AT the age of seventy-eight, Mr. Birrell already reposes in his niche in the hall of English letters with a security that might be envied by many writers dead this hundred years. He has been a barrister, a Professor of Law at London University, a President of the Board of Education, and a Chief Secretary for Ireland--both of which latter appointments he held during particularly troublous times; yet since first 'Obiter Dicta' was published in 1884, he has written a series of books all distinguished by their literary erudition, their sound judgment and their unfailing charm.