ANISE AND CUMMIN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 30, 5 February 1908, Page 4

ANISE AND CUMMIN.

In a' particular opinion, Tho School Journal fails because ifc takes the wrong shape and is circulated tn the wrong way. Like similar Australian journals, it bedonies in, bulk merely an inferior lessonbook, What, is* watatefl is a publication liko Harper's Young People, compounded chiefly of pictures and stories. This in good hands — so rare ! — and edited With an intelligence elevated above tho scholastic rut, would nearly or altogether repay itis money cost. It should bo sold at a, penny : every child in Now Zealand, or every family of children, can find a monthly penny ; and with, a/ guaranteed circulation thd advertisements of educational publishers and bookselling firms are easily obtainable. A looaa parallel could be preserved between school lessons and journal consents ; that is to say, without losing interest, the journal could Bometimes ex,,pand imaginatively tho ordinary task- , Vrork. The children should be encouraged to. contribute, and prizes should be ' given for tho beat contributions. Besides £om» of the faults mentioned by critics, the current School Journal has this unforgivable 'fault : it is uninteresting: even it- offers romantic rounf; savages Cato's Soliloquy on Death ! Well, everybody knows. tha.fc the -first principle of education is to awakon tho ' child's interest. Throw overboard th.c lumber of the class-ipom," < an<l-..gi. i if« him the humour, the jJalnce/'.'pnd "tie- adventure that ha craves :'r so. widefa'inp 1113 knowledge and stimula-ting^kis brains with his 'own goodwill. ■"• \,-_ : - , - ' And especialiy^aroule-.his to ind through his eyes : pjcta^cs^ ottja- A child's natural language : aqtl\^tt& t&o^ pictures lure him to the punftgsVjjjdd J^4" him onward i with. love, ? 2si3"paiflftil 'business of ''talking down' 1 'tqtba- child is tin oducatiqn of mules.- 1 AincT the School Journal is so, abominftbly instructive, .that should , b«<soJnfiait4riy v ato ) S«i«^- -aitcj in^tnectiro because amusing. How many editors for-, get Mrs. Glassy* initial .precept" : "Ifhfci' cstch your--' ,h'a'r'|. M ; * ' w -\ ' ' \ -;; f 'The Triad" ] ntii? ,fchls dtrtfterous'sally bjr-'Mr. Bertno Senary 1 ', locally musically fajniliuv. '^rv^ wore' disouising the Triad" Prizo Competitions, tynd H'orr 'Scherek w&arked, 'I think tKo pmas, r£it offer foj.- competition iri-the^iTriad are fay loo,; valuable. I would tuggest tju'.t bhe firstprize be ss, J,n>, 'second pvizo' nwthing.-t tUs third pszc tucdr>7 pf tta Iliad; and;, the fourth tidies of tueVTrt-ijl.'' *By the a'iT&loSjr df.' 3pa/'\vatar-, ,",'Hie, Tr;iad" must boVhoJnsome for, Vftiiy.jW'J-" pb, 'because lafi^jy^ pcoplo fhid^fc' unpalatable.^. A «ferir^loas Phatis^c in a c<ynmuijity Is i & ti^suro of V ncvJaace/ T|j<* edltor'o ,d|Hni:pc3s i3n"t'' godliness,, bftt it coin-es next;- F«.nd at least he rna):eB aft', smug 'comproauao with his narcW 1 i'^al, as Tie wilJjL ideals we imuginfr bjpader. "The Triad;!" cagcjiiess lor fight utterance, ' it& 'puro pa^ion- for pjrsinp — in this daj «nd generation of nlongxql'.'ap^v'li , end- lcfose-joinied- ,litera-. tuto I—do1 — do realij' in'£H«ir degree vapfesent'tho ."Meat for tl-e Holy Grail, and tho philosopher's stnnc, arid all the otiicr unattninablos. Xob hiiving the zeal or tho epiuago to co ours-clve-s, we like to em tho other fellow spun in;? R ftsr them. T>erhap3 our backs straisrht'en a little as wo watch; and the clods from hi* charger's superior heds do not rsally hurt us. Every kind of enthusiasm makes things ur.c.o:riforbablo for somebody ; and we can cons-ole ourselves with the leflection tlint cnthuciasm is neaily always \vronj,': it happens to be right, ol cosr.se . „ ' * ' '\A Guii|e to tbo Study of Austrjilian BuCterfiieo," by W. J. "Uainbow (iTel-bom-no; T. C. Lotlliaji ; os 6J), is an admirable ejainple of loving and conscientious labour. Air. Rainbow is entomologist to tho Sydney llu.ieuni. and brhifts tb« loic of «-* life-time to hia task. After an explanatory exordium ho adds a. useful chapter on collecting, yivoserving, and breeding — marlrcd- by ih« wrinkles of experience ; and proceeds to describe in detail members, of the chief families. The copious 'illustrations — some 500 in all— are a' highly valuable feature of the book, winch ia sach an. apt and compact introduction to tho subject as many students lia,vo longed for. 'The- Warld\s Work" (Doubleday, Pago, and Co., New York; Hejnomann, London) begins to look liko the best practical -man's magazine that is published. Ifc gives fresh ideas a concrete application* The Australian Decorator and Painter, published- by J. E. Bishop, 24 Bondstreet, Sydney, is a iiniquo little monthly that aims t.> give painters and decorators some knowledge of the artistic principles underlying theh- handicraft, arid generally to disseminate trade information. The excellent December number is illustrated liberally. "Love the Criminal," by J. B. Harris Burland (London; Greening; 2s 6d) is a book about Laura, a lady who cannot, be said to have suffered from ennui. At p. 15 : "Laura," he said passionately, "you know that I love you, that I long for you, that I hunger for you as a starving man hungers for bread. And, by Heaven, I mean to have you." This is lover No. 1. At p. 41 No. 2 is no less; excited : "Laura," he cried, seizing her in h'i 3 arms, and crushing ] ier to his breast, "corns with mo into Esaos." At p. 79, "She felt the grip of In* muscles (Xo. I'g muscles) like a vite, and then when Uie voica had died away into silenco 6he felt hia burning kisses (No. l's kisses) on hor lips, her brow, her cheek, hei' neck;" Laura in.-rries IS'o. 1 in order to savo No. 2 ; but everything comes right ufUr" p. 300, wher? No. 1 is drowned upon giving No. 2 a lifebelt that saves him for Laura after the decent twelve-months' interval. Then Laura and the reader have a rest. They both deserve it "The Palm-Oil Ruiihrj, ' by Anthony Hamilton, has the scent and colour of reality. It is a story of trading life on the African -West Coast, that yields its impression vividly, dimands to -be read, and earns the tribute of re-reading (Greening, London; 2s 6J.)