"THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES."

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 89, 16 April 1927, Page 22

"THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES."

In an extremely interesting book. "The Great Chartered Companies" (Williams and Nor«ate) Mr. ITannay sketches the growth of the various coloifial empires which were established in the Kith and

lftli centuries by the leading maritime Powers of the world. The voyages of the Elizabethan pioneers, the activities of the merchant adventurers and the rise and progress of the British East India Company are dealt with in succession, and Mr. Hannay—as might be expected from the author of "The Xavy and Sea Power"—lays great stress upon the close relation between Britain's naval strength and the extension of her maritime trade. The operations of the Dutch East India Company, its rivalry with our own "John Company," the conflict between the two for the control of the Eastern Archipelago, and the subsequent developments of Dutch commercial enterprise in the West Indies and South America — all these half-forgotten episodes are restored to iheir rightful place in the annals of colonial expansion. The French colonial empire plays a less conspicuous part in the narrative, simply because the Chartered Company with which Mr. Hannay is chiefly concerned never appealed to the French people so strongly as to the more practical and less imaginative English and Dutch. The last chapter, in addition to some highly interesting details about the East India Company's marine service, contains some acute, criticism of the rightful functions of chartered companies. The great achievement of the companies was to prepare the way for the exercise of direct rule bv the States to which they belonged. Mr. Hannay's narrative is clear and lucid, the record is plentifully interspersed with anecdotes and biographical touches, and the book as a whole is a highly readable and valuable contribution to the great literature dealing W « i ," tte cx P ans »on of Europe" and the establishment of colonial empires over-

A number of ordinary people doing and saying ordinary things in familiar every-day circumstances; an advanced unattractive child of six, whose widowed mother is in such extreme poverty that she can afford but one maid; and several unconvincing and mentally pallid admirers of the widow; these—and some scenery go to make up "Safety Last" by Rutherford Crockett (Collins and Co.). ]t is rather wonderful that liters rv art should bo able to squeeze so much in!crest out of such unpromising material. ! 'it it has been our experience to be drawn into the unexciting company of this story. For an invalid or convalescent forbidden to read anything disturbing we cannot recommend a better book. It is more harmless than milk.

"The Adventures of Monsieur do Mailly." by David Lindsay (Melrose, via Angus and Robertson, Sydney), is a series of events in the life of an exiiiilitiiry officer of old France. He is a •'soldier of fortune" of great ingenuity and daring who makes his adventures by sharing (mostly unasked) in the difficulties, troubles and family affairs of anyono he can persuade or threaten into admitting him to them. There is something of the charm .of detective stories about these adventures, but the usual order is reversed, because the reader plunges into excitements without knowing the climax instead of working back from a climax to the beginning. A man of courage, with wit, a sharp sword, a pistol, and an engaging personality could do much to make life interesting in the France of Louis XIV., as witness these "adventures."

Literary possession of the county of Sussex i*. as everyone knows, held in commission by Mr. Bclloc. Mr. Itudyard Kipling, ami Miss Kaye-Smith. But at the annual dinner of the Men of Sussex held recently Mr. C. K. Chesterton put in claims, founded upon those early days when he used to be hurried as fast as possible through the beauties «Jtf Sussex and "chucked out at that hideous anil vulgar suburb, Wright on." Mr. Wyndhain Lewis proposed in the "Daily Mail" a drastic treatment for improving the amenities of Sussex, including the removal of the South Downs, which arc such a nuisance to motorists and lis-teners-in. Mr. Chesterton suggests, on the contrary, a system whereby "carefully selected persons be thrown otit of the train at various points so that they might be made to understand the real beautv of Sussex."

Puzzle-making and solution is an art which is never without its devotees, and these will find much to interest them in '•Modern Puzzles and How to Solve Them" (Pearson, Ltd., through Angus and Robertson), by that noted "puzzle king," Mr. Ernest Dudeney. The puzzles are as diversified as one could desire, relating to such widely different subjects as ages, kinship, money, weight, cricket, golf, packing and cards. There are 222 of them, each with its interesting and ingenious solution. Here, for example, is one which the author says it more puzzling than it looks: "Abraham, an infirm old man, undertook to dig a ditch for £2. He engaged Benjamin, an able-bodied fellow, to assist him, and share the money fairly, according to their capacities. Abraham could dig as fast as Benjamin could shovel out the dirt, and Benjamin could dig four times as fast as Abraham could do the shovelling. How should they divide the money?"

"Hildegardc," by Kathleen Xorris (sent by John Murray), contains much domestic detail of a sordid kind, compared with tins ease and luxury of California's wealthy class. The details referred to form part of the pathetic story of a girl of noblo aspirations and emotional character who fights her way upward from degrading surroundings to an independent position in journalism; after passing through early love, disgrace, retail trade, the theatre and a most desperate love episode with a young American plutocrat, whose, family interfere upon learning the heroine's past. An illegitimate child at fifteen is not overlooked as a natural episode even in modern American society, which the authoress rather admires. The newspaper office, the theatre and the shop are occupied by suitable and appropriate characters, but the "society" people are almost "too good to be true." It is not fair to put all the wickedness upon the shoulders of the wage-earners, who, however, are not probably Kathleen Xorris' most general readers. A very clever and most absorbing tale. We should like to ask the lady what she means by a "booming fog," a term tw;icc used with reference to an autumn mist.