CURRENT LITERATURE.
The History of South Australia. By Edwin Hodder. 2 vols. (Sampson, Low, and Co.)—This seems to be very impartially written, and though there is little in the way of humour or anecdote to relieve the pages, it is distinctly readable. One thing is soon realised in reviewing Colonial politics,—that is, how absolutely out of touch the Minister for the time being was with his brethren beyond the sea, how completely unable to realise the difficulties of Colonial finance. The difficulty of a Governor's position is also forcibly illustrated. Surely, of all thankless offices, that of Governor of a Crown Colony is the most thankless. Not till he bids farewell to the confused elements of a Colony, does many a Governor receive some meed of acknowledgment from those he has tried to do his best for. Reproaches from those under him, reprimands from those above him,—truly a Colonial Governor's life "is not a happy one," certainly not in the earlier decades of Colonial enterprise. These two volumes will be of more use to the Australian politician than to any one else. There is an exhaustive summary of events in the second volume, and a map. They could have been made interesting, as the recital of some of the adventures of the gold escort show. One commissioner swam his horse nineteen times across a creek to recover some bags of gold stuck in the mud.
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