5 APRIL 1902, Page 23

A Lord of the Soil. By Hamilton Dummond. (Ward, Lock,

and Co. 6s.)—This is a story of provincial France in the time of Charles VI., and gives a grim picture of the lives of the peasants, and of their attempts at vengeance against the Seigneur, Charles de Ramel, under whom they were fearfully oppressed. We are also taken behind the scenes in the monastery of St. Francis, whose prior has a taste for eating and drinking ; but the interest of the story turns on the development of Charles de liamel's character under the influence of the spirited peasant girl whom he loves and marries.