19 AUGUST 1916, Page 17

Serbia in Light and Darkness. By Rev. Father Nicholai Velimirovie.

(Longmans and Co. 3s. 6d. net. )—In a preface to this little volume the Archbishop of Canterbury says that "it will be to many people the introduction to a new range of interest and of thought," and cer- tainly Father Nicholai has succeeded in drawing an arresting picture of his countrymen, in their past history and in their present martyrdom. The first and main part consists of four lectures on Serbia delivered last winter in England, to which are appended "Fragments of Serbian National Wisdom," in which we can see reflected the struggles and the undaunted spirit of this race of fighters for liberty. The seven answers to the question "What is Death?" are a fine example of the Serbian creed, but are too long to quote here. If there is little that may be called "light" in the fate of this people, here at least is a striking saying of which some of their enemies will ignore the meaning—" What is it to be a gentleman ? To be the first to thank and the last to complain." The "Fragments of Serbian Poetry" which end the book are taken from Sir John Bowrir_g's early nineteenth-century versions. There are twenty-five illustrations, among them a photograph of Mestrovic's "My Mother."