LAND A xN U vv A 1 i!- X. 
\-/\^l/\JU\^L 
in tlie usual sen - he has never had a chance. . . • Had 
it been his to be born in England or Scotland he would 
have been a churchwarden or elder, chosen lor nis 
simple goodness of heart." 
Sir I'dwin Pears paints a gloomy— a perhaps too 
gloomv— picture of the decax of British influence at 
the Porte. It is based on facts which are now traversed. 
The German Ambassador. Baron von Wangenheim. 
he describes as " a man of conspicuous energy and 
pushfulness, of great ability and power of driving men 
to carry out his designs." .\nd he goes on to remark 
that for tlie last six or seven years Ciermany has " appa- 
rently aimed at a grandiose project by which she and 
Austria would annex Serbia, force a way to Salonica, 
and employ that city and its magnificent harbour as a 
basis of operations against TurUey. which she proposed 
to annex or to convert into a tributary State. Her 
unstinted support of .-Xbdul Hamid, her cruel absten- 
tion from protesting against outrages on the Armenians, 
even in Constantinople itself, iier lavish expenditure of 
monev in order to obtain support for her railway and 
other Useful projects, tlie Kaiser's bid for the leadership 
of the Moslem world, the readiness with which Germany 
furnished soldiers for the training of the Turkish Army, 
the unwillingness which siie and Austria showed to join 
the other Powers in attempting to secure protection for 
life and property in Macedonia, all point to a design bv 
which not only was Germany to obtain a dominant 
influence over Turke\-, but should be placed in a position 
to do what she liked in Asia Minor." The immediate 
future will show to what extent she has been successful. 
BOOKS THAT EXCEL. 
Bramble Bees and Others. By 3. Heari Fabre. (Hodiler and 
Stoughton.) 63. net. 
Both in France and iu England a large section of tho 
public will read with regret of the death of M. Fabre, who 
has for so long a time occupied a unique position in science 
and literature. 
The fascination attendant on the work of this vet-eran 
investigator lies in the fact that he was as much philosopher as 
naturahst. and as much pcet as either. The present volume, 
perhaps, is surpassed by works translated earlier — The Life 
of the Fly and The Life of the Spider, for instance — 
but it is nevertheless a work of intense interest. The patience 
and ir.inut'eness of M. Fabre's study are equalled by the 
limpid style in which his experiments and conclusions aro 
related, while ever and again a chance observation proves 
that in the study of insects he has not lost sight of men. 
Above all. he proves the possession of wisdom as well aa 
knowledge in that he do«s not fear to say " I do not know " 
when Nature withholds a secret. 
" There is nothing that achieves such an immediat-e suc- 
cess as an explanation of the riddle of the universe in a word 
or two. The thinker does not travel so fast," says this pro- 
found thinker, and one of the chief characteristics of all his 
work is its conscientious thoroughness — and consequent per- 
fection. We can learn nnich from Fabre: reverence, appre- 
THE BEST 6s NOVELS 
zSend this List to your Library:. 
MARIE CHER The 
LOUIS COUPERUS 
EDWARD NOBLE 
MAURICE HEWLETT 
GLADYS PARRISH 
JOHN GALSWORTHY 
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM 
RICHARD DEHAN 
Immortal Gymnasts 
The Later Life 
The Bottle Fillers 
The Little Iliad 
Carfraes Comedy 
The Freelands 
Of Human Bondage 
Off Sandv Hook 
THE SOUL OF THE WAR By 
4!h lar^e I;::pic.;j't iu'\ 
Philip Gibbs. 
:' Ready. 
7s. 6(i. net 
WILLIAM HEINEMANN. 21 BEDFORD STREET, LONDON, W.C. 
ciation of order and beauty, and the value of trifles ar» 
amouT the things first apparent. It is a work that will hv8 
as long as the works of Humboldt and Darwin are remem- 
bered, "and its classic style may give it even longer life. 
The only irritating feature of this book is the trans-. 
lator's metic-ulous diligence in translating millimetres and 
centimetres into decimals of inches, a trick which becomes 
worse than wearisome. It is to be hoped that this will b» 
avoided in future editions of this valuable coulnbution to 
entomological and philosophical literature. 
"Lij?hl on the Balkan Darkness," Bj Crawfurd Price. (SImpklo, 
Marshall.) Is. 
Mr. Crawfurd Price is admittedly one of our leading 
authorities on the Balkans, where close attention is riveted 
just now. In this small volume he has brought together 
articles he has written on the twisted problems which under- 
lie all action, diplomatic, social, and military, in this rugged 
corner of Europe. 
For Serbia he has the highest respect. " She has ad- 
mittedly rendered tremendous service to the Allies by her 
victories over Austria-Hungary. Her people now look to us 
to join with them in their efforts to put their Army in a fit 
condition to go forward into hostile territory when at length 
the clarion sounds the general advance on Berlin." 
This sentence was written before the present develop- 
ments, which, however, can be much better appreciated by a 
perusal of this well-informed little book. 
"Through the Chinese Revolution." By Fernand Farjenel. (Dock, 
worth und Co.) 7s. 6d. net. 
" When once justice is reformed, the whole social life of 
the country follows suit," the author remarks, apropos of the 
.first triarhsld in Shanghai en the European plan, with 
adequate means, of defence for the accused and machinery 
for arriving at a just verdict liefore the imposition of punish- 
ment. M. Farjeuei was so fortunate as to witness this trial. 
His bock, which is distinctly anti-Manclui and pro- 
republican, is one of the most enlightening documents with 
regard to the stat? of China that has yet appeared. It shows 
the country as l>eing in a state equivalent to that which 
brought Louis Capet to the guillotine iu France, nearly a 
century and a half ago, and it is brilliantly illuminating with 
regardto the ideals and aspirations of the Republicans of the 
Chine.se revolution — which is not yet fully accomplished. If 
the author's conclusions are to be accepted — and we see no 
reason for rejecting them — China is far nearer to awakening 
and the use of its tremendous power than the Western world 
dreams; it i.? waiting only for the logical outcome of complete 
revclution — the overthrow of its dictator. Yuan Shekai — to 
show the world that a new and very great power has arisen 
to demand a plac« in international affairs. M. Farjenel sees 
China as no longer a corpse for European powers to carve, 
but a virile entity that may yet do some carving. 
The book is wittily and well written; its author has com- 
bined unusual descriptive talent with decided political in- 
sight, and thus his v/ork merits attentive reading, and — from 
the student and politician — careful study. 
" Mr. Broom and His Brother." By Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick. (Chapmaa 
and Hall.) 6s, 
Any book from the pen of Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick is one 
that excels, but with regret one has to confess that iu tho 
present reviewer's opinion Mr. Liroom and Hi.i lirother is 
the least excellent of her works. There is much in it that is 
delightful, the character touches are as deft and sure as ever, 
but th? mechanism is not Mrs. Sidgwick's, nor does it lend 
itself to her art. 
It looks as if the author had yielded to a publisher's 
request for what publishers call " incident." In every 
cliapter something has to happen — it just must, which is not 
at all the way of, life in those quiet homes of which Mrs. Sidg- 
wick is our leading historian. May she forthwith return to 
them and take up her parable where she dropped it " ia 
other days." 
Mr. Broom is a Prince of Katania who fled into an 
English secretaryship to avoid the too pressing attentions of 
a squint-ej'ed German princessliug. To him enters au 
English heiress in the clutch of adventurers who would 
surely have suffered penal servitude before the story opens if 
they had behaved outside tliese pages in the manner they do 
within them. Putting aside the tco obvious improbabilities 
and dealing merely with character, it is an amusing book. 
Particularly do we commend to young writers the concluding 
sentence of each chapter. Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick proves her^ 
self here a past-master iu technique. 
ri-..it.'a by Ihc VicTOUiA House Pkinting Co., Lio., Tudor Suect, Whitefriuri, London, E.G.. 
