LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 16, 16 July 1910, Page 12

LITERARY.

"Tie Queen-MottieT'a Ixsbtera to the Naticm," reproduced in fae-simile, -with a eymiolie border designed by Sir Ed-war-d J. Poynder, P.B-A., nas been published by Eaphael Tuck and Sons, Ltd., at prices xanging from 1/ to £3 3/, on behalf of. an institution., selected by her Majesty.

Wβ are told to expect a realistic picture of actual social conditions in the land of the Czar an the forthcoming volume, "Home life in JRuseia," by Dr. A. S. Tiappoport. The earn© industrious author is soon to bring out a biography of the late Leopold, King of the Belgians. It is reported to give a truthful and impartial picture of that queer* peraOnage.

Will ■women ever be admitted to membership in the French Academy? It is stated that nearly one-third of the present members are in favour of such admissions for ieminine writers of distinction. M. Emile Faguefc thinks that the rule which keeps out persons of the sex of that famous letter writer, Mine. de Sevigae, is deplorai>le. He declares himself convinced of the intellectual equality of men and ■women. M. Paul Hervieu would solve the question by establishing a special section for women distinguished in letters, art and science.

"The ISTew Idea" for July contains an interview with Miss Muriel Ma-tters, an Adelaide lady, who has taken an active part in the Suffragette agitation in England. Miss Matters declares that to-d-ay there are no less than 3000 women actively fighting for their vote. She also eaid that "All the people of intellect in London to-day are in sympathy with us." Miss Matters herself, in furtherance of the cause, chained herself •to the grille in the House of Commons, ■distributed literature from a balloon, and went to gaol. The seriee of articles on occupations for women this month deals with pruning as a business for girls. Monsieur Paoli describes the police measures that are adopted for the protection of the Czar of Russia and his family.

The "Empire Review" for June contains appreciative in memoriam notices of Kin<r Edward VII., from the pens of the edfeor, Sir Charles Bruce, and Ml Edward Dicey. The writer last named, in his customary budget of foreign notes, gives a brief history of the Suez Canal. He says: "The ship and steamers-traver-sing the canal are now calculated by the latest reports at thirteen million tons, of which 70 per cent, consists of vessels sailing under the British flag." Lord CaTdxoss gives an interesting account of settlement in British East Africa, especially in the healtEy high country. Nairobi, the capital, stands at an altitude of some 5,400 feet above sealevel, and is some 350 miles from the port, which is ilombassa. The train takes some 24 hours to cover this distance. Potatoes, beans, oats, and maize thrive well. Some planters are going in for coffee, others are relying upon black wattle, which gives a good return after a year or two. On the coastal belt the East Africa Estates Company is planting rubber, •which is also being cultivated in the adjacent territory of German East Africa. Dr. C. TJ. Ewart contributes an instructive article on the subject of parenthood, in which some startling figures are given with reference to the reproduction of the feoble-minded and unfit. "The Transcontinental Railway of Australia " is the subject of an article by C. O. Burge, C.E. He describes the result obtained from the survey which was completed in 1!K)9. The estimated cost of connecting Kalgoorlie with the South Australian railway system is £4.000,000. For many years the* line could only be carried on at a loss, though the work would be justified from inter-State, strategic, and commercial considerations. THE GEOLOGY OF MEW ZEiilaJTO. By JAMES PARK, Professor of Mining and Mining Geology in the University of Otag-o. (W%iteombe and Tombs, 10/0.)

This valuable work, which is intended as an introduction to the historical, structural and economic geology of New Zealand, will prove, a valuable fcest-Dooic for teachers and mining students, for whose use it was primarily written. But it appeals to that wider reading circle of educated men who take an interest in the advancement of science. " Geology," the author remarks, " is generally recognised as the most fascinating of the sciences. That it is not an exact science i≤, perhaps, wheTe its chief charm in a great measure lies, Be that as it may, it h certain that the generous soil from, which we draw our sustenance, the rocky constituents from which we mine our wealth of gold and supplies of the no less valuable baser metate, the sheets of coal, the entombed life of bygone agee —-both exquisitely beautiful and wonderfully grotesque—present to every inquiring mind a perpetual source of enjoyable and profitable study. . . The stratigraphical succession or tne sedimentary formations has happily reached the point of agreement. The problems that now remain are principally concerned with the relationships that exist between certain formations, and with distant correlations. In 18S9 Captain Hutton abandoned his classification of ISSG, and the surveys of the past decade have shewn that the classification of the old geological survey required revision. In the revised classification here inscribed, native Maori names have been preferred to English names, and the old nomenclature has been adhered to wherever that could be done without causing confusion or the idea of ambiguity."

Professor Park is of opinion that New Zealand's extensive coal deposits will probably outlast those of Europe ana America, and he states tha-t the exhaustion of the supplies of iron ore in the Northern Hemisphere is now witiin measurable distance. " With regard to distribution of the world's iron ores, it is not a little singular that all the great deposits are situated in the countries bordering the Atlantic Trough. All the countries fringing the Pacific Ocean, including China, Japan, India, Australasia, and the east coast of America, are poorly supplied with iron ore. It is, at any rate, some satisfaction to know that the only considerable deposits of iron ore oa "the shores of the Pacific are possessed by New Zealand."

Professor Park gives a general review of geological survey in New Zealand, the physiography of the country, its general geological structure, with a detailed account of its more prominent systems, the P'eistocpne or Glacial Period, the coal and gold fields, and other minerals oE economic value. There are 145 illustrations in the text, 27 plates and a geological reap. The typographical portion of the book has been executed in a vary creditable manner. "" <-

Some pleasant and graphic memories of the Highlands of Scotland, more especially the region around Loch Laggan and Upper Spey, have been written by Mr Thomas Binlon, and published from the office of the Northern Counties Newspaper and Printing- and Publishing Co., Inverness. The author -was familiar with this picturesque country from infancy, and his impressions were intensified in later life 'by the companionship of Thomas Alexander iMaetay. He tells us that he is indebted to aged persons, whom he knew intimately, and who in thought still lived to some extent in the eighteenth century, and also not infrequently to individuals who had seen fewer years, but who from predilection had drunk deeply from the well of olden time. "I venture to hope," he says, "that these sketches of places, persons, sayings, and doings connected with a once secluded region of the Central Highlands may find favour with some who are not indigenous to the country. Phases of life and manners are touched upon that have well-nigh disappeared without receiving much attention in contemporary literature, and in- i dividuals aTe recalled, who, by their /distinctive (character and achievement in one respect or another, were persona of outstanding position in their own day and generation, and are worthy of being held in remembrance associated with, the sphere in which they moved. The names of a few who pass under our homely review have a place in the national roll of fame." Wo liavo no doubt that these anticipations will ho fully realised, and that to many exiles in distant lands these graphic sketches will revive cherished memories of their native country.

The Australasian note ie very strongly sounded in the July number of "Life." Mr. T. K. Dow, the well-known writer on agricultural subjects, comments on '"What Foster Fraser Saw and Heard." Charles Barrett writes on "The Valley of Dry Bones" in anything but a dry manner. The valley of dry bones lies in one of the Bass Strait's islands, and from it have been recovered bones and fossil remains of a number of extinct animals. Mr. Barrett uses these bones as symbols of a romance that is interesting alike to laymen and scientists. Mary Gilmore, who, with her poetic instinct, is admirably fitted for the task, describes the work of C. Web Gilbert, who is probably tho strongest sculptor in Australasia, and who has just completed a portrait in marble of Sir Thomas Gibson-Cannichac], the Governor of Victoria. Dr. Fitchett carries us on another stage in his story of "The Tragedies and Triumphs of Australasian Exploration."

THE LAW AKD THE PROPHETS. (By Professor Westphal, of Montauban. Translated by element Dv Pontet, MjA. Macmillan and Co. 8/G net.) This book is a translation and adaptation of Professor Westpbal's "Jehovah," or the revelation of Jehovah in Hebrew history from the earliest times to the capture of Jerusalem by Titus. The work was originally published in parts during the five years 1003-1907, and it subsequently appeared in book form, a second edition being brought out in Paris in 1908. In a foreword by the Bishop of Winchester, Dr. Winton states that "the reader is here suppli-ed -with a summary of the History of the Religion of Israel, based on the main outline of the results of modern critical inquiry, but written in a spirit of real reverence, and in the deepest conviction of eincero Christian belief. It is an eminently constructive, not a destructive, work; and this ie precisely the kind of volume which in our day is required by Biblical students. It is full of 'the new learning,' and it makes no surrender of the old faith."

Professor Westpbal starts from the standpoint that "the success of the historical method in Bible criticism, the discoveries of Assyriology, and the birth of the science of religion have so deeply impressed the modern mind, and cast such a flood of light on Biblical knowledge, that it is now no longer possible to entrench ourselves in the old positions which were the unassailable strongholds of a past generation of apologists." He points out that we must recognise that the revelation of God in the Bible was historical and progressive. That the Divine method is composed of respect for human liberty and a desire to act upon men in no other way thuu through human agents: "This being so, instead of raising an otrtcry when Jacob tells a He, or Samuel hews Agag in pieco3, or Elisha incites Jehu to horrible slaughter in the name of Jehovah, we shall see in facts like these only a fresh proof of the infinite patience of the Divine Educator. . . . This view of the Bible

history restores its external harmony with universal history, by making the whole of human, history a history of Redemption." The author reconstructs the old Biblical chronology by the light ol the higher criticism applied to its text. He places the earliest civilisation in the of Babel at between six and eight thousand years 8.C.; the earliest documents of the Egyptian religion about 5000 8.C.; Abraham, about 2250 8.C.; Moses, 1380-1320 8.C.; David, 1010-970 B.C. The account of the Creation, as contained in the first chapter of Genesis-, he states, is derived from a work which appears not to have been ■compiled before the Babylonian captivity—that is to say, the fifth century B.C. —'but a careful study of the structure of the narrative has shewn that this adaptation is no more than a remodelling of. a more ancient text, probably forming one continuous whole, with the Story of the Fall, in which the Creation is completed, not in six acts, but in eight commands, the first of which has been preserved entire. "God said: Let there be light! and there was light." The Biblical narrative of Creation, he points oat, is the only one in the whole range of primitive religious literature 'which ofter3 us a logical explanation of the beginning

of things. . . . True respect for the narrative of Genesis forbids us to imperil its value by apologies which -would make of it the forerunner of our modern cosmogonies. No doubt, the general order which it attributes to Creation has been, confirmed by the discoveries of science, but still we look in vain in it for any conception of all the gradual development brought to light by geology; and in its view, as in that of the Ohaldaean Generis, the waters above are separated from the earth by a kind of heavenly vault, which God opens or clones, according as He wishes or not to send down the rain.

Recognising the difficulties which have always been present to the mind of the reverent student, and which have been a-ccenttvated by modern textual criticism, Dr. Westphal proceeds to shew that an intelligent interpretation of the Scripture narrative will leave faith in its authority as a Divine revelation and religious guide to mankind unshaken. The book is conspicuous for its learning, -while its value is enhanced to the general reader by the lucid manner in which it 3 facte and deductions ares presented. Such ft work must prove a. valuable aid to the prcaclsor .and -teaches At the jgreeent time.