The Reviews Reviewed. 



THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. 



We notice elsewhere Mr. Legge's article on 

 the late King, the first of fifteen papers on very 

 diverse subjects, which makes the Fortnightly 

 excellent reading. Mr. .Arthur A. Baumann 

 writes on " The Opportunity of the Unionists " ; 

 we are glad to find one at least who can clear 

 his own mind of cant. He says straightly : — 



It is no use deceiving ourselves about the Midlotliian 

 election. Self-deception has been the bane of the Con- 

 servative party. The victory of Major Hope was not 

 certainly a triumph for Tariff Reform. The successful 

 candidate must be accepted as the best witness on the 

 cause of his own success. Major Hope has declared that 

 he did not win on Tariff Reform ; though he does not 

 dwell, naturally, on the fact that he explicitly assured 

 the electors that Tariff Reform was not the issue. 

 Neither was the election an emphatic condemnation of the 

 Home Rule Rill, for the increase in the Unionist vote 

 was very small, a little over 5 per cent. The election was 

 an unmistakable protest against the Insurance Act. 



" Politicus " is moved to discuss " The 

 Unionist Land Policy " in an entirely p.irtisan 

 spirit, for he must know the value of such state- 

 ments as these : — 



Striving to l.a.\ the landlords out of their land, merely 

 in order to K-iin votes in the towns, the Liberal politicians 

 are ta.xing the British farmers out of their farms and 

 homes, driving many of them across the ocean, and 

 increasing the general flight from the country. Liberal 

 policy, which during sixty years has done all the injury 

 it could 10 our agriculture, threatens to make its ruin 

 irretrievable. 



Mr. Perceval Landon contributes an interest- 

 ing survey of the affairs of " Tibet, China, and 

 India," and Mr. Charles Boyd writes encourag- 

 ingly on " The New Day in Rhodesia." 



In contrast to these affairs of men we arc 

 introduced anew in " The Insects' Homes " to 

 the miniature world discovered by Fabre. The 

 reviewer is Maurice Maeterlinck, who writes 

 charmingly of the heroes, monsters, and intel- 

 lectuals of the insect world. Here is an 

 absorbing picture of Lilliputian nuptials : — • 



All said, the marriage customs arc dreadful, and, con- 

 trary to wli.it hnppcas in every other world, here it is the 

 female of the pair (hat stands for strength and intelli- 

 gence and also for c;uelty and tyranny, which appear to 

 be thiir inevitable consequence. Almost every wcrlding 

 ends in the violent and immediate death of the husband. 

 Often the bride Ix-gini by eating a certain number of 

 suitors. The archetype of these fantastic unions could 

 be supplied by the Languedocian Scorpions, who, as we 

 know, carry lobster-claws and a long tail sujiplied with a 

 •ting the prick of which is extremely dangerous. They 

 have a prelude to the festival in the shape of a Mnli- 

 mental stroll, claw in claw; then, motionless, with fingers 

 still gripped, they contemplate each other blissfully, 

 interminably ; and day and night pajs over their ccst.isy, 

 while they remain face to face, petrified with admiration. 



Next, the foreheads come together and touch ; the mouths 

 — if we can give the name of mouth to the monstrous 

 orifice that opens between the claws — are joined in a sort 

 of kiss; after which the union is accomplished, the male 

 is transfixed with a mortal sling and the terrible spouse 

 crunches and gobbles him up with gusto. 



THE NATIONAL REVIEW. 



The feature of the month's chronicle is that 

 the editor has arrived at the conclusion that the 

 German Emperor really wants peace, and at 

 Baltic Port has recognised the value of the 

 Triple Entente for the maintenance of the 

 balance of power. The Triple .'\lliance is, indeed, 

 Mr. Maxde recognises, grateful to the Triple 

 Entente for saving them from the fire-eaters at 

 Berlin and their head, the German Crown 

 Prince. This from the National, in place of the 

 usual panic-screech, is quite refreshing. 



Mr. W. R. Lawson tells the story of the Mar- 

 coni Company from his point of view. The 

 cotnpany, he says, was about to die a natural 

 death, when it secured as managing director in 

 1909 Mr. Godfrey Isaacs, brother of Sir Rufus 

 Isaacs and now Cabinet Minister. Then the 

 company made an advantageous bargain with 

 the Post Office. Again this year a much more 

 advantageous arrangement has been made for 

 the company with the Postmaster-General. The 

 result has been success for the company at the 

 expense of the taxpayer and the public. .'\ com- 

 mittee of inquiry is proposed, and tlu writer 

 looks forward to its examination of the Ch.in- 

 cellor of the Exchequer, the Attorney-General, 

 and the Postmaster-General — who " h.ive figured 

 more or less in this suspicious episode." 



Mr. Borden's opportunity, according to " Im- 

 perialist," is to insist as a condition of Canada's 

 helping the British Navy, " without a supple- 

 mentary British programme, no Canadian 

 programme. " 



Mr. Mauri<:c Low says that there is no hope of 

 the Scnali" ratifying an appeal to The H.igue on 

 the Hay-Paunrefote treaty. He reports that 

 there has been little evidence of rancour tow.irds 

 Great Britain in the American Press. The old 

 days of twisting the lion's tail have gone. 



Mr. E. B. Mitford adjures Liberalism to 

 renounce its im-Imperial, if not anti-Iinperial, 

 tendency, and to embrace Imperialism, otherwise 

 it will be crushed between the Imperialism it 

 .-ifTccts to despise and the Socialism which it 

 drcafls. 



Mr. W. J. Courlhnpe declares that the House 

 of Commons has tisiirperl all the attributes of 



