By Fire and Sword. By Thomas Archer. (Cassell and Co.)—Mr.
Archer tells this " story of the Huguenots " very well. It concerns the fortunes of a certain family of Nimes, one of the strongholds of Protestantism in the South, and follows them till, after not a few vicissitudes of good and ill-fortune, we find them safe in the refuge of English soil. The heroines of the tale are Sara and Marguerite Montholien—the former, one of the women of the Blandina and Per- petua type, the material out of which martyrs are made; the latter of a weaker, more pleasure-loving nature, but pure and true. The difference of character is well kept up between these two, and the interest of the story heightened accordingly. Perhaps of particular incidents the kidnapping and escape of Marguerite Montholien is the best ; but the whole story is remarkably interesting. The dialogue, too, is bright and pointed, and shows an appropriate French vivacity. Nothing, for instance, could be better in its way than the conversa- tion between Leblanc, the "agent," and Madame Duchesne, when Marguerite's deliverance is being discussed.
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