WAR Boons.—There is nothing absolutely new in Mafeking : a
Diary of the Siege, by Major F. D. Bailie (A. Constable and Co., Gs.), but it emphasises various matters of importance. There is the difficulty of the defence, a large perimeter (between five and six miles) to be held by a most inadequate force, the futility of the Boar methods—one strange habit of theirs was to leave off firing as soon as they got the correct range—their disregard of the accepted conventions of warfare—firing on carriers of the wounded, on places protected by their character, as the Convent and the women's laager—and their great unwillingness to come to close quarters. We hear much of Boer courage—and it is easy to see why—but it is a simple fact that they could have rushed the place at any time. A British force of half the strength, for the Boers must have numbered at one time nearly ten thousand men, would certainly not have been kept out of Mafeking for a fortnight. The book is a very readable piece of writing, and gives as vivid an idea of the realities of war as any that we have seen for some time.—The South African Vigilance Committee publish under the title of " Vigilance Tracts " various brochures which have to do with the war at the Cape. We have before us The Transvaal Question from a Swiss Point of View, by Edouard Neville ; and The Voice of the Churches in Support of the Imperial Policy. The Anglican, the Wesleyan, the Presbyterian, the Congregational, and the Baptist Churches join together in pronouncing a decided opinion in favour of British supremacy, and annexation of the two Republics as a necessary step towards that end. Of course it is possible that they may be wrong, but the probabilities are very much the other way.—The Ladysmith Treasury, edited by J. Eveleigh Nash (Sands and Co., Cs.), has nothing to do with Ladysmith or the Vier, except that the profits of the book are to go to the relief of distress in the town. It contains sixteen short stories and sketches. Among the authors we see the names of Ian Maclaren, W. E. Norris, Morley Roberts, and F. Frankfort Moore. We recommend the book to our readers, and can do so without scruple, not only because the object is patriotic, but because there is good literary work in it.—The Siege of Mafeking : a Patriotic Poem, try Gilbert Highton (Bemrose and Sons, le.), is the outcome of an enthusiastic spirit of patriotism.
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