her foot once more upon her special terrain. Not for the first time,
I think, she has gone to the records of the House of AKBAR for her
material; the result here is hardly to be called a novel so much as
amplified history, since it is really the life story of an actual
(and wonderful) woman, NURJAHÂN THE BEAUTIFUL, wife of the Emperor
JAHÂNGIR. Naturally the writer has experienced not only the great
advantages but the hazards of such a building upon fact. To explain
the marriage of your heroine with the Imperial lover by whose orders
her first husband was killed, and not to lessen sympathy for her in
the process, is a problem to test the skill of any novelist. One sees,
however, even without Mrs. STEEL'S own declaration, that it has been
for her a grateful task to set down "a record of the most perfect
passion ever shown by man for woman." This was the adoration of the
EMPEROR for his consort, an amazing romance of Oriental domesticity,
which makes the story of the pair stranger and more fascinating than
fiction. A love-tale indeed; and, since 'tis love that makes a book
go round, one may trust the circulating libraries to see to it that
_Mistress of Men_ is well represented on their shelves. As a study
of an alluring, dazzling and masterful personality it was well worth
writing.

* * * * *

There is a sad interest in the title-page of _Irish Memories_
(LONGMANS), since only by a pathetic fiction does it bear the names,
as joint authors, of E. OE. SOMERVILLE and "MARTIN ROSS," those two
gifted ladies whose association has been such a happy chance for
them and for us all. Really the book, though in part compiled from
the letters and journals of "MARTIN," is an eloquent tribute by Miss
SOMERVILLE to the partner whose death has robbed her of a friend and