The general drift of the plot is neither very readily to be summarised nor indeed very satisfactory, and one might disagree with Mr. JOHN HERON LEPPER at several points.  At the same time, as his many friends would expect, there is much to be grateful for in this quiet study of Irish times and politics very different from our own.  There is a ring of sincerity for one thing, matched by a literary grace that saves his chapters from ever becoming irritating even when they move most slowly.

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If the vintage to which “Miss KATHARINE TYNAN’S” novels belong is so old that some of its flavour has departed, there is no doubt that many of us are still glad enough to sample it.  In these nervous times it is in fact very restful to read a book as calm and detached as Miss Mary (MURRAY).  Not that Mary refrained from allowing her heart to flutter in the wrong direction, but even the simplest of us couldn’t really be alarmed by this excursion.  Mrs. HINKSON seems to take all her nice characters under her protective wing, and to include you and me (if we are nice) in a pleasant family party.  So at little outlay you have the chance to go to Ireland and stay quietly and decorously with the de Burghs.  There you will meet a very saint in Lady de Burgh, and you will breathe the right local atmosphere, and have, on the whole, a good and tranquillizing time.

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[Illustration:  DURING THE HOSPITABLE AIR-RAID SEASON THE MONTMORENCY-BROWNS MAINTAIN THEIR HABITUAL EXCLUSIVENESS.]