Winning the Battle. By Gabriel Trotburn. 2 vols. (Tinsley Brothers.)—The
battle is very easily won by the handsome six-feet- three hero of this tale ; for a rich old lady, of a wide generosity, takes him up, and one of the first engineering firms in London gives him a berth, in the nick of time, because he shows dexterity in handling a surveyor's chain, while lending a hand " promiskous in the public street." He gets very wealthy indeed ; marries a sweet young lady whom he rescues in a Devonshire lane ; buys an estate, near hi& native town, which somehow puts him in possession of the rich living' of said town, and which, being worth £1,000 per annum, makes his remarkable brother-in-law remarkably comfortable, and turns the said town, in due time, into a pattern of religious morality, our hero, of course, becoming its Member, and aiding the Rector. Meantime, no end of other little stories are linked on to the main one, about innu- merable people who are taken in and done for rapidly. Altogether, the story—which we fancy is a lady's first attempt—is a very innocent and harmless one, and by no means too probable, and consists, mainly, of a number of little conversations between excellent people of liberal views, who air their opinions—always marked by very common sense, and enforced by very light-of-nature arguments—on endless questions,. social, political, and religious.
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