in _Pickwick_. They did not object to
_Pickwick_, as ladies very often do, that there is so much eating and
drinking in it. "No," says the Baron, in bed, "Give me my _Pickwick_,
and, after him, for a soothing and pleasant companion, give me
WASHINGTON IRVING. When I'm in another sort of humour, bring me
THACKERAY. For rollicking Irish life, give me LEVER. But as to
youth-about-town life of the present day, I do not know of any
second-class humorist who approaches within measurable distance of the
author of _The Pottleton Legacy_, in the past." So far the Baron. And
now "The Co." speaks:--

_A Tour in a Phaeton_, by J. J. HISSEY, is an interesting account of a
driving trip through the Eastern Counties. It abounds in hisseytorical
research; we are taken to all kinds of out-of-the-way and picturesque
places, of which the Author gives us graphic pictures with pencil as
well as pen. A fresher title to the work might have been devised, as the
present one bears a striking likeness to Mr. BLACK'S _Adventures of a
Phaeton_,--who, by the way, was the first to render driving tours
popular. The volume abounds in poetical quotations. The authority,
however, is seldom given, and inverted commas are conspicuous by their
absence. It can hardly be imagined that all this poetry is by the writer
of the book. In one instance he quotes a well-known verse by
ASHBY-STERRY, without acknowledgment, in which, for some inscrutable
reason, he has introduced a rugged final line which effectually mars the
harmony of the original stanza.

Those who prefer Scotch broth well peppered to Butter-Scotch, should
read _Our Journey to the Hebrides_, by Mr. and Mrs. PENNELL. They seem
to have gone out of the beaten track in their tour, which is pleasant,
and their views of Scotland, though they may cause controversy, are
novel, and at the same time indescribably refreshing. As to the views of
Scotland chronicled by Mr. PENNELL'S clever and facile pencil, they are
full of thought, elaborate detail and wondrous originality. There are
some forty of these, all remarkable for their everlasting variety and
high artistic excellence.

_Dr. Hermione_ (_Blackwood_) is rather an idyl than a novel, and would
have done better still if it had been cast in the form of a comedy. The
still anonymous author who followed up _Zit and Zoe_ by _Lady Bluebeard_
possesses the gift, rare among novelists, of writing sparkling dialogue.
The quickly changing scenes in the last chapt