BOOK NOTICES.

'A Marriage in Chins." By, Mrs Archi bald Little. London: W. Heinemann.

This is a well-written, interesting, and uncommon union of s, book of travel and a. sustained story. The accounts of English society in China ports, the journey up the Yarigtsze— not " kiang," aa our geographies taught us,-— Ac peep., at ihe wonderfully beautiful scenery of tne gorges, and the oideous flirt and nameless abominations of the greats woe; are all mo3t graphically told evidently by one who has been there and observed for herself. Few works that we eve:- read on the subject more admirably portray the extraordinary contradictions— to ■ the "Western mind—of the character, conduct, and every-day life of the Chinese "t home. Their mental standpoint, their virtues and vices, their attitude towards all outside nations are admirably touched in \ritn .*. light but iirm hand. As a book of travel alone, :rA Marriage in China" is weil worth careful perusal, especially by intending missionaries. We should be giad to think that :to one, especially no young girl, should enter this mission "field without reading what Mrs Little ha;, to say on the subject of the general treatment of. missionaries—the difficulties they have to encounter, the manner in which they are esteemed jnd treated by the natives, and —mo: c important than, all else—the small prospect thore is of their doing any real good among a people who look upon every independently acting woman as a, shame and disgraco to her ccx, and who are intellectually able to sit in judgment on the average Chrrctfei (so-called),, and see how far his profession ;na practice bear out each other. The three religions ■of China. iii .their ethical and practical aspects, are also touchea on, and the missionary is shown .hat ji h& does, not take count of tnesu in his dealings with the people he can hardly expect, to do them much good ; while the climate aEd the language present difficulties which are greatly underrated by tnose who allow enthusiasm to supersede the doctrines of common sense. " A Marriage in China" is <* book,-frou: which we could -well take many copious extracts did jpace....permit, and tvb heartily recommend it to our Waders.

"A i-auper Miilionaire." l>y Austin Fiyers. London: W. Heinesiann. This is o slight bu': excellent story with » good moral., By a. train of fortuitous circumstances, a. New York- millionaire, on a vi&it to London, contrives to lose his luggage, money, and proofs oi identity, and for the first.time in mr, life knows what it is to be hungry and aomeless ia i. great city. All this happens in tha most natural way imaginable, partly through '.-he misfortunes; -partly through toe jaults, of the unfortunate Mr Pownceby-Srnith—pro-nounced (P'y-Srnith,—ind he learnr therefrom a good lesson, which many who read it may also iearn, that riches and prosperity are not always • the reward of merit, and that1 ft man clad in'shabby clothes and without a penny in ivis pocket has very little cnance of leaking or retrieving a position. There are some touches of liumour in t-hb soory, and gome bits of real and true pathos—as whe-t " Cock-eyed Sal" gives the poo* millionaire a feed with her last shilling and geca without herself,: Ihat shows this rich-poor man how good the poor are to the poei, and that virtues, like wealth, are very unevenly divided in this curious vrorH of otirs. "Tl'3 Victim/ oy Gabriels D'Annunzio. Translated oy Georgina Harding. London: ~,V. j-leineiKant:...,. This J3 a moroidiy introspective romance, v/hicii, though written by one of the greatest, living italiaa authors, will not, we- think; appeal much to English readers. Some oi' the descriptions of Nature, flowers, and the song ox the nightingale are bsautiful and. poetic; but. as- a v/hole tho Etory is too exaggerated, aiorbid, and unnatural to satisfy the taste of jpeople who think tnat life is given to bs -spent in better things than selfish love intrigues. When we add th&fc "the victim "is a helpless injfaiit, aone to death by its putative father, tfnc, .though he does iiot object to via, objects to the evidences of,my, we aha-U iaVe said enough io 'show the tiny.hole-Boaie-'nature'of'thd dish. supplied by this much-prareed Italian aathoi.

"The Game, and tiia Candle." By Rhoda Broughton. London : Alacmillan and Co. Dunedir.: J. Braithwaiie.

A pleasant story, with a sufficiently, good moral, b::fc the structure is slighs. r.nd there is scarcely enough material for the' sized voluins. IC is taft oW story oi '" all for ioye, or Ohe world well lost," with this difference: That the heroine, a very beautiful young widow, finds out her mistake .in time, s-nd has the courage to tell the fascinating, amorous,. good-natured fool who makes love to every good-looking woman,.:"l never loved you. I joyed someone who ttus masquerading in your ■shapo.- Never you—never you." And 30, having sacrificed on ths shrine of this false god, her husband, " old and crabbed, indeed, but who had loved her in his way" ; the wealth with which the old aian would have endowed her; her desolate old sister-in-law ; her selfless, devoted friend; even her good name, "in whose tarnish the had insanely -rejoiced, as bringing one more offering-to . her gotfs piled altar," slio awakes from her dream in time, and sees her deity as he is—"the common-place good fellow, with his cheap jesfe. his . limited intelligence, his promiscuous tenderness."' .She herself has juggled away everything that makes Life preferable to hie cold brother Death ; and for what? For part ownership oi v-ix fesi of stature'1 Of •■> fine .-et of muscles? Of a pcir of blue eyes?" But Jane awakes in time. It would be fortunate for many other women if they conld do ths same. ■•"The Market Plate." By Harold Frederic. London: W. Heinemann. 'A man's book about ;nen, society, and the world oi ''business." Such books are all. too few, and the perusal of this one liidst fo our regret that the master hand that limned it will write for ir no more. The Stock Exchange and its doings form the chief theme. How men contrive to buy xnd sell that which they have never seen or handled, and which often does not exist, has always been a mystery to outsiders ; but'- tie perusal of Mr Frederic's book lets in a lfttis. light on this and many other subjects. Tho way in which this is done, and without using any difficult or unusual terms,-appears to us to be a good example of the rignt use of the much-used and much-abused expression "local colour." With the morality of "business methods" KB-they ?t'present exist, our author does not tioublc himself at all. His duty is "tc hoid the mirror up to Nature": and he does it effectually. To all those persons who enjoy a book which treats of real life in its less hackneyed phases, " The Market Place will appeal strongly. The character of the self-made man, the "Rubber King," is original and well wrought out. He is r type new to fiction, and, no doubt; uncommon in life, but a real man, fcl! of grit and verve ; strong, tenacious, Jinyieldiuj,, almost cruel, in his determina-. tiou v conquer fate ; but at the same time kindly.' f."ectionate, and simple in his bomb relations, and generous to a. fault. Hi w London-born, and his opinion concerning tl'3 people of that great'city is:

They don't want gifts. They'll" take them,'but it isn't what they want. They're ;i trading people—one of the oldest in the wot A. Cominerical traditions, the merchant's pride—these are bred in their bones. They don't ■ want something for nothing ; they like an honest bargain, fair on both ■/ules."' And he then goes on to explain iiovy-they may be led in any desired direction, and " I am going, tc do the trick. London has been waiting for an organiser, H. leader, for a hundred years. The right feitui of man, going the right way to work, c.i;'. stand London on its head." Thorpe's vievfs on practical philanthropy are also original. The whole book is well worth raiding. ''The Captain of the Locusts." By A. Werner. London: T. Fister Unwin. lieing 1-he second volume of the Overseas Library.

This library has for its object the printing "of literature that deals with the actual life of the English outside England." The scheme is a good one, and must appeal to all who are interested in the rise and progress of colonial literature ; but w must protest against the assumption tha. loca! colour is nothing more than ■i stringing together of out-of-the-way -words that cannot be readily understood without t-Jie use of a glossary. Local colour i»

literature, as in painting, should express itself in a' general tone and atmosphere, and not in crude dabs of colour, or coarse or incomprehensible words. On the whole, " The Captain of the ■ Locusts " is a. distinct improvement in this respect on the first volume of this series (" The Ipane," noticed in our columns some weeks.back). It contains a number of sketches in South Africa, in the borderland of English and Boer occupation. Many of these are powerful and life-like ; others are touching and pathetic. As an example of the latter, Macartney's death in the bush, shot by liis own rifle, struggling to the last, and at the hist taking comfort from his .schoolmaster's words in old days, when examining a badly-, done exercise: ".^"evei mind, my lad, you have donu youi best." Yes, he had tried to do his bust. He -was not concerned to defend or justify himself.. Everyone got fair play tip there—and—and—he v/as growing very sleepy." This is a true touch of the nature that makes . all men kin. " "Sot in the Blue Books" gives us a glimpse of the irresponsible autocrat in the- back blocks, and "The Leper at the Mission" shows us some oi the difficulties which attend dealings with hslf;"avago races: This will be found a good book for a. railway journey or to while away an liom by the fireside. "As in a Looking-jr'ass.'' By F. C. Philips. London: W. Heinemann. This book might well' be' entitled ." The Autobiography of a Worldly Woman." It is v, brilliant, dramatic story; and reached a second edition in a very short time. It is full of admirable character sketches, unusual incidents, and glimpses ot life from the seamy side. It is impossible to approve of Lena Despard, but it is impossible not to like her. and cordially hate and despise her cowardly persecutor. The story is a. iragedy, a-r.d has a very tragic ending. Tt is well written and interesting from cover to cover, and the many illustrations, by drawings from Dv Maurier, add to its charm.