5 MARCH 1898, Page 24

Pant alas. By Edward Jenkins. (K. Bentley and Son.)—Mr. Jenkins,

as usual, satirises or censures various institutions which do not satisfy him. Social difficulties, as they present themselves in the midst of a highly complex civilisation, are sore to defy all attempts to deal with them. All systems of ameliora- tion inevitably fail quite often enough to give plenty of material to the adverse critic. We cannot see much advantage in books of this kind; if they produce practical effect it will probably be a weary turning away from the whole matter.