The Irish Bar. By J. Roderick O'Flanagan. (Sampson Low and
Co.)—Books of anecdotes, such as is the volume now before us, can- not be justly estimated by the reviewer. They are intended to be taken up and laid down, as occasion may suggest ; but he has to read them continuously. Hence they are almost sure to produce a sen- sation of weariness, which is quite unlike the effect which is expected from them. We certainly have not found The Irish Bar very amusing, and think that, after all allowances are made, there is some fault in the making of the book. The anecdotes should have been better sifted. As it is, some very poor jokes, which, now certainly, no human being could laugh at, have been admitted. But there is plenty of entertaining reading to be found in the book, its best chapters, we think, being the last eight or nine.
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