NOVELS.—Stauley Brereton. 3 vols. By W. H. Ainsworth. (Routledge and
Co.)—This, the last novel by the late Mr. Ainsworth, is not, as we fondly hoped, an historical romance, bright with the colour of a picturesque age, and flowing with the movement of ad- venturous times. Perhaps our hopes, based on the implicit worship of schoolboy days, were unreasonable, though, when we became reconciled to Mr. Ainsworth writing a modern novel, we soon found that his band had not lost its cunning ; that under his guidance the Englishman of to-day is as daring, if not so graceful, as his ancestors under Tudor or Stuart. The plot of Stanley Brereton, which is developed in three closely-printed volumes, does not readily lend itself to brief exposition, and this will be a merit in the eyes of many readers, who delight in story largely relieved by vigorous incident. To finch, Mr. Ainsworth's last work will be grateful ; while to those who owe him many hours of the keen enjoyment of youth, it will be welcome, for the sake of the writer who first gave them a glimpse of the land of historic romance. —Via Crude. 2 vols. By Louisa Ronile. (Remington and Co.)— Miss Ronile's novel seems to be the result of much reading of con- temporary fiction, rather than of strong personal impulse. That prevalent device of the novelist, the ancient legend, gives its name to the book, and at the same time provides occasions for sentimental reflection. The interest of the plot arises from the perversity of the characters, who are careful to love the wrong persons, until the author interferes to bring about the proper arrangement of emotions, by killing one gentleman, reforming another, and inducing a musical gardener to declare his real and aristocratic rank. A runaway horse and a ruined tower do their best to provide the infusion of incident, requisite to relieve the languid course of the story. The similarity between the incident of the locking in the tower, and that which occurs in M. Feuillet's " Roman d'un Jeune Homme Pauvre," is not of much importance, except as a further argument for the essential unity of the human intellect. Miss Ronile makes a praiseworthy effort at character study, which she appears to think identical with the rela- tion of superficial eccentricities, but in the love-making she succeeds very fairly. Her touch is light and graceful, and she really persuades the reader that the lovers are alive. With a less rudimentary style and a jester conception of her own powers, Miss Ronile will doubtless produce something worthy of a warmer welcome than that we feel justified in giving to Via Crucis.—Doctor L'Estrange. By Annette Lyster. 3 vols. (Tinsley Brothers.)— One is inclined to guess that the author altered the plot of her story in the course of writing. It opens with some tragical scenes, the outcome of which is that Chandos L'Estrange and his brother End that they are illegitimate. These scenes serve, in fact, only to introduce the characters of the drama, and, we should perhaps add, to show us that Chandos, who might have kept the secret, but refuses to do so, is an honest man. Nothing more comes of them, though we may hazard the conjecture that a marriage in the United States may not have been invalidated by the fact that it was performed by a man who personated a clergyman. The tale settles down into a love-story of the ordinary kind, but told, we can honestly say, with a liveliness and force somewhat above the average. Chandos and his brother, the weak and self-indulgent Florian, form an effective con- trast. Dr. Hammond and his sister are capital sketches in their way ; and Zoe, with her wilfulness and her repentance, is a figure that makes a distinct impression on the mind.—The Lieu- tenant : a Story of the Tower. By the Author of "Estelle." (Bell and Sons.)—We have in this -volume another proof of the author's genius for describing child.life. A delightful little creature, Effie Barrington, makes acquaintance with a family of sisters, who are her neighbours in the square, and a special friendship with one of them, Monica by name. The story of this friendship leads us to hear of Monica's own childhood, in which the strict and somewhat sombre regimen of a Puritan home had been brightened by a romantic friendship with the " Lieutenant," a young officer quartered in the Tower. Nothing could be more gracefully told than the story of how the life of this child is enlarged and beautified by the chance
acquaintance that she makes with Hugh Fielding. She is a very sweet creature to read about, from the days when she thinks that " a catechism was a sort of insect, that turned red in stewed pears,' to those when we have her happily married to her " Roland." In- deed, all the characters in the story are gracefully and delicately drawn. We must not forget to mention some very charming verses, those especially entitled " To a Robin in Church."
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