LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 254, 23 October 1920, Page 18

LITERARY.

I \ rurrcepnndcnt ■writes to an English paper: "Mr. IT. (I. Wpilfi is going *° ! tiic Cnited States next .lanuary to lecture. He hae told friends that he will ' trll the Americans the truth, bo whati I'vcr his 'truth' may lie, it is likely to I wake things up. Most English leeI iiiriTn who go over—and scores go every ' yar—hand out what our cross-Atlantic i coiteins <-aJI 'dope.' " Perhaps Mr. Wells ■ will write another ''Martin Clmzzlewit." Mr. Juhn Buchan is reported to bo I liu-y editing an entirely now scries of viili'imi'S which will be issued under the general title of "The Nations of To-day." 'I'lii. si-rit's will include all the main I'owers and nations, and. in addition, ilm-o newly formed by the Treaty of Versailles, as well as the great British Dominions and countries of Central and South America. One wonders when Mr. Buohan finds time to eat and sleep, not to mention think. Besides being a prolific author, he is directing a big London publishing house. There are over a hundred books to the credit of the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, who recently entered his eighty-seventh year. Hut one of his most popular achievements was the writing of that famous hymn, "Onward, Christian Soldiers." When Mr. Baring-Gould wanted to have I it Ming in his own church his Bishop objected, owing to the last line, "With the cross of Jesus going on before.' , Mr. Baring-Gould changed the last line to "Left behind the door," -which made the Bishop so angry that he dismissed the vicar. But Mr. Gladstone made it up by presenting him with a better living. A valuable collection of letters and M.SS. of Charles Dickens, which 'have not been published, is, according to the "Bookman's Journal and Print Collector," in private hands. This material it is Raid, will necessitate a re-writing of the life of the great novelist, and making allowance for the natural enthusiasm of Dickeneians, who are aware of this new field of information, it io evident that the new-material when —if there are no ■unfortunate accidents—given to the world will be of the utmost interest and importance. Several exports are aware of these unpublished letters, and the difficulties in the "way of securing their release, adds the journal, must be curious. The "Publishers' Weekly," of Xβ w York, has been conducting a ballot on the question of the best ten books of the sea. Those whicih were mentioned most often were "Typhoon," 'by Joseph Conrad, and "The Cruise of the Cachalot," by Frank Bullen. Other favourites included more books by Conrad, Captain Marryat's "Midshipman Easy," and Russell's "Wreck of the Grosvcnor." "More books 'by Conrad" is significant. It is curious how few really good books about the s?a have been produced by the frroatest maritime nation in history. Conrad, one of the greatest of writers on tilic sea, ia a Pole, wlio knew no English, until, if we remeiriber rightly, he was nearing manhood. Perhaps the reason is that it takes a seaman to really know the sea, and most seamen are inarticulate. What seems wonderful to the landsman is to them generally just part of the day's work, "Wheat Production in New Zealand" ics the subject of a volume by Mr. D. B. Copland, M.A., published by Messrs. WJiitcombe and Tombs, price 9/. The publication is welcomed as a valuable addition to the literature on agriculture, and its appearance is opportune. Air. Copland has brought to Ins task the knowledge that he gained in relation to this subject fifteen years ago, when his investigation and work on wheat earned tlie endorsement of the University of Xew Zealand. The work is comprehensive, and the book should be carefully considered by our farmers. If they discover, as we believe they will do, many reasons to become wheat growers, the public will benefit, and those who are even experienced wheat, men will be gratified with the encouragement that the results of seed selection assures. There is no question but that this country should produce the wheat that the people require. One paragraph affords sufficient proof that the wheat grower is favourably situated in this Dominion: "The yield of wheat in Xew Zealand compares well with any other country in the world." It is not our custom to review reprints, but we may make an exception in favour of "The Pastor's Wife," which Macmillan's have just issued in a three and sixpenny edition. This is probably much less well known than some other of the novels of the Anglo-German writer who hides her identity under the disguise of "the author of 'EHzabeth and Her German Garden.'" This Englishwoman who married a German Junker, and therefore writes of German life with inside knowledge, is one of the most competent of present-day novelists. She has insight into character, wit and humour, and style. "The Pastor's Wife" is a story of an English girl who marries a German clergyman in an East Prussian village, and the main theme is the German treatment of women. Indeed, the theme may be compared with the sentiment that is put into the mouth of the amazing German Baron in that rich essay in irony, "The Caravaners," by the same writer, that a woman ought to have a child every year—it keeps her clown. It is not a pleasant story, but it is unusually interesting and well done. Recently •Mγ. Kipling made a remarkable speech at Edinburgh University, when the degree of >LL.D. was conferred upon him. He dealt with the university c great tradition in prose that, in the opinion of the "'Spectator." the anthologist of the future may deem not unworthy to stand beside that of a Lincoln or a Traherne. Their tradition, lie said, had been handed down from John Knox. How had it proved when the greatest of all teets had been applied to it—when "the bitter and grinding dispensation" of the war overtook us? "Here, as elsewhere, the sins of the fathew were visited upon the children. The sons of your university were constrained, like their forbears, so to use themselves in matters of conscience as thoy would answer to their Maker. All earth has witnessed that they answered as befitted their ancestry, that they endured as the strong, influences about their youth had taught them to endure. They willingly left the unachieved purpose of their lives in order that all life should not foe wrenched from its purpose, and without fear they turned from these gates of learning to those of the grave.' . The passage, (eaye the" "Spectator") has a fall which puts it in the first rank of the prose inspired Iby the war. A better inscription for a war ■memorial could hardly be found than the concluding phrase.