The Tallants of Barton. By Joseph Hatton. (Tinsley Brothers.)— An
average story, with too many characters, which are therefore faintly sketched ; too many incidents, which are therefpre often im- probable—the changing of children is a very old idea—and too many words, which have wearied us a little. A great deal might have been made of Christabel, a circus rider, who thinks there is a mystery about her birth, and that she ought to be a lady, but it is not made ; and of Richard Tallant, a bad specimen of the genus financier, but it is not made either. There is not much to condemn in the book, which is clearly and often vigorously written, except a certain slovenliness, wilful or unconscious, in the way the characters are brought out ; and not much to praise, except a certain appreciation of dramatic situations. It is a novel which ordinary novel-readers will finish without annoyance, and forget very quickly.
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