Ten Times Paid: a Story of the South. By Bruton
Blosse. (Samuel Tinsley.)—By " the South "is meant the Southern States of the Ameri- can 'Union, and the story supposes a condition of society which has happily passed away for ever. A master trusts a slave, born, indeed, in servitude, but of the same blood as himself, with a letter, on which his happiness depends. There has been a strong affection between the two,—confidence on the one side, and fidelity on the other. Now, in an unlucky moment of weakness, the messenger neglects his duty, and though warned of the vital importance of the letter, lingers, for purposes of his own. Hence, furious wrath on the master's part, and a vengeance which it was his misfortune that ho was able to take. The situation is powerfully conceived and of a truly dramatic character. We can quite imagine that if this story had appeared twenty years ago, it might have had an influence of its own in the great controversy of slavery, so powerfully and yet with such moderation does it represent a great difficulty. Both master and slave are obviously possible, and were probable personages, and the situation in which they find themselves has nothing marvellous or unlikely about it. As things are, the book must be appreciated for its literary value, and this is not inconsiderable.
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