THIS book, though chatty and discursive enough in parts, will disappoint those who want to learn something of the personality and life of a doughty champion of some dozen reforms. The first part, from the racy pen of Sir Henry Cole himself, teems with lively comments and thrusts, more suo. The vigour of a man who believed in his mission, and rejoiced in the work of his own hands, appears on every page. No mark is required to indicate the transition from the dashing, animated narrative of the chief actor to the careful and cautious chapters written by his children. We do not see how either could give us what we chiefly want without offending against certain rules of delicacy which we are glad to know are not yet quite obsolete. The life of Sir Henry Cole, the inner history of his struggles, his successes and failures, the motive power, and an impartial view of the man in relation to his work —this has yet to be written. What he and his children between them have given us is a valuable collection of facts and documents bearing upon the most important progressive movements of our century. Fifty Years of Public Work of Sir Henry Cole. Two vols. (London: George Bell and Sons, 1884.)