The Cradle of the Hapsburgs. By J. W. Gilbert-Smith. (Chatto
and Windus. 55. net.)—Mr. Gilbart-Smith has industriously collected a great number of interesting, and even romantic, facts about the Hapsburgs in their earlier days. It is certainly curious that the beginnings of so many of the ruling 'houses of Europe should be located so close together; the Hohenzollerns and the Guelphs and the family of Savoy have their origins as close, we might say, as the Rhine and the Rhone. But our author does not make the best of his materials ; the fact is that he is not content to tell the story simply. He intrudes reflections and moral- isings, and fills in the picture with details that are not convincing. It would have been as well to quote the famous epigram on Austrian marriages correctly. The first line runs thus :—
" Bella gamut alii ; tn, fells Austria, note."
This we find cut up into two lengths, while " filia " is put for "felix," to the damage of both sense and metre.
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