The Romance of a Court. Translated from the German. By
A. G. Vaughan. 3 vols. (Bentley.)—There is not much more to be said about this novel than that it is a richauffe of memoirs relating to the Court- of Frederick the Great. The glorification of that monarch is its principal object, and he acts all through it according to the loftiest sentiments to be found in his published works. Most of the familiar characters of his reign appear in it, and chapter and verse are given for all that they do or say. Von Tronek makes 'love to the Princess Amalia, and Pollnitz makes himself ridiculous ; the Generals act after
their kind, and Voltaire displays some of his genius and more of his tricks. Then there are some minor personages, magistrates, clergymen,
and actors, known to Prussian history, and finally, a premiere danseuser who troubled the noble House of Stuart in the person of a mysterious "Lord Mackenzie," of that ilk, and almost undermined the philosophy of Frederick. People who like to have their history in this shape will find the book readable ; they mud not complain if the dramatis persona- seem rather galvanized than alive.
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