Some Books of the Week
NIEL -John A. Gade writes -with such exuberance in Christian IV (Allen and Unwin, 18s.) that he occasionally lapses into a schoolroom style and tells us that James the tennis marker was one of Christian's "constant pals," and so on. But we are spared the greater sin of dullness. It is difficult to know which is the most interesting side of the variable monarch— Christian the jocular and anxious father, Christian the fiery and capricious lover, or Christian the Sailor, but there is no doubt that Christian the Law-maker was one of the most amusing. He warred against the plague which was devas- tating Sweden, and issued a decree, that " Every citizen must go to the daily inconvenience of washing his hands, and also his face at least several times a week, and even the entire head once in a while. The coldness of the weather will not be accepted as a sufficient excuse." The diary, from which the author quotes freely,- shows that King Christian took his domestic life seriously (June 11th—One of the princes was taken ill and my wife had two stomach-aches) and had a sense of humour (June 17th—An elephant arrived in town, who could dance, fight and kneel. Also two Dutch Ambassadors who could do nothing) and it would be tempting to quote lengthily from the store of- good things Mr. Gade has given us in this most human and entertaining biography.
* *
Previous page
