THE RELIEF OF MAFEKING.
The Relief of Mafeking. By Filson Young. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—We do not hold a brief for war correspondents, whose necessity is less obvious than their eloquence, and we cannot but think that a frank criticism, infamous in the expert, is impertinent in the amateur. Our soldiers go to war in obedience to orders, and they are ready to lay down their lives under the flag. But their professional etiquette most properly imposes silence upon them ; they perform what is asked of them, and leave the duty of record to the Commander-in-Chief. Then in steps the war correspondent, who is superior to etiquette, yet does not shrink from criticising the operations of war, which are completely strange to him. One of the worst inconveniences caused by his sanguine temper is the patronage of generals. The correspon- dents have all something to say in praise or blame of men infinitely superior to them, and the result is by no means pleasant to the simple-minded citizen. Mr. Filson Young, for instance, who is a good specimen of his class, takes Lord Methuen under his especial protection, and in the encounter aims a shrewd blow at Lord Kitchener. From Mr. Young's point of view, of course, this patronage is immaterial. We can only hope that it is irksome to Lord Methuen. However, Mr. Young is, as we have said, a good specimen of his class ; he does not lecture the censor, in the belief that a gallant officer could under any circum- stances be the servant of a newspaper correspondent; and he does not treat the poor generals with the high hand which his colleagues are pleased to flourish in their face. Moreover, he tells his tale with a direct simplicity, and without any attempt at fine writing. Nevertheless, we can take but little pleasure in such books as this, and if the war correspondent is a necessary evil, we wish that he could be content to illuminate the pages of his journal, and not seek a place among printed books for his inevitably hasty productions.
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