11 APRIL 1868, Page 24

back on the whole, the affect is bewildering. All the

first volume is• taken up with the story of the Barnards and the Deerings, and that is more or less complete in itself. But with the second volume we plunge into the story of Percy Clendon and the Commissioner, and it is not till the third volume that we come back ty the Barnards and the Deerings,, who have undergone in the meanwhile the metamorphosis of a new generation. There are clever sketches throughout the book, but we are never thoroughly interested either in the plot or the characters. Mr. Lemon may have had a plan for his maze, but he does not entrust the thread to his readers, and they will requite him by a vote of want of confidence.