Essays about Men, Women, and Books. By Augustine Birrell. (Elliot
Stock.)—The author of "Obiter Dicta" possesses the happy art of frequently saying the exact and satisfying word in his criticisms of life and books, and when the reader dissents from his judgment he does so with a friendly feeling for the writer. Mr. Birrell is the master of a good style, and is blessed with the agreeable sense of humour which prevents the invasion of dullness. But he is in danger of risking his fair reputation as a companionable author by the publication of these slight and necessarily superficial essays. Well fitted though they may be to fill a column in a daily or weekly paper, they appear insignificant in book-form, despite the large type and wide margins which conceal the paucity of matter. The little volume, slight though it be, will prove acceptable to readers who like to be guided in their opinions by a competent writer, and the various subjects described in these pages supply a light pabulum fitted for the delicate literary digestion of the day. There are several good and some flippant sayings in the book, several shrewd criticisms, and a few remarks sufficiently polemic to excite discussion ; but the essays are far too brief to be satisfactory. A moment's glance at men like Swift and Bolingbroke, like Johnson and Sterne, and at such wealthy topics as "Books New and Old" and "Authors and Critics," is not likely to throw great light upon them ; and in trying to say much in a small space the writer appears occasionally to aim at originality, and to miss the mark. Writing of the last century, Mr. Birrell says, "Those were pleasant days when men of reading were content to give their best thoughts first to their friends and then—ten years afterwards—to the public." Mr. Birrell has pursued an opposite course. His "best thoughts" in 1893 are given to the public for a second time in 1894.
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