On the Track of the Pilgrim Fathers, or, Holidays in
Holland. By J. Ewing Ritchie. 1 vol. (Tinsley).—The writer of this book expresses himself as having been deeply shocked at the ignorance of his fellow- country men concerning the Dutch and their history. In order in some degree to mitigate this, he has written an account of the chief towns of Holland, from notes made during occasional visits there. He has nothing new, and little enough that is old, to say about the Pilgrim Fathers, and the idea of connecting them in any way with his "Holi- days" seems to have been an afterthought. We are not surprised, therefore, that the subject is introduced with notes about the Chatham and Dover Railway, Sir S. Waterlow's speeches after lunch, and the like. The most superficial account of Holland should, however, contain more notice of Dordreoht thanthat the writer "rushed past" it," where," he says (after barely naming the Assembly of 1572 and the Synod, 1618), "Airey &heifer was born in 1795." Altogether, Mr. Ritchie's narrative is very scrappy and superficial, the title is fantastic, and the style slipshod in the extreme ; the best things in the book are the extracts from previous writers, particularly the "Fathers " themselves, of whom we can never weary, and their contemporaries.
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