Related article: 205 the field " : his admiration is un- bounded for busy streams that flow onwards towards the sea, and we* presume he would not have them labour patiently in any other direction. In another passage Mr. Gibbs is very frank with his readers and asks the pertinent question, ** Why and wherefore do we tread the peril- ous paths of literature, instead of those pleasant paths by the river and through the wood ? " The only answer is this, the danion prompts us to do these things, even as it prompted the men of old time. ... So with an enthusiasm born of in- experience and delusive hope we embark as in a leaky and untrustworthy sailing ship built for aught we know ** in the eclipse and rigged with curses dark." Mr. Gibbs possesses many qualities which ought to point to success, two of the most important being keenness and modesty, so his ship is not so very leaky, but we must say we regard the vessel as overloaded. Four hundred and thirty pages about a Cotswold village is rather a large order if all the writing is to be good, and might well have taxed the ability of Richard Jeflfries, the great Buy Tulasi Plant Online master of what has by a flippant American been styled the ** heather mixture school," the school to which our author's damm is obviously driv- ing him to belong. Readers are likely to form their opinion of a book of this sort by reading here a little and there a little, and the author should therefore take care to offer nothing but his best. The author of ** A. Cotswold Village," shows much promise both in his prose and his verses, we commend his zeal and indus- try, and we would recommend just a little more discrimination. •«V. B. •' is well qualified to VOL. LXXI. — NO. 469. write about Monte Carlo, for he has for some time held an official appointment there, and his little book, •' Ten Days at Monte Carlo at the Bank's Expense,"* is well worth reading. All the hints and information usually to be sought for in the pages of Baedeker or some other guide book, are given here by ** V. B." in the interesting and chatty form of the history of an imaginary visit paid by two men to the Principality. Bicycling plays a prominent part in the programme, and no less than nine rides in the neigh- bourhood are carefully and plea- santly described, and can readily be followed with the aid of a sketch map contained in the book. Information as to the various restaurants at and round Monte Carlo, with their approxi- mate scale of charges is given ; and ** V. B." even goes the length of treating his readers to the secret of a complete system of which he says ** should there be a few people who are obliged to remain at Monte Carlo for several months, and whom it might amuse to win a louis or two a day, I recommend them to try it. The numbers given herein actually did turn up at the table mentioned on ten consecutive days. There can be no fairer test for any system and I honestly believe that if a thousand people were to come down armed with sufficient capital and were to play the system to win £^0 a day each, the Administration of the Casino would very soon be compelled to close their doors." If the author be justified in his estimate of his system, that alone should make the book well worth its published price of two shillings. « <( ' Ten Days at Monte Carlo at the Bank's Expense." Containing Hints to Visitors and a General Guide to the Neighbourhood, by " V. B." With a map. London : William Heinemann, 1898. Fancy cloth, Svo, as. 15 2o6 [March Luxuries and Necessaries in Hunting Establishments. Major de Freville, who, after previous experience of mastership, has hunted the Cotswold country for half-a-dozen years, has deter- mined to withdraw from his posi- tion. At the meeting of the hunt on the gth of February he gave his reasons for so doing, and, at the same tiihe, declined to re- consider his determination. It would appear that some member or members of the hunt had suggested that the master ought to ** carry on " in a more gorgeous style, and this Major de Freville very properly declined to do, except upon the condition of receiving a very much larger sub- scription, which he, like a good sportsman, did not desire to ask for, Tulasi Tablets as, knowing the resources and wealth of the country, Buy Tulasi he no doubt thought in his own mind that the sum he received was a fair one and could not, having regard to the means of the sub- scribers, be much exceeded. For himself, he doubtless gave accord- ing to his means, and the sum of two thousand pounds odd (a great deal of it, about half, is in arrear) which he receives must leave him with a considerable burden on his pocket. In making his speech he expressed himself clearly at the meeting, and I would particu- larly draw attention to one of his expressions. As his successor, he remarked, they might find some- one who would keep forty or fifty horses, put his men into leathers, and keep a valet to clean the servants' breeches, yet they might not obtain better sport as the result ol their increased expendi- ture. In so speaking Major de Fre- ville, perhaps unconsciously, yet none the less actually, started a hare which will in all probability have to be very carefully hunted in the future. Instances have unfortunately not t)een wanting in recent times in which members of hunts have shown signs of being desirous of emulating the earthen pots which would swim with the brazen pans. The stan- dard of some hunts possessing an enthusiastic and wealthy master is the standard sometimes taken for all, and upon the strength of giving ten or twenty pounds to the hunt funds, men find fault, as is reported to have been the case in the Cotswold Hunt, with the style in which the master con- ducts the affairs of the pack. Much that is interesting may be learned from what has gone