The Black-more Country. By F. J. Snell. (A. and C.
Black. 6s.)—Mr. Snell knows all about his subject ; in fact, he gives now and then the impression of being somewhat embarrassed with the wealth of his knowledge. He is distinctly parenthetic, a manner in which he has very distinguished precedents indeed, but which is confusing to the reader who wants his work made easy for him. We may take the first chapter. Where was " Walders- court " ? is, we may say, the question. One house, Bradfield, is fully described ; another, Dulford House, is mentioned ; but "neither can be exactly identified" with it. Then we have a notice of Uffculme Church, and the "coloured effigies of the Cavalier period," of which "nothing authentic is known." Then comes a story of how a certain Mr. William Wood thought he would clear away some ruins ; how a workman disappeared— returning after some years—and Mr. Wood stopped the work. On this follows a narrative of how a girl of fourteen comes to fill the place of a housekeeper who has died suddenly, stops fourteen years, and then marries. These things happened, it is true, in the " Blackmore Country," but they are hardly ad rem, the res being, we take it, the man and his books. It is perhaps ungracious to complain. The book will doubtless have, as for many reasons it deserves to have, a sufficiency of readers.
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