Australian Essays. By Francis W. L. Adams. (Griffith, Ferree, and
Co.)—This book is, to a great extent, free from the defects to which we felt bound to call attention when noticing Mr. Adams's novel, "Leicester," in three volumes. It does not, that is to say offend against good taste or morality. Bat we do not think that it will help the average reader to a tree appreciation of the Australian character. The pervading idea of all these essays is the necessity for a better system of secondary education. We are not altogether in sympathy with the author's views on this subject, bat we must admit that he urges them with considerable power. Perhaps the essay on "The Salvation Army " is the best in the aeries, because rather less egotistical than the rest ; and the dialogues display a good deal of dramatic faculty. Mr. Adams appears to possess a certain power of acute observation and accurate generalisation which should enable him to produce good work, if only he would be content to put forward his own personality a little less obtrusively.
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