The House by the Works. By the Author of "Occupations
of a Retired Life." 2 vols. (Tinsley Brothers.)—We do not remember any one of Mr. Garrett's books that we have liked better than this. He deals with life as it really is, and does not seek to throw any false gloss about it, yet contrives that even out of its darkness should come some very tree and noble lessons. Lydia Calderwood is no mere creature of the imagination. Her story is one that occurs in real life over and over again ; and it is a very wholesome thing to have it told without any kind of false sentimentality. Weak women, led into sin by vanity and ill-regulated feeling, are not suddenly transformed into saints, and writers who depict such impossibilities do harm exactly in proportion to their power. But it is a task worthy of the genuine literary power which Mr. Garrett possesses to show how they may be influenced for good, may be taught strength and self-constraint, and how the sympathy and friend- ship which it is so difficult for the pure to give to such as these make the most potent agency for their restoration. We may ex- press specially our admiration for the courage with which Mr. Garrett has put what we may call the right ending to Lydia's story. It is not at all the sentimental ending, but it accords, we believe, with the highest morality. After saying this, we may be allowed a word of remonstrance against the cruel fate dealt out 'to the good and. gentle Lois. We must also find fault with the unmitigated blackness of Mr. Garrett's worldlings. The silliness and selfishness of the Pendlebury family must have had some sort of relief, of which we should have been glad to be allowed a glimpse.
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