudbury. It should be said, too, to Mr. Gilliatt's credit, that, instead of falling off the more he writes, he steadily improves. The illustrations of John Standish are cleverly executed ; and the only fault that can be found with the book on this score, is that the colouring is a trifle too bright.
Previous page
