The Society for Promoting Christian Knowlege sends us, as usual,
a number of volumes of various sizes, some of which have already been noticed. We have now to mention :—Three Sixteenth-Century Characters. By Sarah Brook.—The " three " are notable persons, though we should doubt—as, indeed, the writer seems to doubt— whether the Regent Murray is worthy to stand with William of Orange (William the Silent) and Admiral Coligny.—Griffinhoof. By Orme Temple.—This tale also enforces the temperance moral, but in a somewhat broader way than the other temperance tales we have noticed, embracing as it does the interests of characters whom this special question does not particularly concern. The story turns chiefly on the strong affection between the broken-down sailor—broken down by the passion for drink—and the little girl whom he has taken into his charge, and on the way in which this affection, backed by other influences, brings him back from evil ways. There is a love-story of some merit mingled with the narrative of Griffinhoof and Olive. Altogether, the tale may be pronounced decidedly successful.—Miles Lambert's Three Chances. By Mary E. Palgrave.—Miles Lambert is a lad of humble rank who has great artistic ability, and who, after much toil and many disappointments, works his way to be a Royal Academician. —The Snow King's Trumpeter. By "H. J. M. G."—This is a little story of the adventures of a young trumpeter who followed Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and fell with him at Liitzen. —Sugar-Plums for Children. By Mary E. Palgrave. Here are some pleasant little stories, with a certain didactic tinge about them, of fairies and the like. If these little people can make such a marvellous change in a greedy, mischievous child, as Puck and his followers wrought in Effie, it is a great pity that they do not bestir themselves more actively.—Through the Waters, by the author of "Douglas Deane," a story of an honest love made happy after many troubles ; A Small Rebellion, by Cecilia Selby Lowndes, in which three little boys rebel against the new rule of a governess, and find out that they have made a very great mistake ; and A Vampire, and other Stories, by "C. L. G." with some quaint narratives of the doings of certain birds and beasts.
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