THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OF ENGLAND.* Tins is
a book to interest a great number of uncritical people. It is in no sense a history of England. It is a stringing together of scraps, memoirs concerning royalties, rather than a book of history. Curiosity will always bang about kings more rather than less now that their " Divinity" is exploded. Within these limits the book is exceedingly interesting and entertaining— especially the second volume. The writer has set himself "to give a short account of what I may call the private as opposed to the public history of the several kings and queens, of their children, and of such of their immediate descendants or relatives as have played any part in English history, or have lived in England," boldly avoiding, "as far as possible, refer- ence to those great political events which are in the province of regular historians and are more or less known to all readers?' Mr. Bagshawe modestly disclaims all "pretence to originality or antiquarian research," and declares nothing will be found in his pages " which any reader of ordinary industry might not find out for himself by consulting well-known and tolerably accessible works." But the casual reader has not the time to hunt up all the interesting matter which is here so well arranged and put before him. Twenty-one shillings is a large price for two ordinary sized volumes; on the other hand, they certainly contain a great many half-hours of pleasant reading, and there are no dull chapters.
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