(MACMILLAN)--a volume upon which Sir SIDNEY COLVIN has been engaged ever
since his retirement from the Print Room of the British Museum, and may
be said to have been preparing to write all his days, ever since, as a
boy, he first opened the "magic casement." A book representing so long
and ardent a devotion, and written by one whose loyalties have always
been so cordially sustained and acknowledged, could not but glow; and it
is its warmth of feeling which, to my mind, peculiarly marks this very
distinguished work. It is more than a life; it is a "companion" to KEATS
so complete and understanding that one can with confidence apply to it
the abused word, "definitive." Critical essays on the poet no doubt will
continue to appear, but this is the last biographical monument likely to
be raised to him.

* * * * *

Your enjoyment of _The Head of the Family_ (METHUEN) may in a measure
depend upon your capacity to appreciate _William Linkhorn_ and the glory
of his "great flaming beard." To me, unhappily, _William_ was an uncouth
rustic, just that and very little else; but he possessed some mysterious
attraction for women; so, at any rate, Mrs. HENRY DUDENEY tells
me, though she does not explain to my satisfaction what it was.
_Phoebe-Louisa_ married him partly because she wanted a man to help in
her greengrocery; but what charm he had for her soon waned, and she
smote hard when she caught him philandering with _Beausire Fillery_. It
was all the lady's fault; _William_ had, so to speak, only to wave his
beard and she was at his feet. But if the hirsute feature of this story
leaves me cold it is easy enough to enjoy and admire the rest. The
_Firebraces_, spoken of here as "The Family," are most admirably drawn.
Never has the condescension of county people to those less exalted in
birth been described with more delightful irony. True that some of the