SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Notice in Mir column don not ft.-warily prelude subsegurn1 perinea THE QUARTERLIES: In the Edinburgh _Review Sir Valentine Chirol writes on "The End of the Ottoman Empire," quoting General Liman von Sanders' memoirs to show how even that Prussian general in the Turkish service was shocked by the corruption of Enver Pasha's rule, and adding that Turkey may yet give much trouble. He fears lest the East may lose " at this critical juncture its faith in the moral superiority of the West." Sir Lynden Macassey has a useful article on "Direct Action," tracing the development of this revolutionary policy through the war, and since the armistice, and pointing out how the moderate Labour leaders are carried away by the passion for an apparent unity in the Labour ranks, however much they may differ from the minority of extremists. Mr. Marriott examines in detail the working of Swiss Democracy, which is unlike that of any other country but is well adapted to Swiss aeeds. The editor, Mr. Harold Cox, discusses " Population and Progress " from the standpoint of those who deprecate a high birth-rate. Dr. R. H. Murray puts the episode of the Pilgrim Fathers in its proper relation to the course of history : he emphasizes the importance of the Pilgrims in making North America an English community. " But for the Pilgrim Fathers the speech of Shakespeare and of Bunyan would not now be spoken half-the world over. Our blood is in the veins of the Americans, our law is in their courts, and our faith is in their hearts." But Dr. Murray underrates the importance of Virginia, colonized thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed in New England. Mr. Edmund Geese has a pleasant article on "Recent Elections at the French Academy "—Marshal ;refire, M. Rate Boylesve, M. Francois do Curet, Monseigneur Baudrillart, Jules Cambon, M. Clemenceau, M. Barthou, Marshal Foch, M. Henry Bordeaux, M. de Flers, M. Bidier, M. Cherrillon, General Lyautey. Professor Terlinden sketches the long history of " The Order of the Golden Fleece," and suggests that, as the Hapsburg Order has disappeared, King Albert of Belgium should revive the old Burgundian order, founded in 1930 by Philip the Good.--The Quarterry opens with a thoughtful article on England in 1848 " by Mr. A. V. Dicey, who shows that English public opinion at that time believed in two things above all—the British Constitution and the doctrine of laissez.faire—and that it was strengthened in its belief by the revolutionary chaos on the Continent. But laissez-faire was qualified by the humanitarianism which found expression, ander the guidance of Lord Shaftesbury, in the Factory Acts.
The early Victorians, whom foolish people pretend to despise, loved their country and cherished their personal freedom. Commander Hogarth discusses very frankly the " Preeert Discontents in the Near and Middle East." He quotes the King of Hedjaz as saying that Great Britain had five policies is Arabia, and he himself complains that the British Government and the Indian Government have pursued policies which am diametrically opposed, the Indian officials being Turcophile and contemptuous of Arab aspirations. He regards the French mandate in Syria and the Jewish " National Home " in Palestine as wholly incompatible with our promises of Arab independence. Mr. W. E. D. Allen describes the troubled condition of. Trans- caucasia and looks forward, with surprising optimism, to a federation of Georgians, Armenians and some, if not all, of the Tatars. An unsigned article on " Japan and the War " states the position very clearly. Japan is seething with discontent, but the writer of the article thinks that pessimists " overlook the solid foundation which is hidden beneath the florid archi- tecture of the modern state," and the self-discipline of the Japanese people. Mr. J. Ellis Barker fmds " The Present State of Feeling in Germany " to be anything but repentance for Germany's crimes, but the books and official reports which ho cites probably do not represent the views of the ordinary citizen. Sir Lyndon Macaesey's account of " The Labour Party and its Policy " is carefully written ; he observes that if the Labour Party wants to govern it must purge itself of revolutionaries and eschew that " insensate jealousy of its own leaders " which is always sapping its strength. Sir William Ashley, writing on " The Pilgrim Fathers," disagrees with Dr. Murray so far as to say that " it is hard to see in what way the Pilgrimage itself left any mark on the general course of events in either Europe or America," unless it encouraged the great emigration to New England ten years later. Mr. C. H. Collins Baker has a capital article on "Lay Criticism of Art," showing that, on a long view, new movements in art justify themselves or are forgotten in proportion to their truth to nature, for "life remains our principal affair and the quarry we never overtake."
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