15 FEBRUARY 1902, Page 23

Borden. By Benjamin Swift. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—If Mr. Swift

had intended to put the finishing touch to the dis• cussion on " Euthanasia " which has recently occupied the corre spondence columns of this journal, he could not have done better than publish Borden. The moral of the book is one which we may be pardoned for calling a moral " on the side of the angels." In this story the hero, a poet, and a doctor yield to the express desire of a paralytic friend, and with an injection of ether " anticipate " his death by about six weeks. This, as the old lady says in the play, is done "from the purest motives, my dear Jacob." Tho fantastic horror of madness and remorse which seizes all but the gigantic and strong-minded hero is well depicted and naturally conceived. , We hope that some upholders of " euthanasia" may read Mr. Swift's ideas on the subject of the feelings of the operators.