We are glad to see a cheap edition of the
very pleasant series of biographies written by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ponsonby under the title of Rebels and Reformers (Allen and Unwin, 2s. 6d.). The biographies are written in good and simple English, and aro really charming to read. We recognize in the authors a distinct point of view throughout which gives a quality and a meaning to their writing. It seems to us, however, that they insist over- much on their recurrent theme that it is a very difficult thing to struggle against the whole world, and that it necessarily requires a stalwart and noble character to do it. In a great many cases that is true, of course, but there arc also a great many eases in which notoriety is sought and opposition to the world as a fixed policy is a weakness arising either from vanity or a tiresome perversity. It is really not so difficult to oppose the world as to excel on conventional lines where the competition is very much keener. This is our only small grumble. The accounts of Savonarola, William the Silent, Tycho Brah6, Cervantes, Giordano Bruno, Grotius, Voltaire, Hans Andersen, Mazzini, William Lloyd Garrison, Thoreau, and Tolstoy are most attractive. The authors might continue their researches into the history of slavery and write a biography of that heroic reformer, Granville Sharp.
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