LITERARY NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 276, 27 November 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

LITERARY NOTES.

'While the Billy Boils'is the appro priate name given to a collection 0 J stories by Henry Lawson, chiefs fl scriptive of'bush and station lif e^' Australia. Most of these" yam« * t .... •j'HMa appeared originally in the Syaaf 'Bulletin' and other colonial weekly papers, where they had to run th gauntlet of critics who were famii^ with the life they described Th writer has nothing to fear from J* an ordeal; Ms swaggers and sheared are no creatures of the imagination they are types of men familiar tl every sojourner in the rural district of Australia or New Zealand, depict*! with just enough heightening of th colour to make them interesting Australia has been exceptionally f o ?' tunate in. her poets and prose writiS of fiction. The free life of the <JT try; its sunny skies and novel condi" tions-, distinct though they were frojj old world conditions, required, aa as preciative as well as a familiar chrojC cler to describe them in vivid colours' but it is hardly surprising that am o j the many men of varied minds and diverse talents who have made their home in the colonies there were found some possessing literary talent who became thoroughly imbued with the charm of their new surrounding Mr Henry Lawson has had a very w^j colonial experience, and he turns it to very good account in these stories Messrs Angus and Eobertson, the put lishers, have also done good service in collecting so many fugitive sketches and giving them to the public in a handy form at a moderate price. ■

Scientific manuals and text books are npt usually popular, but a valuable little work entitled 'Simple Tests for Minerals: or, Every Man his Own Analyst,' by Joseph Campbell, M.A., F.G.S., has been so much sought alter that the publishers, Messrs Angus and Robertson, of Sydney, have issued a fourth edition. Mr Campbell, who has now become identified with the. development of the auriierous resources of the Hauraki goldfields, endeavours in this. book to impart instruction in the science of metallurgy in plain language which may b easily understood by the unlearned. The book contains a great deal of information besides that implied,in its title. Among its most interesting chapters is one on rocks, whichj not unworthily, bears the title of 'The Miner's Guide; or, Where to Look for Mineral Wealth.'

It took the discriminating British public ten years to discover Mr Hugh Scott, or, as he prefers to be called, Henry Seaton Merriman,' but now his merits are exploited they read Mm vigorously. Sixteen large editions of 'The Sowers' have been sold in as many months, and 'In Kedars Tents' is the new novel of the . season. 'Flotsam' raised a doubt whether success might not agree with Mr Merriman; but 'In Kedars Tents' has entirely dissipated that doubt. Like 'With Edged Tools' it is a capitally constructed story, brightly and graphically told. Mr Merriman's men are nearly always good; in this novel they are excellent. The narrative begins briskly enough with a Chartist riot, in the course of which a foolish young fellow, Geoffrey Homer, accidently Mils the only'and dearly loved son of a famous barrister, Sir John Pleydell. The row occurs in the dark, and no one can be sure who struck the blow. Homer confides Ms danger to his friend, Frederick Conyngham, and the latter, an easy, happy-go-lucky young fellow hungering for adventure, proposes to,divert suspicion by bolting abroad himself. He makes for Spain, and takes service with General Vincente against the Carlists. Hardly has he arrived thai an act of purest chivalry involves the Englishman in a web of intrigue, suspicion and conspiracy. Circumstances make him seem a traitor to both sides, and yet his friends cannot believe him false. After being stabbed in the back Conyngham recovers and reaches Madrid. There he finds Sir John Pleydell, who has pursued his son's supposed murderer, with the idea of kidnapping him and conveying him back to England and the gallows. In an excellent scene Sir Johnconfides his intentions to General Vincente's A.D.C., not, of course, knowing who he is, and Conyngham replies by handing out his card. What follows it would not be fair to relate. Suffice it to add excitement piles on excitement, and the story ends with a series of thrilling scenes. Mrs Oliphant's novel, 'The Lady Walk,' was written, or rather dictated, when the cancer fiend already had her in his fell clutches, and to compare it with her other work would be unfair. It is, however, a readable ghost story, and had it come from a less eminent hand we should probably have praised the tale. Mrs Oliphants 'Memoirs of the House of Blackwood was also published last month. These two volumes were written and partly revised by the dear lady before her fatal illness, and they <bring the story of the Blackwood house and of 'Mag 3 down to the death of Major BlacKwood in 1861. The titles of some 01 the chapters—'The Tales of My Landlord,' 'The Magazine,' 'John Gibson Lo.ckhart,'. 'Christopher North, }*> Ettrick Shepherd,' 'William Maquinn, 'Coleridge -De Quincey'—indicate tne scope of volume 1, while in volume i, in addition to an account of W contributors such as Samuel W»r«J Alison, Douglas Jerrold, Bui* Lytton, George Eliot, the biograplj* tells of the personal and domesu life of the Blackwood family, most whom she knew well.

'My Dear Eanji.—More cricket and less jaw.' This is alleged to be w British boys' reply to the W^ edifying epistle fromthe Indian d* man to English youth in the cum» 'Windsor Magazine,' and a good DM". people will sympathise with it. **u> on cricket will always be list^ ffll with deference, but Eanji on the >.d i „ horse enunciating moral PlaJ ltu?s, ete a bore. The adoration of the atw is very much overdone in Enjp& n well as in the colonies nowadays, soaks our rising generation tiirt » and through. Andrew Lang, declares : ~ hnW ied 'To me the meanest ball thats bovn TbSSfiTthat too often lie too deep for tears." , , ruse gives a felicitous instance of T»* . The re-issue by Nimnio of sumptuous Border edition of &c°. novels at 3/6 a-piece is a great J^ tice to those who paid 15/-J eac practically the same book. 1J^ eJ two , are now in one volume instead v and the illustrations rough P r"^ blocks instead of etchings. Jj« type (minus leads) seems the rf^ the original edition, and, _oi o Lang's scholarly introductions were, its great attraction remain touched.