The Ingoldsby Country. By Charles G. Harper. (A. and C.
Black. 6s.)—The "Ingoldsby country" may be roughly described as East Kent; a line drawn from Sheerness to Rye (which would there include a small portion of Sussex) would be its western, while the Channel and North Sea would be the eastern, boundary. Richard Barham, the author of "The Ingoldsby Legends," was born at Canterbury. He lays the scene of some of his stories at places familiar to him from his childhood. This is the subject which Mr. Harper deals with in this volume. We must own that we do not fully agree with his estimate of Barham. He had some literary gifts in their fullest measure. He was, in a small way, an English Aristophanes. But there is not a little in his work that jars upon one's feelings We sometimes feel as we read him what we feel when we read Rabelais and remember that be was a priest. (We heartily accept, by the way, Mr. Harper's praises of "As I Lay a-Thynkynge.") This consideration, how- ever, need not interfere with the reader's appreciation of Mr. Harper's work as a guide. He has much that is interesting to tell us about Canterbury, Ashford, Hythe, Romney, and various other places ; and he adds to his descriptions the attraction of a number of illustrations executed by himself.
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