MID-VICTORIAN MEMORIES.*
THE daughter of Mr. W. P. Frith, R.A., is already known as the writer of a volume of reminiscences, and Fresh Leaves and Green Pastures merits much the same criticism as was accorded to Leaves from a Life. The authoress treats of matters of no great import. in a style that is loose and some- times even garrulous. The book, however, is innocent of the apocryphal anecdotes of famous personages which too often take the place of genuine reminiscence in works of its kind ; and it contains pictures of life and people, in country and country town of raid-Victorian times, that are convincing by reason of the simplicity of their execution. Perhaps the most entertaining chapter is that entitled "Free and Independent Electors," in which the methods employed in a political campaign thirty years ago, ranging from scarce-concealed bribery to the marooning of voters on an inaccessible island, are amusingly recounted. And in this matter, too, the authoress believes that the present can boast little improve- ment on the past. "The early elections," she writes, "were conducted without diplomacy, and were far more rough-and- ready affairs, and, indeed, were very much more entertaining
in every way Now that bribery during election-time is well-nigh impossible, it is all done long before there is any idea that an election is imminent." The passage is character- istic of the point of view that is maintained throughout the reminiscences ; and if it is a somewhat impractical one, it is also refreshingly and unaffectedly feminine.
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