The first portion of this volume consists of a series of sketches by Mr. Hodgson “graphically describing the loneliness of rural England; the waste of its fertile lands given up to rough pasture, wide hedges, and coppices carefully preserved for the sake of the game, while cottages fall in ruins, and small farms are swept out of existence.... The second section by Mr. Masterman ... is occupied with details of schemes which offer a remedy for the creeping paralysis of English rural life.” (Nation.) The third part of the volume consists of contributions on the land question from thirteen Liberal members of Parliament, and part four gives a summary of official testimony issued by the Board of agriculture.
“The second section by C. F. G. Masterman has a literary value that should give its author high rank among modern essayists. The third part ... is the least valuable and least interesting part of the book.”
| + − | Nation. 85: 262. S. 19, ’07. 1080w. |
“Worth reading but [it seems] to leave out of account not a few considerations which have to be reckoned with in attempting a solution of the question of the labourer and the land.”
| + − | Spec. 99: sup: 463. O. 5, ’07. 340w. |
Matheson, George. Representative men of the New Testament. **$1.50. Armstrong.
5–26910.
The author has taken the representative men just as they are presented and has attempted “without inquiring whence or how they come, to find the special thought which each reveals.” He discusses John, Nathaniel, Peter, Nicodemus, Thomas, Philip, Matthew, Zaccheus, James, Barnabas, Mark, Cornelius, Timothy and Paul.