The One Before. By Barry Pain. (Grant Richards. 35. Id.)—
There are cases in which vulgarity is merely a synonym for realism, and it must be said at once that The One Before is one of these. But though this particular form of realism is carried to perhaps an extreme point, Mr. Barry Pain's little book is exceed- ingly entertaining. The main idea belongs to what may be called the " Vice-Versi" class in a modified form. There is a certain magic Persian ring the putting on of which endows the new wearer with the characteristics of the last wearer. A few minor ingenious incidents occur from its changes of hands, but the chief point is that Mary, the submissive wife, gets the ring in suc- cession to a wise and prudent lion-tamer, the consequence of which is the infinite improvement of her domestic menage. Mr. Barry Pain brings an awful realism to illuminate his description of the conversa- tion of the servants' hall. But after all, unless Mr. Pain has a kind of "ear of Dionysius " arranged in his study, these dialogues must needs be imaginary, and we may still hope that our trusted and respectful household talk of us behind our backs as kindly and gravely as they do before our faces. At any rate, the mouths of all Suburbia will water for those two efficient girls, Jane and Ellen, alias Handle, and also for that excellent cook, Mrs. Dawes. The portraits of the Jew dealer, his wife Rebecca, and Nathan are more commonplace—their like has been met with and exploited long ago—but the little bit of melodrama with which even a farce must be leavened is well managed, and the delightful bulldog saves the situation just in time to prevent its being too heavy. Altogether we own to being much obliged to Mr. Barry Pain for giving us so good a realistic farce, for "to do that well craves a kind of wit,"—nay, let us be more generous than Viola, and acknowledge that "to do that well craves" a very considerable amount of cleverness.
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