23 JANUARY 1915, Page 24

Roderick, " tbe last of the Goths," has many crimes

to answer for, if tradition speak truly, but we doubt whether be was ever so lost to all sense of propriety as to say, "The dam indeed is scotched, but what of the lambkins P" Old Court Life in Spain, by Frances Elliot (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2 vols., 21s. net), is largely composed of imaginary dialogues in this style. It is dedicated to Mrs. Humphry Ward, to whose researches the author professes herself much indebted.