A Modern Journal : being the Diary of Greville Minor
for the Year of Agitation 1903-1904. Edited by J. A. Spender. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—Mr. Spender's admirable wit and acute sense of every phase of political -feeling have enabled him to attain success in a very difficult literary form. The serious diarist is valued because of the copiousness of his facts and the volume of his gossip. To reproduce these merits in miniature, and in a few chapters to give the impression of well-informed obser- vation behind the scenes, requires an exceptional literary versatility. Mr. Spender has given us on the whole a faithful narrative of the past year, with its shifting political currents, and in his pages the paradox of the whole situation appears in all its absurdity. His comments are never bitter or unfair, and the tolerant irony of the style is the tone best fitted to do justice to the subject. Specially good are the thumb-nail sketches of the different types of politicians,—Burndale, the ordinary Liberal; Carnforth, the Free-fooder ; Ainslie, the Tariff Re- former; and Lord C., who provides a Greek Chorus of general gossip. Many of the forecasts have been falsified, as was intended; but throughout the book there runs a strain of shrewd foresight which recent events have substantially justified. Quotation can give but a poor idea of the cleverness of the work; but we recommend all who desire to have their memories refreshed as to the events of the past year, and to obtain some insight into the kaleidoscope of parties and policies, to have recourse to Mr. Spender's ingenious pages.
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