Matthew Parkyn. By Mrs. Henry Clarke. (S.P.C.K.)—The story opens in
Australia, where we are introduced to the hero and the convict Sanders, with whose past and future the tale is inti- mately connected. Parkyn returns to England, where his Radical proclivities get him into difficulties with his landlord ; these come to a head at the election when, for the first time, the squire's representative is not returned to Parliament. The conflict of feel- ings and prejudices between the landowner who cannot see aught but spite in Parkyn's honest efforts to ameliorate his fellow- labourers' condition, and Parkyn's devotion to his ideas, his struggles with his own temper, and his guarding of a secret which at the last displays his fine nature, are most forcibly brought out. Parkyn is a very fine natural character ; so is Miss Ruddaway in a minor degree, and the rest are all excellent. The story is well told, and besides the clear, vigorous style we have some dramatic incidents which are made the most of. It is, indeed, a capital story, and we may recommend it to both young and old ; they are not likely to get a better tale than this for many a clay.
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