Mr. R. E. Francillon has a pleasant gift of invention
and always writes well, and though we do not think that his Romances of the Law (Chatto and Windus) represent him quite at his best, they provide very entertaining reading. The writer's plan seems to be to get hold of one good idea and then to invent a story which shall bring out to the fullest extent its possibilities of interest ; and for a short tale the main object of which is to attract by the excitement and satisfaction of curiosity, there could be no better method. Then, too, Mr. Francillon's leading ideas are for the most part not only good, but fresh as well. The story of the old lady who in her will inserts the name of her residuary legatee in a cipher which can be read in two ways, and the other story of the fraudulent clerk who confesses a crime of which he is innocent, because he imagines he is being charged with a crime of which he is guilty, are really very ingenious ; but inventive ingenuity is a quality in which Mr. Francillon's work is never lacking. One little habit he will do well to avoid in future. He is too fond of telling his readers that the story he is about to relate is specially extraordinary, and expectations thus raised to an unusual pitch are likely to be unfulfilled.
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