M R BAYLE St. JOHN’S ‘Purple Tints of Paris’, of which we gave some notice in our last, appears to have become emphatically the book of the season. On peeping into its pages one is perfectly startled startled to find how little we knew before concerning the manners and customs of our French neighbours notwithstanding the the vast numbers of writers on the subject whom we have always had. They all seem superficial, however, by the side of MR ST. JOHN who not only possesses the power of seeing beneath the surface, but also that of afterwards ably telling what he sees there. A shilling edition of his new book is already spoken of for the railway book-stalls. If it appears completely within eight weeks of the first issue of the work itself, it will be quite an event in the history of English literature. And the occasion seems to demand that it should be so.

Taken as a whole, a most remarkable family is that of the ST JOHNS. Literary talent seems to run n the very blood. There is MR BAYLE ST.JOHN, already named, author, in addition to the work first spoken of, of ‘The Eccentric Lover’, ‘Two Years in a Levantine’ ‘Family, Adventures in the Lybian Dessert’, and many other works, all of the best; there is JAMES AUGUSTUS ST JOHN, author of ‘There and Back Again’, ‘In Search of Beauty’, ‘Isis,an Egyptian Pilgrimage’, that singular work. ’The Nemesis of Power’.&etc &etc; there is PERCY. B. ST.JOHN, author, in addition to many larger works, of many charming tales and sketches as ALEXANDER DUMAS across the water., is author of tales and sketches in our sense not charming; there is moreover, and perhaps he is the most talented of all the brothers, MR HORACE ROSCOE STEBBING ST JOHN, author of a life of ‘Christopher Columbus’, and a magnificent history of ‘The Indian Archipelago’, written with all the gorgeousness of style you would look for in the productions of a Persian poet, and several 

other works; and lastly - would the reader credit it? there is another diminutive Master St.John, not work itself, it will be quite an event in the history of English literature. And the occasion seems to demand that it should be so. Taken as a whole, a most remarkable family is that of the ST JOHNS. Literary talent seems to run n the very blood. There is MR BAYLE ST.JOHN, already named, author, in addition to the work first spoken of, of ‘The Eccentric Lover’, ‘Two Years in a Levantine’ ‘Family, Adventures in the Lybian Dessert’, and many other works, all of the best; there is JAMES AUGUSTUS ST JOHN, author of ‘There and Back Again’, ‘In Search of Beauty’, ‘Isis,an Egyptian Pilgrimage’, that singular work.’ The Nemesis of Power’.&etc &etc; there is PERCY. B. ST.JOHN, author, in addition to many larger works, of many charming tales and sketches as ALEXANDER DUMAS across the water., is author of tales and sketches in our sense not charming; there is moreover, and perhaps he is the most talented of all the brothers, MR HORACE ROSCOE STEBBING ST JOHN, author of a life of ‘Christopher Columbus’, and a magnificent history of ‘The Indian Archipelago’, written with all the gorgeousness of style you would look for in the productions of a Persian poet, and several other works; and lastly - would the reader credit it? there is another diminutive Master St.John, not thirteen, who already gains his livelihood by his pen in the capacity of an editor of a magazine! But all the ST JOHNS are precocious and are still young. PERCY B, is not more than thirty three, whilst BAYLE has not reached thirty two and HORACE is still some months off twenty three. At the present moment, PERCY is publishing a serial tale in six-penny numbers, called ‘Paul Peabody’, as well as another in ‘Cassell’s Family Paper’ He is also engaged in editing a little weekly magazine, recently started, and baptized ‘Utopia’, but one which, as things are, we fear, too good to live.