LIBER'S NOTE-BOOK

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2752, 22 April 1916, Page 9

LIBER'S NOTE-BOOK

To Correspondents.—"C.P." WTiefther L Charles Lainb's : style of prose Would be acceptable' in" the literary world :of to-day, is too big a question for discussion in this column. Try a course of E. V. Lucas's essays., Read Arnold Bennett's "Literary Taste" (Is. 6d.), and "Mental Efficiency" (same price). "6.H." (Wanganui): A good and cheap (Is. 6d.) edition of "Lorengro" is issued in':': "Everyman's Library." Your local library sli'ould have a good life of George Borrow. That by Herbert Jenkins; published a couple of years or so ago', is excellent. ■ Clement Starter's '''George Borrow and His Circle" may also be commended. "TV.P." (Masterton): Neither time nor inclination to read manuscript verse and "advise as to publication."- Try "The Bulletin;" r "J.8.F." (Palmorston North) : The book you mention is by no means rare, and has 110 "collec-' tor's'value."' . It'is -worth, say,, five or six shillings' the outside. The "black letter" volume might be worth something, but a great > deal-depends upon condition, and I 'could express no opinion without a . personal inspection of the book.v,-, • ■ i. l - The Hun Counts His Chickens. '■ It is hardly to be wondered at that the now famous book, "Hindenbutg's March. Into London," of which an. English translation, by L. G. RedmondHoward, is now published by. Mr. John Long, should lidve attained widespread popularity in Germany, where some iour million copies have, it is estimated, been, sold., ;For-. the , book is specially '. calculated ''to appeal -• to tho notorious Germanspirit,' of. .vainglory. Purporting -to .'-.'describe^the invasion'of England,-:_and-the. capture of London by tho .q'U-, Hinilenburg,dt is jnst as ingeniously'imaginative as. German Government's v.official '.announce hients. Not even'the'-Kaiser's, own personal bulletins : coiild better reflect the national,.' and individual/vainglory than does this account of-Hun triumph. It reeks with bad taste, with shameless mendacities and , misrepresentations which infer'on.the part of its author a nositivoly childish confidence in the gullibility of hie fellow-countrymen. But, and this must,not be forgotten, there is this much to be said for it, that it expresses in narrative form the hopes, intentions, and ambitions of the Kaiser and his people—every man, woman,, and child of a hateful race —with regard to England and its future. The fate that would.be in store for an invaded, a defeated,- England, is "clearly indicated, and_ a very, uglv picture .it makes. As a literary production the book is beneath contempt, but as an expression of the enemy's intentions towards a conquered England it is by no means value, less. Tho translator and editor contributes a well-written preface, in which sarcastic gratitude is expressed to tho Kaiser as the real saviour of England from "the barbarian invasion." (N.Z. price, Is. 6d.) "An Australian Clrl jn Germany."

•In "An Australian Girl in Germany, through Peace to War, January-October, 1914" (Specialty Press Company, Melbourne), , Miss Hilda M. Freeman, - an Australian lady, gives an interesting record of her experiences in Germany during the period set forth" on *ht! title page of her book. When war broke out, Miss Freeman was acting as governess and companion in the country house of a German baron, near Neu Brandenburg; in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Strelitz. The baron and wife seem . to have been pleasant-mannered, kindly-hearted people, who had a real nifeetion for the English larly, the baron, indeed, eventually securing for her, through the American Embassy at Berlin, a safe passage to England, Nevertheless, when war broke out, the position of the young Australian lady was one of considerable discomfort. Her diary, upon which hei story is mainly based, gives many instances of tho mortifications and insults to which she had to submit from ill-mannered and preiudiced Germans, but where the nar-. rative is most interesting is in its records of the many conversations TSStween the. author and the members of her employers' family and relations, and fiiends. which prove' how completely astonished, and., . liitor on, how deenly aggrieved, was the average woll-edu-catcd German by the fact of Britain's intervention in tho war. _ Miss_ Freeman found it well mVh impossible to convince her German friends that India and the British oversea Dominions would not seize upon the war as an opportunitv for revolt against British rule, and she gives numerous instances of tho irEcnions perversionn of the truth b> [ which tl>« German Governriient misled the people as to what was rcnllv hapI pening at the front, and.how 1 if tie thev r.;ere permitted to know (If tho foul deeds done in Belgium and Western France. The Book benrs the impress ■ nf truth in it? every chapter, and is a decidedly original and interesting contribution. to the literature of the war. "The Soul of a. Crown Prince.' 1 i Mr. T. W. FI. Crosland has always _aaiayed a car tain ranutation Jon "slanoc.

whanging," but lie never had a better subject upon wliioli to display his un-doubted-powers of satire uml sarcasm than that vainglorious, vicious, and completely unwholosomo parson, tho Gorrnnn Grown l'rineo In "Tnc {soul of a Crown Princo" (Werner Laurie), Mr. Crosland prosents what ho claims is a truthful character sketch of tho Kaiser's son and heir. A "perked-up monomaniac," "a natural born spy, "a confirmed Chauvinist and Anglophobe," "a fosel, a blackguard, a thief a liar, a hater of ponce, and a lover of bloodshed," are somo of tho epithets Mr. Crosland applies to tho young man, and ho brings forward « mass of ovidenco to support each charge. In a chapter headed "Bats in tho Belfry," Mr. Crosland puts forward t'lio theory that tho Crown Princo is suspected of inherited insanity. "Madness, swagger, villainy, rapacity, debauchery, and bloodthirstiness, coupled with parsimony, and tlip smaller meannesses.'" he says, "have been' the peculiar traits of the Von Hohonzollerns timo out of mind, and the loss tho truth is gone into the more will this race of lunatics and degenerates shine." _ If hard words could, kill ''Little-Willie," Mr. Crosland would make an expert executioner. (N.Z. price, Is. 6d.) Mr. Bingle. George Barr M'Cutoheon, tho American novelist, whoso "Graustark" stories were so popular, is in quite a Dicken6ian vein in his latest novel, "Mr. liingle" (Dodd. Mead, and Co.; per D. 0. .Ramsay and Co.). Mr. Bingle is a middle-aged bank .clerk who, with his wife, a childless couple, rejoices in giving pleasure to • children, and in performing little acts of social cliaritv to ■ the poor and friendless. Mr. Bingle is a devoted admirer of "The Christmas. Carol," which every Christmas Eve lio reads to a select circle of friends. He befriends a seemingly, pauperised, certainly somewhat disreputable relation, Uncle Joe, and therein entertains an. angel unawares, for after the uncle's death -it turns out that the down-at-heel "tramp was in reality a millionaire, who, having tested the affection of his children, and having' found it wanting, 'bequeaths his colossal fortune tu the Bingles. Mr. Bingle, in his new character of millionaire, is not altogether happy, although his -wealth enables him to house a whole company of more or less interesting orphans. The relatives upset the will, and Mr. Bingte loses his fortune and goes back to his bank much hajppier than ever he lias been, for his wife at last presents him, with a 6on and heir. The good-hearted, eccentric hero is a most lovable character, and the minor figures in this dr>mestic comedy-drama, are well drawn, although in one or two cases they are perhaps more extravagant than convincing. '