UD STEPNEY RAWSON, found herself with two stories to choose from,
one of the Gate itself, and another of the romance of _Lydia_ and
_John Wodrush_. In my opinion she chose the wrong one. The history of
the _Wodrush_ elopement, compressed to a couple of pages, seems to me
far more original and interesting than the present rather unwieldy
tale. _The Magic Gate_ is a war-novel confessed, and I can only fancy
that the thronging new sensations of the past three years have proved
a little too much for Mrs. RAWSON'S sense of form. She is so anxious
that her heroine and her readers shall miss nothing of it all that in
the result the plot is lost in a maze of incidents that lead nowhere.
The effect produced on a small country society by the early phases
of the War is shown deftly enough. But perhaps posterity will find
in such a record a more compelling interest than we can to whom it
is still so familiar in every unforgettable detail. One other ground
of complaint I have against the book is that its most original and
attractive character, the American woman to whose generosity _Jennet_
owes her occupancy of Fullbrook Manor, is banished at an early page,
and submarined just when I was looking for her reappearance. Hers is
yet another story with which Mrs. RAWSON might have entertained me
better than by this of _The Magic Gate_, which I found a trifle creaky
on its hinges.

* * * * *

_Senlis_ (COLLINS) is one of the many places that have been
systematically destroyed by the Germans. It is difficult for anyone
who has not seen the results with his own eyes to realise the
business-like thoroughness which the Hun brings to this congenial
task. That a part (and the most beautiful) of the town still stands
does not imply that he yielded either to slackness or to aesthetic
refinement. True that Miss CICELY HAMILTON relates a pleasing story
that Senlis was saved from utter destruction by the entreaties of the
_cure_, but, all the same, I think the real reason why the Bosch did
not complete his work was that he was bundled out bag and baggage
before he had time to add the finishing touches. Miss HAMILTON clearly
and soberly states the case against him, and makes it all the more
damning by her frank recognition that many of the horrors of war,
whoever makes it, are inevitable. Her delightful account of Senlis
itself, admirably illustrated with photographs, is certain to
appeal to all lovers of the charm o