The Flower and the Spirit. By Frederika Macdonald. 2 vole.
(W. Blackwood and Son.)—Arthur Butherfnrd, author of " White Roses," reminds us somewhat of the poet in "Two Years Ago." We do not mean to suggest imitation in Miss Macdonald. Her sketch is an independent study from a real and not uncommon character, the man in whom the poetical gift is not strong enough to make a real vocation, but quite strong enough to spoil his life. Such a man does his best work in his first effort, and grows steadily feebler and weaker in moral and intellectual fibre the longer ho lives. The story turns on Arthur Rutherfurd'e relations to Marian, a very finely gifted nature, possessing the substance, when Arthur has little more than the shadow ; but the most interesting character, to our mind, is Adelaide, who brings from the seclusion of a Danish village into the busy life of London a very fresh and beautiful simplicity and enthusiasm. The tale is written throughout with much taste, and rises often into eloquence ; as a story, it is not very effective.
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