' LIBER'S NOTE fiOOK

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2824, 15 July 1916, Page 6

LIBER'S NOTE fiOOK

A Neglected Elizabethan. -.-' Shakespeare's fame",' of course, is-all : Jii'edominant, but it is curious that the ' tercentenary of another great writer of • life day,' Richard: Hakluyt, who died in 1616, seems .to "have been overlooked by -- many of the , literary journals. Yet Hakluyt's name and fame are well ivc.ith remembering. For it is to' him that iwe owe; that splendid tribute to the dating and gallantry of the early English seamen-adventurers,. "The Priij- , <oipal Navigations ami Discoveries of tho i -English Nation by Land and by S-ea," first published in 1589. There is some storing reading in Hakluvt, stories of the men- who. carried the \English flag CTerseaand laid the foundations of' English,;trade . in mariy a far-off land. Only the other day, Ariilangel and its v trade being referred to in the cables, I "turned to my Hakluyt, and there read a most interesting description of a mission sent out by English marchant-ad-iventurers to the. Russian port. Haklnyt was Shakespeare's senior by some ,dozen , years or so. He was-rector-of a {Suffolk J-parish, and a prebendary- -of Westminster, but his favourite Btudy at Oxford was geography, and it'remained 'the hobby of . his life. Sir Walter - -Raleigh ;is said to have collaborated iwith him. in his famous book to which Charles Kingsley went for much of the [historical material in his "West- . Jward ' Ho." A "folio Hakluyt" Ibas always been esteemed a biblio-' 3>hile treasure . A good copy will cost you anything from .Co to j>so,. aojootiling to condition. The best reprint is published by Macklehose, of Edinburgh, in twelve volumes at- 10s. each. But {humbler bookmen, such as "Liber," will find a capital little edition in eight . [volumes .-(Is;- 3d; each) in Dent's Everyman's 'Library.' The only, difference -between the "Everyman" edi-. !tioa \ and the more expensive editions is that .in the former tho long prefaces (in Latin) are omitted. But tho i essential Hakluyt is all there, and there Jare chapters which should fairly thrill with pride the heart of every loyal Eng. . Ilshman who reads therein of the splen. tlid deeds of the Elizabethan oversea adventurers, the first of the long line of British Empire btitlders. Conan Doylß on the War. Sir-Arthur Conan Doyle, who has not, fc.i those-of his admirers who Teafl. the ."Strand 'Magazine" will be pleased to notice, entirely given up his favourito ant of story-telling, did a good deal of "lard work in connection with the Lord Derby recruiting scheme. Also, he occasionally writes letters to the newspapers, Sn which he; displays some admirable good sense. To the "Daily Chronicle," for* instance, ho recently addressed a strongly-worded remonstrance against the pessimistic tone of certain Press on tho surrender of luit. Hero lis en. extract:—

_ There is nothing more pornicious than the clamour which breaks out when a bold venture has been made and lins failed. Biion criticism if taken seriously would [kill all ■ initiative , and would condemn some of tho most 'brilliant feats in history. Wlat would some of our squealers have said to Napoleon's venture when, with tho British holdinn tho seas, ho took army from Marseilles to Egypt? Or to taio a more recent example, what would they have said to the British Cavalry !wMch, after Tel-cl-Kebir, pushed on unsupported to Cairo? Tlicse are tho risks of war, and to discourage them by crying out whon they miscarry is to s'triko at I,lio vory moL-s of succcseful soldiering. iWe have failed at Gallipoli, But it, was a fair rislt and well worth taking. Wo have failed lor tho moment at Bagdad. Let ub try and try again until tho day comes .when we do not fail. There lies the road to victory. Later on, after reproving certain papera and public irien whoso utterances (on some Cabinet Ministers and their supposed policy), ho doclaros, "are dhcor .vituperation," ho appeals for fair play and unity. What can bo gained, he asfcs, try "all this captious and bitter critiSMin"? There was a time when a bulldog was tour national type. So it Is etill when' you Bet down;to the real nation, for tho nation. though liable to partial and temporary deception, is as sound as over it was. But if wo -.were to judge it b> some of its Press and somo of its public men jra should ha,ve to drop the bulldog, and $aie a basketful of puppies, alt whining Bed TCljjiag tcsothor, aa a moro appro-.

"priate national symbol. But this is surely all on tho surface. Let us bite hard, linng on, and keep silent. 'i'hat, was tho way of onr fathers, and J. 6 lies deep in our blood. A.} Historical Parallel, Conan Dovlo's view that the men.who "surrendered at ICu't wero not wasted, but have done their bit in the general strategy of tho war," is evidently shared by tho Paris "Matin,"; which suggests a (parallel between Kut in 191G and Genoa in ISOO. You can read all about the siege of "Genoa in that most fascinating book, "Marbot's Memoirs," to my mind, easily first in actual human interest amongst all Napoleonic history books. Marbot was serving under Massena when the lat. ter was shut up in Genoa by tho Austrians on land and, tho English at sea. The siego lasted sixty, days, and tho privations of the French troops and the citizens were /something appalling. According to Marbot, the garrison lost 10,000 out of its original strength of 16,000, and out oft 120,000 souls in the city, over 30,000 perished. -Tho siege "bread" was a, horrible compound ot "damaged flour, sawdust,, staroli, hair powder, oatmeal, linseed and rancid.nuts, •stiffened with a little cocoa' and pegged together with slips of wood"—exactly the sort of bread I should like to see the Kaiser' condemned- to consume for a few weeks. In tho end, Massena had to surrender. But, by detaining the Austriaiis before Gonoa, he had enabled Napoleon to come triumphantly over the St. Ber, nard to Milan, and 'Marengo followed. Massena'a obstinate endurance,', it • haJ been said, had the .full effect of a battle won. "Twa"- and "Trois." i 1 t!l ® money to' spare, I hardly think I should ever be tempted to stock my shelves with a full set of uncu, such as a fellow-bookman displayed to me with some prjde the other evening. A' dozen or so volumes of the ■Uu Manner and Charles Keeno period 1 have, and on a wet Sunday afternoon they afford a snTe refugo against ennui, But a lull set of "Punch," even if picked up a bargain,; takes up too much sholt space. ..When, howover, tiie war « over-heigho, 'when .'-I hope ■; tho ■/Punch. people will issue a. selection from the excellent pictures and .yarns from .the front\wliicii' firo now appearmg in their famous periodical. "Tho Humour of tho War" would be a good title. The other day "Punch" gave a good story of a Scottish soldier who. by employing his native word "twa," got, threo eggs from a Frenchwoman. Apropos to this a correspondent of a London paper writes that this is not the first evidence that Scots have turned to acthe resemblance between "twa" au d "trois."* "At school, in our French class (he writes), "we had to shout out to onr master, a Frenchman, how many marks we had obtained. A certain fel-low-townsman of Sir J. M. Barrie, invariably cried 'Twa' when his score Was two, and this was always registered by the unsuspecting Frenchman 'a« three ! Stray Leaves. . John AYesley was a Shakespeare lovpr." 11l coniiection-with the Shakespeare tercentenary the fact has come to light that Wesley left a fully annotated copy of ■ Shakespeare's works. His executors, | however, regarded it as /an immoral work, and. consigned-it to the flames. '

Arthur Vizetelly, whose death was reported early in' May, wa9 a son of Henry Vizetelly, 'who got into trouble for publishing English , translations-. of Zola's hovels. The cider Vizetelly made ono .'lucky hit as. a, publisher, i for : he bought, the English rights ' of ' ; Mrs.' Sfcowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" for. a fivepound note. He made many thousands out of the deal. The younger Vizetelly did a lot of translation work. He was ■oft the reviewing staff of the '''Academy" at the time of his (death,. IT. G. Wells's new'novel is to be called "Mr. Britling Sees It Through," and is to be published serially in "The Nation." It is described as a "picture, lucid, varied, critical, of tho feeling of tho country about the war, as reflected in :the sympathetic" and sensitive intelligence of the man whose spiritual his. Tory it records." . . Mr'. Cutcliffe Hyne has revived his fa'mons character, Captain Kettle. In: his new-book, the perky and 'plucky little skipper does some stirring thing's in.connection with tho war. • I am sorry to see C.K.S., in .tho "Sphere," advocatin'g the issue of novels in paper covers, after the French fashion. The difference 'in cost between paper and cloth covers can, be but a few peilcc—in ordinary times, at ■ any rate—dnd the advantage of liaviqg a book which does not tumble to pieces upon the slightest careless handling is surely obvious. George Meredith had a prophetic vision of tho peril confronting England, as js shown, by several of his letters to Frederick Greenwood in the laat years of his life, urging preparation for war. In tho summer of 1908, within a year of 'his death, he wrote his poem, "The Call," the. following verses of which may well bo read now It cannot be declared we are A nation till from end to end Tire lftnd can show such front to war As bids a 1 crouching foe expend His ire in air, and preferably be friend. We, dreading him, wo do him wrong; For fears discolour, fears invite. Liko him, our fastis to bo strong; TJnliko him, claiming not by might, 'To snatch an envied treasure as a right. So may a' stouter '• brotherhood . At home bo signalled over sea For righteousness, and be understood, Nay, welcomed, when 'tis shown that wo Alt duties have embraced in being free. This Britain slumbering, she .is rich; Lies placid as a cradled child; At times with an uneasy twitch, That tells of dreams unduly wild, Shall she be with a foreign drug defiled? 1 Tho grandeur of her deeds recall," Look on her face so kindly fair; This Britain! and were she to fall; Mankind would breatho a harsher air, . - Th« nations miss a light of leading Tare.

of an inexperienced, wilful, and obstinate English- girl, with a self-imposed mission to convert Mohammedans to the Christian. faith. Tlio scono is a Turkish Tillage in Asia. Minor, in which thero is a missionary community, including two English ladies, who keep a school for Christian converts. To them comes a niece, from Tun.bridge Wells, who soon, seta tlio place on lire by her stupid disregard for tlio feelings of the Mohauimeiidans. Thero "is much bloody strifo between the Christian converts and'the followers of Islam .before tho Turkish Governor, a wiso and tolorant old fellow, finallp-manages to restore order, and tlio mischief-making Elsie, .whoso proper sphere would have been, one cannot help thinking, tho Suffragette movement in England, is rescued. The story possesses a certain topical interest as showing tho difficulty of reconciling divergent faiths in- tlio Turkish dominions. The Flight from the Cross. , Thero is no petti us-away from tho fact that much of the Russian. fiction now being presented, in translations, to tlio English reader, is deplorably depressing in tone. "Tho Plight from the Cross, by Osip Dunmov, translated by Gr. M, Fookes (Werner Laurie), ifj certainly not a oheerful story. Its principal character, "The Master," "Yarnruishevski, is a professor of philosophy in a university town, a man with a-'.world-wide reputation, who poses as a lofty and disinterested moralist expounder of a noble ethical system, but who is at heart conceited and selfish, and artificial—in fact, not far removed from a charlatan. To him, however, in time conies the samo "call of the Cross," a compelling influence in favour of sclf-sacrifico which is experienced by severs I other' leading characters in the story, '• most of 1 whom, however, behave in a way which, to the average British mind, is eccentjio to the verge of actual madness. The moral of tho story is that faith without "works is usoless, and that practice should accompany precept. The story has been well reviewed in English and American papers, but personally I have found it rather hard reading.