A dreadful story of the conspiracy of a number of preternaturally wicked and inhuman villains to ruin a young spendthrift baronet, and to compel his sister to marry one of themselves. The threads of the story are woven with considerable skill. The tale, a gloomy one throughout, reaches its climax in a scene of intense and concentrated excitement. The time is the Viceroyalty of the Earl of Wharton, the story ending in 1710, but, except for the incidental introduction in one scene of Addison, Swift, and the Viceroy himself, the events or personages of the time are not touched upon. There are some slight pictures of the life of the people of the period, but of Ireland there is nothing unless it be the talk of some comic Irish servants. ⸺ THE FORTUNES OF COL. TORLOGH O’BRIEN. Pp. 342. (_Routledge_). 3_s._ 6_d._ Twenty-two Plates by Phiz. [_Anon._: 1847]. Several other eds. 1904. Reckoned among the three or four best Irish historical novels. Main theme: the efforts of the hero, an officer in the Jacobite army, to regain possession of his estates in Tipperary, which are held by the Williamite, Sir Hugh Willoughby, whose daughter O’Brien loves. There are many minor plots and subordinate issues, among them the unscrupulous and nearly successful conspiracy against Sir Hugh. The history is not the main interest, but there is an account of the causes of Jacobite downfall, descriptions of James’s Court at Dublin, and a fine description of Aughrim. There are excellent pictures of scenery, and some skilful though roughly drawn character sketches. The action closes shortly after the Treaty of Limerick. ⸺ THE HOUSE BY THE CHURCHYARD. (_Duffy_). 3_s._ 6_d._ [1863]. “A sensational story with a mystery plot based on a murder. Black Dillon, a sinister and ingenious ruffian, is a grim figure of melodramatic stamp. The setting gives scenes of social life in a colony of officers and their families near Dublin.”—(_Baker_, 2).—Chapelizod. ⸺ THE PURCELL PAPERS. Three Vols. (_Bentley_). 1880. Short stories collected and ed. by Mr. A. P. Graves, with short memoir of the Author prefixed. For the most part they are either rollicking comic stories, told in broad brogue, or tales of mystery and terror in the vein of this Author’s longer novels. Examples of the former are:—“Billy Malowney’s taste of love and glory” and “The Quare Gander.” These are not meant as “stage-Irish” ridicule, but as pure fun. Examples of the latter type:—“Passages in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” and “A Chapter in the history of a Tyrone family.” There are also pure adventure stories, such as:—“An Adventure of Hardress Fitzgerald, a Royalist Captain.” All are admirably told. All but one are of Irish interest. They were originally contributed to the DUBLIN UNIV. MAGAZINE. =LENIHAN, D. M.=