New-York tribune., 1901-09-21
" THE ANGLO.SAXON."
A NEW NUMBER OF THE LUXURIOUS
QUARTERLY.

QUARTERLY.
Msceany Edited BY Lady Rana9Pn " sDe8ssr Tair
Churchill {Mrs George 'sn~ S15n~als ms us G. p
Putnam's Sons.
The new number Of 1.-The Anglo Saxon Re-
view" wears perhaps the daintiest and most az
trsctive binding which has yet appeared IN the
series OF beautiful bindings begun when this
periodical founded. This exquisite Design
stamped creamy ground Is copied from u
binding preserved in the library OF Trinity Col
lege at oxford, a work produced for Henry
VIII by Thomas Berthelet. who was appointed
Royal Printer to that monarch In 1851. Ihis
binder derived from Italian master his taste
for graceful ornamentation Of the sort popular
among the great princes Of the South. and he
put the ideas acquired from that source to good
purpose being a craftsman of considerable skill.
Berthelet bound most of his books in dark calf,
but others that issued from his workshop are
covered IN soft. creamy white leather whlch
Mr.. Cyril Davenport thinks was perhaps doe
skin. 1t is the doeskin which is initiated In
the binding Of the book before U.S. and the effect
is certainly very artistic
The text In this number is diversified as
usual but the reader who started to go right
through the various contributions In their order
would not unnaturally surmise that political
matters have the first place in the editors mind
The opening article. by Mr. H. w. Massingham,
is sharply critical Of the present government
and the two articles Immediately following, py
Mr.. Walter Sichel and Sir Edward Sassoon' re-
spectively, both political in theme These
psges are followed by several which should be
of keen interest to the historical student since
they give decidedly readable account or the
Great Seals of England" The chapter Of In
cidents in the War with Napoleon" edited by
Lieutenant-CoIonel the Honorable E. Stuart
Wortley, from unpublished correspondence, Is
interesting, and we may note an attractive con-
tribution from an American author. Mr.. George
Hibbard on THE American Revolution In the
Correspondence Of Horace Walpole.' He is well
aware of Wapole's claim 10 the serious atten-
ton of serious students. He admits that the
dilettante of Strawberry Hill interested himself
almost wholly in the little affairs of an eX-
elusive few" but on the other hand, he remem-
bers that there were times when he looked at
life very broadly indeed" and adds, he dlf-
fered from those about him in many ways. but
in nothing does he seem to have differed more,
and nowhere does he show his clearsightedness
and breadth of view more clearly, than in his
ideas as TO the proper conduct Of England In
regard to America" Mr.. Hibbard has gone
carefully through the voluminous correspon-
dence and brings together a quantity of ex-
tremely apt extracts, including the remark Il
am glad the Americans TO have their inde-
pendence They deserve it," and the following
passage:
AS to America it will certainly retain its seat
among the soveregnties OF this world; so Co
lumbus's invasion begins to be set aside ana
one-uuarter of the Globe will not be held In
commendam by another! Imagination could
expatiate widely that chapter-but what have
i to do with a in the annals OF man
kind?
Little enough in all conscience, yet there is
something very engaging In the spectacle or
walpole's intelligent apprehension Of events
on which so many Of his countrymen found 1t
possible to discourse with stupidity as well as
with i'll temper America is treated elsewhere
I'm this number of THE Anglo-Saxon," Mr. Theo-
dore Andrea Cook writing on The American
Athlete" He observes great differences between
the Engiishman and the American In this field
and we gather that he is not exactly In love
with our methods. We have in his opinion
divers most unedifying faults. We observe
great secrecy In our practice, where. as he re-
marks the crews of Cambridge and Oxford, for
example are frankly open in all their relations;
we go in for special strokes and special plays,
and be seems especially troubled by the work
ings among our athletes of 'the lust for records
and the commercial spirit" Nevertheless. Mr..
Cook protests that he IS not writing with the
mere object of revealing what he takes TO be
the weaknesses of his transatlantic friends
Our ways may not all commend themselves to
English sportsmen, he thinks. but he reminds
his English readers that "it is useless, In fact,
10 go on in the bland conviction that we are
still the best athletes in the world" Those
American ways which he criticises have to be
faced, he admits by his countrymen, and so he
asks the latter to think over the situation. We
hope they will think il over, but we hope also
that they will be assisted in their reflections by
interpreters Of American sport a little more
sympathetic and a little more instructed than
Mr.. Cook appears to be. The fiction and essays
in this volume are not the whole, up to the
usual standard. with, however, one important
exception Mr. Andrew Lang's paper on Smo-
lett is Of the highest value giving an uncom-
monty full and well balanced account of the
great novelist with running criticisms on his
various books conclusive as they are lightly
and entertainingly expressed