and not at all suited for publication in their present crude state. Short snatches of trifling detail are loosely and confusedly thrown together, so as to be scarcely intelligible, much less readable. Probably Toronto readers would have less difficulty in understanding them from their familiarity with the names and allusions which occur without any sort of explanation, but others must often be at a loss. The abruptness with which Mr. Hamilton darts from one thing to another, having no sort of connection with it, is quite startling. And the worst of it is, that when all is said and done, it is worth nothing.

This is not the case, however, with the greater part of the book, which contains useful information from various sources with regard to the "geographical position, climate, civil institutions, inhabitants, productions, and resources of the Red River valley." The writer describes the quadrilateral territory carved out of the "Great Lone Land," and now forming part of the Dominion of Canada under the title of Manitoba, so named from Manito, the Great Spirit, the guardian of its plains and rivers.

In the Introduction Mr. Hamilton describes Cowley as "a Jacobite poet," which is a strange blunder, for Cowley died in 1667, twentyone years before James the Second lost the throne and his adherents were called Jacobites.

Silver Vindicated. By Henri Cernuschi, Author of "Mecanique de l'Exchange. "P. S. King, London, 1876. The irrepressible M. Cernuschi harps away on his single string with amazing persistency. He pours forth article upon article, and pamphlet after pamphlet, in endless profusion. But he may

rest assured he will never, with all his activity and ingenuity, succeed in overthrowing the established conclusions of economical science. In the present pamphlet, which consists of his paper read at the recent Social Science Meeting at Liverpool, he repeats his old fallacies and makes the same unsupported assertions as on previous occasions.

In some of his statements he is inaccurate. Thus, he states the total annual production of silver at the present time to be £13,700,000; whereas, according to the report of the recent committee of the House of Commons, it amounts to £9,000,000 from the United States, and £7,000,000 from other countries, making a total of £16,000,000. Most people would think this an important difference; but according to M. Cernuschi it amounts to nothing, provided the value of gold is fixed by law for ever to be 151⁄2 times that of silver. In that case, no matter how much silver is produced, as soon as it issues from the mines, the metal enters of full right into circulation, and its paying power will be identical with that of the metal already circulating, with which it proceeds to mix itself."

If this appears strange to any, here is the solution of the mystery: "When the monetary law is bi-metallic, neither gold nor silver, coined or uncoined, is merchandise. That is the secret!" Who would have thought it? M. Cernuschi is certainly the discoverer of this secret, the possession of which no one will dispute with him. He must furnish something more than his bare assertion in support of it before any one capable of judging will accept it. If money is not merchandise, we trust he will be kind enough to explain in his next pamphlet what it is.

All honest men, whether Ritualists or not, must condemn Mr. Lee's mode of treating the word Sacrament. In his explanation of this word he says:-"According to the general teaching of the Church Universal, there are seven sacraments. The Church of England teaches, not that there are less than seven, but that there are two only as generally necessary to salvation, and in the Articles the whole seven are enumerated." From this statement any reader not familiar with the Twenty-Fifth Article would naturally suppose the whole seven sacraments are placed on a level there. To prevent any reader from falling into so gross an error, we will quote its exact words:

"There are two sacraments ordained of Christ, our Lord, in the gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of our Lord.

"These five, commonly called sacraments, that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are not to be counted for sacraments of the gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures; but yet have not like nature of sacra. ments, with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God."

Now, will any one with a spark of sincerity, or the slightest regard for truth, venture to say Mr. Lee has not in this matter been guilty of gross misrepresentation, if not downright fraud? There is no great harm in his trying to hide from himself the vital points of difference between the Churches of England and Rome by lumping them together under the title of "the Western Church," to the amusement of Romanist lookerson; but when he resorts to such disingenuous proceedings as this, every lover of truth and fairness

must condemn and denounce him. It is bad enough that a clergyman of the Protestant Church of England should entertain such sentiments as he avows; but far worse that he should seek to promulgate them by dishonest means.

Mr. Lee's work is inscribed to the Bishop of Winchester, with his lordship's permission, who is expressly exonerated from all responsibility "for the accuracy of any statement, fact, judgment, opinion, or conclusion contained in it," as he never saw it before publication. It may be doubted whether, if his lordship had seen it, he would have allowed his name to appear in connection with it.

Mr. Lee's notions of architecture are rather hazy, or, at any rate, loosely expressed. He seems to think Norman synonymous with Romanesque architecture, whereas Romanesque is a generic term, denoting that modification of ancient Roman architecture which, originating in Rome with the Basilica, appeared in Normandy as Norman, in England as Saxon, and in Lombardy as Lombardic, the prevailing feature of all being the round arch. His illustrations, many of which are from his own pencil, are well exe cuted, but not so well selected. Instead of giving drawings from ancient objects which exist, and are accessible, as he is careful to state, mentioning where they may be found, he inserts modern designs "from the late Mr. A. Welby Pugin's pencil," by which we presume the elder Pugin is meant, though it is impossible to say for certain. It would have been just as easy, and far better, for instance, to illustrate one of the old examples mentioned under the headings "Lectern" and "Shrine." At any rate, if modern work is thought desirable, there can be no reason for ignoring all that has been done in ecclesiastical architecture by such

The Owl's Nest in the City. By E. Lovel. London: H. S. King & Co., 1876. A novel should, above all things, be readable, and such "The Owl's Nest in the City" is in no common degree. Whoever begins reading it will be unwilling to lay it aside before the end is reached. The interest, so far from ever flagging, goes on continually increasing till it reaches a pitch of intensity at last. The reader's attention is kept constantly on the alert by a series of ever fresh incidents following each other in rapid succession. Ingenuity is shown in the structure of the plot, and skill in its development. There is enough of mystery in it to give a zest to the narrative, but not so much complication as to puzzle one.

Objection may, however, be made to the materials of which it is composed. It is to be regretted that a story, occupying only a single volume, should include among its essential elements two cases of seduction and one of suicide. Not that they form prominent features of the work. The author does not gloat over them, or dwell upon them for the purpose of effect. Still they are there, and cast a lurid gloom over the whole. As a set-off it should be mentioned that the reader is spared any tedious love scenes or sickly sentimentalism. There is, however, a failure of poetical justice, as the best characters come to the worst end, and the

villain of the piece is crowned with

success.

Mr. Lovel tells the tale in his own person, and appears as a subordinate actor, bearing his Own name. "The Owl's Nest" is an old mansion in a secluded city square, occupied both as a residence and place of business by a firm of solicitors, Messrs. Prescott & Earle, the former of whom is his uncle. To him he is sent as a lame boy of eight years old, on the death of his mother.

Mr. Prescott, while a country lawyer's clerk, is induced by a promise of money to marry Miss Earle, a neighbouring squire's daughter, who has been seduced by a young nobleman, and is known to be enceinte. Shortly after the marriage and the establishment of the firm in London, she gives birth to a son, who, under the name of Dick, figures as the hero of the story. After bearing her husband a son, James, she is forced by his ill-usage, and assisted by her brother, Mr. Earle, who has previously prevailed upon her to execute a will in his favour-to flee to Italy, where she soon afterwards gives birth to a daughter, Mary, unknown to Mr. Prescott, who, by Earle's contrivance, receives false intelligence of her death. Dick, who is represented as a high-spirited generous fellow, is naturally no great favourite with his reputed father, who, on the contrary, dotes with fond affection upon his own son, James, a gentle amiable youth, beloved, not only by his father, but equally by his half-brother, Dick, and his cousin, Ned Lovel. three combine in regarding Mr. Earle with suspicion and dislike. However, when they have grown up, Dick, through his interposition, obtains a commission in the army, James being admitted to the office.

All

As Dick is on the point of leaving to join his regiment, a new turn

of affairs is brought about by the advent of a young lady, who is represented by Mr. Earle to be a ward of his from Italy, but is really his niece, Mary Prescott, with whom Dick falls in love, little dreaming that she is his half-sister. But she is fond of flirting with a young viscount, whom she meets at the Roman Catholic Chapel, and with whom she elopes to Nice. The fugitives are tracked and reached by Dick at Nice, who has learnt his relationship to the lady, and is just on the point of fighting a duel with the viscount, when they are prevented by the arrival of Lovel, with a letter from the viscount's father, revealing Dick's relationship. The circumstances are thus narrated:

him to give the letter to L. I will answer for Mr. Lovel's keeping his word.'

66

'Yes, yes! it is a duty; you must let him have it,' I said, taking advantage of Paulett's hesitation to hurry forward. They followed in silence, evidently vanquished by my earnestness, but dissatisfied. I ran on, and thrust the letter into Viscount L-'s hands; he and the surgeon were staring at us in mute astonishment; but Dick, to whom I turned, eager to embrace him, drew back from me, and said, reproachfully, O Ned, Ned! I never thought you would have done this.'

"At this moment an exclamation from the viscount caused us both to turn round and look at him. His hand trembled, he was very pale, and after fixing his eyes on Dick for a moment with an indescribable expression, he put the letter into the second's hands, saying in a low voice, 'Settle it as you can; I cannot fight him.' He then turned away. St. John and Paulett glanced rapidly over the letter, and then looked at one another with faces full of dismay. At length Captain Paulett advanced to Dick, and said, 'Cornet Prescott, this affair cannot go on. My principal deeply regrets the unhappy circumstances that led to the challenge, but he has received a communication from his father which renders it impossible the matter should be settled as we had proposed; he therefore--`

“He therefore is a coward, as well as a villain,' said Dick, in whose crimson brow I read the idea that the viscount refused to fight with him in consequence of the stigma attached to his birth.

"Viscount L- -'s eye flashed fire, and his pale cheek flushed, as he angrily faced round upon Dick, and at that moment the likeness between the two brothers was striking; then, recollecting himself, he drew back again, saying, 'I cannot fight him.'

Dick sprang forward with uplifted arm, evidently determined to force him to fight, by striking him in our presence. St. John and Paulett both threw themselves upon him and seized his arm; but Dick, who was naturally far stronger than either, and whose strength was now redoubled by fury. would soon have thrown them both