Tyrol and the Tyrolese. By W. A. Baillie Grohman. (Longmans.)—
This is a book such as the public seldom has the opportunity of reading, such indeed as a necessarily rare combination of circumstances can alone produce. Mr. Grohman is half-Gorman by parentage. He has lived many years in the Tyrol, and has acquired the patois with a per- fection which enables him to hold the freest converse with its people. This knowledge of their own language is here, as elsewhere among primitive populations, an indispensable passport to the confidence which admits to the inner life and feelings. Whatever value may attach to the observations of travellers who pass more or less rapidly through a country, these are not to be compared to the information, estimates of character, and views of life which we get from one who unites to the facilities of a native that power of exercising an impartial judgment which belongs to the stranger. This combination of advan- tages Mr. Grohman possesses, and he gives us accordingly a book of rare interest and value. There is no European population that, as far, at least, as regards the remoter valleys of the country, has been less touched by change than the people of the Tyrol. The student of history has the advantage of seeing in them a picture of life, feeling, and thought such as commonly prevailed among Teutonic races many ages ago. Nowhere, again, has the Roman Catholic Church exercised a more continuous and undisputed sway, and it is profoundly interesting to see the moral results which it has attained. We shall net attempt
to epitomise the author's observations and conclusions on these topics. We must refer the reader to his volume, which will, indeed, amply repay perusal. Exciting descriptions of sporting adventures, among which eagle and chamois-hunting occupies a prominent place, and lively sketches of social manners, join with more serious topics to make up a book of quite unusual charm.
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