Good Words makes a most promising start for the year.
Mrs, Oliphant begins a new story, " The Marriage of Elinor," which, although it would bo premature to pronounce a judgment at so early a stage, will, it is already clear, have a strong plot, for the heroine is one of those complex feminine studies that Mrs. Oliphant delights in. Mr. J. M. Barrie also commences a now story, "The Little Minister," which is likely to be a rather hazardous experiment, as it is to be a three-volume novel, and the chief scenes of it are certain to be laid in Thrums. The rela- tions between Gavin Dishart and his mother are, however, very beautifully sketched. The miscellaneous articles in this number are exceptionally readable, as well as varied. " Shirley " finds himself thoroughly at home in "Among the Summer Isles ; " indeed, he exhibits a surprising knowledge of natural history. Mr. William Senior reproduces, with the aid of excellent illustra- tions, the leading characteristics of Covent Garden Market ; and Professor Nichol writes sympathetically of Dr. James Brown, a deceased clergyman of tho 'United Presbyterian Church, who is too little known outside of Scotland, but whose literary capacity, evidenced in his Lives of "A Scottish Probationer" and of the Rev, Dr. Robertson of Irvine, was considerable.
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