4 AUGUST 1888, Page 25

Be as by Fire. By J. F. Seton. (London Literary

Society.)— There are some two or three heroines and as many heroes in this tale. The heroes, indeed, seem to be all of them in love with one lady, who eventually chooses the least favoured one after another suitor has disappeared. There is a vast quantity of unnecessary writing which has not even the excuse of mediocrity to recommend it. The surroundings are chiefly those of Rome and its neighbour- hood, and except to introduce the Eternal City we cannot conceive what reasons the author could give for giving to an overburdened literature such an eminently useless and unprofitable volume.