Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-10

written to bring wildly before the public
the national dangers by which the Eng
lish are surrounded and the absolute
necessity which lies upon England to
| maintain her defenses in an adequate
state of efficiency.
And speaking of the weak vessels, the
author says: Yet we are content to sit
idly by, confident in strength which
two foreign powers are slowly, but sure
ly, undermining! Russia and France,
both barely able to sustain their gigantic
armies, are today straining every nerve
to enlarge their naval forces, preparatory
to swift descent upon our shores. This
alarming fact we wilfully disregard, at
fecting to find humor in the Franco-M
Garlic preparations. Thus, unless suf-
ficient strength to prevent invasion, war,
with its attendant horrors, is inevitable,
and the scene of battle will be England's
smiling fields.''
Turning to the army, the author de-
clares that even the "civilian writer who
studies 1t is amazed at the muddle Of in
sufficiency in which 1t is stepped" Re-
Numbering that Rudyard Kipling re-
Gently refused $1,000 for so many words
to discourse in his own way of Great
'Britain's fighting strength, 1t appears all
the more surprising that a whole book,
containing no less than 300 pages, should
be published with the express purpose
Of setting FORTH after dint of tedious,
author informs us, the weak and vulner-
able places in England's power and au
thority by land as we'll as by sea.
or these figures, statistics and propo-
sition of facts the casual reader is I'M
able to Judge. The work is we'll enough
written and might easily be an authentic
historical work, SO smooth and flowing
Is the style and vivid and startling the
incidents, wars and maSsacres. One
point, though, is a questionable one.
Much of the disaster that so quickly falls
to England's share is attributable to the
fact that villain-for this is one of the
old-fashioned villains-in the employ and
pay of the Russians secures possession
OF the English telegraph office by treach-
cry and murder, and with the receipt of
the terrible declaration of war made by
Russia sends throughout the broad En-
ghsh domains that momentous word,
mobilize" AS may well be guessed, the
fleets and armies were ordered in every
conceivable place and distance other
than the southern coast, where Russians
and French would make their first land
ing on English soil. The "chanel fleet"
England's pride. was ordered to the most
impossible distance. Now. could ever
such thing occur in so well regulated
little country as England? In conclu-
sion, listen to the author in his preface:
while many readers will no doubt re-
gard this book chiefly as an exciting
piece of fiction, I trust that no small pro-
portion will perceive the important les
son underlying it, for the French are
laughing at us, the Russians presume
to initiate us and the day of reckoning
is hourly advancing"
A book of interest to those who have a
, melancholy turn of mind when travelling
abroad will be one soon to be published
by Macmillan & Co. under the title,
London Burial Grounds" Most of these
hIrr al dc hay nos
even the traditions as to their sites are
of the most fragmentary description, but
to the antiquarian, no less than to many
others, such traces as can be verified are
| replete with interest. The author starts
with the British and Roman burial
| places, and treats in turn the grave
| yards of priories and converts, the ca
| thedral and abbey, the Temple and the
| Tower. and then goes on to a considera-
| ton not only of the grave yards connect
| ed with the churches, but of all of which
| anything can be known, whether public
| or private. :
| Nothing is more awe-inspring than a
| visit to the last resting place of those
| whose names have been revered through
years of time, and this volume should
prove a valuable one.
| Who would not enjoy with genuine
| ness not unmixed with curiosity, to read
| of 1.-THE Courtships of Queen Elizabeth"
| of like interest to the historical student
| and also to the general reader, is by Mar
| tin A. 8. Hume, the editor of the calen-
| dar of Spanish state papers of Elizabeth
| in the Public Record office. Mr.. Hume
| says in his preface that he has often been
| struck by the failure of historians of the
| time to account adequately for what
| seems merely peryerse fickleness on the
part of perhaps the greatest sovereign
that ever occupied the English throne.
| haf ha h., da,sf,l L ", Nor Il
to show how strong modern England
| was rendered possible by the fixity of
| purpose and consummate statecraft that
| underlay the apparent levity and capri
ciousness of the queens actions.
| No doubt there issa large class of read
| ers who will take pleasure in new work.
| just issued by the Home Publishing COM
pany. and in the same gorgeous setting of
Gunters late works, entitled THAT Girl
| From Bogota," by Clarice Irene. Cling
ham. The warm. sultry days are upon
| us, when one feels too indolent to indulge
| in much of an intellectual effort, and
| when ones taste naturally turns to some
thing light. in literary way, that will
| not only entertain, but amuse. Such a
| book Is THAI srl From Bogota," and II
can be commended asa work OF fiction
| which is smoothly written and well told,
| with plot sufficient to make it absorbing
although there may be times when eli
makes do not suit thereafter. and he feels
| an inclination to shake that girl up
| right fairly. 1t Is just an old-fashioned
| love story. with no end of romance and
4 Observation-Disclosures, with a few dramatic
incidents thrown in to fill up. Weak in
| construction. the plot manages to serve
the purposet and the ending is conven-
| tionaf and satisfactory. However. one
can put up With . good rreny shortcam-
!. ings. provided tie tale is well told and
I smoothly written. There is just one lit
tie extract that may be suggestive to