Goldin the Furnace. By M. H. Cornwall- Legh. (R.T.S. Es.
Gd.) —The two cousins, Mary and Afilly, are feminine varieties of the two characters so familiar in fiction,—the" industrious "and the " idle " apprentice. The contrast between the strength and honesty of the one, and the feebleness and shiftiness of the other, is excellently drawn out. And Milly's rapid descent from bad to worse is described with a vigour that never passes into extrava- gance. But the special feature of the story, that which raises it above the average of other works of the kind, is to be found in chaps. 13-15, when Mary's life in prison is described (Milly has committed theft and contrives to have the blame cast upon her innocent cousin). One is reminded of Charles Reade's " Never Too Late to Mend." The story is wholly different. Miss Corn- wall-Legh has no special purpose, except to show the working of real Christian principle. But in power her work is quite fit to be ranked with that of the great novelist. We have seldom seen anything so good. And what a charming little touch is this. When Mary's innocence has been proved, and she is walking away from the gaol with the betrothed lover who has steadfastly believed in her all through, she will "buy him a wedding present." She had but 2s. 3d., earned by some sixty days' work in the prison laundry—for, as Mary puts it, "one could make nearly a halfpenny a day, if one was very induztrions "—and that she is bent on spending in this way. This is as pretty a piece of pathos as can easily be found.
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