Sackcloth and Broadcloth. By Jean Middlemass. 3 vols. (Tinsley Brothers.)—The
main interest of this book lies in the comparison between the Rev. Lawrence Sivewright, a somewhat worldly parson, of latitudinarian views, and a ritualist priest, Mr. Lently. Each of them has something to do with the management of difficult affairs. The worldly-wise adviser makes a distinguished success ; the enthu- siast fails ; though, indeed, the moral which Miss Middlemass draws is somewhat incongruous. "When all is said, it perhaps comes to this,—that the very persons who would seek the respectable, the aristocratic Parson's counsel and assistance under the weight of mere worldly care, might fain fly, nevertheless, to the dusty, unfashion- able, and less logical Priest, when in an hour of extremity the suffer- ing soul cries aloud for spiritual guidance and help." The "Priest," however, is not very skilfully drawn ; we get a much more vivid notion of his slatternly, helpless wife, and of his uproarious children, than we do of him. The "Parson," on the contrary, is a capital character, one which does Miss Middlemass's literary skill and knowledge of life much credit. Generally, in fact, this book shows much improvement on what we have before seen from her pen. As a tale, it is not much. There is no particular plot, and half the characters might have been retrenched, without any material damage to the story. But it is distinctly well written. The characters are vividly drawn, the dialogue easy and nataral.—A Woman's Requital. By Helen Dickens. 3 vols. (Charles J. Skeet.) —The heroine of this book—who tells her own story, and certainly does not tell it well—reminds us somewhat of Jane Eyre, and the man that she falls in love with certainly bears some resemblance to Mr. Rochester. Here is a little bit of dialogue :— " Go, Mr. Lovering, go !' He smiled provokingly. Say, " Wil- liam, I love you!" and then, perhaps, I may.' 'I said it, and got laughed at and kissed for my pains.'" But the resem- blance does not go much beyond this and the fact that Mr. Lovering unhappily follows his original in having a wife already, while he is making love to Miss Sharland. In fact, this is a very dreary story, not told in a way to make it more attractive.
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