Signs of Change. By William Morris. (Reeves and Turner.)— Mr.
Morris has been for some time quite certain that the world is out of joint, and that the balance of society needs to be entirely readjusted. The aim and object of the seven lectures contained in this volume is apparently to acquaint men with this fact. We cannot, however, help thinking that they are more likely to inspire the idea that Mr. Morris's mental balance is even more seriously in need of readjustment. His book bristles with fulminations against landlords, capitalists, Conservatives and Whigs, especially the last-named ; but never once have we been able to find one practical suggestion for remedying the evils which he attacks. Annihilate the capitalists, and appropriate their wealth,' sounds, no doubt, very pleasant to those who are without means, and who dislike the work necessary to obtain them ; but it can hardly be regarded as a practical suggestion for the improvement of humanity in general. We do not know whether Mr. Morris really advocates the total subversion of law and order for the sake of anarchy—such, for instance, as was the case in the French Revolution—but sometimes he most certainly gives his readers this impression. Mr. Morris is, we cannot help feeling, more at home in the pleasant paths of poesy than in the field of practical politics. To the author of "The Earthly Paradise" we can accord a respect which we should find it hard to give were his reputation as a writer and thinker dependent on the book before us.
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