Our County; or, Fkunpshire in the Reign of Charles II.
By Henry Moody. (J. R. Smith.)—Mr. Moody, whose official position as curator of the Winchester Museum renders him, no doubt, peculiarly alive to the importance and attractiveness of Hampshire antiquities, has conceived the idea of "presenting to his readers a picture of his native county nearly two hundred years ago, and of illustrating obsolete manners and feelings." The particular mode of proceeding which ho has selected for the accomplishment of this object is the construction of "a local tale," the scene of which is laid at Winchester ; and he justifies his choice on the rather curious ground that, "in the olden time important truths were sometimes revealed under the guise of parables." Mr. bloody's analogy breaks down somewhere—possibly in the comparative importance of the truths which he has to convey. At any rate, it is certain that his parable cannot be regarded as a complete success. As a story, it possesses no interest whatever ; and Mr. Moody would, we think, have done better to convey his scraps of antiquarian information in a more direct and less ambitious form.
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