Evening star., 1915-02-07

BROKE OF COVENDEN. BY ]. c.
Snaith, auhtor of THE Great Age.
etc. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co.
~vHE preface to this novel is a
surpassing piece of wit on
the comedy of life this is
set out by that past master
of comic production. the god
of irony. And the preface gives pre-
liminary accounting of Broke of Gov
enden, the hero of this tale of modern
English country life. According to the
writer. Broke owes his appearance in
our pages to the fact that he is a
man. belonging by right of birth to the
twelfth century after Christ projected
without rhyme or reason into our en-
iightened twentieth. He is a survival
of the medieval. the golden age of
knighthood. when il was not improper
for your urban burgess to strap a dag
ger to his stomach, and paterfamilias
stalked to church in chain-m armor
FIe is handed down to us from 500
years ago in all his authenticity. He
has been preserved miraculously like a
saurian embedded in rock. Nothing
is changed in him but the time of day.
his halter and his tailor He no longer
wears the bassinet as when he rode to
Hunnymede to put his mark to Magma
lament in black silk hat. But scratch
him and you find the feudal baron"
This is Broke of Covenden and about
this bulwark of conservatism j. c.
Snaith has built novel of character.
Of event and of English tradition that
In many a long day will not be ex-
celled for insight, for discrimination
and for true literary achievement This
is q. novel of the first order, and one
that calls for more than single read
ing.
OUTLINES OF INTERNATIONAL
LAW. By Charles H. Stockton. au
thor of THE Laws and Usages of
War at Sea" etc. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons. Washing
ton: Woodward & Lothrop.
By reason OF the European war in
ternational matters have. in every
quarter of the globe. become local and
Immediate in their appeal. This situa-
tion has served to increase enormous
y the demand for dependable informa-
tion and competent discussion of one
and another of the manifold aspects of
Internationalism The book in hand is,
within the purpose and range of its
subject, a response to this demand. 1t
Is a concrete, well organized. authen-
tic outline study of international law.
Its treatment covers the two and
nalf centuries which. running back
ward from the present, reach the close
IN this period the modern science of
international law has had its rise and
growth. The discussion here opens
with a broad historical survey of this
development It then passes to a spe-
>ial study of the origin, functions,
powers and obligations of sovereign
states. since these are the institutions
TO which the laws of nations apply.
This is followed by an exposition of
the intercourse between states in times
Of peace. through diplomatic relations,
conventions, conferences and arbitra-
lions. The fourth part of the booa
treats of the war relations of belliger-
ents. The fifth and concluding part
3efines the relations between belliger-
.nts and neutrals. The orderly and
comprehensive character of this study
forms but a part of its value. Besides
his it is an authoritative discussion
md a practical one. 1t is, moreover.
abreast with the present moment of
International complication. 1t is thor
oughIy conversant with the modern de-
relopments of maritime and aerial
warfare, with the worldwide inter-
ests and implications of the Panama
.anal and with the most recent find
'ngs of conferences and tribunals of
The Hague.
The peculiarly vital quality of this
study is due in large part to the sense
Of proportion that places emphasis on
living issues in their pratical bearings
Ipon the present and the immediate