12 MARCH 1892, Page 25

The Little Manz Nation. By Hall Caine. (W. Heinemann.)— Mr.

Hall Caine gave some lectures on the Isle of Man and the -Manx people at the Royal Institution, and he has reprinted them in this volume, reprinted them as they were delivered. It is a pleasant book to read, except, indeed, where Mr. Hall Caine has to speak of the Athole lords of the island. They did about as little,

according to his account, for the half-million or more which they received, as can well be imagined. The one great name connected with the island is Thomas Wilson, who was Bishop from 1698 to 1755 (dying in his ninety-third year). He was not a Manx man, but born in Cheshire. Mr. Hall Caine has many curious things to tell of the Bishop, whom he admires greatly, though not without reservations. According to Chalmers (" General Biographical Dictionary," xxxii.), the Bishop lost £1,800 (not ..f..500 as is here stated), by his appeal to the Crown, and the subscription that was started to reimburse him was set on foot by his Metropolitan, the Archbishop of York.