NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 41, 18 February 1911, Page 13

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE ANGLICAN CHUKCH IN AUSTRALIA. The second number of the Australian Church Quarterly Review (D. S. Ford, Sydney) is to hand. Number one necessarily was largely _ occupied in laying down the editorial programme; the second number^ in its varied contents, shows the value of such an organ, where the domestic concerns of a largo and influential church may be discussed from varying points of view oy competent representative members with a fulness and freedom impossible even if desirable in the general press. The new number opens with an "Australian. Church Calendar" for the first quarter, followed by editorial notes. An article on monarchy and democracy, and one by the Archbishop of Melbourne on the Head of the Church, are of historic as well as current interest. "Pastoral Probloms of i the Bush" are described and illustrated | with lively anecdote by the principal of a mission brotherhood, who is fond of | drawing his analogies (somewhat -emote) from scientific hypotheses. He is curiously intolerant, not only of Christians outside his own church, but those within its pale, who are less exclusive than himself. All [ preachers in the backblocks know the inherent difficulties of the work — the uncharitable variety create unnecessary ones for themselves. The writer does not seem to be awar« that "Kallathurnpian does- not --epresent any sect or creed, lar^o or small, but k a "bogus" word which the jocular bushman occasionally uses in census papers and to "pull the leg" of strangers, clerical or otherwise, who question him concerning his creed. The most important articles, occupying altogether twenty-two pages, are on "Problems of General Synod." Two subjects aTe dealt with, the general question of church legislation in Australia being treated by the Bishop of North Queensland,' whose account of the present difficult position is prefaced by an able historic outline. The General Synod finds itseli in a difficult position 'n vvhich — owing to the overlapping authority of dioceses and in some cases the enactments of the Federal Government — while it may make enactments, it has no means of securing that they shall be operative. "The position," says the bishop, "is much more critical than is generally realised, and primarily it jeopardises tho existence of General Synod." With the growth of provincialism he sees disquieting possibilities, and no present means by wheh they can be averted. "A revision of the Prayer Book can not be long delayed. The present book is a bond of union between churchmen of all shades of thought. To throw it into the largest melting-pot is a serious matter, but into the melting-pot it must sooa go. What if Victoria, impatient, impetuous, and with an. ever-watchful eye to business, decides to publish a revised Prayer Book for provincial use? Or if New South Wales, forced to revision, and copying the Irish Prayer Book, decided to omit the ornaments .rubric? Or if Queensland also forced to action, adopted the Scottish sacramental use? These may be fanciful suppositions, but they are not impossible contingencies if the principle of provincial development is once allowed." A like foreshadowing oi provincial developments evolving m one denomination, locat cßtsches differing even more conspicuously in creed and forms of worship than the leading Free Churches, overhangs the other section devoted to synodic problems — " Proportionate Representation in General Synod," ably treated from opposite points of view by an advocate of the system "from the standpoint oi a large diocese," and "from the standpoint of a small diocese" by a writer whose bracketed name is doubly Cymric. Even in the cold and usually calm philosophic altitudes ht which discussions in the Review are conducted, there are not wanting signs of o&nsiderable warmth, if not occasional tempest, in some of those dioceses where the question has been the theme of oral debate. ''"Urbanus,'' who advocates the scheme — on tho grounds of con&istency (it already holds good as regards dioceses with fifty clergymen or less), and of justice to the larger dioceses ("There is no virtue in mere size, neither is there any vice in the free flow of numbera- -^t is this minority ihat needs protection; under a scheme designed to safeguard the minoiities of cue day the majorities of a later day have no less need of protection ") — deprecates the lines Laken by certain disputants oil both sides, which, he maiutains, have prejudiced th« discussion. Some, he 3aj'd, in objecting to tlie representatives of great districts like Sydney and Melbourne being compelled to abide by the decisions of a general synod in which they have no weight in' any way corresponding to their importance, have suggested possible secession, or, at least, practical withdrawal from the synod. "No condemnation," ue says, "can be too strong for this hint of secession : it is the very note of the spirit, of schism. . . . It would be, moreover, the very beginning ot anarchy." " A diocesan or a provincial strike" is "an intolerable idea." "To hint at such a disaster as a possible danger which it would be wise of other people to avoid by timely concessions is to degrade the Church's assembly to the level of a trades hall." On the other side, he equally condemns those opponents of the reform who suspect the agitation in the larger centres to be associated with local " doctrinal or ecclesiastical prejudice." He finds an uneasy suspicion on the one hand that "the north is endeavouring to paint the Church map of Australia as nearly as possible the same colour as the dioceses of South Africa," while, conversely, there are "northern and western churchmen" who fear " that theli brothery at Sydney are endeavouring to cast over Australia the orange mantle of a type of evangelicism which is more at home in Ireland than in England. It is true," he acknowledges, " that these two different conceptions of the Church und the Prayer Book do roughly coincide at present with certain diocesan aieas respectively, and the coincidence does somewhat complicate and sharpen the issues at stake." He hastens, however, to add, "But it is a coincidence 'which might be modified or reversed in the lifetime of a bishop." "Urbanus " so fully coversi the ground that the opponent of proportionate representation has few, if any, facts not already stated. He premises that " it is obviously useless to devise schemes for investing the General Synod v.'ith_ plenary legislative powers, if even one diocese in Australia will refuse ;to consent to the exercise of these I powers." He blames the large districts for the present agitation, and objects to proportionate representation an liable to bring about a condition in which "the opinions of the south-eastern corner of the continent would rule the Church throughout the Commonwealth." The smaller dioeesss, ho argues, are reasonable ; they "do nox. so far as the writer is aware, adopt an intransigeant attitude," they '" would probably, for the sake of pe?ce and unity, consent to an extension of the principle" of proportionate representation " in tho spirit of the constitution," but to granting such an extension as would give the large dioceses preponderating power, "they would quite certainly never consent." Incidentally, he strongly dissents from the Primate's recently expressed ideal of the " Australian Church " of the future — a strong provincial organisation, each province- with its own individuality, yet subordinated in conception and actuality to the central idea of the Church of Australia and its General Synod. He further hinted at th§ .ros-

sibility of varying diocesan and provincial " uses " in many questions, among otheis in matters of ceremonial. This latter suggestion of the prelate he thinks intolerable, uncalled for, and fatal to "tho aim of tho Australian patriot, the building of a homogeneous Australian nation." " Both the lex credendi and the lex orandi — and even the lex vestiendi — must be in the guardianship of the Australian Church as a whole." Bible notes and reviews complete a valuable review, which should be in the hands of all interested in the colonial churches and their work. "Teddy Wilkins's Trials." By Jens Lyng, author of "The Scandinavians in Australasia," etc. Melbourne : Jackson-Peteisen Printing Company, 444, Little Collins-street. Mr. Lyng's little story is worthy of a more presentable exterior. However 'good a book in itself may be, it suffers from poor paper and indifferent print- 1 ing, and perhaps still more- when it is not neatly put together, but "stabbed" right through with a wire which will not allow it to open properly. Mr. Lyng is already known as a writer ; for some years ago he undertook the patriotic work of putting on record all he could gather regarding the arrival in these colonies of his Scandinavian fel-low-countrymen, who have since made so conspicuous a mark in our history : an excellent and useful book, which we noted at considerable length in 1907, when it appeared. Also, in his own language (Danish), Mr. Lyng lias published "Modern Vikings," and some novels and sketches. He is to be congratulated on his pictures of Australian life, presented in this realistic little story, in which he incidentally embodies some of his views and theories in his history of the life-struggle, defeats, and final success of one of those men of the people, hard-working, intelligent, but poor, who seem always the last to be considered in the social scheme, though they may truly claim, in the phraseology of the "Four Alls" of medieval days, "I" work for all." Wilkins is an industrious printer with a small business and no capital, who is ultimately, like the majority of such folk, shouldeied out of the field by the pressure of factory legislation requirements and tho competition of^ big concerns. Under the delusion that wealth awaits the sturdy worker who goes on the land, he puts his all on a small selection, and works himself and family like slaves. The district abounds in deserted holdings which have swallowed up the substance and sometimes the lives* oi former holders. In simple, sincere, and telling language, the author, narrating experiences "most of which could easily bo paralleled in our own land, shows how the politician, the official, the mining speculator — all sorts of non-pvoduc-ers — are borne on the shoulders of the primary producer. Only thirty miles from Melbourne — in view of its post office tower by day and its line of city lights by night — Wilkins is remoter in regard to the carriage of stores and produce than the people in Tasmania; roads are only promised, and he is compelled, with endless labour, to cut down, cut up, and burn to waste splendid timber that would have been wealth had the settlement policy begun at the right end. "Teddy" has his weaknessesone of them is to enlarge in season and out oi' season on his theory of "social" camp-followers," and another is the lehearsing of precedents from the books of history he has read ; but though a little prosy, he is a sterling worker, and wins through where most men would -fail. The author has no more love for colonial politicians than had "Steele Eudd," but his methods are more serious and more convincing. He may have piled the trying experiences of "many upon one, but ths veracity of the pictures is andeniable, and Ms contrast of the profits of Danish co-operation with the difficulties of the Australasian "selector" are instructive. There are subtle points of difference, not easily described, which at once mark off to an experienced eye a book produced in Britain, not only from Continental work or American, but from Australasian. It is not that one necessarily excels the other in any way — it lies wholly in the diverse traditional methods of older lands, and even the United States is not yet old enough to have evolved one of its own. There wojild be no need to stamp "Made in England" on Mr. Wilfrid H. Hemingway's "New Zealand Business Man's Compendium .'' oven if the names of Sir Isaac Pitmnn and Sons did not figure on the titlepage as publishers. Too many referonce books published abroad issue professedly special Australian or New Zealand editions which differ from the main edition only in a different title-page. It is satisfactory to know that this book is exactly what it professes to be, unlike the other class, in which the general contents are liable to be as misleading as the delusive title. Mr. Hemingway, a solicitor of the Supreme Court, a Fellow of the New 'Zealand Accountants and Auditors' Association, and principal of an accountancy correspondence school In Auckland, has the necessary qualifications for the important work he has undertaken — no mere abstract of statutes or compilation from other men's treatises, but a work calling for intelligent editing in every page, and the exercise of personal judgment in the treatment of the various subjects. It is not written either for the student or the practitioner of law accountancy, but for the ordinary business man, who has occasion almost daily to refer to a trustworthy guide of this kind. For his benefit it is alphabetically arranged — a substantially-bound encyclopedia of 260 pages, the contents of which include tho more important provisions of New Zealand law on accountancy, agencies, arbitration, bankruptcy, bills of exchange, bills of sale, bookkeeping, business law, companies, insurance, partnership, shipping, trustees and executors, and general. The author has used lucid language, avoiding needless technical phrases ; his principal authorities are indicated ; and his book, which bears evidence of sound and diligent work, is to be highly recommended. The Department of Mines has issued another of its useful Geological Survey Reports in quarto : "A Geographical Report on the Franz Josef Glacier," by James Mackintosh ' Bell, with topograpLkal maps and data by Reginald Palmei Greville, and botanical notes by Leonard Cockayne. Containing only > fourteen pages of text, in bulk it is small compared with some of the monographs on extensive districts, with which itcorresponds in style, but it is thorough, and tlu names set forth in the titlepage are sufficient guarantee of its excellence in tli© several departments for i which they are responsible, in addition to the maps, there are six plates, halftone reproductions of illustrative photo- , giaplis.' "The 'Strand' Musical Portfolio of • Copyright Songs and Music" (Gordon and Gotch) sufficiently indicates in its • title the originating house — the well- : known Newnes Company. We have a > copy, full music size (7d net), before us, , and the work is to be completed in about twenty fortnightly parts. No. 7 i contains five items, all popular modern [ niufcic. There is a "bong without words" i entitled "Sympathy," by Valentine ■ Hemery, and a "Two-step"- by Felix ■ Goden, a sacred song, "Galilee," words - and music by Joseph H. Adams, and f two other vocal pieces in lighter vein. A L cheapoi 1 miscellany of good copyright - music ib would be- hard, to find.