19 NOVEMBER 1898, Page 32

The Temple of Folly. By Paul Creswick. (T. Fisher Unwin.)

Mr. Creswick's story of Anthony Fairfax, the Devonshire lad who gets mixed up with the wreckers and smuggled tea, and finally becomes a member of the notorious " Franciscans " of the last century, is told with spirit and in an excellent narrative style. Joan Dodington, though not the most prominent female charact er in the story, is, we suppose, the heroine, and a very charming one too. That portion of the story which concerns the " Franciscans " does not leave a particularly good taste in the month, but the story is not meant for youthful readers, though we do not for a moment suggest that it is coarse. It is capital reading and gives one a vivid impression of eighteenth-century days.