NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19854, 15 February 1930, Page 13

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

RUSKIN LETTERS.

The Solitary Warrior. New Letters by Buskin. Edited by J. Howard Watarnoaae. With seven plates. Allen and XJnwin. (7s 6d net.)

These hitherto unpublished letters by John Ruskin are addressed chiefly to members of the Scott family, his friendship with whom began in 1855 when the Rev. A. J. Scott invited him to lecture in Manchester, to Dr. Chambers, and to Samuel Lawrence, whose crayon portrait of Ruskin, till now unreproduced, is a very attractive part of this volume. It would be idlo to pretend that many of the letters are of high interest; not a few are merely short notes about social engagements and other unimportant matters. These must be regarded as the wrappings and packing with which there are delivered to us some other 3 in which we hear the true voice of the man and see something of his heart and mind. There is, for instance, the fine letter to Susan Scott, from Yerona in 18(5'J:

T am now entirely convinced that we must bring together what honesty and kindness there is yet amongst us in ounnemrnted power, and make a steady fight against the world and its ways. ... I, for one, will endure this no longer. I arn going t-» write to all ray friends and all whom i know of those who lielieve any in me: and to call upon them for time, strenuous,' total eacn in their several place and according to their power. I want tliem to form a Society, no matter how small at first, which shall vow itself to simple .life in what is called poverty, that it may clothe and cleanse, and teach habits of honour »nd justeie, to as many as will receive its laws among the existing poor. Do not think it a nonsensical fastening on my own particular fancies when I tell you that my first object in all law will be grace and beauty in all external things. There shall be no riches on the one side, no noisomeness nor vulgarity on the other. . . . If I fence myself only iDto a few fields I will have about me at least nothing but what shall tend to fine laws of pleasantness and peace—not loathsomeness and wrath.

A fortnight later ho wrote again to Susan, in the same "fixed mind," as he had told her:

The chief mistake made by tnodern philanthropy is in giving cheap imperfect education. It looks to all the existent multitude and says "what .can I do for all these?'* "Only so much for each, let me not attempt more."

Now imagine a saidoner saying that of all the weeds in the world.

One of my principal purposes is at once to break short this folly, as far as this Society extends. It is of no moment how far the Society extends. The one thing of moment is that wherever iT acts, it shall act wisely, and that therefore it shall never undertake to educate a child at all unless to do the beat it can for it.

"How little can we safely do! How little can we afford for our own respectability or for fear of hell to do*' ? a«k the general public. "How much can I safely do? How much can I ponsibly make of this one child by proper care?" is to be the question with US. . . •

It, is the object (observe)' not to diffuse a diluted good bnt to set a city on a hill.

This is the energy that preached in "Eors Clavigera," publication of which began in 1871, and did not cease for over twelve years. The book is a small b,ut valuable addition to Ruskin literature.

LAMB'S ESSAYS.

The Collected Essays of Charles Lamb. Introduction by Eohert Lynd. Two volumes. J. M. Dent and Sons. Ltd. (16s net.)

This is not the complete Lamb, since it excludes the novels and the poems; bxit the essays are all here, as well as the miscellaneous notes and sketches which are beginning to be forgotten. It will surprise most readers to, be reminded that even the two Elia collections make less, when added together, than the essays on literature, art, and drama which are not usually regarded as "Elian," and to-be told bv Mr Robert Lynd in his introduction that Lamb did little between 1811 and 1820, the very prime of his life, but "play whist and receive his friends." The fact of course is that everyone who neglects Lamb for a year or two "6 surprised when he returns to him, even if he began by knowing a great deal about him. The amount be contrived in -the circumstances of his life to write would be astonishing if the quality had been only a little better than first-class journalism; and when we remember that it was all literature, and nearly half of it something that had never been done before and something that no one in a hundred years has been able even to imitate, astonishment becomes bewilr derment. But it is no use trying to explain Lamb, or even to understand him. Mr Robert Lynd reminds us in his twenty-page introduction that most of those who saw Lamb for the first time took him for "a queer sort of Methodist minister.'' He was small nnd flat-footed, with one eye blue and the other brown, and wore kneebreeches and rustv silk stockings, aiid never laughed. Yet he never stopped laughing inside, and capering, and playing the fool, partly because laughter was part and parcel of him, and partly because buffoonery was bis only defence against the shadows that pursued 1 him, and in proportion to their intelligence and sensitiveness pursue all men. from the_ cradle to the grave. It is a splendid service to literature that the«e two volumes—with notes by William M'acdonaild, •twenty-five drawings by C. E. Brock, and twenty-four contemporary portraits in photogravure—should be available for a very little more than it costs to resole one's

MARRIAGE. Marriage and Morals. By Bertrand RuseelL Allen and TTnwin. 7s 6d net. If radicals could all think as clearly ana write as simply as Mr Bertrand Kussell, the social fabric would be a little shaky; unless they were also as honest and as disinterested as he is. In this book, which is far stronger reading than most people will think should be made generally available, the props he knocks away from one side of the building are usually, though pot always, replaced by supports somewhere else. Except for the protection of children he sees no reason why there should be marriages at all, and he insists on freedom in marriage so far as what is commonly called "love" is concerned. On the other hand he has the grace all the way to realise that he may sometimes be wrong, and if he occasionally sneers at his critics in advance, his normal attitude is scientific and reverent. Ohe of his curiously worked out theories is that the sense of sin in sexual matters is partly a reaction from sexual fatigue, partly the effect (indirect and unrecognised) of jealousy, and partly a symptom of a general world-weariness which comes and goes.

' RELIGIOUS ESSAYS. Mount Zion. By Gwendoline Greene. J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd. (7s 6d net.) Mrs Greene, the writer of this book, is a niece of the late Baron von Hiigel, one of the greatest scholars and thinkers that the Roman Catholic Church has ever produced. Mrs Greene did not become a member of the • Roman Church until after her uncle's death in 1924. In this book, the authoress considers such subjects as prayer, the English Church, the problem of suffering, and our apprehension of God. Though perhaps a little unjust to Anglicanism as a whole, the book is the work of an earnest, fair-minded woman of deep religious feeling, and could be read with interest by Christians of any denomination.

PAPUAN RECOLLECTIONS. In the Land of Dohori. By Alice Jeannetto Keelan. Angus and Eobertson. (6/-). Mrs Keelan's husband was first a- Resident Magistrate in Papua, then a settler in the interior hill-country. She made excellent use" of her opportunities to observe the life and character of these unusual environments, and her book provides more than superficial entertainment. The Papuans, it appears have the philosophy which another race expresses in the word " Manana''; theirs is Dohori," and it means "By-and-by—Don't be in a hurry —Wait a while." Why did not Garimaina's brother work his famous cure, by Purripurri, on Garimaina's little boy, before the trouble got so bad?—"Dohori, Sinabada; my brother has eaten Kangaroo liver and for a month his Purripurri has lost its power." The success of the Papuan practitioner in magic and medicine waxes and wanes with his observance of "tabu" in diet, which each ordains for himself. If he indulges himself, his patients suffer, and his reputation declines. Mrs Keelan's pages are well filled with information and amusing incident.

MARRYAT'S NOVELS. The Novels of Captain Marryat. Vols.- 7-10: Japhet In Search of a Father; Snarleyow or the Dog Fiend; The Phantom Ship; Olla Podrlda, The Pirate, and The Three Cutters. J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd. (3a 6d net each.)

These four volumes continue the new, cheap, but well-produced uniform edition of Marryat, of which we welcomed the beginning some time ago. "Japhet" is one of the gayest of the novels, and contains some unforgettable characters, like Major Carbonnell, who lived remarkably well on a credit which he sustained by solemnly assuring shopkeepers that he had no intention at all of paying for their goods. In "Snarleyow" Marryat relies on the supernatural, in which he is not. at his best; but the story is, for all that, so good that it is unfair to speak of its being "saved" 'by the liberal quantum of honest, flesh-and-blood adventure. "The Phantom Ship," a retelling of the laying Dutchman legend, is also distinguished by ghosts and marvels of an unconvincing kind; but Marryat's dramatic power, narrative skill, knowledge of the sea and robust humour make this nevertheless a strikingly good story. The last volume contains some very good miscellaneous feeding.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

Beyond the Swamps. By Bobetrt ' Tarnacre. John Lane, The Bodley Head.

An earthquake Bplits the hills hemming in a Roman colony in Africa, isolated for two thousand years; and the rush of the sea carries, a British sub-marine-chaser through to it. The story is ingenious and exciting.

Vanus an Wheel*. Br Maurice Dekobra. T. Werner Lanrle, Ltd.

An amorous comedy, in which the reader may be shocked by some touches of vulgarity and some of cynical frankness, but is more likely to be surprised by its decorum.

The Ravelled Sleeve. By Betty Ingjdp. Holder and StongWwn, From W. S. Smart.

The characters in this novel are on the whole more interesting than what happens to them. Dinah,' who grows up from sohool age in Chap, JL to marry Bonny/in Chap. XVII., her sister Elisabeth, and her friend Ma via are fresh and vivid; the men are not so good.

The Sale. By .Toan Conquest, y. Werner Laurie, Ltd.

Told in highly emotional. language, this story of a secret and the love pf Christopher Strong and Christine Still leads to their suicide by fire on an island in the East.

Offlnger's Pocket Technological' Dictionary, fart 1, Volume 2. Ninth edition. Bevised and improved by H. XErenkel. Ailen and TTnwin. (6s 6d net.)

■ This is the German-English-Spanish, part of Offinger, and the volume in which the order of languages is English-German-Spanish. Each part-volume is of course, alphabetically complete in itself.

Sea Lore. By Stanley Eogers. Geo. G. - Harrep.

Another of the well-written tales of the sea for which Mr Rogers is now so widely known. Sea chanties, sea language, sailor superstitions, are all delightfully explained, while the chapters on Treasure Ships and Lost Ships and the lively "fo'c'sle" yarns have the true tang of the salt water.

Saint Francis. By Seymour Tan Bantvoord. J. M. Sent and Sons.

According to Mr van Santvoord, no once, since Francis Bernadone renounced his worldly possessions and donned the Franciscan robe, has approached so nearly to a Christ-like perfection. The story of his conversion, renunciation, and fidelity to the ideals of the Order he founded is here told simply, and yet with a full appreciation of the poetic elements that mingled with the Saint's asceticism.

The Adventures of Tommy. Written and illustrated by H. G. Wells. George G. Harrap and Co. •

A gift for the daughter of his hostess at whose house for a few days last year Mr H. G. Wells lay ill. Amusing nonsense even if it had not the additional interest that England's most solemn philosopher both wrote and drew it.