SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading us nobles such Books of the week as have not bun reserved for review in other forme.] Fireside and Sunshine. By E. V. Lucas. (Methuen and Co 5s.)—About a half of the contents of this volume has appeared before in book form; the rest is reprinted from various periodicals. Whether old or new or half new, the essays may be commended to the public as excellent reading. Mr. Lucas has learnt, as few have learnt, the secret of essay-writing. Of course, he reminds us of Charles Lamb ; nor would it be possible for one who knows everything that can be known about the prince of English essayists not to be touched by the same spirit. But he is no imitator. Often he deals with subjects which Lamb, essentially a townsman, would never have handled, Squirrels," for instance. Lamb, too, when he is in the country, seems to carry the town with him. for can we fail to observe that there is about a century between the two. The difference makes itself felt in style. Here is a specimen from " Clothing, Old and New " :—" Boots seem to me civilization's most conspicuous failure ; they pinch, they cramp, they mar, they have every tightness but water tightness; they are hot in summer and cold in winter ; they have no durability ; they are costly ; they make it almost worth one's while to have one's feet amputated early in life." [This is a truly Lambian extravagance.] "Of all men," he adds, "tramps and peers care least about their appear- ance." To these, however, must be added the philosophical persons who dress badly both where they are and where they are not known, and in both cases on a logical principle which is equally cogent. But we might make extracts without end. Get the book, we should say, and read it aloud. This is almost essential.—We are glad to see a "cheap edition " of A Fit of Happiness, and other Essays, by Cecil Gray (Elliot Stock, 2s. 6d.) These are reprinted from the Spectator, and it must suffice to congratulate the author on the acceptance which his work has gained.
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