Christmas. By Clement A. Miles. (T. Fisher linwin. 10s. 6d.
net.)-Mr. Miles has given to his book the appearance of a most suitable Christmas present. At the same time it i3 full of learned research, as may be gathered at once from the excellent biblia- graphy, which shows that he has made much study of the work of early writers, historical and theological, and has kept up-to-date his reading of modern students such as Dr. Frazer. We cannot here criticize the deductions that Mr. Miles draws : it must suffice to describe the book. The opening chapters give an account of the growth of the Christian feast; how the festival of the birth superseded heathen celebrations and the older festival of the baptism of our Lord through the decisions of councils and the edicts of Christian rulers. The three names, Christmas, Noel, and Yule, are discussed with the implications of their meanings. The greater part of the book is then devoted to pagan survivals which can be traced in every part of the world. Though many an average reader will be surprised and possibly shocked at some points, Mr. Miles must be cleared of any suspicion of hankering after far-fetched, ingenious connexions : he does not fall under the temptation, which besets so many writers on kindred subjects, to startle the conventional reader at any cost. The winter festivals of the world offer an apparently inexhaustible field for research. From the day when the sun begins to rise earlier, that is, roughly speaking, our Christmastide, until some three weeks later, there have been almost universal celebrations of the turn of the year, or of indoor feasting when outdoor work was least possible. We are taken through these days and given the legends, Christian or pagan, or both in combination, around Christmas Day, the Holy Innocents' Day, New Year's Day, the Epiphany and Candlemas. There are numerous half-tone illus- trations from old pictures, and four coloured plates of sacred pictures. Mr. Miles has chosen such masters as Pesellino and Massed°, rather than those who aro already universally known by the reproduction of their altar-pieces and other pictures.
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