The Story of the Life and Work of Martin J.
Hall. By his Sister. (Hodder and Stoughton. 6s.)—A critic of a biography generally has to suggest omissions, but he does it with diffidence. We should say that the preliminary part is too long. Of course we want to know something of what the man was, but it seems to us that the story of the child, the boy, and even of the young man at Cambridge, is given in too much detail. The Uganda part of the narrative is by far the most important, and should have occupied a greater proportion of space. We say this, however, simply in view of the calls made upon a reader's time. There are many, wo do not doubt, to whom the story will not seem too long by a single syllable. Certainly it gives us the picture of a very fine and devout soul, full of energy and earnestness, tempered by a humility which does not always go with these groat qualities. Tho start for Uganda was made in May, 1895; Uganda was reached in the October of that year. Mr. Hall's work seems to have been, on the whole, encouraging ; but we cannot go into the details of it. It was brought to a sudden end by one of those catastrophes which are so hard to understand. Mr. Hall was drowned in his Borthon boat. The particulars could not be certainly recovered; but it seems probable that Hall was drowned in endeavouring to save one of the "boys." He was a strong swimmer, and the distance from shore was not very great. But if the drowning man clung to him the end is only too easy to understand.
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