Fashionable Philosophy, and other Sketches. By Laurence Oliphant. (W. Blackwood
and Sons.)—This volume displays in a remarkable way the versatility of this writer. "The Brigand's Bride" is a most charming little story, with merits curiously different from what we are accustomed to associate with Mr. Oliphant's work. There is a lightness of touch about it which does not surprise ns, indeed, but which we hardly expect to find, and there is no suspicion of a moral or hidden meaning. The "Comedy of Affinities," again, is a capital little farce which might, we should think, be adapted effectively for the stage. As for the "Sisters of Thibet," it reads like an elaborate satire on "Esoteric Buddhism," but we confess to feeling somewhat in the dark about it. In any case, the volume is fall of excellent reading from the first page to the last, and is worth any number of the average "shilling shocker."
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