8 APRIL 1899, Page 23

Shueypingsin. By an Englishman. (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co. 3s.

6d.)—The " Englishman " has been at the pains to give in a reasonable compass a Chinese romance, Haou Kewchuen." The interest lies in the cleverness and courage of a certain Shueypingsin, who is the daughter of a disgraced official. The hero is a less admirable person, and nearly comes to grief more than once by his own folly. Still he is as good a match as China could produce in the male shape for the admirable Shueypingsin. The romancer does not flatter the manners and morals of his country. The Emperor observes, when the heroine and hero are brought before him : " Such a pretty woman must certainly be innocent, but it would be interesting to observe her changes of expression under torture, and the head of Teihchungyn is so handsome that it would be almost a pity not to set it on a pole for the whole city to admire."