27 JUNE 1914, Page 13

The Hermits and Anchorites of England. By Rotha Mary Clay.

(Methuen and Co. 7s. 6d. net.)—This work, at once readable and scholarly, is a notable addition to The Antiquary's Books." The life of the recluse is now "seldom chosen and never respected," as a recent writer on mysticism observes. But in early England it was highly respectable, as we judge from these records of piety and privation amongst our English fens ath forests, caves and cliffs. The author

has accumulated a great mass of documentary evidence, which she handles skilfully. We often forget that some at least of the old hermits, with Anglo-Saxon facility for making the best of both worlds, were the recognised guardians of high- ways, bridges, and lighthouses.