DAVID ARmyr. By Michael Barrington. (CrOsby Loek- wood. 7s. 6d.)—Mr.
Michael Barrington has .allowed his imagination to play round a case discovered in the notebook of a Scottish lawyer of the sixteenth century, and has re- invested with life the personality of a physician who, being in advance of his age, was burned as a necromancer. David Arnot, trained under One of the greatest scholars of Padua, but relinquishing the succession to Cavalli in order to carry the light of the new learning into his native Scotland, is, with his disinterested zeal for truth and hii fusion of spirituality with intellect, a most attractive figure. His character is revealed to us through his association with Lord Masco, whom he cures and whose warm friendship he wins. Compli- cations arise, however, when Rusco's wife, who loathes her husband, falls desperately in love with David, who does not return her affection. Eventually, after a series of events and misunderstandings, Rusco, in spite of his continued regard for David, is the means of his being convicted of witchery. Mr. Barrington has written a story of rare power and charm, in which incident and passicn are combined with inward vision and a poignant sense of pity and tragedy. The historical background is convincing.
Previous page
