THE QUARTERLIES.
THE Edinburgh Review for July is uncommonly interesting. The Dean of St. Paul's contributes a spirited article on ." Eugenics," reaffirming his belief that the white races are degenerating, and that we should aim at reducing the birth- rate and discouraging marriage among the unfit, as well as at reducing the heavy burdens which weigh down the professional classes. The Dean cites his own family-tree as a proof that scholarship is inherited ; fourteen members of the family, in four generations, have all distinguished themselves. Professor Alison Phillips discusses " Ireland's Economic Grievances." He points out that the Southern Irish have only themselves to blame for their failure to establish manufacturing industries, and he shows how the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, consciously or unconsciously, has checked commercial enterprise. The Sinn Feiners predict that great material prosperity will follow the removal of British control, but the immediate results of the revolution have been merely destructive. The editor deals with " Empire Migration " in a somewhat critical spirit. He would send children to the Dominions, but not adults, at the expense of the State. Further, he maintains that we cannot afford to assist emigration unless at the same time we cut down the vast sums spent on " public assistance." Mr. J. A. Spender writes temperately and cautiously on " Great Britain and the United States." An unnamed writer maintains that " The Demilitarisation of Germany " is a fact, and quotes Colonel Repington's recently published diary in proof of his assertion. Mr. J. A. Stevenson, in an article on " Fiscal Politics in Canada," declares that the new Ministry's attempt to resume the Reci- procity negotiations of 1911 has failed at Washington, as the situation has changed ; he does not think, in any case, that a commercial agreement between Canada and America would cause Canada to leave the Empire. Mr. R. C. Bosanquet contributes an excellent article on " The Realm of Minos," with reference to Sir Arthur Evans's work at Knossos, and Sir Thomas Arnold writes on " The Decline of the Abbasid Caliphate." Mr. Wyatt Tilby deals with " The Best-Seller Problem "—the question why inferior novels sell in vast numbers while better novels, as a rule, do not—but he cannot be said to have thrown any new light on a very old question. Lastly, we may direct attention to an article by a Chinese writer, Mr. Hein Hai Chang, on " The Vogue of Chinese Poetry "—in the West. It is particu- larly interesting to have an expert criticism of Mr. Waley, and of Mrs. Ayscough and Miss Lowell, through whom English readers have learned to know some of the old Chinese poets. Mr. Thin Hai Chang insists on simplicity of form and intimacy with nature as the main characteristics of Chinese poetry. He compares it to German poetry, especially the lyrics of Wilhelm Muller, and suggests that it would be best rendered in iambic metre rather than in " free verse."
In the Quarterly Mr. H. W. C. Davis treats of " The Confer- ence of Paris," and Sir John Jordan of " The Washington Confer- ence and Far Eastern Questions," with special reference to the position of Japan in Manchuria. An anonymous article on " International Relations " deprecates the tendency to expect too much from the League of Nations, which " is at once easy to assail and difficult to uproot." Sir Valentine Chirol writes in a somewhat pessimistic strain on " The Outlook in India." There is an account of the Irish turmoil, ending with an admonition to the Provisional Government to be up and doing since they will be judged by their actions. Dr. E. J. Dillon repeats his plea for Mexico and President Obregon. Mr. F. A. W. Gisborne, under the title of " Australia Infelix," considers the problem of the Northern Territory, which he would colonize with coloured people, in defiance of the doctrine of " White Australia." Mr. Gisbome's statements in regard to the inefficiency of white labour in the Queensland sugar plantations are highly contro- versial, and it would be unwise to conclude that the Northern Territory cannot be settled by white people. Until Port Darwin is connected with Adelaide or Brisbane by railway the Territory will remain almost inaccessible to settlers, and the political obstacles to the development of the Territory are probably as great as the economic. Mr. Horatio F. Brown contributes a delightful article on " British Students at Padua," written from a full knowledge of the printed literature and the Paduan records. Between 1618 and 1765 over two thousand British subjects visited or studied at Padua—including Montrose, Juxon, Rochester, Claverhouse and Addison. Mr. H. C. Luke describes the " Cities of Transcaucasia." There are two literary articles of interest. Mr. John Freeman writes on " The Work of Mr. Walter de la Mare." Mr. Middleton Murry gives an interesting and commendably accurate account of " M. Marcel Proust : a New Sensibility," which will help those English readers who find a difficulty in understanding the crowded volumes of Le Cote de Chtermantes, with their keen observation and subtle wit.
The English Historical Review contains the first instalment of what promises to be an important essay by Professor A. F. Pollard on " Council, Star Chamber and Privy Council Under the Tudors," the relations between which have remained obscure. Mr. C. L. Kingsford has unearthed and printed the journal of the energetic English officer, Captain Caroline Scott, who defended Fort William against the Jacobites in 1746 after Fort George and Fort Augustus had been tamely surrendered. Scott was afterwards sent to India, and there planned new defences for Fort William at Calcutta. He died prematurely in 1754 and his plans were put aside ; thus it came about that the garrison could not resist Suraja Dowlah and most of them, including Scott's nephew, perished in the " Black Hole." The most amusing item in the number is, however, the set of twelve mediaeval ghost-stories transcribed by the Provost of Eton from a Royal MS. in the British Museum. Anyone with a modest knowledge of Latin may enjoy these stories, recorded by a pious monk of Byland in the days of Henry the Fourth. The best is that of a tailor, named Snowball, of Ampleforth, Who was beset on his road home by an uneasy spirit in the form of a crow. The spirit knocked him off his horse, but at last, on being properly adjured, revealed the fact that he had been excommunicated and could get no rest unless nine times twenty masses were said for his unhappy soul. In another story we are told of a ghost who was so obliging as to carry a sack of beans for a man whose horse had stumbled and broken its leg. Theca genuine Yorkshire tales are well worth reading.
Previous page
