"God Wills It." By William Stearns Davis. With Illustra- tions
by Louis Betts. (Macmillan and Co. Gs.)—Lovers cc historical romance will find in "God Wills /t" an excellent tale of the First Crusade, full of moving incident, noble character, and religious enthusiasm. Mr. Davis, we are glad to note, follows the older tradition of the business of the historical romancer. He calla his book a "Story of the Days of Faith," and he writes in the spirit of those days. So, though there is plenty of fighting in his pages, there is none of that brutal spirit of delight in blood and wounds and violence that has become a too popular feature of a well-known type of modern novel. The preface reminds us that "the First Crusade was the sacrifice of France for the sins of the Dark Ages. Alone of all the Crusades, it succeeded, despite its surrender of countless lives. No Richard of England, no St. Louis led ; its heroes were the nobles and pearants of France and Norman Italy, who endured a thousand perils and hewed their victorious way to Jerusalem." This is the aspect of the time and its events illustrated by the story, and the result is a really fine book, which will be welcomed by the modern repre- sentatives of the generation that delighted in Sir Walter Scott.
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