19 AUGUST 1865, Page 21

Blanche of Afontacute. A tale in two vols. By Mrs.

George Haly. (Newby.)—This purports to be a tale of the Wars of the Roses. Certainly the characters in it bear the names of noblemen and gentlemen who flourished ii, thosa times, but their discourse is of the present year of grace. They have been brought up in the best modern principles, and descant delightfully, if lengthily, upon the beauties of the country, the horrors of war, and the duty of private prayer. As there is no plot worth mentioning, and the dialogue between the two friends at p. 110 will be too much for any readers who may have survived that between the lovers at p. 17, we have no scruple in betraying the denouement, with which we shall conclude this unnecessary notice. All is made right in the end by the discovery of a long-lost son of Queen Elizabeth Woodville's, who is brought to light by the scar on the temple and wart on the wrist which the stage has made familiar to us. He had been sent to the sea-side for his health in early youth, and to facilitate this arrangement the famous manor of Grafton, where King Edward went a wooing, is trans- ferred from Northamptonshire to Northumberland.