CURRENT LITERATURE.
WILLI A TX THE SILENT.
William the Silent. By J. C. Squire. (Methuen and Co. 10s. 6d. net.)—It is a pleasure in these days when historical hackwork is one of the staples of the literary market, to come upon so excellent a book as this volume of Mr. Squire's. His subject is one of which it is probably impossible to say anything really new at the present time. The effort to whitewash Philip the Second has been made and failed, and it would require a hardihood even greater than that of the most modern historian to attempt the same office for the Duke of Alva. William, too, has long since emerged from the shadow of his most inappropriate nickname as one of the greatest and most lovable heroes of modern Europe, and the glory of Egmont's death has ceased to blind critics to his weakness and stupidity. Error. could not long outlive the gigantic work of Motley, and Mr. Squire has wisely realized that he could do no more than follow accepted lines. His success demonstrates the refreshing truth that a good subject can always produce a. good book if it is handled by a worthy writer. Some little novelty there is in the present volume. The Calendars of State Papers have furnished a little new material since Mr. Frederic Harrison wrote the
penetrating study of William which is perhaps the best of all those spirited and luminous works which constitute his contribution to the cause of freedom. These papers Mr. Squire has used, and he has also drawn from the contemporary chronicle of sturdy Roger Williams, whose rough, quaint speech and homely humour enliven many a page of the volume, and make the reader wonder why his work (which is surely not entirely untrustworthy) should have been so little used by former historians. Here, as elsewhere, Mr. Squire's use of his material is excellent. The book is well planned and written in a style that has both ease and distinction, and it is permeated besides with that indefinable spice of person- ality which makes it a book instead of a mere compilation.
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