THE BOOKMAN

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 57, 8 March 1913, Page 13

THE BOOKMAN

NEW PUBLICATIONS "jßainbow Children." By Edith Howes. London : Gassell and Co. Mise Edith Howes is a New Zealandoi 1 well known to her kinsmen and' kinswomen of discernment, and to the little kin. With "The Snn's Babies," "fanRings," and other good messages from her busy pen, she has given delight to people here and in the Old Country. Her latest book, "Rainbow Children," reveals her again in happy sympathy with the bright things of earth and sky. The earth to her is a place intensely inhabited pleasantly. She has intelligent eyps for tho law which runs through all things, •and with this gift of insight and prospect she has a rare gift of story. Therefore the flowers are easily vocal, admirably autobiographical. They tell their joys and troubles confidently in words which must appeal to all little ones as well as to adults. Dainty parcels of knowledge are wrapped up in the green leaves and flower petals lor many an adult ignorant of the wonderful life-history of a plant and its enemies — the various grubs, smooth and woolly. Hiss Howes 19 prettily fanciful, but not fantastic. Her style is simple, and her words fit her subjects well. This talented author deserves the hearty encouragement of New Zealanders. The plan of the book is thus neatly set out in the opening pages :— It happqned millions of years ago, when the earth was young. Sunbeams, mists, and the pretty now clouds were all playing together. The clouds stood on each other's shoulders till they reached half over the sky, and the sunbeams flew up and down with the mists that danced in front. " How pretty ! " .suddenly said the Sunbeams. "See, oh see ! For the little drops of water in the mist were breaking up the sunlight into all its lovely colours, and more and more sunbeams came; the colours on the clouds grew into a splendid gleaming arch. It was the first rainbow. "Beautiful! beautiful !•" a cried the playmates. " What a delightful new game .' " They played at making rainbows for many days. "Please make me beautiful; too!" called the Earth below them. They flew down and made little rainbowß on the waves of the sea, on waterfalls, and on ' the dewdrops of leaves. " But they fade so soon," complained the Sunbeams. " Can we not make rainbows that will last? " They tried the land, the trees, the grass, but on none oi these could they make any rainbow at all. " The sky is best," they said, and they flew up, and made a more perfect arch than ever before. t But the Earth sighed with disappointment, and a Sunbeam was «orry for her. "Help me," she called to a tiny mist; "we may yei make the earth beautiful." Together they drew a shaft of shining yellow from the, rainbow in the sky. They carried ib down and laid it on a cluster of leaves that grew on a green earth-plant, drawing the leaves together till they formed a cup. Instantly the cluster turned yellow, gleaming and glowing in the sunshine like polished gold. It was the first flower. • ••<->• Since then, -with each return' of spring, the mists and sunbeams come down hand in hand to beautify the earth. " A \ glorious game ! " they call to one another as they flit across the hills. "A rainbow in the sky, and on the earth the rainbow's colour-children ! " There is a generous supply of verse cleverly harmonising with the fairy stories of the flowers. A typical example is " Baby Star 3 " :-*- The dandelions sit about Among tho waving grass; But no one seems to notice then) Or pick them as they pass. And yet they're just the brightest things that anyone could find; I think they're little baby stars The clouds have left behind. j The clouds sometimes come down at night, And make white mists at play; It seems to me the stars come too, And some stay here all day. Of course they have to find a stalk, And wait till day Ib done; Such pretty little baby 'stars, All laughing at the fun 1 "Promise of Arden." By Eric Parker. London : G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. (S. and W. Mackay). So far as the style goes, "Promise of Arden" is quite a well-written book. The little pictures of rural England at all seasons of the year are finely done, con amore, and the external of the principal personages in the book are clearly sketched. But the story it-self hae that unfortunate characteristic of much modern English fiction. It is pleasant enough, and imposes no tax on the brain, but it lacks virility and vitality; there is co little to justify its existence at all. A young journalist jtells the tale in the first person, and the' first chapter, like the title of the book, does promise something — a promise, unhappily not fulfilled by the remaining pages. The orphan family of an eccentric professor in a secluded village of the countryside is the centre of the orbit of the sleepy life of the hamldt. P e Sgy> the eldest eister, is a little mother to the family, and, one conjectures, the "promise." There are no wedding belle, but the conclusion one has to draw from the vagu«6t of endings, is that the hero-narrator will some day return and marry Peggy. Two irrepressible brethren of Peggy chatter guilelessly through the greater part of the story — bo much so that even the Dickensian unction of Mrs. Bard; the vicar's wife, affords some relief. At tho came time, there are people to whom the gentle course of the narrative, meandering through the placidity of English meadows, will appeal. To such "Promise of Aiden" may be' safely commended. "A City Schoolgirl." By May Baldwin, author of "Corali's School Chums," "Two Schoolgirls of Florence," "Sarah's School Friend," "The Girls' Eton," etc. W. and R. Chambers, Ltd., London and Edinburgh. A wholesome, interesting, and wellwritten story from cover to cover, and one which will appeal not only to y6ung but to fairly big girls. It is not all about a schoolgirl, either. There is a somewhat "difficult" character portrayed — an elder sister of the echoolgir?. who causes herself a lot of unnecessary trouble by her somewhat extreme pride, accentuated by the fact that,, though brought up in luxury, she has to earn her living in the great city, but steadfastly refuses to mix with those of fortune or lesser rank than herself. The way in which she eventually discovers that there is such a thing even in London as disinterested kindness, and in the end love, which she cannot help requiting, is told in a quiet, unaffected, convincing _ style, which makes "A City Schoolgirl" one of the best gift books we have come across for a long time. "The Chalet in the Wood," by Edward Quarter. London : G. Bell and Sons. The situation upon which this story is founded is an unusual one. Castalia Dallas, a beautiful dancer, and, moreover, somewhat of an adventuress, is to be introduced into an old English fajnily as the wife of Lord Fleming's eldest son Louis. Carl, the younger brother of Louis, who adores his mother, resents this intrusion, aa he calls it, on her ac-

count, and he determined that Castalia should not visit Silvermead. his father's place, if he could help it." Having found out the time that Castalia is expected, by a ruso he meets the train, and leads her to a summer-house in a wood, where ho left her. She was rescued !>y Goddard, one of the gamekeepers, a. man of fine character, who took her to her mother's house. On the death of Lord Fleming, very soon afterwards, Castalia and Louis made their official entrance to Silvermead. But in Castalia's life there was a secre^. When very young she h&d been married to a worthless scamp, who hail deserted her. and who, it was re* poited, had died in South Africa. This man, however, turned up again as Harry Gower, and Caetalia was tempted to conceal the fact from Louis. This, not un* naturally, ted to complications, but finally, urged thereto by Dr. Mowbray, who knows her story, and has a great admiration and respect for her, she told all to Lord Fleming. Soon after, his untimely death releases her from an awkward situation. Gower also dies, and in the end Castalir. wins a quiet haven. There are several well-drawn characters in the book, which has a consistent ending. Australia^ Life for March has an instructive article on the Northern Territory, by T. K. Dow. Some personal recollections of Mark Twain are given by Carlyle Smythe, who incidentally has stories to tell of Andrew Lang and other celebrities. Some startling revelations of crime in New York are made by a "Working Journalist," and there are short stories by E. M. Woolley, Arthur B. Eeeve, and George S. Rolands. Tho Editor contributes his usual review .of the month's events at home and abroad,, while the other departments of the magazine are well up to standard. The Dominion Scout announces that the present management has decided to cease publication next month. Messrs. Strange and Co., of Christchurch, have, it is stated, supplied the sinews of war for three years, but as business firms generally have not availed themselves of the opportunity to advertise in it, they have decided to withdraw. Colonel Cossgrove, Dominion Chief Scout, is negotiating with various wealthy men with the object of securing the continuation of the paper. LITERARY NOTES. The Vatican library is probably tho most sumptuously housed in the world. This, of course, is only what it should be, for the collection contains some of the most precious manuscripts in existence, including the Biblical " Codex Vaticanue," of the fourth century; the fifth century "Virgil," and the palimpsest "De Republica" of Cicero. The printed books include over 2600 fifteenth century editions, many of them vellum copies. The total library has been estimated to comprise over 220,000 volumes and 30,000 MSS., but it has never been adequately catalogued. "He cheered and comforted a tired world." These words are to form part of the inscription on Mark Twain's monument at his birthplace in Missouri. Their propriety is questioned by the Springfield Republican, which doubts whether this is, after all, a tired world. Mr. Arthur C. Benson has a new book nearly ready with Mr. Murray under the title, " Joyouß Gard." Joyous Cfard was the castle of Sir( Launcelot in Morte d'Arthur, into which he retired, in the intervals of war and business, for rest and mii'th. Mr. Benson pleads that many men and women could make for themselves a stronghold of the mind where they could follow, according to their desire, the track of things beautiful, intellectual, and spiritual. The "Bookseller" has published its classified list of the books issued in the United Kingdom during 1912. It seems that 12,886 books appeared in the course of the year, the most productive months being March, May, October, and November, while in July and August the output dropped so considerably as to be mainly confined to reprints and cheap editions. Fiction, as usual, heads the list, for no fewer than 2290 novels were published in 1912. Religion and theology made a poor second with 934, biography and history accounting for 674, chifdrep's books 821, and educational works 522. The last place is taken by eugenics, with one volume only. Anthropology has produced four books," and philately and philology three and five respectively. , Mrs. Grace Rhys, the wife of Mr. Ernest Rhys, who edits "Everyman's Library," has written a novel which Mr. Dent will publish, "The Charming of Estercel." It is an Ulster romance cast in the time of that extraordinary and very human'duel which was fought out in Ireland between 2s3ex and Robert Cecil, a time when a kingdom was used as the weapon of one man's animosity and ambition. It is hard to persuade Lord Rosebery to write, though he writes so brilliantly, but there is an evident appeal to him in the personality of William Windham, Pitt's War Minister, a great Independent of his day. Anyhow, Lord Rosebery has written a long introduction to "The Windham Papers," undoubtedly interesting political memoirs, which Mr. Herbert Jenkins has announced. The work contains much noteworthy correspondence, some of it in the round hand of George 111. Something mor» definite may now be added to the Tecent announcement concerning "G. 8.5." and. a new review. The review will appear shortly, and the somewhat ambitious title at jptesent designed for it ib that of "The Statesman," which, far from being a startling novelty, is all in the traditions of journalism. Politics and literature will be the main interests of, this addition to the sixpenny Weeklies, and, ac already indicated, the particular tinge of the political matter will be Fabian Collectivism The editor, Mr. Clifford Sharp, who has conducted >"The Crusade," is a fellpw member of the Fabian Society, with* Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb, the principal promoter of the venture. Mr. J. C. Squire will be the literary editor. Mr. John Murray announces another, and concluding, volume of "The Diary of Frances Lady Shelley," covering the years 1817 to 187u. It has much to say about Brougham, Sir Robert Peel, Ernest Duke of Cumberland, and the Duke of Wellington. She visited Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford before the authorship of the Waverley Novels had been discovered. Her portrait of the "Great Unknown" should thus be as valuable to the student of literature as was her picture of the Duke of Wellington in tho preceeding volume.

America's new President has found it necessary to warn those "looking for big pay arid soft jobs" that the personal" demand for patronage will defeat its object. This recalls the genius who, aotzed with a horror of place-hunters, solicited President Roosevelt thus : " I hear the Amerrcan Consul has perished at Martinique. In presenting my application for the vacancy thus caused I am actuated by the desire to get in ahead of those loathsome creatures, the officeseekers." Which in turn recalls the Scotsman who, seeing a fellow countryman drowning, shouted for particulars as to his situation, only to be told that it had been bespoken by tho fellow who pushed him into the w.ftter.i