DIFFICULTIES. By Seymour Hicks. (Duckworth. 10s. 6(1.)
It would be easy to poke fun at Mr. Seymour Hicks's naivei aIve
little guide to youth by quoting sonic of his crude philoso- phizing on religion, art, morals, and human life in general, but behind his tiresome jocularities and rather staggering purple patches there seems to lie an earnestness and a real desire to give helpful advice that we would not discourage. Quite possibly ours is a misplaced clemency, for a guide whose heart is greater than his head so easily loses not only himself but also his trusting charges. Still, if we do not find Mr. Seymour Hicks acceptable as our instructor in Politics, Theology, Painting, or Literature, the youth who sets no store by a writer's style will discover a good deal of horse-sense in the chapters dealing with adolescent foolishness of all sorts, from sartorial vainglory to the inordinate affections. Anyway, as Mr. Hicks addresses us in his man-of-the-world way as "My boy," we who are not " his boy " or any longer boy of anyone's must not be hypercritical.
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