The Life of Sir Edward Clarke. By Derek Walker-Smith and
Edward Clarke. (Thornton Butterworth. r8s.) IT was not easy to write the biography of Sir Edward Clarke while Sir William Gordon-Cumming was still alive. The life which now appears - consists in part of an account of Clarke's very uninteresting private lit; and in part of a series of sketches, in the now accepted form, of the celebrated lawsuits in which he was engaged. There is murder, mystery, and scandal in abundance. Few of the stories are new, since in a big case there are so many counsel, and in these days they must all have their biographers. Tranby Croft, Parnell, and Oscar Wilde pass by in familiar procession. But Clarke's undoubted eloquence did not out. weigh his lack of personality; and the story is one of success, but not of drama. The authors do not make any attempt at literary style; and the book is quite unnecessarily long.
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