e of a spiteful uncle; and the position was not eased
by the special condition for publicity, designed to bring it about that
the family records, which began proudly in Doomsday Book, should
conclude ignominiously in _The Daily Mail_. For _Jim_, always the
gentleman, there was choice only between the devil of poverty or the
deep sea of the Prisoners' Aid Society. He resorted to the latter
(refusing Suffragettes), and came by _Joan Murphy_ for wife who, with
all her excellent capacity, was no lady. Manslaughter, however, may be a
venial crime and physical beauty is a very saving grace, and, as these
things all happened in the earliest chapters, I readily foresaw an
ultimate end of the happiest nature and a solution of all difficulties
worked out in defiance of the probabilities. A disappointed prophet is a
captious critic and, the story turning out quite otherwise, I was very
much on the alert for latent faults. Of these I found none. True, I did
not altogether like _Jim Westfield_, but then I doubt if I was
altogether meant to. Furthermore I give many extra marks to the author
(as to whose sex, by the way, I have in my ignorance had moments of
doubt) for moving the scene to India and thus giving substance and
colour to a very remarkable love-story, while at the same time assisting
his original theme with the subtle comparison, rather hinted at than
dwelt upon, of caste.

* * * * *

_Pot-Pourri Mixed by Two_ (SMITH, ELDER) is a book to live with, but not
to be read at a sitting. After spending some hours with Mrs. C. W. EARLE
and Miss ETHEL CASE I found that my critical palate was unequal to the
demands of so liberal and varied a banquet; and when I had finished a
poem by Mr. MASEFIELD, and found that it was followed by a recipe for
cucumber soup, I wanted badly to laugh out loud. My advice, therefore,
to readers is to take a snack from time to time, but not to make a
square meal of it. While dissenting from some of Mrs. EARLE'S
opinions--I do not, for instance, think that the paper she mentions is
"the best of all evening papers"--there is no getting away from her
sincerity or from a certain indefinable charm which prevents her from
causing irritation even when she is proclaiming her very pronounced
views. Miss CASE, the other mixer, supplies some really valuable hints
on gardens. These are drawn from her practical experience and are given
succinctly enough. The only fault to be found wit