Liberty and a Living. By Philip Hubert, jun, (Putnam'a Sons.)—Mr.
Hubert takes his motto from Thoreau, and, on hie own showing, has tried to live on Thoreauist principles, for his. book is "an attempt to secure bread and 'butter, sunshine and content, by gardening, fishing, and hunting." He seems un- doubtedly to have enjoyed and profited by his temporary relapse into a semi-barbaric existence, and perhaps if there were a few more persons of the same mind as himself in the cities of the States, a reaction might be got up against the mere frantic hunt for dollars which still, in the case of most members of the American middle class, means life, This is, on the whole, not only an incon- clusive but a rambling-scrambling book, for Mr. Hubert interlard% his descriptions too much with small moralisings and " refiec- Cons." Yet his details of amateur bee-keeping and gardening and fishing are unquestionably entertaining through their sheer simplicity. With a good stock of good books, one might enjoy for a period the life which Mr. Hubert depicts and recommends. But after three months, that life would probably pall on most meii accustomed to city advantages.
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