Lake-Country Romances. By Herbert V. Mills. (Elliot Stock.) —The stories,
based at least on fact, which form this volume, have already appeared, it would seem, in a Westmoreland news- paper. This accounts, to some extent, for the one leading fault which the book exhibits, of being too long and diffuse. The romances of the Lake-country which are given in it are mainly historical. The title of one of them, "The Wooing of Katharine Parr," speaks for itself ; while "A Tragic Coronation" retells the pathetic story of the hapless Lady Jane Grey. Mr. Miles gives a touch of comic ingenuousness to the final mating of Henry by making him compare himself to Antony thus :—" A capable and proper man was Antony, and yet, where'er he went, led on by women ; Fulvia first, then Octavia, then Cleopatra. If the women had been good, so would Antony have been. And thou, Kate, because thou art good, canst make me a better man and a truer King: I am such as Antony was, but if thou wilt guide, I will become such as thou canst make me." Some of the minor and half-historical stories are well told. "Ralph Redman's Atone-
ment ''—a tale of a repentance in which the plague plays an im- portant part—is especially readable. There is no doubt whatever about this book, which is written in an old-fashioned, almost G. P. B. Jamesish style, being saturated with the Lake spirit
and dominated with the Lake scenery.
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