29 JANUARY 1898, Page 13

Father Hilarion. By K. Douglas King. (Hutchinson and Co.) —Mr.

Douglas King works again with the subject which he found, it would seem, attractive to some readers in the "Scripture Reader of St. Mark's." The conflict between passion and duty seems to gain an additional interest when one of the actors in it has a sacred or quasi-sacred calling. We frankly say that this is not at all to our liking. We did not like Mr. King's former novel, we dislike this still more. Nor, as far as our examination of it has gone, does it seem an advance in literary merit. The style needs not a little chastening. A shadow, for instance, may be "pathetic," but it can hardly be wild. Mr. King has power; we hope that he will use it to better purpose.