LIBER'S NOTE BOOK.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 21, 19 October 1918, Page 11

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK.

The War Correspondents. In the August number of that always very readable periodical, "Oassells' Magazine of . Fiction," there are some capital character sketches of leading war correspondents by one of thetn. Of Philip Gibbs, with whoso stirring pictures of war New Zealand newspaper, readers are so familiar, and of AY. T. Jlassey, who has been the chronicler of the Palestine campaign, the writer of the article remarks: — Accompanied by Gibbs I have been through scenes and circumstances which woro so hideous and horrifying that they seemed unreal, like the dark, rapid, and senseless panorama of a nightmare, exliaustinpr both body and mind. My life has been reduced by years as o, consequence, but Gihbs still goes on, pallid -as ever, tense, frail, his small mouth a little open, like the beak of a startled bird. He always reminded me of ti bird, acting by instinct, quick, capricious, uncertain whether he was on thn right perch, apparently delicate, but able to travel farther than a locomotive. Wo met Tγ*. T. Massey, . of the "Daily Teleirraph"now in Palestine for all the Press—at Boulogne; and it .is needless for me to recount our adventures. Gibbs has'done it. (I beliove ho could write in his Rleop.) J'or months we'tested .the movements of . tho enemy by going , towards him. Nervous work!: Jlassoy was watchful Mid cautious, for he knew soldiering: and I was an average guesser. But Gibbs. who didn't bother about maps, gaily led us on while, our hearts wove in our hoots. The Boche was somewhere—Heaven knew where!—in front, and the French blew in) bridges behind us. Wo went out of vlllnprcH at one ond while I'ritz came in at thn other. TV"e learned where he was all rieht. If to live dangerously is to be really alive, then Gibbs saw to it I hat we lived. It is true Jfasscy antl I have had to curry Gibbs, limp nnd spent, tn bed, and have, wondered whether wo should bo found holdim: bis ludy-lil-e hands and trying to en toll his last'whisT'orcd words when the Boche arrived nexi day. On the Australian and Now Zealand specials there is the following note: — Captain Bean and Captain' Koss, representing respectively the Australian ami the New Zealand Press, lived apart from us—l fancy they used to sleep in dug-outs under the parapet somewhere, and idled their tiino in No-Jlan'fi-T;;ind. For my part. T accepted the invitation of either lo spend a day with the .colonials only after prayer and fasting. Bean steered mo onco up to an advanced post on the Somine just when tlicy were expecting n counter-attack. He merely thouirht it necessary to tell mo that only when we had arrived.' I saw more dead men than live once that day. "The National Review." Of all the various English reviews "The National fteviow," edited by Mr. Leo J. Maxse, has liecn the most outspoken in denouncing official bungling in conncolion with the war. Tlie jam-

'.otis "Unseen Hand" articles by Arnold White first appeared in "The National," the vigorous editing of which appears to have had a substantia^ effect upon its circulation. A curious point has arisen out of the fact that the editor of the periodical is also its principal proprietor. Says tho '.'Saturday Keview": — In the year 19ff1915 the Mies of the "National lteview" realised a pro/it 01 £&)C0 in excess of the average profits of the best, two of the three jireccdiiig years, the, amount ot which in not given, but must have been a large sum. The Income Tax Commissioners,.with a. grace rare in that office, exempted Mr. Jlaxse from the excess profits duty on the ground that he was a professional man,- not ii trader. Tho more prosaic Mr. Justice Siinkey lwji degraded Mr. Jlaxse to the level of- a trader, because, however much ho may write in tho "Keview." hs owns it end lives on its sales. Half 01 tlm £IM will therefore go into the maw of the Treasury, and a larger proportion next year. But after the confiscation ol a large slice of his profits. T£\ Jtaxee must obviouely be nuking: enough out of tho "Xiitiouul Boview" to compensate for hie loss of uie utatus of a. -professional journalist. Stray Leaves. Mr. S. P. 'Mais, whoso novels, "April's Lonely Soldier," "Interlude," and. "Kebellion," have been so .widely discussed, has written a new story ot England in war time, the title being "Lovers of Silver." The hero is again a schoolmaster, and as in the earlier books certain incidents are in open conflict with Mrs. Grundy's conventions and traditions. Sir George Forrest, a well-known authority on Indian history, is-respon-sible for an entirely new "Life: of Lord Olive," to be published by Cassells. Tho work claims to. fill in Jiuuiy breaches, to bo found in existing lives of Olive, mainly from the official archives in Madras'and tho India Office, as well as. Clivo's private papers and letters, to which the author-has bad access.' . ■ ■

Aii imaginary England,'in which, our future legislators place persons in categories according-to intellect, forms the background of Miss Kose Macaulay's new novel, which Messrs. Constable will shortly publish. The novel is entitled, "What Not." Messrs. Cassell and Co. head their autumn list of new fiction With Mr. 11. G. Wells's.jiew novel "Joa-ii aiid Peter: Tho Story of an- Education'." A publisher's lioto says that owing to its exceptional length and the increasing cost of book pl'oduction tho price will bo 95.! It is to be hoped that a lowerpriced colonial edition will make its appearance. . The late Lord. Brassoy used to .preserve extracts of. the most notable passages he can l *. , across, with the result that he left a-large'.number of typed volumes containing the. literary gleanings of his lifetime. A selection from such of these chosen passages as refer to great, soldiers and statesmen wilF be' published by Mr. Murray during the autumn, under the editorship or Mr. Horace iliitchiiisim.- The collection is announced under tho title, ■'Warriors and Statesmen: From the Literary 'Gleanings' of the late Lord Brassey."

In addition to her book of recollections and reminiscences, Mrs. Humphrey Ward has written a new novel, "Elizabeth's Campaign," which, However, will first be published in America. It is some time now since we had a stroy from Jliss ■ ISeakice -Uarrad-.vi, whose first novel, "Ships :That Pass in the' Night.'" 'made'such a" hit when first published, now nearly thirty years auo. Miss Havraden promises a new story, "Where Your Treasure Is," for the English autumn publishing season. 'J\vo now Kipling books are due shortly. One is a, rolumo of poems, and will contain Mr, Kipling's most recent work in verse. 'Clio other book is entitled "Tho Eyes of Asia," and is a collection of letters purporting to have been written by an East Indian serving in Franco to liis people at home. It is in tho vein which Mr. Kipling 'on.g ago made his own, but which he'has recently souwhat neglected. [The American "Bookman," so long published by Dodd, Mead and Co., is in future to bear the imprint of the George H. Doran Co., an enterprising New York publishing firm. Arnold Bennett has been, I notice, appointed to h. high official position in tho Ministry of Propaganda. It will be interesting to see whether Mr. Bennett will continue his severe criticisms of the Lloyd George Government, which, under tho nom do plume of "Sardonyx," ho has been contributing to "The New Statesman."

'Mr. AV. B. Maxwell (Miss Broddmi's son) served through the Sonime campaign as an officer .in tlio Royal Fusiliers, biit was invalided home. He has written a new novel — his first hook since the beginning of the war—entitled "The Minor and the Lamp." Either John Galsworthy's later books have had no great sale in Australasia or his publishers (Duckworth's) consider that wo get our fiction too cheaply imt here, for the new Galsworthy book, "Fivo Tales," is only available in tho English edition at 65., which means 7s. 6d. here.

In Mr. Cleme,nt Snorter's always intcrestiriK "Literary Letter" in "Tho Sphere," I find a Buskin letter- hitherto unpublished. The great man had been asked to allow certain passives from his works to appear in :ui anthology of Prose Poems. His reply is an amusing example of lhiskinian egotism and solf-concoit:

. November 30, 1006. You arc quite welcome to extract what you like of minc-your choice being so onlirely pleasant to mo in the present in-Rtancee-but I hate being -bunched up with Poe, Landov, and Lamb, who none of them had anything to say, while I have always more to say than I can. Iho two bite you have quoted from Laudor are totally empty stuff. You niiglit get the grandest pieces ot trumpet rhythm in Oarlyle-of counterpoint melody in Baeon-of complicated fugue, in ITooker. You have no business to speak of the Bibio chants among the babbling of any of us. Commenting on the, above, Mr. Shorter says:— ■ "A most characteristic epistle! The vanity, the patroitisinc air. ore all thereout there also is the touch of the man who is a, muster of style oven, when he is writing nonsense. Amusii'£. too. aro Ins rcrcrcncris to music. :i suhject on % which he was foi;d of writing, although he Knew nothing whatever about it. 'Irumnet rhythm. , of course. Is . iionecnsc-the rhythm of a piece or music is the same on ■vvliatovcr instrument it is playnd-whilD •counterpoint , and 'fiiKiie. , rhioh imply two or more melodies heard together. ha\o no meaning whatever as applied to written words. Still, it is clear that he thought such a volume could be compiled. Perlmps soino day it will be.

In a little volume, of verse. "Tho Wind on the Downs," .by Marian Allen, 1. find this following ddighthil linos on London in winter:— London lies winlcr-iioiiml In the early morning time. Blackened t.vecs frinced with rime. Powdered snow on the ground, London lies winler-Jbound, Murky with froicn grime. v Hard, relentless, and chill, January grips the earth; Everywhere cold and dearth J'icrauß- tlu> soul to kill. Hard, relentless; and dull, • ■ Life seems of littlo worth. Day from tiio frinpio of Night Sluggishly crawls and peeps; Kotliiiiß stirs in the deeps; Hulled is our inward sight. Diiv to the friiißo of Nislit DrifU through tho fog and sleeps.

But when tlio sun breaks through, Shedding gold dust around Oiv 1 lie world winter-bound, Hope smiles and struggle. , !! anew; And when tho nun breaks through, Spring stirs in her slumber sound. Gilbert R. Chesterton's now book. 'The Superstition of Divorce," it! announced by John Lane. In a volume of reminiscences, "In tho Days of Victoria," Air. T. P. Plowman recalls Thackeray's ill-starred political adventure at Oxiford. The novelist, ho tolls us, defined , himself politically as a Radical. "Witli no feeling but that of good will toward the loading aristocratic families who aro. administering tlip chief ofilira ot slate, 1 believe it, (inn- State) could he benefited by tho skill and Inlents of persons less aristocratic, and that tho country thinks likewise. What cll'ect this speech had upon tho result of tho election is not made plain. Mr. Plowman tells us that the novelist's defeat was brought about.by "a gonial soul, but unrelenting in political warfare," who had succeeded in listening to a preliminary confab of Thackeray with bin party managers, and had overheard Thackeray unhesitatingly and .unreservedly 'favour opening the museums and picture galleries on Sundays. "The next clay the city was placarded with appeals to tho electors to vote against the desecration of the Sabbath," and as a result, fortunately for literature, Thackeray was beaten.' . American papers speak highly of a novel by Charles Norris, husband. of Kathleen Norris, whose line story,. "Martio the Onconquered," was recently reviewed in these columns, and brother of the late, Frank Norris, whose novels, "The Octopus" and "The Pit," will bo reniombercd. Tho title of .Mr. Charles -Norris's story is "Salt, or tho Education of Griffiths Adams." In Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins's new story, ''Captain Dieppe," . the author of "The Prisoner of. Zcnda" and "The Indiscretion of tho Duchess," is said to have returned to his earlier planner. The scene, however, is laid in Italy, not Germanv. ■ -' ...'

Joluison's dictum that "patriotism is tho last refuge of a-"scoundrel" has often been woefully misconstrued It is good-to find that ardent Johnsoniaii, Mr. Augustine- Bjrreil, giving-a- topical and amusing interpretation-of this too frequently- misapplied., quotation. Mr. .Birrcll writes to tho "Times- Literary Supplement": - ■■■■

There can, t think, lie no reasonable doubt as to the true significance of Johnson's world-revcrberatine . dictum about patriotism being the last refuge of a scoundrel. It acans that ;i 'scoundrel, who has tried one tiling after, another— say sham religion or dishonest finance— takes up a. noisy patriotism . as. his .last resource; but this docs not mean that by doing so ho becomes a patriot, any "more than h« was ever α-man either of religious character or commercial, probity.. 3t is only his last way of trying to earn a dishonest livelihood. Unfortunately, and perhaps unavoidably, i'l -war time, tins Inst "refuge" frequently supplies tlic "scoundrel,"'for a time; - with ' comfortable quarters and a good income.

Discussing Mr. AY.'L. George's now book, "A Novelist. 011 .Novelists," "H.M.T.," in the London '.'Nation," writes:—"Mr. George has made a.sad discovery—tho first, li'ard lesson of every artist—that 'one will never be as popular as Beeeham's pills.' -The unpleasant fonture of that lesson is that some writers very nearly are as popular. But if such workers place their product on the level of patent medicines —advertisements, testimonials, and all—disfiguring the hoardings, why mention it in a book' dealing with serious novelists? They deseryo any public decoration they receive. The highest decoration serves them right. But they have no more to do with the case than Urn Licensed Victuallers' Association. Possibly it is because writers like Mr. George,' when rebuking the public for its immature intelligence use such tropes and .references, that ho is compelled to admit tho modprn novelist 'in search of dignity and status ... had taken ito journalism. Journalism raises a novelist's status . ... because . thp ••. nejvsppner is labelled jis- Serious, -while -the novel is labelled as frivolous, '"