Letters to My Grandson on the Happy Life. By Stephen
Coleridge. (Mills and Boon. 4s. 6d. net.)—This third series of letters of instruction and advice to a young man is concerned mainly with principles of conduct. Though occasionally resembling the familiar and friendly talk of an inspired parent, these letters, especially when they deal with subjects such as Reverence, Magnanimity and Peace, are more in the manner of a very conservative religious adviser. Mr. Stephen Coleridge has some sound advice on the choice of a profession. He compares the struggles of the journalist and the artist, the insecurity of the actor, the unpopularity of the doctor (who, Mr. Coleridge declares, knows too much about his patients ever to be welcome, except in case of illness) with the advantages of the "steady old professions." Among those providing a trustworthy income, he instances architecture—though archi- tects will think differently—the Civil Service, the Bar, and the better class of commercial work. The Bar is, notoriously, the kindest to those who do not make a great success of it ; numerous permanent officials with quite generous salaries, such as Judges, Magistrates, Registrars, and Clerks of Assize, are drawn solely from its members. Altogether, this is a pleasant and wise little book, though it cannot, we feel, be so attractive and stimulating to the growing boy as are the same author's enjoyable Letters to My Grandson on the Glory of English Prose.
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