Aubrey de Vere: a Memoir. By John P. Gunning. (Guy
and Co., Limerick.)—Readers will find much that is interesting in this memoir, but it can hardly be said that the biographer has done the beat that was possible for his subject. Surely it might have been possible to give due credit to Mr. de Vere for what he did in the terrible famine time without the gross abuse which is showered on the action of the British Government. No one, certainly, would guess, after reading what Mr. Gunning has to say on the subject, that £10,000,000 came out of the Exchequer for the relief of the distress. Much money was wasted, and some embezzled—such things always happen at such a time—but .a great effort was made. It is not fair to give an impression that one or two paltry loans, the repayment of which was rigorously exacted, was all that was done. Mr. Gunning may
not have wished to leave this impression. If so, be should have waited to learn how to express his meaning before writing this book. Good taste should have kept him from touching on the subject; but he probably knows his public.
Previous page
