18 OCTOBER 1890, Page 25

Not His Own Master. By Mrs. Lucas Shadwell. (Religious Tract

Society.)—The adventures of a somewhat harshly treated son who eventually heaps coals of fire on his father's head, form the material for this tale, which is perhaps up to the usual standard of mild, drawn-out stories with an unimpeachable moral and a strong religious element. It is not an unreadable book, and for those who do not wish for the slighest mental exertion, the calm current of the narrative pursuing the even and unin- teresting tenor of its way, may have some charm. It is good, and there is an absence of cant or unreal sentiment in it. The strictest of fathers would not hesitate for a moment to approve of it.