Some news is never stale ; indeed, it improves with
keeping. The writer of Some Letters from a Man of No Importance, 1895-1914 (Cape, 10s. 6d.), found these communications had been preserved over a period of twenty years by the friend to whom they were addressed. No middle-aged man or woman who has taken an intelligent interest in politics could read them without great pleasure. Always we have a sense that the writer knows what he is talking about, that he is able to take us into an atmosphere which is familiar to him. The theatres, the Court, the House of Commons, great country houses, and the actors to be seen on all these stages, come before us. The writer speaks intimately and tells a good deal of himself—of his faith, his opinions, his tastes, and experiences. We never feel for an instant that he wants to make an impression of superior knowledge, nor, though he quotes characteristic sayings and describes dramatic incidents, does he bore us with a string of stories or divulge inclisereet confidences. In short, he has the art of letter-writing. Now is the time to deal in letters, for an art which is sure to come back is at the moment rare. *- * -
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