The Adventures of Roger L'Estrange : an Autobiography. Trans- lated
by Dominic Daly. (Swan Sonnenschein and Co.) —Is Mr. Dominic Daly laughing at us ? and has Mr. H. M. Stanley, who writes a commendatory preface, taken a part in the joke ? The translator tells that he was searching for another purpose in the library of the City of Mexico when he came across "a strongly, though roughly, bound book of quarto size, secured by a hand- strap of leather," and that he found this to contain an account, partly in English and partly in Spanish, of the adventures of Roger L'Estrange, written by himself. "The impressions and the varied incidents recorded by Roger are written in a language so like that of to-day that we have to remind ourselves of the dates to make sure that the events related do not belong to the present generation." So writes Mr. Stanley, and this is the very consideration that troubles us. The story is uncommonly like those which we have had the pleasure for many years past of read- ing from the pen of the late Messrs. Kingston and Ballantyne, and a number of not less ingenious writers who carry on their work. If the book "strongly, though roughly, bound" was a veritable find, we may be allowed to congratulate Mr. Daly on his good luck, and also to commend the ingenious tale-writers whom we have named or alluded to for the success with which they have imitated the reality.
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