Japhet's "adventures," of course, are shared by a faithful friend and
ally, Timothy Oldmixon, the Sancho to his Quixote, originally an orphan
pauper like himself, composed of two qualities--fun and affection. He
encounters villains, lawyers, kind-hearted peers, "rooks" and "pigeons,"
gipsies, leaders of fashion, fair maidens--enough and to spare. In a
word, Marryat here makes use of well-worn material, and uses it well. He
has constructed a tale of private adventure on the old familiar lines,
in which the local colour--acquired from other books--is admirably laid
on, and the interest sustained to the end. The story is well told,
enlivened by humour, and very respectably constructed.

The reader will find _Japhet_ thoroughly exciting, and will have no
difficulty in believing that, while it was running in the pages of the
_Metropolitan_, "an American vessel meeting an English one in the broad
Atlantic, instead of a demand for water or supplies, ran up the question
to her mast-head, 'Has Japhet found his father yet?'"

_Japhet, in search of a Father_, is here re-printed, with a few
corrections, from the first edition in 3 vols. Saunders & Otley, 1836.
On page 360 a few words, enclosed in square brackets, have been
inserted from the magazine version, as the abbreviated sentence, always
hitherto reproduced from the first edition, is unintelligible.

R.B.J.


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