A. Prince of Good Fellows. By Robert Barr. (Chatto and
Windus. 6s.)—The" Prince of Good Fellows" is James V, of Scot- land. James, it will be remembered, had a way of being a Scottish Haronn-al-Raachid, besides cherishing, not altogether
without success, the ambition of being a poet. Mr. Barr tells, with no little vigour, some stories of his adventures; how he went
incognito among his turbulent subjects, and saw for himself what they wanted and how they ought to be dealt with. Perhaps the best of these stories is "The King's Gold," with its very curious description of the Italian alchemist and his doings; but all are good. Mr. Barr has bad to idealise his subject. One cannot help asking, if James was so sagacious, so brave, so excellent in action and counsel, why did he not make a better business of reigning? The language difficulty is sufficiently well solved ; Mr. Barr does not attempt the archaic.
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