7 JUNE 1884, Page 42

The Roll-Call. By Mrs. Arthur Tristram Gervoise. 3 vole- (Remington

and Co.)—It is not easy to do justice to the merits that this story certainly possesses. As a whole, it must be pro- nounced a failure. The plot is perplexed and difficult to follow, —a fatal mistake, except when a writer has unusual charm of style at command. The misunderstanding which complicates the fortunes of the heroine is not one that approves itself as belonging to real life: Inconveniences, more or less serious, sometimes arise from similarity of names; but lives are not wrecked, or nearly wrecked, by this cause. But there ate passages of merit. The picture of happy childhood early in' the story is. such ; and they occur often enough to give one some hope of better things. But there are many things to be altered,—among them the habit of saying " mattitinal meal" for breakfast, and "terpsichorean exercise" for dancing.