Politics and Life in Mars. (Sampson Low and Co.)—This is
a very dell satire, as unlike as possible to what should be the model of such attempts, Swift's "Brobdignag" and "Lilliput." Thousands have read these books without a suspicion of their meaning; yet how full of meaning are they, to those who understand ! There is no chance cf misunderstanding what the gentleman who tells us about the people in Mars and their ways intends. Indeed, that there may be no mis- take, he sometimes stops to explain himself, and to point out the re- semblances which he wishes his readers to observe. Surely it is not the skilful painter who thinks it necessary to write under his picture, "This a horse." The writer's chief purpose is to show how the people of Sndgreeu obtained their legislative independence from the Ourown- anders (these names seem to indicate but a feeble power of inven- tion). Bat he has other views, which ho seeks to commend in this fashion of his own to his readers. This wise and happy Martial people nationalised the land, or rather the water, for they lived in the water, a fancy which might have been expanded, if only there had been the power, with something really effective and amusing; they abol- ished monarchy in favour of republicanism, and they contracted marriages for a limited number of years. We confess ourselves unable to see wit or wisdom in Politics and Life in Mars.
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