Faustino. 3 vols. By "Rita." (Tinsley Brothers.)—Aniong the minor sciences,
none is pleasanter than that which is called " coin- parative folk-lore," and " Rita " has given us, not anything new, but the opportunity for seeing how close is the connection even in story. telling between the world of the past and the world of the present. Fatsstine is a variant of the art-crime-and-passion legend, and the main features of its class are clearly preserved. Two babies are de- serted, not one, as in a well-known instance, an interesting proof of the universality of the reduplicating practice noticeable in some Australian and Melanesian myths, to which, of course, the "Babes in the Wood" is no contradiction, owing to its difference in period. The chief female figure, Faustine, is properly described as of peculiar and subtle beauty, and according to well-established usage, loves one man and marries another. The scenery, as is common in these cases, is not confined to one country, but selected from England, Franco, and Italy, the Latin countries, where this class of myth appears to be indigenous, being most largely drawn upon. As was to be expected in a work dealing with these materials, the characters are of the elementary type, but slightly differentiated, and not wholly civilised. Much, indeed, is due to the author for the skill with which she depicts per- sons Bo little like ordinary men and women. The part of bogie is given to a Jesuit, a revival of a once popular practice. Here, again, " Rita " deserves praise for the fidelity with which she has followed traditional methods, and succeeded in producing something (as it should be) utterly unlike any priest of flesh and blood. The dialect of this style has been well caught, and the writer's use of words for their own sake, without reference to the things signified, is strictly in harmony with the tone of the story. The ending of the story is very satisfactory. On the whole, we doubt whether it was worth while to spend so much time and thought in the production of a book which adds nothing to our knowledge on this well-worn sub- ject, and we hope that next time " Rita " will give us something we have not read at least a score of times before.
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