Welsh Journals

Reviews. ON THE EDITOR'S TABLE. By far the most important of the new books now lying before us is Grey of Fallodon's "Twenty-five Years" (Hodder and Stoughton, 2 vols., 42s. net.). War literature there has been in plenty, some of it of real value, much of it worthless. It would be no exaggeration to say that there has not appeared in all the long list a more valuable work than this which Lord Grey has given us. A striking characteristic is the modesty of the book. Men who actually played a leading part in the great drama are, says Grey, likely to fall short of the onlooker in sense of perspective; they are likely to fail to see the wood for the trees. That is certainly true. At the same time, in so intricate and so secret a thing as diplomacy, the testimony of a man who actually held all the threads in his hand is invaluable, and cannot be dispensed with. Such a man was Lord Grey during the nine important years before the war: his opportunities for gaining inside knowledge were unique; for as he himself tells us, some secrets were shared by him and the Prime Minister only, and were not divulged even to the Cabinet. But knowledge is not enough to make a valuable war book; an intention to tell the truth and the whole truth is more important still. It is in this matter that Grey's book wins an easy victory over all its rivals. It must, of course, be admitted that it is an apologia; indeed it sets out with the intention of being one: but this apologia speaks with the authentic voice of truth if ever one did. Few men have so intimate an aquaintance with European diplomacy in the last thirty years as Mr. Wickham Steed, and few can have had better reason for learning to doubt the word of statesmen; nevertheless, he asserted, the other day, that if Lord Grey said "It was so," he should be prepared to be- lieve him without further evidence. Was ever finer tribute paid to diplomatist? The total effect of this book is a terrible, and un- answerable, indictment of Germany. Of late there has been a disposition among English scholars to minimise her responsibility. It will be difficult to do so when the full bearing of this work upon various points in controversy is realised. Accord- ing to Grey, however, the Kaiser is not the villain of the drama; the Emperor's sin was, not that he willed the war, but that he made no serious effort to crush those who did. Lord Grey's own record is a singularly clean one. From the moment of his accession to power, in December, 1905, he strove to maintain peace in Europe. But he was no dreamer ignoring the realities of the situation. He believed that war was likely, and he worked patiently to produce an amicable understanding between this country and France and Russia, so that if war did come about England should not find herself alone. The only part of this policy which we are disposed to call in question is the understanding (there was no alliance) with the Tsardom. German militarism was a hateful thing, but it was a thing of beauty and love com- pared with despicable government of Russia. Lord Grey triumphantly disposes of the criticisms which used to be levelled, in the feverish days of 1915, against his war diplomacy. Not much is said about internal affairs during the war; but we do learn from him that one of the most disgraceful things done, the dismissal of Haldane, was the re- sult of an ultimatum from Bonar Law. The post-war period is dealt with even more summarily. But we are told by him that "the last two years of the Lloyd George Government, its proceedings and conduct of affairs, stirred me with indignation and despair such as I have never felt about any other British Government." Few would now doubt that his indignation was fully justified. The book ends with a solemn warning: the nations must learn to lay aside the sword, or perish. We have often heard this warning, but never so solemnly uttered, and never by so authoritative a spokesman. Many will agree with us that the most charming portions of these volumes are those rare passages in which Lord Grey's intense love of Nature,-trees, birds, clouds, and water, peeps out. Here is no affectation, no fetching of Press photographers to see him plant his garden, but a genuine passion for a simple life far removed from cities and the ban- alities of social life. On reaching the last page of these memoirs, grati- tude fills our minds, and we say, "Blessed is the nation whose destinies are controlled by so unselfish, by so noble a man. While it remains so we need never despair of our public life!" Another fine new work, though in quite a different field, is W. P. Ker's "Collected Essays" (Maomillan, 2 vols., 25s.). Ker died last year, and these volumes, composed of scattered writings of his, are a tribute to his memory. Ker was never either a voluminous, or a popular, writer; but those who knew his work had come to feel that he was one of the most penetrating critics of the day. In these Essays there is no useless display of erudition, no search into the forgotten corners of literarv history. The subjects discussed are all big ones, just those towering names about which it seems endlessly possible to say something new,­Cervantes, Scott, Dante, Byron, Keats, and the anonymous authors of the Scandinavian Sagas. Of great interest, too, is a new biography of Mussolini. It is written by a close friend and sym- pathiser, Margherita Sarfatti, and the Duce himself contributes a brief introduction. (Thornton Butter- worth. 15s). The task of translation has been excel- lently done. No unbiassed observer can doubt that the work which Mussolini has accomplished for Italy has been immense, and salutary. Indeed he saved the nation from certain ruin, material and spiritual. Many will object to him because he is a Dictator. This is unreasonable, and unhistorical. A study of history shows that there have been periods when only a person vested with absolute power could have saved a country from chaos; and it was such a period as that that Italy was passing through when the Fascists took the helm. The difficulty about Dictators is that they are so difficult to get rid of when their work has been accomplished. Full of interest, too, is Edward Lyttleton's "Memories and Hopes" (John Murray. 16s. net). It is one of those "culture chronicles," which are so charming to read. Above all, it is a serious contri- bution to the study of educational problems, es- pecially those of secondary schools. The author has an almost unrivalled experience of these problems; for, throughout his life, he has been a schoolmaster, beginning at Wellington, and ending as Headmaster of Eton. Other books of interest are:-Major: "Life of Bishop Boyd Carpenter" (Murray. 16s. net). Toynbee: "Greek Historical Thought" (Dent, 5s. net). Den- niston: "Greek Literary Criticism" (Dent. 5s. net). Deakin: "Spain To-day" (Labour Publishing Co.). Por: "Fascism" (Labour Publishin~ Co.). Smith: "A Book of Modern Verse" (Oxford Press 2/6 net). The Attributes of Cod.—The Gifford Lectures 1924-25. By Lewis Richard Farnell. Clarendon Press. This is more than a new book; it is the forerunner of a new way of approaching theological questions by the author of "The Cults of the Greek States." The title might have led one to expect a book of systematic dogmatic theology. The book, however,