Review of Reviews, lllOfli 



NOTABLE BOOKS. 



827 



SIR HERBERT TREE ON SHAKESPEARE. 



Thoughts and After-thoughts. By Herb< r1 

 Beerbohm Tree. (( assell, 3 6 net.) 



There is no need to recommend to 

 readers Sir Herbert Tree's witty and in- 

 forming volume. Maybe some readers 

 will quarrel a little with the writer 

 when reading it, but all the same will 

 feel much obliged to Sir Herbert for 

 the 'Thoughts" which arouse their 

 dissent from him. The chief subjects 

 of contention will probably be as to 

 whether Shakespeare as presented at 

 His Majesty's conveys as much to the 

 mind as the less elaborate presentment 

 given, say, by Mr. Benson. Sir Her- 

 bert vindicates his sumptuous represen- 

 tations, saying : — 



" By deeply impressing an audience 

 and making their hearts throb to the 

 beat of the poet's wand, by bringing 

 out through representation the full 

 meaning of his works, by enthralling 

 an audience by the magic of the actor 

 who has the compelling power, we are 

 enabled to give Shakespeare a wider 

 appeal and a larger franchise — surely 

 no mean achievement ! Thousands 

 witness him instead of hundreds; for 

 his works are not only, or primarily, 

 for the literary student ; the} - are for 

 the world at lame." 



I he book is crammed with sage aph- 

 orisms and amusing anecdotes. Here 

 - one or two of the pearls on his 



rig : — 



' To be oneself is the greatest 



luxury in the world, and 1 am bound 

 to say it is the most expensive. 



' It is only by combination that the 

 weak units make themselves strong. 

 One of these days the mice may set up 

 ] trades union -and then? Well, 1 

 suppose they will have to hire a terrier 

 1 ( 1 espouse their cause ! 



" It is easy to have the courage of 

 other people's opinions." 



And here is a specimen anecdote: — 



" A little mouse strayed into a wine- 

 cellar. Happening to step into a small 

 puddle of whisky, he licked his paw. 

 ' H'm ! Rather nice that!' So he 

 dipped in another paw ; then all four 

 paws ; finally, he lay down and rolled 

 himself in the spirit, had a good lick 

 all over, and felt most royally elated. 

 Then, staggering to the head of the 

 staircase, leaping up two steps at a 

 time, he yelled out : ' Where is that 

 damned cat that chased me vester- 

 day?"' 



AN AUSTRALIAN VIEW OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



The Ileal South. Africa. By Ambrose Pratt. 

 (Holden and Hardingham, 10/6 ne1 



Mr. Ambrose Pratt accompanied Mr. 

 Fisher when he went to convey to the 

 people of the South African Union 

 fraternal greetings and good wishes 

 from the Commonwealth, and to offer 

 congratulations on the birth of another 

 Dominion Nation within the British 

 Empire. 



Mr. Fisher contributes an introduc 

 tion to the book, and in it lays great 

 stress upon the mass of official statisti 

 cal evidence, which the author has col 

 lected in support of his statemenl 

 Certainly the figures he gives us de 

 mand our most earnest thought, whether 

 we agree with his deductions or no 

 It would be well, however, for readers 

 to turn to chapter twenty before pro 



ceeding to the rest of the book. In it 

 Mr. Pratt frankly admits that his ob- 

 je< t 111 writing is to prevent emigrants 

 from going to South Africa, so that it 

 is natural that he should draw his pi< 

 tare as black as possible. 



Some of his statements as to the 

 agricultural progress of the country 

 -how thai he cannot have taken the 

 trouble to, ascertain personally any de 

 tails concerning the question. On the 

 whole the reader would A^ best to study 



istical matter he has brought 

 gether from Commission reports and 

 Blue Books. 



When, however, he points out th 

 the young 1 'un m has two great 1 liffi 

 culties to face, neither of which are ; 

 yet properb recognised, he is perfectly 

 corre ;nts 



