New-York tribune., 1908-12-16

" RoYA NAH5 bT Taate4 IT, a%renee by aSssR sRh0pTe
With Notes on the Costumes ef Sailors SO 9s ine nn
y SIS The Macmillan COMPANY
--,,,,,o>,r,o>-s or Tt5F, BRITISH FLEET. How
4beT Faces the Enemy on the Day OF Bate 1d
and what Their story Means t, Tor rs n color
and in black and white 12Ino, Pp. NV' 500 me
John Lane Company
In one Of de ouincey's whimsical disquisitlons
on the slories Of the past he falls into IaptuTeS
over the beauty the grandeur, the thrill oI t''e
old raau coach. and bewails the chahge p3
which or the system of travelling IRON
r,,bes and boilers have detached mans heaT'
from the ministers OF his locomotion Things
,+,e5 10 oonyulse all nations. he goes on to say
mus; henceforth travel by culinary process, ana
the trumpet that once announced from afar the
laurelled mail heart shaking when heard
screaming on the wind and procsinling itSeli
-trorsb the darkness to every village or solitary
house on its route. has now given way forever 10
the potwallopings OF the boiler How would
that rare imagination have delighted 10 pour
the vftriol Of it's upon an age tnat mas
abandoned The stately majesty Of the manor
war with her yawning tiers Of guns, Tor the
irrosaic steam kettle that does battle Tor US To-
day!
Tss gradual change by process Of evolu-
,son comp-ising the whole history of British
4sea mower from the days of salleys 10 the
.I-esdnoughts OF our time. is portrayed in The
.Roval Navy Upward Of fifty paintings repro
duced in color are the contribution O. MI Nor
man Wilkinson and one hardly knows whether
most to admire their artistic charm or thelr
irechuicaI correctness. As Mr. Milets remark
able series Of cartoons in the Baltimore Custom
;15ouse accurately depicts the history Of ship
ring and shows that exactness and precision IN
rhe treatment Of a highly technical subject need
NOT he divorced from artistic quality, IN a more
restricted sphere EIr Wilkinson has demon
strated his capacity 10 combine fine sense OF
the picturesque with profound knowledge OF
detail Even a &c Quincy must have recog-
nized the dash and spirit Of II. VI. s. Dread
rought and the feeling Of mastery and power
conveyed by these pictures Of battleships ma
rotuvring and in heavy weather. The very
sornbre subject Of coaing battleship becomes
2 scene Of enchantment in the hands Of such a
.,osztsr These are not the commonplace records
Of glorious moments Of action-the anecdotes OF
naval usrfare-but incidents Of general appi-
cation which. taken together. represent many
phases of the groRth Of Great Britains navy
from its humble beginnings TO its present great
ness A launching, submarine running awash,
the first seagoing ironclad steaming AT night
With all navigation lights out-such are some Of
the topics most successfully treated, and about
two-thirds Of the illustrations have TO do with
modern conditions. while the balance are ode
voted 10 ancient history
In preparing the text MIR Swinburne has had
constantly before him the well known words OF
the Articles Of War. 1t is the navy. under
the good providence of God. that our wealth.
prosperity and peace depend" In former days,
not So long gone by. the call was 10 ye mar
iners Of England. The island is now but the
hub ot the Empire. and il is Of Imperial defence
and the one Imperial whole that must in
form ourselves. If either political party is the
more committed TO Imperialism and the eXpan-
sion Of naval power il Is surely not the party
in Office to-day but il is illustrative Of the uni