The Last Hope. By Esme Stuart. (S.P.C.K.)—This is a story
of the latter days of the French Revolution. The scene is laid in Toulon, when that town was held by the Royalists. Early in the narrative occurs the striking scene where the citizens of Toulon are gathered together in public assembly to consider whether the offer of help from Lord Hood and the English Fleet should be accepted. Accepted it is, as we know from history that it was, with this advantage to the story that an English lover is provided in the person of a lieutenant for one of the heroines. At the time, indeed, the young lady is provided with one with whom she is thoroughly satisfied ; but Alexis Dubant is false and self-seeking, and meets, as be deserves, with a reward very different from the hand of Marie Raymond. Marie, however, is not the chief heroine. That character belongs to the aristocratic demoiselle, Estelle de Chantilly. A very noble creature she is, and we are glad to leave her with her lover, who, though but a bourgeois, was worthy of her. Miss Stuart has studied her subject carefully ; and though she cannot make a cheerful story out of it, has written one which will certainly interest her readers.
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