LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 89, 14 April 1923, Page 18

LITERARY.

Mrs. Alice Stopford Green, widow ol the famous author of "A Short History of the English People,"- who has been elected to the Senate of the Irish Free State, enjoys a distinction new in pary liamentary history, being the first mem- " ber elected to the new Senate. In addiI tion to being the widow of a great historian, Mrs. Green is herself a writer of ; | note on Irish history and an authority . ' on the tangle of Irish politics. An ardent , Sinn Feiner. Mrs. Green was the friend " j and counsellor of Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins. Shortly before Principal Denney died, | an old student, the Rev. Maurice Frater, , a well-known New Hebridean missionary, called on him to show him a copy of a laTge part of the New Testament which he had translated into one 1 of the native dialects of the New Heb--1 rides, and to obtain his counsel and * advice on' some matters connected with ' the translation. Principal Denney " j reverently took the translation into his hands, quietly handftd it back to the ! missionary without making any sugges--3 tion or correction, and with te°rß in his 1 eyes said, "I would give my whole Ufe- ' work, both as minister and professor, i to have done that." 1 , * j "The Purple Pearl," by Anthony ' Pryde and R. K. Weekes (George Allen s and Unwin), from its exciting plot and s abounding adventures, might be classed I, as a "thriller." Its incidents involve, c among other events, the capture ol an s English officer and his imprisonment in i- a fierman dungeon, a sensational ese cape, and some weird happenings in his , ancestral mansion in England. A gem lof great value has been lost for three - generations, and has been the occasion , of a bitter feud between three branches - of a noble family. When the three 1 branches dwindle to two remarkably . attractive young men and two adorable t girls, there are reasons, as the reader I may foresee, for a romantic end to the family quarrel; " I 1 "The Vengeance of Henry Jarroman," ' by Roy Vickers (Herbert Jenkins) tells the story of *a man wrongly convicted on a charge of murder, whose death sen- ! tence was commuted to penal servitude ' for life. Six months after his death sen tence had been commuted, ha chanced . across proof of John Camden's guilt. He could have regained freedom had he '' chosen, but he preferred to "spend 20 ™ years in Dartmoor, brooding uppn his wrongs, and revenge. On his release be '» hears that Camden is dead; but that he * has left a daughter. "The girl thinks 1 she is Jarroman's child, yid thus in her • innocence assists him in the teadjuat- ' ment of his ideas. He decides thai the ! sins of the father shall be expiated by the daughter. "A Mediterranean Mystery," bj* Fred [ E. Wynne .(Herbert Jenkins), is. a queer story of the surprising experiences of "a middle-fged. English clergyman of in- , dependent ineans'ariil scholarly habit 9, , who had received a telegram announo- | ing the unexpected return of a beloved, j but ne'er-do-well, young brother from 1 a chequered career in the Near East. The , brother brings with him a Captain Welj fare, his partner in the ownership of a i small trading schooner of dubious charf acter. It is arranged that the vicar j shall go for a cruise in the schooner to ( the Channel Islands; but before he k-tows i it, he finds himself involvet" in a net- ) work of Levantine smuggling and mii trigue in Egypt, the excitements of t which are in remarkable contrast with , the peaceful home life of his own vicarage. 1 "The Home," an Australian quarterly ' mat-nzine, published by Art in Aus- | tralia, Ltd., is a high-clas3 inagazine which, pictorially and in its literary ' contents, is worthy of the firm which ' has become identified with artistic typo- ' graphy and colour-printing in Sydney. ' The autumn number contains an apprecU ! ative sketch of the Prime Minister of 1 ! -Australia, written by Sir Henry Braddon. In *.n article entitled "Valuable Hands," the hands of Norman Lindsay , are with those of Albrecht , I Durer, to which they, bear a strong re- ' semblance. Other representations of the hands of Australian artists sustain ' | tho theory that character may be ex- | pressed in the hands of a man or woman. ' Prominence is given to notable Aus- ! tralian homes and their furnishing, and \ art on the decorative side finds nrtmir- ; able illustration. Mr. A. H. Fullwood describes the social side of art in Lon- "! don, as it gathers around the circle of ' the Chelsea Arts Club. The cost of the club's annual ball pt Christmas, in the . Albert Hall, we are t°ld is £(1000. The colour and half-tone work ip "The ' Homp'' magazine are. of the highest Standard. Among literary men, Goldsmith and , Dickens were the most addicted to fine raiment. Of the former it 'used to, be , said that Be made himself and everybody . about him uncomfortable by dressing in , blue velvet suits, lace, and satin. One r of the most ardent admirers of Charles . Dickcris, describing the novelist's reception in Boston, when he first visited America, wrote: "With a few gentlemen j who wished to welcome him and show ; , him attention, I was in the little room ~ back of the platform when Pickens _, entered if>. He was rather a stout man, s with a somewhat red face, and I saw to j my surprise that he was dressed in an £ exaggerated servility to the e*ftreme 1 fashiop. Morp than this, he wore a j bputqnniere in each buttonhole, and two 3 watches, the chains of which were strung g aggressively across his chest. There was j wiiich his friends regretted.'.' ; "Great Hymi-s and Their Stories," by , W. J. Limmer Shepperd, M.A., nublishn ; by the Religious Tract Society, is a little , I book which will be welcomed by all Ipvi ers of those beautiful hymns which have .; brought so much comfort to hearts | j -bowed down with, sorrow,' Its frontis- ; j piece gives a photograph of the "Cleft .[Rod-" at Barrington Combe, which in- , j spired the hymn "Rock of Ages."' Tl*e ', j circumstances under which many hymns I: were written are intensely interesting. ; ' To' Frances Ridley Hayergal, words and ' j music came almost as a*i inspiration. \ ! Doddridge, ... who wrote five hundred {hymns, adopted this means of fixing , scriptural truths in thp memories of h'~ , congregation. The lady who wrote the beautiful hymn "Our Blest Redeemer, ere He breathed His tender last farewell," wrote it with • a diamond ring on a pane of glass, having " neither pencil ";aor paper handy. " The hymn known as "The Sweet By-and-"j By" was written, and the music which ;s •" still associated with it, composed in less ■■ than half an hour. The author has cta's- > sified the hymns, indicating- those that " were occasioned by incidents, those ext pressing personal feelings, or arising t from circumstances, or the result of *. sudden inspiration. Cases are also rea corded of spiritual blessings resulting " from hymns.

HYPNOTISM AND SUGGESTION. Mr. Louis Satow, in the course of his recently-published book on "Hypnotism and Suggestion,* reviews the various forms of superstition that haye exercised control over men and nations in the past, and contends that everything, before acceptance, should be subjected to strict scientific investigation. It is in this spirit that he enters upon his exposition of the nature of hypnotism, which he declares to be an outcome of the common susceptibility of the human mind to suggestion. Of this quality of the mind, he says, that "the conviction of' the existence of a particular object awakens the inclination to perceive the object, which in reality has no existence, and also the tending to hallucination. . . If I suggest to someone the idea of sleep, this idea tends to come to the fore. I clear the way further , for the perception of this idea, and suggest a heaviness of the eyelids and in the limbs. The sleep idea becomes more definite in the patient's mind." By • creating a condition of heightened suggestibility the subject of the experiment i actually sleeps. In this condition of hypnotic sleep, "the brain is more adaptable and has also increased its natural canacitv for influenci-m- the whole psycho-pbvsical organism by restricting or facilitating its activities. The capacities thus enhanced by su~- , srestion are abundantly utilized in the greatest variety of remedial measures." I In reply to a question, "Who can be L hypnotised?" the author maintains that -yperippee in many lands h°" shewn , that only five per cent of mankind can , V>e shewn to be refractory to hypnotism. . The insane cannot be hypnotised, but in , any mentally sound person the deepest , hypnosis is obtainable. That hallucinai tions mnv be produced in hypnosis is an , oft-observed fact, and suggestions nnplied in hypnosis, mnv also produce their results siib-ernien'-lv in the w»W-"- , state, a subject carrying out actions , which had been suggested to him during . hypnosis, without being aware that he is acting upon suggestion. Mr. Satow cites various cases in support of this fact. The application of bvpnotic suggestion • to healing accounts. Mr. Sitow declares, . for many of the effects of the "charmer," the charlatan who cures by ', reciting spells, as well as the successful i therapeutic results of the "sympathetic" cures, which in past ages, when a firm belief in this method of healing was ' still widespread. celebrated such , triumphs. The healing virtue of the | priestly or kingly hand, also of relics, talismans, and amulets may bs . similarly accounted for. Such cures , are attributable to the power of the | human imagination, which realises their . promises as wnking suggestions. The author discusses the subject of i mass psychology and mass suggestion • and those nsvebirnl .-p'demies in "•»<-. ~e-H-n'ous" life which characterise revivals. He applies these principles to the subi leets of monarehism and militarism, and '. claims that "the partial and exaggerated sense of nationality, national \ .arrogance and national covetousuess, on which mass sn-gestion tb-i-i-ps <=o ' exuberantly, furnish a fruitful soil for the war mentality.*" ' "Hypnotism and Suerj-estlon," by , Louis Sato.W. translated .by Bernard . Miall, George Allen and Unwin. WHAT PEOPLE READ. DEMAND FOR LIGHT LITERATURE. | PSYCHOLOGY ALSO IN VOGUE, With the growth of education, the r reading public grows larger every year, and a type of people that at one time never read beyond the coyer of a book, \ is now greedily demanding the latest publications. The Call for modern fiction 1 is largely made upon the United States, where dwell a band of indefatigable writ- ' era with ability to vary the exploits of ; the inevitable rough-riding cowboy and [ the financier juggling in millions, to j the chagrin of a band of unscrupulous ) speculators who, until the last chapter, ; have every prospect of making a corner ' in wheat. The insatiability of tho. mod- \ crn reader also demands the periodic ' exhumation of a favourite hero, who is ' revived from book to book until thp ungrateful public deals the final blow it- ' self and passes on to another author who | has caught the popular eye.. "The people of to-day do not read good [ books," declared an Auckland book- . seller. "Tlie general demand is for light, ; untruthful American rubbish. Here is a , book of that class which has recently , come out, and in this city over a thousand co ies havp already been sold, in J the matter of a week. There is ona ; thing in favour of this wild-west type of story, however, and that "b that it is generally clean. On the.other hand, I "free" literature also sells well. Dickens _, and Scott are read more by the younger s people, who are introduced to them by - medium of abridged editions in the 1 schools. Dumas' "Three Musketeers" has _. a good sale, • but few people ask for ' '-Twenty Years After." As a matter of fact, the series gets better as it goes » along, apd perhaps "Le Vicomte de Bragelonne" is the best of the _RArtagnan books. The trouble is that most people are frightened by the size of the 1 series, and will not venture beyond the 3 first volume.'* ,' While the general public has an almost t unlimited range of choice, for the _, serious-minded reader there is also a varied selection. A unique feature of a catalogue recently issued by an English firm of publishers is the prolific • output of psychological works, which, ' from all accounts, have a wide sale. The thought of the age is reflected in such titles to books a.B "Psychoanalysis and , Aesthetics-," "Mnemic Psychology," and "Suggestion and Auto-suggestion." For ' tile lover of books there is happily a \ band of sufficient novplists with more ' pretence to genius than the majority _ of their fellow-authors, while the essayl ists of to-day offer a selection that possibly surpasses anything of the past. " Robert Lynd, E. V. Lucas and Richard ! King are amongst the writers who at present are being eagerly sought, while j Chesterton, although not entirely modern, nevertheless enjoys a wide vogue, j Tlie clever, if somewhat unscrupulous , criticisms of Mencken, also find favour | with a large class of readers to-day. • In the realm of poetry the call is ■ chiefly for the work of modern writers, • and a preference is usually shown for [ collected editions and anthologies. A ; fe*v years ago people seen-sd Hi** "out of professing a liking for poetry, as reveal- . ing a weakness in their nature, but it is ; the experience of booksellers to-day that i customers are more open in expressing ■ an opinion as to their likes and dislikes. ; These show a leaning towards Walter • do la Mare, Masefield and others of our ; recent poets. The extreme poetry of ' such writers as Ezra Pound find favour . with a small percentage of readers, and ; usually to the exclusion of everything