John of .Tingalo. By Laurence Housman. (Chapman and Hall. 6s.)—Comedy
and satire abound in this most amusing book. There is only the barest pretence that the kingdom of Jingalo is not the England of to-day, but Mr. Housman, in presenting King John, the Archbishop of Elnuy, and other prominent characters, gives no personal portraits. The characters are his own; he would otherwise have spoilt the story utterly. But the setting is our own land at this moment. There is a little unpleasantness in a conversation between the Archbishop and Prince Max, the heir to the throne, but apart from this good taste is maintained through- out. This is the more creditable because, as readers must be warned, nearly every convention in the land is the butt of a nakedly irreverent wit. Monarchy and hierarchy, democracy and bureaucracy, trade unions and suffragettes, Parliament Act, Poor Law Commission, and censor all receive well-aimed shafts of satire. It is not unkindly, and if it is particularly soft towards "Women Chartists" we may allow Mr. Housman his predilections. Through it all one grows really fond of the bewildered monarch and his disconcerting family. The moral seems to be that a popular king is much more indispensable and capable of much more good than the bureaucratic cabinet of party government.
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