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"Neglected British History." B. J. Flinders Petrie. British Academy. 2s. This little pamphlet possesses a great interest for students of Celtic topics. It has been the custom for a long time to treat the tradition embodied in Geoffrey of Monmouth and other ancient sources as pure romance; quite recently, as I endeavoured to show in some articles in this magazine, archaeological and ethnological evidence have suggested that a large portion of the tradition is accurate; now we have a most interesting essay from Professor Flinders Petrie which, though adopting an almost totally different line of argument, points in the same direction. The main contention of Professor Flinders Petrie is that Celtic scholars have unduly neglected their historical sources, and very much under- estimate the value of those sources. The author finds the origin of the whole Geoffrey of Monmouth history in the Brut Tysilio, and he regards the Brut Tysilio as a very valuable chronicle based on British documents extending back to the first century. Professor Flinders Petrie deals first with the Roman portion of the chronicle; he points out that the only Latin source which would have been available for a writer in the early middle ages was Caesar's own history, but that the account given in the Brut Tysilio differs very markedly from the Commentaries and gives many details which do not occur in Caesar's narrative, but which might easily have been known to the British. The British account," he says, is in its main lines sub- stantially in accord with Caesar, but with frequent minor discrepancies and side-lights, all naturally due to opposite points of view. Such, how- ever, entirely disprove copying, either from Caesar or any other Latin source. The main argument for this is that the passages in Caesar which are most favourable to the Britons are just precisely those which are omitted. With regard to the Brutus voyage Professor Flinders Petrie finds that all the place names are correct and in the right order, but considers that the geography is certainly older than the time of Claudius he ascribes the composition of the whole to the first century. Professor Flinders Petrie also thinks that the Celtic chronicles give a far more accurate account of the Anglo-Saxon immigrations than does the Anglo-Saxon narrative itself. The former accounts are to the effect that the continental tribes emigrated to England in the pre-Roman as well as the post-Roman period; the Anglo-Saxon tribes themselves were often invited by the Celts and mingled with them quite freely, the two races intermarrying in many parts of the country, and Professor Flinders Petrie considers it practically certain that the only parts of England which became purely Saxon are those where on account of the forest the Celtic population happened to be slight. We cannot follow him further, but enough has been said to show how original and how valuable are the suggestions contained in this pamphlet. Much, of course, turns on the question of the true origin of the Brut Tysilio, and this is mainly a question for Celtic scholars them- selves but that one of the greatest of living archaeologists should be firmly convinced of the authenticity and value of the Celtic tradition is surely a great encouragement towards its study. I have pointed out in previous essays that the researches of Professor Fleure, though quite different from those of Professor Flinders Petrie, confirm the tradition in ways no less remarkable. "The Way to Nirvana." L. de la Vallee Possin. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 172. 4s. 6d. The Philosophy of Benedetto Croce." H. Wildon Carr. London: MacMillan & Co. Pp. 215. 7s. 6d. Some Suggestions in Ethics." Bernard Bosanquet. London Macmillan & Co. Pp. 248. 6s. The variety of these three writers serves to show the vitality of philo- sophical study even in the midst of a great world-crisis. The first is a series of lectures delivered in Oxford by a distinguished Belgian student of Oriental philosophy. The second is the first adequate study in English of one of the most eminent contemporary philosophers, Senator Benedetto Croce of Naples. The third is a volume of essays by one of the most representative of British philosophers on various ethical topics which have arisen in the course of his reflations on the present current of social life. Lilian Winstanley. It would no doubt be possible to discover some underlying unity of outlook in these books. Both Dr. Bosanquet and Croce owe much to Hegel: and there are features in Hegel's doctrine of the idea which are not-unlike the doctrine of the intuition of the Absolute which is the key to much Buddhist speculation. But with three books so different in method and treatment, such an exegesis runs grave risk of misrepre- sentation. So it will be sufficient to offer a word of comment on the scope of each of these works, and to commend them warmly to the atten- tion of those who are interested in any of the fields of study with which they are concerned. Professor Poussin's lectures deal with ancient Buddhism as a discipline of salvation, and with the philosophical doctrines which lie behind the discipline. It is a careful and discriminating survey of the Buddhist religious doctrine; and brings out with special clearness certain impor- tant distinctions which are often overlooked in writings on this theme. It is, of course, not always easy to distinguish between the ordinary belief and practice, and the more or less rationally conceived ground of that belief. For instance, on the ancient doctrine of the transmigration of souls, about which there is a good deal of misconception, Professor Poussin makes it clear that the Buddhist philosophy holds that death is the annihilation of the sanctified individual, that his soul does not enter into another body, but that his Karmas or character influences and indeed enters into a new life. This whole account of Buddhist psychology and theology (the former in its denial of individuality involving a position singularly like Hume's) is simple, penetrating and lucid. Professor Carr's book on Croce is almost wholly expository. Croce is not an easy writer to expound, systematically though he has developed his philosophy. One finds something of the same difficulty in under- standing Coce's starting-point as in grasping precisely what Hegel means by Being at the beginning of the famous dialectical march of the categories. Croce begins with a fourfold division of the activities of the Spirit and his insistence on the integrity and independence of each of the acts makes it hard to attach concrete significance to any of them, and to see how all of them express a single unity of mind. Croce's applica- tions of his philosophy to Aesthetics and Ethics are well known here and along with his brilliant critical study of Hegel, have made him a powerful influence, especially in Oxford. His Logic is less well known; and if the truth must be told, less worth knowing. Even Dr. Carr's skilful exposition seems to falter here as anyone who has attempted to work out Croce's logical doctrine from his own statements can understand. Attention should be drawn to Dr. Carr's account of Croce's doctrine of history "-one of the most important parts of Croce's philosophy. His Storiografia has not yet been translated and students of Croc and the general Italian philosophical movement, will be grateful for the light which Dr. Carr throws on his subject. Dr. Bosanquet's little volume of essays continues the exposition of his severe and compelling idealist doctrine. There is in it, perhaps, little that is, in a strict sense, novel. But it is full of interest as the application of a sane and central philosophy to many questions and problems of ordinary life. The sufficiency, or rather the insufficiency of living for others as an ethical creed, the conception of the social good, the reality of evil, the nature of punishment, and the kind of stupidity which is really censurable,-on these and on questions like them, Dr. Bosanquet writes with that insight and wisdom which is characteristic of his work. The Tower," by Watchman." Headley Bros. Pp. 145. 2s. The author of this book is among the prophets, but the England of his fancy is not the Utopia of some wild-eyed visionary. It is an England that could blossom out of the present, if only the spirit and the intelligence of man have been sufficiently quickened by the scourge of war. The writer is inspired by the ideals of William Morris. There is a quaint old- world charm about his style as he restores to us a "Merry England," that introduces itself without any ridiculous breach in the continuity of the country's growth. Few aspects of national life escape his re- constructive efforts, and wherever the labourer enjoys a personal interes in the product of his labour, contentment is found reigning. This is the key-note of the book. A chapter on the coal industry is particularly interesting. When the author has a vision of happy homes and smiling faces he is reminded of those ruined and hideous mis-housed and slavish hordes among the South Welsh valleys of my day." Within these stimulating pages the reader will discover the secret of the meta- morphosis, F.J.M.