_Bayard Taylor._--The writing of novels did not play a great part in the life of Bayard Taylor, who felt himself to be first of all a poet; but his four novels are not without interest. Taylor had already tried his hand at writing stories for _The Atlantic Monthly_ when he began in 1861 the writing of a novel. Before he left America for Russia he had written seven chapters. He finished the book in St. Petersburg and published it in 1863 under the title of “Hannah Thurston, a Story of American Life.” Although the scene is nominally laid in central New York, the life is essentially that of Chester County, Pennsylvania. The plot is similar to that of Tennyson’s “Princess.” It is, however, of secondary importance; the author’s main purpose apparently was to satirise the more or less superficial reforms of the time--abolition, total abstinence, spiritualism, vegetarianism, and the like. The homely and commonplace village life of his time Taylor described vividly and truthfully; but it cannot be said that his characters, amusing as many of them are, are distinctly individualised. Even so, the book was received with favour. It was promptly translated into German, Swedish, and Russian. Its success encouraged Taylor to further efforts. “John Godfrey’s Fortunes, Related by Himself” appeared late in 1864. This is a story of life in Pennsylvania and in New York City. A good plot is worked out, and some of the characters are interesting, though for the most part they are too obviously good or bad. John Godfrey in a sense was Taylor himself, but the book can hardly be called an autobiography. In 1866 appeared “The Story of Kennett,” in some respects the best of Taylor’s novels. For it he drew largely upon his memories of Chester County, and most of the characters were drawn from life. The scene at the funeral of Abiah Barton, where the hero discovers his worthless and cowardly father, has been sharply censured; but Taylor contended that, because of the vein of superstition in Mary Potter, it was the most justifiable chapter in the book. “Joseph and His Friend: a Story of Pennsylvania,” the last of Taylor’s novels, appeared serially in _The Atlantic_, and was published in book form in 1870. It is a disagreeable story of duplicity, in Bismarck’s view of which many have shared, that the villain gets off too easily. To the above should be added a volume of shorter stories issued under the title of “Beauty and the Beast.” In general, Taylor’s novels exhibit skilful workmanship and sympathetic and often vivid delineations of character.