The Orphans. By Mrs. Oliphant. Third edition.—One of the latest
and best additions to the select Library of Fiction, issued at two shillings by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. This little tale is interesting as a proof how utterly unnecessary what is called plot is to a novelist who has any dramatic power. A lady of twenty-eight, left an orphan, is at a loss for an object in life. First she tries surrounding herself with poor rela- tions. That failing, she takes to educating orphans, but has hardly commenced the task of her life before an old lover with whom elm had quarrelled years ago returns, and the orphans have to be otherwise provided for. This is not much, but it is enough in the author's hands to make a delightful story. The object of the book is to show that domestic duties are a woman's proper occupation, which, however, is not denied by those who desire to provide women who have no such duties with additional sources of employment. The merit of the book consists in the admirable skill with which the various female charac- ters are drawn. The men are equally good, but are not more than sketches.
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