Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-04-25

CulClOH VI IL
issued in December, but It was sold
out in advance Of publication, so that
those who neglected to order It as sooa
rs its publication was announced have
had to wait till the second edition ap-
peared few days ago. The book is in
two large volumes. bound in slate-blu
board, with a cloth back and paper
label and have that appearance Of dig.
nified seriousness which comports we'll
with their contents.
1t may be we'll to recall that Mr..
Blunt is an Englishnan. born in iS4O,
who inherited large fortune when his
elder brother died; that he is related TO
several Of the most distinguished fam.
lilies in England; that he entered the
diplomatic service in 1858 at the age
Of eighteen, and left It In 1870 because
of his Indignation at the British treat.
nent of little nations; that he married
Annabelle Lovelace. granddaughter Of
Lord Byron: that he Is an Irish Home
Ruler and was imprisoned in Ireland
for two months in 1855. for calling =
meeting in n district in which meetings
had been forbidden; that he is Z sculp.
tor. painter. poet. dramatist, historian,
traveller and breeder Of Arabian horses,
and. above all. a defender Of the small
and dependent peoples against the ag.
gressions Of the powerful nations.
A man Of such raricd intellectual
occupations could not torite an an.
interesting diary.
MIR. BLUNT. however. is not con.
AVA cerned with making his book in
! terestinE. The diaries were not written
for publication anyway. He has the re =
rious purpose OF disclosing ths setish =
| ness. greed and trickery with which the
Old World has been governed In the
hope that the policies which eliminated
in the Great War may be abandoned.
Indeed. he holds England and France
and Italy and Russia Jointly responsible
with Germany for the war. because they
were jointly responsible for the condl.
tions which brought the war about.
The diary is divided into two parts
the first Of which is devoted to what
Mr.. blunt calls THE Scramble 70,
Africa and deals chiefly with tn
Egyptians and South African questions
The second part has for its sub title
The Coalition Against Germany" Blu
there Is no connected and ordered mar
rative. The scramble for Africa II
described in entries preceded and fol-
lowed by gossip about statesmen anc
men Of letters and the like. The gen
cral reader will be likely to find Mr.
Blunts gossip and his appraisal Of th'
men of his time more interesting thar
his propaganda in behalf Of ireland an,
Egypt and the Beers.
He is franker than Naygot A
quith. and more indiscrcet, for he
prints the ancom plimentarv remarks
Of others about their own 0cquaint-
dnces.
MFRS. AsQCITH is one Of his init.
4V1 mate friends. and he has mani
complimentary things to say about hel
kindness and her social charms ant
her Intellectual brilliance. About Mr.
Asquith he Is rather cynical. expressing
his amusement nt the transformation o.
the north country nonconformist into I
man of society in London, playing
bridge and drinking. and up at al
hours Of the night. He says tina
Asqu.th went all to pieces at on'
time, but pulled himself together whe1
he became Prime Minister.
As to Balfour. he quotes Mrs. AS
auth to the effect that his mind II
meta physical and not political, and tha
he regarded this life as Of very littl'
importance, as merely a prelude TO an
nthnr lifa .It is for that reason. '