14 APRIL 1894, Page 24

Side - Lights. By James Runciman. (T. Fisher Unwin.)—Mr. Grant Allen writes

an appreciative memoir of his friend by way of preface to this volume. James Runciman was indeed, both in mind and person, a remarkable man, and his essays are characteristic of him. There is strong common-sense, stated sometimes with an almost brutal plainness. " Raising the Level of Amusements" is an instance in point, and one that should be useful. Of the other essays, we may mention " Waifs and Strays," "A Little Sermon on Failures," and " Journalism."