My Poor Relations. By Maarten Maartens. (Constable and Co. 6s.)—If
any one wishes to see almost unmitigated squalor, let him look at these " Stories of Dutch Peasant Life." "Almost," we say, because there is a little relief here and there,—it is very little and very rare. Here is a specimen of what Herr Maarten Maartens provides for the delight of his readers. Old Lobbers has two half-sisters. Lisbeth is in the poorhouse, but comes out every Sunday to have dinner with her brother, paying twopence, supplied, it would seem, by tho authorities, for the treat ; Maria he supports at home. The gist of the story is that, when Lobbers loses a florin from his wages by being put in the second class of labourers, he and his wife give Lisbeth indigestible food, which kills her, as they expect, and get the vacant place for Maria. We have writers here who produce, and apparently find it worth their while to produce, this kind of thing; but they cannot "hold a candle" to their Dutch rival.
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