The Child Wife. By Captain Mayne Reid. (Ward, Lock, and
Tyler.)—We notice this novel in order to warn our readers very emphatically against it. Captain Mayne Reid has earned a reputation which we have no wish to depreciate by his tales of savage or half- savage life. They have plenty of picturesque description and stirring adventure. There are few tales which a boy will follow with more breathless interest. They may not do him much good, but they may be trusted not to do him harm. This work is of a wholly different kind. The palpable egotism of the story of Captain Maynard, brilliant novelist, pamphleteer, and soldier, may be pardoned. It is nothing more than an offence against taste. But to spice a flavourless story with the grossest scandal against men who are famous enough to make them worth attack- ing is a sin against common morality.
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