The Secret Kingdom. By Frank Richardson. (Duckworth and Co. 6s.)—In
this audacious extravaganza, bound in the uncompro- mising colours of the Zingari Club, Mr. Frank Richardson exhibits that fine sense of irresponsibility which has on several previous occa- sions conduced to the gaiety of his readers. His main aim, if he can be said to have an aim, is to burlesque the methods of a number of popular novelists. Incidentally there is a good deal of satire at the expense of the vulgarity of "smart" society in general, and of sundry notable or notorious personages in particular. Mr. Richardson is often really witty ; his footnotes are sometimes a real delight; and even where he appropriates a " chestnut" he lends it an added point of his own. Thus when the hero observes to a Transatlantic friend : " Howard, it is incredible that a man, especially a man with an American accent, should be so hard up ' " —the friend replies : " 'I know,' he said sadly. 'People think that because we speak through the nose we are therefore in a position to pay through it.'" Unfortunately, Mr. Richardson's taste is often inferior to his wit ; and for the rest, the effectiveness of his ridicule would have been far greater if he had followed the model of Bret Harts in his " Sensation Novels Condensed," instead of carrying out his scheme at full length.
The Reckoning. By Robert W. Chambers. (A. Constable and Co. 63.)—Mr. Chambers, although he is engaged in writing a series of four historical romances, is yet careful to make each complete in itself, so that the reader may always feel that the threads of the story he is engaged on are completely in his hands. These romances deal with the American War of Independence, and the present story, The Reckoning, furnishes exceedingly good reading. The first chapters, in which the hero is a spy in
/few York, are particularly exciting and well written. It is a Little more difficult to follow the story when the hero invokes the aid of the Oneida tribe of Indians, in which he is a Chief. Washington himself is very cleverly introduced into the story,— he never appears, but the hero is in constant communication with him, and receives letters and orders on his behalf. The author makes an interesting point when he attributes to his hero a saying of Washington's, which is a paraphrase of Edmund Burke's famous sentiment : "Let us remember so to be patriots as not to forget we are gentlemen." "His Excellency" (as Washington is called throughout the book) gives a much finer and wider expression to the same idea. " To the character of a patriot it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian." The book ends with the last days of the war, and a happy solution of the hero's love story is given in the final pages.
The Brown Eyes of Mary. By E. Maria Albanesi. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—Mary, the heroine of this book, is delightful, though perhaps the lively middle-aged woman, Ellen Mailing- ford, is even more attractive. There is a great tendency in the novelists of the present day towards filling the place which used to be taken by the "heavy mother" with a very fascinating and sympathetic woman of a certain age. These ladies usually stand in a quasi-parental relation to the heroine or hero, and are such good company that the reader longs to add them to the circle of his own acquaintance. Mary Wrenhurst, the heroine, runs a farm with rather indifferent success, and the pictures of her in her garden and engaged in various country occupations make very agreeable reading. The book is not of very serious interest, but it is excellent in its own line, and gives an engaging picture of the everyday life of a set of people who, though not members of the "smart set," have some pretensions to rank and fashion.
CURRENT LITERATURE.
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MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY.
Mr. Edmondstoune Duncan has contributed to the " Master Musicians " Series (J. M. Dent and Co., 3s. 6d.) an excellent little volume on Schubert. Mr. Duncan has not contented himself with furnishing his readers with a judicious con- densation of the best authorities on the subject. His own observations are marked not only by the warm personal affection which Schubert invariably inspires in his admirers, but by excellent taste and sound critical judgment. In particular, we may notice the passage in which he deals with the English translations of German lyrics set by Schubert, and the neglect of the few really poetical versions which are available,—e.g., Coleridge's rendering of Schiller's " Maiden's Lament," and Mrs. Hemans's version of Kennst du das Land? We are glad to notice also that Mr. Duncan has quoted the enthusiastic tribute to Schubert's genius of Herr Weingartner, a modern of the moderns. Herr Weingartner will not sanction " cuts " in the C major Symphony, and adds : " Whenever I hear this work well conducted, or when I conduct it myself, I always experience the most happy sensations, and am absolutely intoxicated with music. It produces on me the effect as of flight through a bright ether." Another noteworthy passage is that in which Mr. Duncan com- ments on the strange fact that Schubert never saw the sea. We have only to add that the book is excellently illustrated with portraits and facsimiles and enriched by a number of carefully compiled appendices. Indeed, our only regret in noticing this delightful volume is that Sir George Grove, to whose splendid services as a Schubertian hierophant Mr. Duncan pays so well deserved a tribute, should not have lived to hail this, the latest outcome of the campaign he initiated more than forty years ago —The volume on Brahma in the same series, by J. Lawrence Erb (same publishers and price), though not on the same level of excellence as Mr. Duncan's work, is a useful and unpretending little book. Mr. Erb deals judiciously with Brahms's attitude towards Wagner. "Many ardent Wagnerites have accused Brahma of jealousy, but the charge cannot be proven. The consensus of opinion among his intimates is that he envied no one. He felt secure in his own position, and was of too noble a mind to begrudge others their success." The best thing in the whole book, however, is the comment in a footnote on a remark of Tschaikowsky in 1871: " Bre,hms has not fulfilled the obliga- tions which Schumann laid upon him." On this Mr. Erb remarks : "If he had not done so, Schumann's article would never have become famous." We have noted some misprints- "Konigen " for " KOnigin" on p. 129, and "Fliedermaus" for ImPledermaus " on p. 103—but these blemishes and a certain
A HOUSING POLICY.
A Housing Policy. By John S. Nettlefold. (Cornish Brothers, Birmingham. 6d.)—Whatever the world may think of Birming- ham and its idols generally, no one will be found to deny that it possesses municipal efficiency in the highest degree. Mr. Nettlefold has done well to publish for general information a résumé of Birmingham's experience in the attempt to solve the housing problem, one of the most difficult as well as the most pressing that confront social reformers. The admirable summary of facts and suggestions offered here may be recommended to all politicians, who are perhaps too ready to discourse glibly and in generalities on a most difficult subject. It is quite clear that the earlier attempts made to meet the needs of Birmingham were not too successful; they were expensive for the ratepayers and unsatisfactory for the tenants. Then a move was made within the last three years to proceed under Part II. of the 1890 Act, and this turned out a distinct success. The tenants were glad to return to live in the repaired houses at a rent increased by sixpence a week, and the effect was felt outside by the demand for better houses, which resulted in other unsatisfactory dwellings being brought up to a higher standard. This proved a far better experiment than the much more costly ouo of municipal building. Mr. John Burns seoms to have been right when he said that " cheap rents at the expense of the com- munity are simply a grant in aid of low wages." Mr. Nettlefold holds that the desire to regulate rents proves as fatal to municipal house builders as did the attempt to regulate wages in this country in former centuries. There are some most instructive illustrations here showing the result of improving old houses and areas. But housing, according to Birmingham experience, must go along with licensing reform; the evidence of numerous unprejudiced persons is given to enforce this view. Relieving officers, school attendance officers, and the clergy are quoted. Indeed, the fact is self-evident. The writer recommends that licenses should be regulated on the basis of the Peel proposals, —i.e., one for every seven hundred inhabitants, and not more. Chap. 6 is an admirable summary of German experience, and the Birmingham Corporation have been well advised to send this year a deputation to that country to study its methods in this matter. We are sorry we have no space to transcribe Mr. Nettlefold's own admirable summary of suggestions, but everybody interested in this question should obtain and study this pamphlet, which is an extremely practical handbook to a thorny subject in spite of its modest dimensions.
THE MONTHLY REVIEW.
"Coloniensis," writing in the November. Monthly Review, takes a very gloomy view of the Japanese Alliance. To begin with, he sees a marked degeneration of the English character, which we are told is largely due to American influence through intermarriage and the "cumulative effect of American immigration and sojourners in this country." Thus, we are informed, the balance of our character has been upset, and the steady-going Puritanism of the past replaced by a more emotional temperament. Yankee irreverence and the Higher Criticism, together with the sudden ascendency of the Jewish race, have, according to " Coloniensia," reduced us to such a condition that we lightly enter into an alliance with Japan or France if we think it will save us from having to bear the burden of protecting our Empire ourselves. Finally, we are told that our Japanese Treaty hastens the establishment of an Australasian Republic under the suzerainty of the United States. It is no doubt good to hear the other side of a popular policy, but exaggeration does not help an argument. —Mr. Arnold White contributes a short paper on " The Invasion of England," and warns us that though the Navy guarantees us against invasion, it does not profess to guarantee us against a raid. The effect even of a raid which did not reach London would be enormous financial loss, and to meet it we are unprepared. The available troops at Aldershot or on Salisbury Plain are too far off to prevent a raid on the East Coast, and the Militia are short of 937 officers and 32,168 men. —Miss Sophia Beale gives an interesting account of a piece of Punic sculpture which is now in the Lavigerie Museum at Carthage. This figure of a Princess in high relief lying on the cover of a sarcophagus must be, to judge by the illustration, a most beautiful work. There is great naturalness and beauty in the modelling both of the arms and face. We are told that the colouring is still intact, and is very fine. A noticeable feature is the folding of two vultures' wings over the lower part of the body, producing a striking decorative
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