At Agincourt. By G. A. Henty. (Blackie and Son.)—Mr. Henty,
who will soon be looking out for other worlds to write about, has taken this time for his subject the war between the houses of Orleans and Burgundy. "A Tale of the White Hoods of Paris" he calls his book. It has the general characteristics of his work, spirit, abundance of incident, and a sufficiently careful presentment of the features of the time. But we must say that it is not one of his best stories. We do not get to Agincourt till near the end, and the great battle itself is passed over somewhat hurriedly. It looks as if the writer was in haste to have done with his task. The slaughter of the prisoners, for instance, is just mentioned, and that in the most commonplace fashion. It is an incident that might have been treated most dramatically. The King's unwillingness to give the order, the refusal of the knights to execute it, and the delegation of the task to the archers, are all things that should have been worked in. The variety of motives that stirred the knights, a possible feeling of humanity in a few, the universal reluctance to lose the ransom money, and a general feeling that, whatever might be done to common men, nobles and knights ought not to be treated in this fashion, all these furnish matter to which Mr. Henty, if he had been minded, could have done full justice.
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