LIBER'S NOTE-BOOK

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2741, 8 April 1916, Page 9

LIBER'S NOTE-BOOK

»'A Book of Belgium's Cratitude."

!At once a striking and beautiful testimony of the Belgian feeling of admiration for and gratitude to Groat Britain, the handsome quarto volume, entitled •"A Book of Belgium's Gratitude',' (John •lane), must always rank as one of the most interesting and historically valu•able works yet produced in connection .with the ,war.. -It is the outcome of. a movement set on foot by leading Belgian litterateurs and artists,, most of whom are enjoying tho i generous hospitality of England, to display: : a'practical recognition "of the help and hospitality given by the British Empire, and of the relief bestowed by the United States of 'America during the Great War." The volume is published 1 under the special patronage of the King of the Belgians and his Queen, each of whom contributes, a - message -of thanks to all in Great Britain and her colonies, and. in tho United States, .who have displayed such a splendid spirit of charity towards the vilely-treated and still much-suffering Belgian people.. The art editor, M. Paul Lambotte, the literary editors,. JIM. Einile Cammaerts and Henri Darignon, ■ and l tho translations . editor, the wellknown English novelist, ,Mr. W. J.. •Locke, all deserve t'hb warmest congratulation upon .the result of their joint •'efforts. The literary,..contents include a "number of- articles • by the most eminent 'Belgian statesmen, journalists and authors, for the most part describing the splendid work of those who, in England and elsewhere, have assisted the. refugees and the.Belgian people generally. ■The 1 articles deal with Belgian impressions of English' life and' 'character, of English scenery, English art anil literature-'Each-article' is,.translated by some • English public man or""weli-k'no'vri" author, the list including many of the foremost men ynd women in English society and in

the ranks of English' literature. The artistic features of the' volume are of a high quality, 7 including reproductions in colour and half-tone of pictures by ■ Belgian artists, of scenes in London, Oxford, and in England generally, and portraits of well-known politicians | and society people to whom' the Belgians are specially indebted for hospitality and acts of kindness. Amongst tho general articles is one entitled "How Australia and New Zealand have helped Belgram." The author, M. Segaert,. gives very ' interesting- details _of the part played by • the Australasian States m assisting his homeless aiid " starving compatriots. After relerring to tlie prompt generosity of the Commonwealth to voting a grant of .£IOO,OOO to Belgium. "in, grateful acknowledgment of the heroic services the citizens of that country have rendered mankind m defence of their national rights to live in peace in their own country as Mr. Fisher put iir-M. Sagaeri proceeds.:— The wounds which Australia was hclpipß to heel were -wounds inflicted in an unjust war, but . one, as was still supposed there, conducted on principles' o5 honourable warfare. It was only later .that, together with the first accounts of the magnificent Epopoeia on the Yser, particulars of tho systematic destruction, .the massacres or civilians, the horrors and atrocities committed by the: barbarian hordes, reached New. Zealand and Australia. We have ■among: our papors letters from Sydney dated in December,-1914. still displaying in* credulity as to. news ol this character, then •>Beginning ' to: excite public opinion. But in a short time doubt, ■ became impossible: the reports of the Commissions of Enquiry—Belgian and British—were published in. extenso, and proofs of every, kind accumulated under the eyes of the horrified world. And when, following upon this, collection of horrorß, there arose in Belgium, orushed and ground under the heel of the conqueror, the spectre of threatening famine, an irresistible wave of pity and solidarity . swept over the conscience of the Oceanian States. From Melbourne to Sydney, to, the. confines of New Zealand, hearts were touched and stirred, everywhere meetings and committees were organised, to collect the, help indispensable to .the martyred nation.- . . .. It eeems that the sentiment of solidarity displayed by : the Australasians acquires increasing strength, by its .very exeroise. From 'the distant southern shores to organisations of relief in London' there' : flows a river iof 1 gold, broader and . more ma.iestic every month; so that at. the present time (August, 1915), after a year of war and Buffering, Belgium ' has received from Australia and New Zealand, besides whole shiploads of gifts im kind, , more than £1,775,000, more that is, than forty : four millions of francs. In appraising at its true value the'real grandeur'of this effort of' international confraternity, we must not . lose sight of the fact that it has been oarried out by new States, whose population hardly exceeds six millions, and who have taken upon themselves at the same time 'the burden of a close collaboration, financial, military, and naval, in the struggle against, the barbarians, M. Segaert makes a lengthy reference to the assistance given by the Dominion,, this section of his article closing as follows: — I have had the opportunity,, at the offices, of the' High Commissioner of .New Zea-' land in London, of' looking through the register containing the entries, day by, day, of the cheques and telegraphic money Orders received, anions which alternate' sums varying from ■ a few shillings to many thousands of pounds. Nothing more clearly shows that all classes of society, in New Zealand have closely associated themselves in forwarding to their representative in London,'the Honourable Thomas Mackenzie, these gifts, of which the amount at the end of August had reached a total of .£270,576. Is it not with good reason.that Belgium can mingle with thegratitude it is her happiness publicly to. acknowledge -' toi tho .ijjeople., of Nevr. Zoa-, land, a feeling of pride in the outburst' of enthusiasm she has ■ succeeded in evok■ing in the most southern nation in the world? . The Nerw Zealand price of the book, which contains closo upon 400 ■ pages of' good literature and fine artistic features, 1 is 7s. 6d; All profits derived from the publication of the. work will be placed at the disposal 'ot Har Majesty Queen Mary. Nelson's History of the War. ' '.I have on;so many occasions had reason to -commend to my readers Mr. John Buchan's . unpretentious, but eminently sound .and- accurate, record of the war, "Nelson's, History of the War". (T. Nelson and fSons ; per 'WUtcombe and Tombs), that there is very little left for me to say in tho. way of. appreciation; when, a; "new;,volume appears. s Volume" IX. of this . really invaluable and-, marvellously cheap work : I has now reached the Dominion: Its main features are descriptions, of the Italian campaign, l the campaign at Gallipoli, and the Russian retreat from the. Warsaw Salient, but the book also deals - with _ the . "Balkan Labyrinth," the "Straining of American Patience" (that patience which has still, however, not apparently reached the' all-import-ant breaking point!) and "The' Affair at Hooge," when'tne New Army won its spurs but at so terribly heavy a cost. There, is also a chapter entitled "The Psychology of ' Grandeur," in which the author makes a careful examination of the nature of German fanaticism and megalomania, tracing its genesis and subjecting'it to a keen and suggestive .analysis., As in-:, previous volumes, there is, a liberal provision of skotch maps' and diagrams. - Sir lan Hamilton's, dispatch of 'the :;26'th 1 August, 1915, 'and a full Teport '; of- the Imperial German Chancellor's, 'speech on the 19th, of the . same,,month,, are given as appendices. 'I would again express my. opinion that Mr. Buchan's "History of the War" - is the only dne, so far produced, which is worth serious consideration as. a permanently valuable record of the great struggle in which the Empire is engaged. (New Zealand price, Is. 6d. per volume.)

Anthony Wilding. What New Zealander has not heard or read of Anthony Wilding/the famous tennis player and' athlete, who, alas has fallen at the front? The late Oaptam Wilding's- life, story, as told by Mr. A. W allis Myersj is, l.see, shortly to be published by Messrs. Hodder and Sfoughton. The book should have a big sale, for Captain Wilding was the world's lawn .tennis champion; he was known to every sportsman in the British Empire,. cn the Continent of Europe and-in America; Ho ; was also an intrepid motorist and motor-cyclist who had • probably seen more of the world "on tyres"- than any man. And he ,/possessed an unique personality ''which gained him the friendship and .confidence .of many eminent men 'in many countries. , Told by an intimate friend, privileged to publish many of Captain Wilding's letters, some of them written under shell-fire 011 an armoured carj this story of a strenuous life, cut short in its prime, appeals not only to sportsmen but to every admirer of young.aiid healthy manhood. It is illustrated with thirty photographs depicting Captain Wilding's activities in peace and war. Stray Leaves. • An important programme of articles on themes and problems of the war is lavishly illustrated from the latest photographs and from drawings by well-known artists in the March number of the "Windsor Magazine' (Ward, and Co.; per Whitcombc and Tombs). Tho fiction of the number.is particularly varied and attractive, including a delightful episode in Halliwell Sutcliffe's new romantic series, "The Gay Hamd,'- charmingly illustrated by Fred Pegram, complete stories on well contrasted themes by Eden Pliillpotts, Fred M. White, Orme Agnus, T. P. Cameron Wilson, and other wellknowu novelists, and a new study, of

wild life, by Captain. Charlos G. D, Roberts.

Many who, like myself,' have been regular readers for some years past of tliat admirable monthly, "The Bookman," will be interested to learn that a volume of library essays, "Men of Letters," which originally appeared in that magazine, is' announced by, Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton. Tho author, the late Dixon Scott, who lost his life at tho Dardanelles, while serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery, is accounted by many good judges to have been one of the most brilliant critics English literature has yet known. The essays, which are to be prefaced by an appreciation of Scott by Max Beerbohm, include studies, amongst others, of Meredith, Browning, Kipling, Barrie, Shaw, Wells, Arnold Bennett, and Henry James.

"The Germans," an ethnological and sociological study by Mr._ J. M. Itoberstoii, M.P., whose brilliant , book, "War and Civilisation," was reviewed in these columns'last week, will shortly be published 1 by Messre.. Williams and Norgate. The author's views on German evolution, furnish scientific proof that the Germans, as a nation, are not what they assert themselves to be. The book is' divided into two sections, "The Teutonic Gospel of Race" and "The Old Germany and the New."

Mr. Frederic Coleman,'the clever .war lecturer, who has made-himself so popular with Wellington audiences, has a book on the war, "From Mons to the Yser with' French," coming out very shortly with Sampson, Low and Co. If Mr.. Coleman writes as well as he talks, the book should make uncommonly good reading. Of all the American magazines, I much prefer that sturdy veteran, "The Atlantic Monthly," the oldest journal of its kind in America, to which Emerson, Hawthorne, Longfellow, and Holmes all contributed. An English edition of the "Atlantic" is, I believe, to be published by Messrs. J; M. Dent and Co. "The Atlantic" is, as it always was; illustrated, _ but_ in the literary quality of its articles is still easily first amongst American magazines, and deserves to be better known. in this country than. it is. .