NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 47, 25 February 1911, Page 13

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

TEN YEARS OP A CROWDED LIFE. [ "John G. Paton: Later Years and Fare- ! well." A Sequel to "John G. Paton : an Autobiography." By his friend A. K. Langridge and his son Frank H. L. Paton ; with, an introduction by Lord Kinnaird. London: Hodder and Sloughton. (S. and .W. 'Mackay.) The title-page indicates that this book is not a lifer«cord— which Dr. Paton's 3nfcobiography had rendered unnecessary i— bu* a supplement. "That autobiography," says the biographer, "stands as on© of the missionary classics of the world. It cannob be excelled. Its message is complete." Nevertheless, it was not expedient only, ifc was necessary, that such a record as this should be given to ths world, and none could be found better qualified for the duty than one in daily correspondence with the doctor, a friend and trusted helper from youth upwards. The autobiography was brought up to 1897, and there remained to the veteran missionaiy ten j r ears of an exceptionally strenuous 'life in a strenuous, time — wonddrfu) years in which, to quote th© book, converged "the strong tides" -which from seventy-three to eighty-three^ — an age when mo&fc men rest, and desire nothing more than to do so in peace — converged and "bore him along in what btcame the Tacing torrent of his old age" — years of ten overshadowed by physical weakness, disappointment, and bereavement, ever met i with unfailing faith and indomitable energy — years which saw the realisation of many of the ends for which the hero had so devotedly toiled— years of harvest reaping. lor New Zealand tnis record has a ipecial appeal, for it has from the first specially interested itself in his principal life-work, the New Hebrides mission, to which its people, young and old, have contributed both fund* and helpers. In 1896-7 he paid this land a brief visit, and it is to be regretted that his time was so fully occupied with his public addresses and the claims of a vast correspondence, to which he faithfully attended, thab scarcely any record of that period exists in his own hand. Bub his many friends in these islands who have followed the history of his career, as well as those who met him in person, will not dispute the appreciation of an American, Dr. Cuyler, who brackets his name with those of Alexander Duff and David Livingstone, "three unsurpassed heroes of foreign missions" produced by Scotch Presbyterianism, who "all belonged to tho old granite formation, and were all lineal descendants of the Covenanters." "A Dual Resurrection." By Bertram Mitford, author of "Ravenehaw of Riethohne," "The Gun-runner," etc. Illustrated. London : Ward, Lock, and Co., Limited. Mr. Mitford is co prolific a writer of adventurous romance that the reader might wonder that hie vein of invention does not fail. The leading cause of the misunderstandings that in his latest novel threaten disaster to the principals has been the theme of a thousand plots ; but there are, after all, not so many fundamental themes fo<r fiction as there are letters in the alphabet to which all men axe limited even though they justly complain of ilo inadequacy. When the hero delivers the heroine from our good old friend the vicious bull the reader should be at no loss to. recall prece- j dents ; but the bull really may be taken as "thrown "in," Halfont having already j at the very outset "saved" the same lady and thereby secured informal introduction in the mosb up-to-date manner by intrepidly snatching her in a narrow I lane from the very "jaws" (6hall we euy) ! of a. Panhard driven at a rate beyond j tire wildest ambition of Jehu himself. However, the author can always tell a | stirring tale, has travelled far and wide with a keen eye for the picturesque in nature and human nature. In particular he knows much of the wilder side of South African life, and makes effective use of his knowledge. In one place he pictures a London novelist who essa-yed an African subject and confessed afterwards that having read a, portion of his manuscript to one familiar with the region he> had chosen he evoked unrestrained mirth, naving averaged at least one "howler" per page. Mr. Mitford's own Zulus are as convincing as they are unpleasant. Taking them all round ,his characters — the charming heioine not excepted — are unmitigated and ostentatious pagans. The suicide of one of the group is a case in point, unnecessary to ihe plot, and of no artistic value, while the taming and practical "conversion" of a lawless ruffian who had cheated the gallows in Africa/ brought about by a few weeks' restful residence in an English horne — to which he had gained access under false pretencesi — is one of a number of episodes which are not life pictures. But Mr. Mitford has a vigour and dash that carries him through, and that, disarms criticism. "Dear Loyalty." By Reginald Evans. London : Hodder and Stoughton. (S. and W. Mackay). The names of the publishers are- so generally associated with books of a religious cast that it may be as well to premise that this Spanish story does not come into that category, and that the sole ecclesiastic pictured, though he does not impress the reader favourably when he first comes into the story., is very different from his scarlet-robed brethren as pictured by Joseph Hocking. Mr. Evans takes the reader to a region little exploited by novelists — one in which the interest of the general British public has declined in the days since the Peninsular War. But h© is well acquainted with the country, its language, and its ways, and has a warm corner for the Spaniard, though he knows his faults and does not hesitate to depict them. In fact, a more unmitigated scoundrel than the piincipal villain it would be difficult to find, even on the stage, nor a weaker heir of a noble house than Don Diego, a dissolute youth at his wit's end through gambling debts who in the first chapter is introduced in the act of stealing i from a simple countj-J- girl the winning ticket in a great lottery, substituting his own worthless slip. The dignity and integrity of his old father, patriot and ! philanthropist, who, with an energy rare in his nation and caste, is devoting himself and his fortune to a great engineering scheme to irrigate the arid lands in | his neighbourhood, and the manliness of his second son, against whom there is a ; prejudice because he was educated in England, supply a contrast to tho rascality and conspiracy that figure prominently in the book. And I'elicia, the heroine, is a very fine character, though her loyalty to her guardian's family impels her to a quixotic self-sacrifice which a Briton would scarcely condono, though Spanish ideals, might consider it admirable. A good readable and well-con-structed novel, but with no outstanding merit. " Stormonth'fs Handy School Dictionary, Pronouncing and Explanatory." Thoroughly revised and enlarged by William Bayne. London : WilJiam Blackwood and Sons. In the larger form, Stormonth's Dictionary, each edition carefully revised to date as it has appeared, has gained a wide reputation as> one of the soundest dictionaries for the higher schools and colleges, and for private students, a special feature being its fullness and clearness in its definitions of scientific

terms. But to the scholar in the lower forms a good dictionary is as essential as to the University student, and five shillings net would be in many cases a prohibitive price, apart from the fact that much that is indispensable to -those in the higher grades is not required either by the young- people still "in the standards" or the majority of general readers. To meet the requirements of such, the publishers of this work have had an abridgement prepared, which, neatly bound in cloth, and containing nearly 260 closely-printed pages, is sold at the wonderfully low price of sevenpence net. Necessarily, it is not encumbered with superfluities; it is terse, lucid, and comprehensive, containing in each case pronunciation and etymology of the word at the head of the paragraph, and grouped beneath are ramifications in verbal, adjectival, and other forms, and, where desirable, its synonyms. There is an appendix of English suffixes. The book is worthy of the reputation of the distinguished firm by which it is published. YEAR-BOOKS. We have received "The New Zealand Official Year-Book" for 1910 (the nineteenth annual issue). As the advance sections have been acknowledged and noted from time to time, little remains to be added. The general contents and style aro as in Tecent volumes, except that the feature of separate plates — process-blocks illustrating scenery and industries — introduced a few years ago does not appear. The bulk of tho volume, which runs this year to 947 pages, seems quite sufficient to account for the retrenchment of a feature of secondary importance which added considerably to the cost of production. Those who have used the book from the first will be forcibly reminded of departmental changes by the disappearance from the title-page of the name of the gentleman lately retired, who so long held the office of Registrar-General. /'The Victorian Year-Book" (A. M. Langton, F.1.A., etc., Government Statist), has reached its -thirtieth issue, an octavo of 732 pages, besides insets. In external form it closely resembles the New Zealand book, almost the only noticeable difference being that it has side-notes — convenient to tne reader, but involving much extra work in the printing office. The introduction begins with ai\ excellent histoiy of the State from its first discovery ; and among the Bpecial articles is one on " The Flora of Victoria," by Dr. Alfred J. Ewart, Government Botanist. DR. BARNARDO'S HOMES. "Night and Day," the quarterly record of Dr. Barnardo's Homes, has more than a literary interest. In a striking address in the December issue, lately to hand, the Master of Trinity describes the institute and its work as "almost a startling miracle." Throughout the doctor's life — though he began with absurdly slender cash resources for so great an undertaking — and to the present day, no needy applicant has ever been turned from the door. Still more amazing is the almost uniform success both in career and character of the boys and girls trained in the institutions, especially when the degenerate parentage of a large proportion is taken into account. Aliens are freely received, and the training is thorough, humane, and impartial. The unspeakable squalor and vice of some of the "homes" from which boys and girls have been rescued sets in brighter light the happy and useful lives the children now Lead at Home and abroad. In many cases, of course, poverty and misfortune were the sole original trouble ; but half a century's experience of the triumph of enlightened training over congenital taint, physical and moral, show that theorists may easily overrate the potence of "heredity" ; ior many of the earlier children have a creditable progeny, in some cases to the fourth generation. Meantime, the great Barnardo Homes (18-26, Stepney-cause-way, London, E.C.), entirely depend eht on voluntary contributions, are daily in need of funds for the support of their great and growing family.