THE HOROSCOPE.
In this book it is shown how the horoscopes of two brothers; Banda and Tikri Delgama, who were descended from the royal line of Kandy, worked out. The author gives us an admirable account of Ceylon, its people, its physical beauties, and its religion. Clearly he has studied the Buddhist faith deeply, and in "the little monk" (Tikri) he has created a most lovable character, setting forth that religion in a most attractive light. The end of the two brothers, who died together, is most affecting. Banda has been bitten by a mad dog, and is going distraught. The younger brother, regardless of self, tends him to the last, and then, worn out with his exertions, expires, fully sustained by the faith that was in him. The little monk cried in his soul, "I come," "I give myself up," "I trust." — The Literary World.
The scene of this novel is entirely laid in Ceylon. Ceylon stories, with which it might be compared, are few, if any exist. There is plenty of local colouring : the writer shows a knowledge of at least some portion of the colony's history, of its chief products, of the manner of life, and, above all, of the dominant Buddhism and its practical operation. So far we might have been describing a Gazetteer. But the book is a story full of human developments. A Sinhalese gentleman, descended from the deposed Kandyan dynasty, proprietor of an encumbered estate, loses his wife, is left with two little boys, and devotes himself to their welfare. The story turns on the evolution of the horoscope of the elder son: a superstitious regard attaches to horoscopes in Eastern countries. This elder boy is, contrary to an English planter's advice, sent to a Christian College, and eventually, after his father's death, becomes a Christian. The younger becomes a Buddhist monk. Their mutual devotion is touching. Their characters and careers are well drawn. The life of the elder is hardly a success : the moral is that he would have done 'better by adhering to Sinhalese ways. His Sinhalese wife is amusing in her ambitions. The younger brother is the stronger character. His trust in his faith is unshaken : his attachment to his stricken brother is most pathetic. The interest is well sustained to the end. The Buddhism is pro-
