I do not think that I can recall any novel that makes such insistent demands upon the weather as does Miss JOAN SUTHERLAND'S _Cophetua's Son_ (MILLS AND BOON). The sun, the rain, the wind, the snow--these are from the first page to the last at their intensest, wildest, brightest, most furious, and as I closed the book and looked out upon a day of monotonous drizzle I thanked Heaven for the English climate. But I imagine that Miss SUTHERLAND was aware that nothing but the most vigorous of climatic conditions would afford a true background for her hero's tempestuous soul. _Lucien de Guise_ was unfortunate enough to be the son of a flower-girl, and I had no idea, until Miss SUTHERLAND made it plain to me, how terrible his friends and the members of the smartest of London's clubs--"Will's, a place of great historic interest and brilliant reputation, developing gradually into one of the most exclusive clubs in London, and very strictly limited in numbers"--held so ignominious an origin. There is a scene in Will's where _Colonel Maclean_, "a handsome man and a famous soldier," expels _M. de Guise_ "with a perceptible degree of asperity" in his voice--a scene that does the greatest credit to Miss SUTHERLAND'S imagination. Indeed, I am afraid that Miss SUTHERLAND'S ambition to write a really dramatic story has driven her into incredibilities of atmosphere, of incident, and of character. _M. de Guise_, with his flashing, gleaming eyes, his love of liqueurs, his passion for smashing the most priceless of Nankin vases whenever he sees them, is, surveyed under these grey English skies, an unreal figure, and his world, I am afraid, too brightly coloured to be convincing. * * * * * "RULER wanted for Ireland (N.S.); good wages, permanency to competent, reliable man.--Full particulars to Box 167, Daily News, Manchester."--_Daily News._ Don't reply to it, Mr. REDMOND. It is not in your line. It is a printer's advertisement, merely. * * * * * "The accident caused great excitement in the neighbourhood. A large crowd quickly gathered, and several medical men were hurried to the sport."--_Manchester Guardian._ Those well-known surgeons, _Mr. Robert Sawyer_ and _Mr. Benjamin Allen_, enjoyed it most. * * * * * "A new French revue, entitled 'C'est Bon' (literally, 'It's Top-hole') is to be produced on Monday week."--_Evening News._ Or, more roughly, "That's good." * * * * * In a catalogue of characters assumed at a Mayoral Fancy Dress Ball we are informed by _The Birmingham Daily Mail_ that Professor and Mrs. SONNENSCHEIN figured as "Socrates and Christian Thippe." Poor old pagan XANTHIPPE! SOCRATES is well avenged.