The Reviews Reviewed. 



297 



dimply " too dry for anything, heavy, unreadable, an 

 altogctlicr impossible publication."' Vet the editor 

 h IS found his public, and the Hibbert Journal circulates 

 10,000 copies. 



How can the success be e.\plained ? It certainly is 

 not due, as is the success of some magazines, to the 

 all-pervading personality of the editor. Never was 

 there a more impersonal editor. So far as the reader 

 is concerned the identity of the editor is hidden behind 

 an impcnelral.ile shroud of thick darkness. His name 

 does not appear on the title-page, and his occasional 

 contributions rank simply side by side with those of 

 other contributors. Vet his brain has created the 

 journal. His power of selection, perhaps still more 

 his instinctive genius for rejection, is perceptible in 

 every number. He is an ideal keeper of the ring. 

 No one can tell from the choice of essayist.s on 

 whose side the editor ranges himself. He is con- 

 cerned solely about two things : Has the man a 

 thought, and can he express it ? For among meta- 

 physicians the gift of thinking is often widely severed 

 from the art of expression. 



But great and successful as is (he editor, the man 



is greater, and destined to a still greater success. 



l-'or L. P. Jacks, who is the Editor of the Ilibbeil 



hntrnal, is also the author of two of the most remark- 



ible books I have read for many a long day. " Mad 



Shepherds " and " Among the Idol Makers " are 



nasterpicces. Here is genius, with the supreme gift of 



xpression, and a still more rare gift of repression. 



icnius full of insight into the hidden depths, but 



imbent with humour and instinct with pathos. 



That Oxford should contain such a man is one of the 



'lysteries of a time not fertile in prodigies. 



Snarley Hob in " Mad Shepherds " is a master- 



icce, and the story of his communings with the 



Master " is pregnant with spiritual insight and 



luth. "Among the Idol Makers" is hardly up to 



'le high— the very high— level of " .Mad Shepherds," 



Mid there is squandered in the mere telling of the 



narratives treasure out of which other authors would 



have constructed a whole book. But I.. P. Jacks, as 



Mic Americans say, is "great — great, sir, and no 



.li-tiike." 



THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. 

 liiK I-'oriiiifililly opens with some \crscs by Thomas 

 Hardy bearing the somewhat painful title of "God's 

 Funeral," an allegorical conception of the present state 

 [of iheolog)-. 



'.' I>'s FINIIRAI,. 



The poet, ^ccs liic funeral procession of the litily. 

 The mourners lament : — 



" How swtcl il WM in years f.ir liid 

 To start tlic w heels of cl.iy with Iru^lfiil pi.iyer, 

 To lie t|r)\vn liegcly at the eventide 

 Anil feel a blest assurance Me was there ! 



" .\nihwho or what !.h.ill fill His pl.ice? 

 Whither will w.nnilercrs turn di>tracle<l eyes 

 lor some fixcl star to stimulate their pace 

 Icwards the goal of their enterprise ! " 



The theology may I c bad. but it is not worse than 

 the '■ poetry." If any new beginner had sent in such 

 limping lines his contribution would have gone into 

 the waste-paper basket. 



LORD KITCHENER IN EGYPT. 



An anonymous author gives a glowing account of 

 the tact and authority with which Lord Kitchener is 

 ruling Egypt : — 



Loid Kitchener has taken upon himself the whole burden of 

 government in Egypt, and has made the .Agency the responsible 

 and hc.id olfice for every Ministry and Department. Lord 

 Kitchener will have very little difficulty in governing Egypt, 

 and so long as he rem.iins in the country we may expect 

 tranquillity to reign. But when he leaves, and a man of less 

 mighty reputation takes his place, then we may look out for 

 trouble. 



THE NET RESULT OF THE KINg'.S INDI.\N TOUR. 



Mr. Saint Nilial Singh describes in glowing terms 

 the excellent results which have already followed 

 King George's visit to India. He specially praises — 



the King's words about the educational policy that the Indian 

 (iovcrnmcnt should pursue, and declares that when all else is 

 forgotten, if his suggestions arc loyally and generously carried 

 out, they will be remembered. Posterity, proud of Hindostan's 

 intellectual, spiritual, and economic stability and progress, will 

 point to the lirst trip undertaken by the " White Maharaja," in 

 1911 and 1 9 12, during the course of which the first definite 

 pronouncement was made to accelerate the speed and multiply 

 the power of the machinery which is removing the stigma of 

 ignorance and superstition from twentieth century India. 



A RUSSIAN TRIBUTE TO THE JEWS. 



Mr. Geliierg replies on behalf of the Jews to the 

 remarks of Baron A. Heyking in the January number 

 of the Fortnightly. The most remarkable passage in 

 this article is the following quotation from a speech 

 said to have been delivered by the Governor-General 

 of Poland : — 



" My connection with Poland," wrote the present Governor- 

 General of Poland (M. Skalon) recently, "has converted me 

 Irom a Jew-baiter into a friend of the Jews. The latter possess 

 good qualities and noble feelings. They are a merciful, 

 charitable, and non-extr.ivagant people, by no means unfriendly 

 111 the Christians. The day when the Jew will be eman- 

 cipated will be the happiest day in my lile, because il will also 

 bring .advantages and prospeiity lo the Kussian nation." 



y 

 OTHER ARTICLES. ' 



Mr. t'allcott, writing on the " Philosophy of Clothes," 

 shows that " Sartor Resartus '' was anticipated by a 

 pamphleteer in America who published his essay on 

 the subject in 1772. .\iigus Hamilton writes on 

 '■ The Mishmi Mission," and Mr. E. Temple Ihurston 

 begins a new serial entitled " The Antagonists." .\n 

 " American Exile," who has just returned from a short 

 visit to the States, sets forth the truth about the 

 President, his policies, and his prospects, dealing with 

 the subjects in whii h Fnglishmen arc chiefly concerned, 

 namely, Canadian Kci iprocity, the .Xrbitration Treaty, 

 Trusts, the Tariff, and Mr. Tail's chances of re-election 

 to the Presidency— il m;ittcr which really alTitt.s 

 Fnglish interests. 



