Political Letters and Speeches of the Thirteenth Earl of Pembroke.
(Bentley and Son.)—The Earl of Pembroke succeeded to his father's title in his boyhood, and so missed the advantage of serving an apprenticeship to politics in the House of Commons. Whether he could have used the opportunity had it come in his way is doubtful, for his health was weak, and would probably have broken down under the pressure of a busy political life sooner than it did. As for capacity, by which we mean not cleverness only but strength and sobriety of judgment, this volume gives abundant proof of it. Many of these speeches and letters are quite admirable. The last paper in the volume, " Cripps v. Free-trade," puts the difficulties on both sides of the question with the greatest candour and lucidity. Lord Pembroke tells us that he wanted to know what would happen to a nation that could not produce any- thing so cheaply as one or other of its neighbours, and that he never could get an answer. It would be interesting. But perhaps it would be the simple affirmation that the case is im- possible.
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