The Social Ideals of Alfred Tennyson. By William Clark Gordon,
41.M. (T. Fisher Unwin. 6s. 6d. net.)-After a preliminary
chapter on "Literature as a Means of Social Expression," Mr. Gordon proceeds to analyse very carefully the references and judgments on social questions that are to be found in Tennyson's poems. He seems to us to appreciate them very justly, certainly in as admiring a spirit as any believer in the Tennysonian philosophy can desire. There are some to whom this philosophy appears narrow and antiquated; one eminent thinker discovered that it was largely due to writers who, as a matter of fact, were in their cradles when the poet was setting it forth to the world. The book, which we would gladly examine in more detail, is well worth study. One criticism we must make. Why does lir. Gordon put the "Wesleyan Revival" as one of the five causes which wrought a great social change in Tennyson's time ? That it was an important event we do not deny. But it touched a class which had as little as possible to do with that which was moved by the utterances of Tennyson.
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