SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have saes been 'carved for review in other forms.] Annals of an East Anglian Bank. By W. H. Bidwell. (A. H. Goose, Norwich.)—The " East Anglian bank" was .Gurney's," first opened as the "Norwich and Norfolk Bank" in 1775. A few years ago it was amalgamated, after having itself assimilated not a few other institutions, with "Barclay and Co., Limited." Mr. Bidwell's " Annals " abound with interesting matter, commercial, we may even say historical, and personal. He lamente that the Gurney family, who are, so to speak, the heroes of the story, limited themselves to a small choice of first names,—we are not sure whether it is according to the principles of Friends to speak of "Christian" names. As for ourselves, we must own to a feeling of great perplexity. The Hasdrubals and Hamilears of Carthaginian history are not so distracting in their multiplicity as the Gurneys, who for a century and more ruled the Norwich Bank and its branches. Our idea of how such a book should have been arranged is this. Let there be a bare text, which should contain in chronological order the names of all the partners and the dates of their birth and death. Those bearing the same name might be distinguished by numbers, as the Princes of the two houses of Rouse, who all bear the name of Henry, are numbered. Then there should be a continuous annotation, giving such particulars as it might be thought fit to give. The more prominent personages might be more particularly described in an appendix. The story of banking legislation should have been kept distinct. This counsel comes a little late. Probably it is just as useful as if it had been in time.
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