LITERARY COLUMN.

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue 47, 23 August 1902, Page 3 (Supplement)

LITERARY COLUMN.

The (treat Awakening. By K. Phillips Oppcheini. Waid, Lock, nnd Co. (It. Bailliu and Co.). \

"The continuity ,'of life after nil is purely physical," 1 is the dictum of Sir l'oweis FiVkc, the lending character in Mr. Oppenheiui's story, and whether oV not the author endorses this opinion is not made clear. Neither is it easy to determine whether the novel in intended to embody certain psychological fancies, or whether the psychology is merely introduced as part of tho machinery ot the tale. Obliteration of memory following certain brain disorers, with ignorance as to personal identity, is a theme that has nttracted several writers of fiction — in this case, the phenomenon is artificially induced, tho operator being the baronet aforesaid, and the subject a young lady who, on account of family disgrace followed by hopeless poverty, hns a sudden longing for the waters of oblivion. Fiske, who supposes her to be absolutely friendless, makes two serious blunders — lie takes nn unscrupulous scientific colleague into his confidence, nnd he introduces the lady into his mother's home ns one supposed to have been lost at sea, the daughter of nn old friend. In the complications that ensue he makes a sorry , figure. It is not easy to' imagine an English gentleman lying wholesale to mother, sister, and all and sundry in, a way tliat reminds one of the badgered hero of an extravaganza. Persistent friends of the missing girl— including a long - absent lover — make awkward enquiries — friends of the girl she unconsciously personates come upon iao scene, his mother becomes tired of her protege, and desires to get rid of her— Sir Power realising, like Marmion, with every fresh complication, " what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive." Tho young lady, too, has lost more than memory — natural affection nnd conscience apparently being alike quiescent. The issue is not quite on the lines of poetio justice. The faithful lover of old, unrecognised and repudiated, is discarded, two characters who possess inconvenient knowledge are disposed of in a grim tragedy, a German savant comes to the rescue, restores continuity with the past, and all ends very satisfactorily for Fiske, who enters into his happinoss .apparently unconscious of his own meanness and wiihout compunction for the mischief he has wrought. Ihe book is clever, but unreal ; the- most vivid chapters are those dealing with tho somewhat sordid lives of the fitaff in Bearmoin's drapery house. The Best character-studies are those of Ada Smart, the shopgirl, and Johnson, the little shopwalker. In tie ncenea where the latter comes into contact with Fiske there is real dramatic power. There are two good illustrations — one very gruesome — by F. H. Townsend. "At Sunwich Port." By W. W. Jacobs. (Bell's Indian and Colonial Library). There are some admirable characterstudies in Mr. Jacobs's bright little story. Captain Nugent, the irascible master-mar-iner, with trie pretty and wilful daughter and the son, his bibulous and faithful steward Samson Wilks, the lugubrious Teddy Silk, nnd the masterful and persistent Jem Hardy, are delightful additions to the personages of Fictionland, nor are the women folk of the story less ably depicted. Notwithstanding the exuberant humour of some of the situations, they never descend to the farcical^ and one may note throughout the careful craftsmanship of the author, his keen eye for personal characteristics, and his sympathy with his subject. The life of the, quiet little seaport town, with its caste distinctions, its loves and ambitions, its jealousies and cross-purposes, are sketched by a hand both sure and true. The episode of the retired skipper, who, to avert a distasteful match, plots the crimping of his sori, and awakes to discover that he hns been treacherously substituted, is well devised, and his humiliation when he finds himself a stowaway in his old ship, now under the command of his former chief officer, is well depicted. .The author — perhaps wisely — does not attempt to touch the deeper chords of humanity; but he works out his little comedy with great ingenuity, and never allows the interest to flag. The story is embellished with sixteen capital sketches by Will Owen. Tho Coronation Book of Edward VII. By the Rev. W. J. Loftie, 8.A., F.S.A. Part I. London: Cnssell and Co.

There are already, innumerable records and souvenirs of the Coronation, but for the ordinary reader desirous of possessing a permanent memento, we know of no more choice or complete work than this promises to be. It is to be completed in six shilling parts, quarto size. It is printed on fin© art paper in clear

type, and is profusely illustrated and sumptuously decorated with illuminated designs iv rich colours and gold. The present section contains the first chapter, "■Crowns and Thrones, ' and part ot the second, "Tho Regalia." The author is nn erudite nnd accomplished archaeologist, and writes in cleav and popular style. Ho traces the history of the Coronation eeiemony— always v religious function— from the earliest times, carrying tho reader back to tho days of the Pharaohs, to Ancient Ureece, to the Uebrew. history ; then through Greek and Roman times and the empires of medieval Europe to our own days. We have illustrations of the oldest crowns in existence —the legends of the Iron Crown of Lnmbardy, of the Invention of the Cr^oss with which that crown is linked by tradition, of the English Coronation Chair and "fcSton© of Destiny" (which, it appears, cannot be proved to be the same as the "Lia Fail" of Tara, and, m fact, "is soldem mentioned iv authentic history;") alsqof the Coronation Stone at Kingston-on-Thames, which, it appears, owes part of its celebrity to an erroneous etymology, "Kingston" signifying, not "King's Stone," v but "King's Town." Similarly to explain the name "Maidstone," "a virgin martyr was invented, who, howover, faded into thin air when it was demonstrated that "Mead," not "Maid," was the true orthography." It is painful to learn thnt as lately as the Jubilee celebration of 1887 the,, Office of Works stained and varnished the oaken Coronation Chair, and afterwarts tried to 10store it to its former condition with turpentine and sandpaper — effectually obliterating the last vestiges of the ancient carved decorations, at the same time bringing into mote offensive prominence the incised initials of irreverent Westminster schoolboys. All the resources of modern colour-printing have been brought into requisition , in the production' of this book, and Messrs. Cassell have excelled all their previous efforts. The frontispiece is a reproduction of a portrait of the King specially commissioned for this work, and there are three fine full-page facsimiles of brilliantly-illuminated four-teenth-century manuscripts.

CURRENT LITERATURE. The Pall Mall Magazine foi\ August ..opens ■with an article on some of the most difficult climb's of Britain. The writer states that there are few peaks in the Alps which, offer climbs equal' in intrinsic difficulty to those ho describes. The main difference, however, between Alpine rock-climbing and the more difficult British climbs is that atTELorae the difficulties are sought for, but in the Alps they are avoided. The photographs accompanying the article certainly seem to bear out the writer in his statements. A notable article in the number is the Eaper by W. Southwick apropos of the •umas centenary. Other articles are: Marconi's Ambition, the Linking Together of Greater Britain; In Terra del Fuegan. Waters, a description of the country round the Horn and the life of the natives ; Our Forgotten Ancestors, an account of some recent interesting arohreologieal discoveries. Mr. Q. Toulmin, a newly-elected M.P., gives some of his first impressions of Parliament, and there are various other articles. Miss Dora M'Chesney continues her serial "Cornet Strong/ and short stories are contributed by Sir Gilbert Parker, M.P., Joseph Conrad, Catherine Hicks, and others. There is a clever dialoguo, "A Ping-Pong Party in Suburbia," ingeniously constructed from Shakespearian quotations.