BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10347, 23 January 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

The Westaunstrr Review :' Frederick Wame and Co., 15, Bedford-street, Strand, London. The December number is to hand. Mr. Stoddard Dewey, in the initial article, goes into the question of "The Depopulation of France." Hβ attributes this state of allaiis (1) to the fact that marriage is made more difficult by-law in France than in other countries; (2) marriage is made still more difficult by invoterato family tradition; (3) the conscription; and, thirdly, that the Frenchwoman, by her education and through lack of physical exorcise, is averse to the duties of maternity as being torture, if not a danger to life. The census shows that it is mainly the working classes -the labourers for day wages-who are propagating the French race. "The Situation in Ireland » is ably dealt with by " H." The writer concludes by saying :— " Those who scoff and sneer at the men who :ire striving with that object to reform the powerful and disciplined Irish phalanx which existed in the House of Commons nob many years ago, are the worst enemies of the connection between Ireland and England." Mr. George A. B. Dewar Bke"ehes "The Old M.P. and the New." He refers to the inordinate number ot lawyers in the House of Commons. Summine up the changes in the composition of the House since 1832, he says: "These chances have made politics much more of a business than it formerly was; have helped to bring into theHousoa number of authorities and experts on all manner of subjects, together with some faddists; and have tended in many cases to convert the mem. bor into the mouthpiece or deputy which Burke conceived to be an evil/ ine Fetes for the Czar" is a description o£ the homage which the gay Parisians paid to the Russian Autocrat, in their enthusiastic excitement over the FrancoRussian alliance. " James Firsband bixth, u an exposition of an interesting period m English and Scottish History. The remaining articles are thoughtfully written, namely; "Cottage Homes for Pauper Children," "Substitutes for War," " bociahsm and Militarism," "Journalism aa a Profession." The section devoted to contemporary literature is as readable as ever. - The Windsor Magazine: Ward, Lock, and Co., Limited.-The Christmas number of this popular journal is to hand from Mr. Spreckley, bookseller, of this city. Mr. .a. F. McConnochie contributes an intending article on " Round About Balmoral; Owen Conway on "Osborne, the Queen'a Southern Home." A now story. "The Christian,_ by Hall Caine, Mr. S. L. Wood contributes an article entitled. " A Tenderfoot m Texas," descriptive of Texas frontier .lite. '< School at Jimbaree," by Ethel Turner, is an Australian story. There is an interesting paper by Mr. W. J. Wintle on « Christmas Carol Poets." Mayne Lindsay writes a chatty story, "A Toss for a Wife. "A Christmas in the Veldt" is a tale descriptive of life on ,the South African frontier. Other articles: are "Bells, Ringers, and Ringing," "An' Afternoon with Guy Bqothby," and "Me and My Chum Dick." Presented,with the Christ. ma 3 number of the Windsor is Guy Boothby'e entertaining novel "LvStrange Company,"* story of Chili and the Southern Seas.