Four Famous Soldiers. By T. R. E. Holmes. (Allen and
Co.)— Sir Charles Napier, Hodson of Hodson's Horse, Sir William Napier, and Sir Herbert Edwardes are the soldiers whose lives Mr. Holmes relates in this volume. The book is not a compilation, but exhibits throughout the most careful and independent research. Sir Charles Napier's marvellous career, which bristles with controversial points, fills one hundred and seventy pages, and is a narrative remarkable alike for its comprehensiveness and compression. Perhaps it presupposes more knowledge of Scinde than the ordinary reader possesses, and there is not a sufficiency of dates. This fault, indeed, is conspicuous throughout. To show how the writer has submitted to the drudgery of research, it may be observed that in order to test Sir William Napier's accuracy as to the expressions said to be used against his brother in the Bombay Times, Mr. Holmes undertook the labour of "carefully going through the volumes of the Bombay Times for the period to which Sir William refers." Sir Charles Napier's biography, the most significant and by far the most elaborate in the book, is published for the first time. The Lives of Hodson,. Sir William Napier, and the earlier portion of that of Sir Herbert Edwardes originally appeared in the National Review, and are reprinted with the necessary revision. Mr. Holmes does not think that the Rev. G. H. Hodson's "Vindication" of his brother is satisfactory, and observes that no man can pronounce a solid judgment on the subject "unless he has examined sources of in-
formation which are always difficult of access, and weighed the testimony with the conscientious industry of a Judge trying a prisoner for his life." And this Mr. Holmes considers he has done. The four biographies show the author's mastery of his materials, and make excellent reading.
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