NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 133, 12 June 1909, Page 13

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

iLE MISERABLE. "The Three Brothers." 'By Eden Phillpott6. -" (London : Hutchinson and Company. In Jean Valjean, Ilia escaped .convict, _ I Victor Hugo drew the portrait of 't generous -hearted man, full of the milk of human kindness, whose life is nearly, but not quite, made "miserable" oy Pate's relentless persecution. In Humphrey Baskerville. the prosperous Dartmoor farmer, Mr. Eden Phillpotts has given us a portrait, finished with far greater detail, ol a. man who only escapes from the convict prison of his own character after a prolonged struggle and severe but wholesome buffeting by Pate, a man whose character is . . . Iron dug from central gloom, And heated hot |jy burning feats, Aim dipt in baths of hissing teais, And batiered by the shocks of doom, To sli.ine and use. 'Hard and gloomy he is as the granite tor up above his farm. Bound it hover the fierce birds of prey, hawks find carrion crows : in its holes and crannies the outcasts of nature, foxes and stoats /nnd_ their dwelling. So with him. An unyielding granitic insistence on justice forms the bed-rock foundation of h\3 character; in that congenial shelter all sorts of hard suspicions find a restingplace ; a fierce contempt of humanity hovers over his soul; (darkness "clothes him as with a garment;" day in 1 day out he is "the neighbour of the east wind.'" If so he remained there would be little interest in his psychology. He doe* interest us profoundly because he is profoundly discontented with himself, for ev^r seeking for contentment, the "rainbow gold." How he finds it, how this old Dartmoor tor, standing isolated above the rich champaign below it, the xich variegated, life that surrounds it, grows in days of stress 'and trouble into a castle of refuge, with dooTS standing wide open to receive the fugitives, is told in this masterly narrative, which grips the attention more than most it the author's previous efforts. Round this central rock the usual life of a countryside ebbs and flows. The heartless coquette — and a more heartless one we never wish to rneet — goes on her I way jilting and beiug jilted until justice ' finds her out. The .spoilt elder son, a favourite type in Mr. Phillpotts's novels, also goes on his way until justice finds him out. What heroism there is, except ' in the case of the old "hawk" of the f tor, is the common heroism of everyday I life, the heroism of hard work and i patient enduring of the blows of fortune. This, too, meets with justice. Shrewd, too shrewd, is the coquette ; little good does it do her ; but scarcely less shrewd is the humble hardworking heroine, the one woman who is not afraid of Humphrey JJaskorville. To him she frankly says, in answer to his question how she likes being married :— " 'Very well, but not quite so well as I thought to.' " 'Ah ! same with most, though few have the pluck to confess it.' " 'Being married is a very fins thing, if you've got such a husband as Rupert ; but living along with your husband's people ain't so fine.' " The book is rich in characters to be recognised instantly if met in the street. There is the unhappy young man whose , soul is wrapt "up in the tenor bell at the ' church. Fine peals of bells are a fea- [ ture of Devon and Cornwall, as the old West Country song, "One Day in October," tells all who are interested. At Horrabridge, near the scene of this ' story, we have seen the vicar himself j take his place with the ringers. : The "girt Jan Ridel" of "Lorna j Doone" grown eld, but still strong and simple — too simple in fact — seems to re appear in ono of Humphrey's brothers, j The other brother is an altogether excep- , tional' character ; a charming man, who j manages somehow to be sweet-tempered , and good-hearted wiih a skeleton in the cupboard all the time; a daring but not very convincing tour de force of portraiture. Conflicts between the active young vicar and the conservative old parish clerk — the latter a finely drawn | character — make excellent byplay in the j progress "of the narrative. In the barroom the loquacious Radical and Atheist has his say, and rather too much of his j say. Very often he holds the field. Of actual Dartmoor atmosphere there is not much. Bunches of rather indigestible description are inserted at the beginnings of chapters, but we do not feel tha moor actually round the characters or influencing them with its spirit — with one exception. There is the -strong | affinity already noticed between Hum- | phrey and the tor above his farm, on which he sits and meditates on the ver- i min — the foxes, stoats, and. adders that ! slink round the old rocks — and still more ! on humanity in the valley below — "most j men are varmints" — and wrestles with ' his evil star. Another good local touch ) is the description of Princetown fair, j where the farmer's dawning humanity J first asserts itself. j The book is so full of matter and | thoughtf ulness that one could easily take j it up again and read it a second time j from cdver to cover. — St. James's j Budget. "The Heart of a Gypsy." By Rosamond Napier. London : Duckworth and Company. It is very gratifying to be able to praise whole-heartedly, but not often easy. "The Heart of a Gypsy" (writes the> Westminster Gazette) is quite de- [ lightful, and it is a pleasure to recom- I mend it. "To my mother and all those | to whom sun, wind and rain mean much," runs the dedication, and many of us will welcome this fresh-air book as a friend. In outline it is conventional ■ enough Cyprian Fielding, the overworked surgeon, goes to Devonshire to make a holiday, and falls in love with Meridiana Pharaoh, the gypsy fosterchild of the Rev. Henry Thompson and his wife. The strange girl, whose intimate kinship with nature remains at onco a mystery and an overwhelming charm, takes the heart of the man by storm. In face of family opposition he determines to make her hit, -wife. But the wild bird will not bear a cage, pncl \ Meridiana frets in London and finds her way back to Devonshire and the tragedy that awaits her. So much for the dry bones. But Miss Rosamond I'Tapicr has infused into the skeleton the very spirit of the dryad, of the wood-nymph. Meridiuna is no mere country maidon ; she is tho daughter of the nature goddess herself, one with the universal essence of wood and field, of river and spring, of hawk and haro. "Thp beauty born ot murmuring sound has passed into her face." Miss Napier has excelled in that | she has translated into prose and crystallised in a, setting of romantic incident an incarnation of Wordsworth's Lucy — vital, fresh, entrancing, and yet instinct with the underlying passion and sadness which are 'glimpsed in all nature. But not alone with the figuro ol Meridiana has the authoress succeeded. Her studies of the inept clergyman and his fragile mother-wife are excellent; to are the sketches of the personalities with whom Meridiana is brought into relation iv London — Lady Freddy, Mrs. Fielding, and Theresa, and Professor Skone. Cypiian Fielding is a welldrawn straightforwiu'-cl character, by whom we are inevitably attracted. But after Meridiana our heart goes out chiefly to "Bunny," most pathetic and humorous of figures, most loyal of souls, Meridiana's foster-sister and Fielding's confidante, who gives such wise connEel, and hides a broken heart under a twisted smile. Bunny takes up a place

in our hearts, and will not be forgotten, even when the more compelling splendour and fascination -of Meridiana has faded from our memory. , During the week, but too late for notice, we have ha<l an influx of novels from Blaokwood, Bell, 'Greening, and Digby, Long, and Company, winch will be dealt with in turn. Smith's Publishing Company send us copies of "The Christian Age and Sunday Header" and "Grcnt Thoughts." The former, which we think has changed its .sub-title, if not its editor, is an oldestablished and well-known weekly, which has just entered on its seventyfifth semi-annual volume. It is an illustrated miscellany of religious literature," including discourees by joreachers on both sides of the Atlantic, missionary intelligence, Bible exposition, etc., much after tji» style of a "^Tit-bits"' for Sunday reading. We do not find the department of speculative prophetic interpretation which we remember as a leading feature a few years ago; ajid if it has been abandoned the magazine will suffer- no less. An itfn of local interest is the roview of a book by Mr. J. A. D. Adams, of Dunedin. "Great Thoughts" is a ■weekly, uniform in style with the other, and published also in monthly parts. Tho iMay section (which includes the April weekly numbers according to usual custom) is before us. The contents take a wice range. They include the opening sections of a story by Hai old Bindloss, illustrated articles on literature and art, and much interesting miscellaneous mat ter. The centenary of Ihe iuteipreter of Omar is made the occasion of a long and suggestive illustrated article by Florence Bone, on "Edward OFitzgerafd and the Simple Life " Most boys-, wo think, who take any interest in reading, know something about "The Captpin" (Newnes), a very "live" magazine "for boys and old boys." From the May number, just to hand, we gather that staff and readers are mourning the philatelic editor, Mr. E. J. Naukivell, who passed away on 18th March. "Browning" is studied under the heading of "Literary Men of the Month," "The Evolution of the Bicycle" devotes the fourth chapter to "Tho Boneshaker of 1867;" action is supplied by Fred Whishnw, Charles GiJson, Clucas Joughin, Alfred Pearse, C. P. Dignam, and others'; and the article "starred" on the cover is "J_'he Ball that will beat England," an article on tho "Googlie/' by i\ A. Vaile. Messrs. Duckworth and Company are about to issue a second book of illustrated fairy tales by Miss A. D. Bright, of this provincial district. It will be illustrated with eight plulcs, in colours, and many black-aad-while illustrations in the texts by a well-known New Zealand artist', Mr. Harry Rowutree, formerly of Auckland, who, during the few years he has lived in England, lias risen to a high rank in his profession. Louise Closser Hale dictated "The Ac- , tress," her new Harper novel, to a delightful English girl who worked in the typewriting offico of Charles Dickens's granddaughter. "Imagine," says Mrs. Hale, "the granddaughter of Charles Dickens taking in any effort of mine! I found her a restraining influence when I came to speak of Eiigli&h conditions, for we Americans aie apt to exaggerate British faults; and whenever I s;iw anything among my nates that I thought would make her 'hopping mad/ I adroitly changed it, or, at least, remoulded my thought more gently. We used to stop at half-past lour and have tea, Mies Dickens bringing it in herself and stopping to chat a moment. She is a bright little bird of a woman, and might well Jiare stepped out of the covers oi tho great novelist's books." , Swinburne anecdotes are circulating through the press. In his youthful days, it is related, the poet had a quarrel with a cabman over his fare. The cabman abused the poet meucilepfly. Addressing him Swinburne said : —"And may I invite you to descend tram your perch and hear how ar poet can swear?" A keen reader of men, be readily showed likes or dislikes. At The lines, iv Putney, his study was above that of Mr. Watts-Duhton, but they invariably dined together. Mr. Watts-Dunlon frequently | had friends there. Mr. Swinburne ' would take soundings of the stranger. If not interested in him, as soon as dinner was over, the poei would quietly | rise, make a courtly bow, and go to his study. If interested, the stranger would ! be invited to hi& ''sanctum'* —an invifca- ! tiop' never to be forgotten. „ I Professor Munsterberg, of Harvard (writes the Argonaut), whose new book on psychotherapy is now on the stocks, says he is frequently a«ked by physicians if it is really true that he give* such value to the soul in the treatment of patients .In such cases he feels inclined to answer as the Shah of Persia answered Queen Victoria when she asked him if it was true that the Persians worship the sun : "Yes, your majesty, and I trust that the English people would worship the sun, Loo, if th-py ever had a chance to see it." The Lincoln celebration this year was responsible for no less than twentyseven separate books, lives, odes, reminiscences, recollections, etc. Dr. Eliot, lately president of Harvard University, said recently at a recep tion in New York: "My career appears to strike aj number of people as a successful one. People congratulate me on what they c.ill my succe.cs. But my career hi<s certainly not | been successful in what is consideied to be the American idea oi success. • It has - not been successful in ;i pecuniary way. It is success in terms of service —service to the community. Now, does not this refute the common opinion thai the American estimate of success is a. pecun-iai-y one?" Dr. Eliot then related an incident in ono of his travels by boat when the vessel's officers came to him and said : "We officers want to ask foil a question. We know you are a pnuirt man. Wo Mtisit to know why being a smart man, you are not rich?" Dr. Eliot did not repeat his reply, but concluded his remarks on the subject by saying: "The real American estimate of success in the world is perviceablcnets and not wealth.'" | | '