SOME BOOKS OF TILE WEEK.
[Tinder this heading tee notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.]
Thoughts on Imperial and Social Subjects. By the Right Ron. the Earl and the Countess of Meath. (Wells Gardner, Dayton, and Co. 6s.)—It is scarcely necessary to remark that what Lord and Lady Meath have to say on current questions of the day is well worth hearing. Lord Meath has, among other essays classified as "Imperial," suggestions for a " mended" House of Lords. It is to consist of two hundred elected hereditary Peers, a hundred and thirty official and life Peers, thirty Bishops and non-Anglican dignitaries, twenty recommended life Peers, and twenty Colonial and Indian life Peers. In another paper he argues for the special case of Indian Princes sitting in the House of Lords. Would it be worth while for Holkar or &hubs to come over for the very few sittings of importance that the House has ? "Reasonable Patriotism" is an able plea for the thesis that Great Britain may compare favourably with other countries in respect of matters wherein some British subjects with a passion for " fouling their own nest " love to depreciate her. Another essay is " The Uni- versal Military Training of British Lads." Training must in a way be military ; but it might be advisable to drop the word. There are those to whom it is as a red rag to a bull. Foolish people who are bent on exalting Islam at the expense of Christianity should read Lady Meath's account of a girls' school in Morocco. Morocco is a genuinely Mohammedan country with as little inter- penetration of Christian ideas as may be. Here are two examples of what Moorish women may expect. The eldest girl in the school was missed one day. The teacher found that she had been sold for £4 to a woman who was seeking for a wife for her son. She was cruelly beaten both by mother-in-law and husband ; possibly her school training did not suit them. The mother of another of the pupils was bought by a soldier from her husband. The man paid £100, but intimated that he would get the husband put out of the way if he hesitated. The wife was divorced, every- thing being done according to law. Her child was left behind, and had to be taken care of by Christian missionaries.
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