The Benefactor. By Ford Madox Hueffer. (Brown, Langham ) and Co.
6s.)—The Benefactor does not present an attractive picture of the circle in which its characters move. This circle may be described as the home of third-rate "lions" of literary or artistic fame, and the roaring of these beasts is by no means of a melodious character. It is difficult to imagine any people quite so disagreeable as Mrs. Gregory Moffat and her satellites, and George Moffat, the "Benefactor" of the book, is not really much more satisfactory. He is a person who spends all his time and money in trying to help young men of talent who are too poor to develop their own gifts properly ; but though allu- sions are made to former successes of his in this line, all the people whom he helps in the book had much better have been left to fight for themselves. Their talents are of an exceedingly minor order, and they are entirely lacking in moral restraint. The picture of George Moffat's establishment in an out-of-the- way village is attractively drawn, and it must be acknowledged that all the disagreeable people depicted stand out in a very* lifelike manner. The book leaves the, reader with the feeling -that helms been living in very low company.
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