In Stewart Times. By Edith L. Elias. (George G. Harrap
and Co. ls. 6d.)—Some little time ago Misa Elias wrote a volume with the title of " In Tudor Times." She now gives us a com- panion volume. The biographical method of writing has advan- tages. One of them is the appeal which it makes to the less keenly interested reader. First we have the rulers, from James I. to Anne ; then statesmen, soldiers, divines (if William Penn may be called by the name), and representatives of science and art. It is all well done, with moderation of judgment and an adequate
command of historical material. Now and then a detail might be improved. Miss Elias does not, for instance, quite understand the academic position of William Laud. He went to St. John's, Oxford. as a Reading Scholar—Reading School had such scholarships, i.e., as a Probationary Fellow, and in due time succeeded to a full Fellowship, because he had fulfilled certain conditions, not because he was " well known."
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