English Seamen and Divers. By Alphonse Esquires. (Chapman and Hall.)—We
regret to have to say of so friendly and intelligent an observer of our national life as M. Esquires that he shows a disposition to book-making. There is some sort of a connection between the subject of English seamen and such topics as the Greenwich Observa- tory, the Admiralty, the Docks, &c. ; but the connection becomes very remote when we have, a propos of the Admiralty, a short sketch of the life of the second Duke of Buckingham, of the Observatory an account of measuring the boundary line between England and the United States, and of the Docks M. Esquiros's experiences with a tasting order. And why should we have eighty-seven pages about Greenwich Observatory, and nothing about Greenwich Hospital ? In one chapter only of the book, on "The Sailor in the Port of London," do we find what we are led to expect by the first part of the title. Nevertheless to the reader who does not want information about seamen, but is willing to be amused by lively and sensible talk on matters that have, for the most part, something to do with the sea, we can recommend this volume. In "English Divers" M. Esquires has a more limited and definite subject, and keeps to it.
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