Pictures of the World. By Clement Scott. (Remington and Co.)—Clement
Scott is one of those delightful travellers who, before they write of their travels, clear their minds of cant. He speaks quite frankly, for instance, about the Japanese, and shows what a very thin veneer of civilisation coats the artistic natives of this much-praised country. He is always vigorous, sometimes satirical, occasionally enthusiastic, 'but never hysterical ; a strong vein of common sense runs through all his descriptions, and he rarely loses an opportunity of tilting at a sham or sham sentiment. Clement Scott has just the suspicion of a Philistine about him ; enough to make us feel that he looks at life and travel from a practical point of view. Perhaps this enables us to relish those occasions when, having the eyes of an artist and the heart of a poet, Clement Scott writes a description of some scene that has fascinated him. Let those who like to read of places and people with the light and shade, praise and blame, equally distributed, read Pictures of the World.
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