inside knowledge of Irish politics. The author has had opportunity
given to few of possessing essential knowledge of Irish organisations.
He writes, however, less as an historian than as an engineer. He has
entered upon the work in that rare spirit of patriotism which seeks the
weaknesses and the strength of the materials of which the Irish nation
of the future must be built. He tests the materials remorselessly,
cutting down beneath surface-show till he finds sound substance.
Animated as he is by hope for Ireland he discards flattery and
flummery, and some of his criticisms of the existing state of affairs,
particularly the influence of the clergy in politics, will produce a
deep impression, and perhaps provoke fierce rejoinders. These remarks
apply not to the priests only, but to their Orange confreres. His
fervent desire is to see religious strife and bigotry eliminated from
Irish public life.
On the whole the book is both conciliatory and unifying, and the true
way of Ireland's concord with England is pointed out. While daringly
thrusting his hand into the furnace of burning questions of the day,
the author has written in an easy, discursive style, lightening the
pages by humourous touches, after the manner of his "Human Documents,"
or by graphic personal descriptions of famous men--such as Parnell,
Davitt and Synge--whom he has encountered in his career. He prefers to
illustrate a point by anecdote rather than belabour it by an argument.
One of the chapters is in part Autobiographical; another chapter
speaks of Parliament, with piquant notes of irony; a fresh and lively
discussion of Irish Literature illustrates the author's characteristic
style of uttering deep sayings in a light mood; whilst another chapter,
dealing with the Irish in America, will be read with peculiar interest
at the present time.
Altogether an original, bold, sincere, and, above all, upbuilding book.
MARCHING SONGS.
A pocket book for our soldiers.
_In cloth limp, 6d. net._
"A merry heart goes all the day--your sad tires in a mile-a." Every
soldier knows that without the rousing song each mile grows longer and
longer. The object of this little handbook of melody is to help our
weary warriors on their way. Songs which they sang as boys, and still
sing as men, are here collected--songs with stirring tunes, swinging
choruses, and all in correct time for marching. There is nothing to
learn; half the men in a Company would already know both the words and
music of most, and the book is but a peg for the memory. To suit all,
the tunes are given in the old, and in the tonic-sol-fa notation.
THE PRINCESS MATHILDE BONAPARTE
By PHILIP W. SERGEANT, Author of "The Last Empress of the
French," etc.
_Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, fully illustrated, 16/- net._
Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, the niece of the great Emperor, died
only ten years ago. She was the first serious passion of her cousin,
the Emperor Napoleon III, and she might have been, if she had wished,
Empress of the French. Instead, she preferred to rule for half a
century over a _salon_ in Paris, where, although not without fault, she
was known as "the good princess."
FROM JUNGLE TO ZOO
By ELLEN VELVIN, F.Z.S., Author of "Behind the Scenes with Wild
Animals," etc.
_Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, with many remarkable photographs,
6/- net._
A fascinating record of the many adventures to which wild animals and
their keepers are subject from the time the animals are captured until
their final lodgment in Zoo or menagerie. The author has studied wild
animals for sixteen years, and writes from personal knowledge. The
book is full of exciting stories and good descriptions of the methods
of capture, transportation and caging of savage animals, together with
accounts of their tricks, training, and escapes from captivity.
THE ADMIRABLE PAINTER: A study of Leonardo da Vinci
By A. J. ANDERSON, Author of "The Romance of Fra Filippo Lippi,"
"His Magnificence," etc.
_Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, fully illustrated, 10/6 net._
In this book we find Leonardo da Vinci to have been no absorbed,
religious painter, but a man closely allied to every movement of the
brilliant age in which he lived. Leonardo jotted down his thoughts in
his notebooks and elaborated them with his brush, in the modelling of
clay, or in the planning of canals, earthworks and flying-machines.
These notebooks form the groundwork of Mr. Anderson's fascinating
study, which gives us a better understanding of Leonardo, the man, as
well as the painter, than was possible before.
WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA
By Lieut.-Col. ANDREW C. P. HAGGARD, D.S.O., Author of
"Remarkable Women of France, 1431-1749," etc.
_Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, fully illustrated, 16/- net._
Lieut.-Col. Haggard has many times proved that history can be made as
fascinating as fiction. Here he deals with the women whose more or less
erratic careers influenced, by their love of display, the outbreak
which culminated in the Reign of Terror. Most of them lived till after
the beginning of the Revolution, and some, like Marie Antoinette,
Théroigne de Méricourt and Madame Roland, were sucked down in the
maelstrom which their own actions had intensified.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical
errors.
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