CURRENT LITERATURE.
Mrs. Curgenven of Curgenven. By S. Baring-Gould. (Methuen.) —It is scarcely necessary to say that this is a spirited and eminently readable tale. So much it is safe to predicate before- hand of anything that Mr. Baring-Gould may write. But the writer's peculiarities—perhaps we might say mannerisms—are more marked than usual. Mr. Baring-Gould is often on the line between comedy and farce, and here he oversteps it pretty frequently. The Rev. Mr. Pamphlet, whose ruling passion it is not to commit himself, and who aspires to promotion (which,
indeed, he obtains), because he studiously divests all his actions and ministrations of all colour, is a capital sketch. But what about this : " As rural dean, I think I ought not to drive a horse the tendons of whose right ear are broken. It might materially damage my moral, influence." It is a good joke enough ; but it has the effect of a blot of colour on a sketch. Let us have all serious drawing or all caricature.
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