BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Evening Star, Issue 18093, 7 October 1922, Page 10

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

VERSES. A TIME WILL COMB. A tamo will come, a time will come, " (Though the. world will never be quite the same). When the people sit in the summer sun, Watching, watching the beautiful game. A time will come, a time will come, With fifteen stars in a green heaven, Two to be batting, and two to judge, And round about them the fair Eleven. A time will come, a time will come, When the people sit with a peaceful Watching the beautiful, beautiful game, That is battle and service and sport and art.

A time will come, a time will come, When the crowds will gaze on the gams and the green, _ Soberly watching the beautiful game, Orderly, docent, calm, serene. The easy figures go out and in, The click of the bat sounds clear and well. And over the studying, critical crowds Cricket will cast ‘her witching spell. Yet a time will come, a time will come, Come to us all as we watch, and seem To be heart and soul in the beautiful game, When wo shall remember and wistfully dream— Dream of the boys who never were here, Bom in the days of evil chance, Who never knew sport or easy days, But played their game in the fields of France. —Arnold Walk

TEAMPING. Out from tho tyrant town wo trod To where the fields of freedom lay, We saw dawn’s lantern rouse the day, And heard tho lark remember God. Dawn passed us bravely garlanded, Not ragged as she comes to town. The kingcups proffered her a crown, A linnet praised her queenly head. And now the bird of evening fills This waiting world and heart of mine, And night’s soft raiment flows like wine, In purple glory down the hills. —Percy' Haseldean, in the ‘ Windsor Magazine.’

DEATH OF W. H. HUDSON,

A GREAT WRITER.

The mail hirings news of the sudden death of Mr W. H. Hudson. Mr Hudson wag awarded in 1901 a Civil List Pension of £l5O, in “ recognition of the originality of his writings on natural history." This he resigned last August on the ground that he was no longer in need ,of it. As-he explained! to an intimate friend at tho 'time, the recognition of which he bad stood so'much in need in hia earlier days was now more than abundant. Publishers threw money at him with both hands. “All my relations,” he said, “aro dead; it is no good to me now, except that I can sometimes save my legs on a car.” I only met W. IL Hudson a few times, and that was a good many years ago, before he became famous (writes “Affable Hawk” in the ‘New Statesman’]. Ho ate his luncheon sometimes at tho “ Mont Blanc,” a little cheap restaurant in Gerrard street which literary men and literary journalists used to frequent. Once or twice I sat at his table. The conversation was ■usually about books and authors. “ You are literary men, I am a naturalist”; I remember his saying that, and it expressed his attitude towards our talk, to which he listened without much comment. Books and human nature are neighbor topics, however, and when conversation veered to human nature he would sometimes eay a word or two. He gave an impression of being a solitary nature, and to that the charm of his writing is, I think, largely due. I felt, too, he would have willingly exchanged some cleverness for a little more picturesqueness in his companions. His face was brown, his cheekbones high, his nose aquiline, and his eyes were dark and bright. It was not because he had written about birds that he struck me as resembling a hawk. Hia voice was soft and his laughter silent, and his manner soft, too. Yet there was something wildish and gypsy-like in his aspect; he was lean, grizzled, and deeply wrinkled. He gave the impression of a man who did his thinking and his feeling by himself. To music he was very susceptible, and especially to a beautiful singing voice; it was not easy, however, to imagine him attending concerts. Few writers have ‘written more beautifully than ho about music, not as a critic, but as a poet. Musio is very important in ‘ The Crystal Age, a Utopia so different from all others that I cannot but conclude it will be remembered. To me ‘The Crystal Age’ and ‘Green Mansions’ seem his best hooks; the latter, indeed, is so lovely and unique that, when I wish to give myself the pleasure of saying something extravagant, I declare it to be tho best story yet written in the twentieth century. It is written from the true mood of the _ whole man, not] as so many even fine stories, from the mood of an idea.

PACTS IN POETRY. RIVERS OF SMOOTH lAMBICS. Mr Maurice Hewlett discusses poetry with a special regard to “ facts in the ‘ Comhill Magazine.’ , That the “ Sublime,” on which Longinus * discoursed, has fallen from its high place is Mr Hewlett’s opinion. The reaction, baa been sharp, not to Bay astringent. For, whereas the Sub.ime stated too few facts and rhymed in too many places, now we have no rhymes at all, and the facts thrown out with a shovel. To walk through the nco-Oeor-(pan page is to set one longing for the Bteam roller upon it, to set one sighing for the good easy travelling of the seventies and eighties, when you could glide down quires of Swinburne or William Morris on rivers of smooth iambics or brisk tidal freshets of anapeests. Whatever course is taken m literature, facts must stand out (says Mr Hewlett). It is hardly worth while To remark that literature has no way Of escape from the facta via vagueness and mystery. _ It may try to transcend the facts, but it cannot eocape them- Yon don’t escape a tiling by jumping over it. Literature is an art, and depends upon the facts, because life does. But when you seek rather to induce a frame of mind than clothe the spirit of fact, it is astonishing how little fcet you can do with. I remember calling one day in Florence upon the learned arid gifted lady who chooses in literature to be known as Vernon Lee. I found her in her drawing room with a book, half a oheet of notepaper, a pencil, and a frown. The book was a volume of Swinburne, the half-eheet was blank, and my friend greatly irritated. She told me that She had been going through ‘ Bertha,’ intending to jot down tho fnots she went. But there was nothing to jot. Two things, among others, astonish one in Swinburne —the small proportion of fact to diction, the large proportion of adjective to fact. ‘The Ancient Mariner’ gives a great example of the ‘‘Little Sublime” in the line “A spring of love gushed from my heart.” Tne ‘“little Sublime ” is more in evidence when one gets to the people, whose concern is always fact. I have often thought that to hear a good peasant talk ia something like listening to Homer, when it ia not almost exactly like hearing the Bible, as in Scotland it - still is. Well, Homer is folk-poetry, and so is the Bible. The adjectives ia each are either conventional or literal If Homer calls a wave blue, it is blue—and when the Bible says He' went forth a letter as white as snow, there’s no mistake whatever about his whiteness. The Ballads are just like- that, and I eh all dose my paper with them.

A LITERARY CORNER.

Mr Hewlett writes that if ho were to choose three ballads which prove the great power of fact, he would nominate The Wife of Usher’s Well,’ 'Thomas Rymerj and, thirdly, “the touching plea of Fair Annie when Lord Thomas proposed to plav her false, but invited her to minister to Ins coming bride.” So much she will do for him, she promises. Whereupon he says:

But she that welcomes my brisk bride Maun .gang like maiden fair ; She maun lace oil her robo_ sao jimp And braid her yellow hair.

NEW BOOKS.

WAR HISTORIES.

NEW ZEALAND TUNNELLERS. THEIR SPLENDID WORK IN FRANCE. A unit of the New Zealand _ Expeditionary Force whose work received but scanty attention, because of the nature of that work, though it was of inestimable value to the Allied pause, was the Now Zealand Tunnelling Company. Its work lay under the ground, and literally as well ns metaphorically it never saw the light of day. It took the tunnellers under the surface in the digging of tunnels, dugouts,- mines, and the construction of other underground means of offence and defence which were evolved during the course of the war. Another reason why the New Zealand Tunnelling Company did not receive such, prominent notice in official reports as other units was that it was not attached to the New Zealand Division in France, but worked almost throughout the campaign with English units. From first to last, however, the Tunnelling Company established a record of which its members, and indeed the people of Now Zealand, may well feel proud. A most interesting and illuminating account of Dio work_ and doings of the company has been written by Mr J. 0. Neill, an Associate of the Otago School of Mines, who held a commission in the company ns a lieutenant. This record has been published in handy form by Messrs Whitcombs and Tombs. In the early days of trench warfare the opposing trenches at important strategical points were often very close and crowded with infantry. An attack across No Man’s Land would bo a costly and uncertain affair , but by driving a tunnel underneath and charging it with high explosive the opposing line could bo blown into the air, causing ffiany casualties and much demoralisation of the enemy, and, further, the resulting ofater could be made into a strong “-point d’appui” for further advance. This method of tunnelling, at any rate, appealed to the German General Staff—perhaps they had it worked out before the war—and they, employed special pioneer battalions, composed entirely of experienced miners. By December, 1914, the British linos were becoming unpleasantly awaro of the new form of frightfulness. Various engineer units and mining sections were improvised on our side to take counter measures, but it was soon found that they did not have even a sporting chance against the enemy’s trained men. To meet the position a call for help was sent to the miners of the Old Country and the dominions; and right willingly they responded. New Zealand was asked to supply one company, and in September, 1915, an appeal was issued by tho Minister of Defence for recruits, only experienced miners and tunnellers being required, and applications for commissions were called fox from qualified mining and civil engineers. In spite of the fact that most of tho unattached and adventurous spirits among the miners, as in every other section o! the community, had already enlisted in other units, no difficulty was found in filling the ranks. By the second week in October, 1915, the entire company was assembled on the Avondale Racecourse, near Auckland, to go through a course of training prior to embarkation. Mr Neill’s first' few chapters deal with the birth of tho company, Die training at Avondale, the voyage to England, and the introduction to war. To the New Zealand Tunnelling Company belongs the honor of being tho first Now Zealand troops to land 1 in France, six months after the mobilisation in New Zealand. Its first introduction to war took place on a sector of the line known as the Labyrinth, about three miles north of Arras, the carrying out of a tunnelling system being taken over from a company" of French engineers. After a short stay there, the company moved to the outskirts of Arras, destined to be _ its home for the next two years. The important part which mines played in the Battle of Arras is well known, and the work of the New Zealand tunnellers there is fully described in several chapters. They quickly won a reputation for speed. Very soon the enemy was mastered in work in which he had previously held the upper hand. Our tunnellers not only laid mines to be exploded under Die enemy’s, positions, bur also worked to counteract, his mining activities.

Mr Neill fully describes die geophone, a wonderful little instrument by means of which .enemy workings underground could be detected. Explanation is also ■given of the methods which were used to revive men who had been gassed in under-ground workings. There are also a number of excellent diagrams and sketches showing the various types of mines, tunnels, dugouts, etc., which the company was called upon to construct. The work of the tunnell'er was hard and .wearisome, but ho carried it out faithfully. Tributes to the work were frequently given by generals of corps and divisions to which the company was attached. Necessarily some of Mr Neill’s narrative is of a technical nature, but most of it is written in a plain style. The work of the timneilers speaks for itself—it docs not need any flights of theatricality in to describe its value. ° ° Later in the war, when the great advance of 1918 was commenced, the company was asked to turn its hands to the building of bridges—a work in which it had had no previous experience. In succession it erected bridges over the Cana! du Nord and the Canal d'Et'cault. Tim former was considered one of tho most difficult bridging feats of the war, but the New Zealanders carried it out in a way that earned the plaudits ’of the Higher Command. On its completion Field-Marshal Haig delivered) the following message fp the company:—“l wish to convey to one and ail of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company my appreciation of the excellent work clone by the company during the erection of tho Havrincourt bridge,_ and also of the work done since the unit came to Franco.” Bridging, road-making, draining, and o ther works were carried out by the company before it left France and embarked far New Zealand, which it reached as a unit in the steamer lonic on April 23, 1918. The work of the publishers in printing and illustrating has been carried cut in the firm’s well-known style. The book is replete with photographs and maps, and at tho end contains a roll of all members of the company and reinforcements, casualties, and honors and awards. Those desirous of having as complete a. record as possible of New Zealand's share in the Great War should obtain a copy of this work. To tho tunuellers themselves, in reviving old memories, it should prove of great interest and value

CONDITIONS IN INDIA.

‘ Happy India, as It Might Bo If Guided by Modern Science ’ (from the pen of Arnold Lupiton), is a- book which owes its publication to a visit by the author to India. Having read) much in regard to famines and the generally half-starved condition of a large part of the Indian population, ho decided tto make investigations for himself. Ho travelled over India, from north to south and from east to west. Hia conclusion is that tho country requires to bo guided bv men of science. Under such a regime, lie contends, there

would be abundance even _ foe tho poorest classes. Granaries filled in good seasons Would provide food for both pan and cattle during seasons of drought. The standard of living might be raised, and happiness and prosperity brought te the country. No doubt the authors ideas arc sound up to a point. What ho says of India applies, nowever, to _the whole world. If the resources of science could in an organised way be devoted to the production of the necessaries of life, and their distribution arranged on a systematic plan, we should have a new world. Warring instincts, national jealousies, and the desire , for personal aggrandisement must first be' eliminated. Still, something practical ' might be evolved from the author’s suggestions. Many causes are assigned for the deplorable economic condition in India. It has been ascribed to mismanagement by British officials owing to their ignorance of the country, to an expensive system of governra&nt, excessive exactions for revenue purposes, high army charges, and ■ expensive wars, main reason for tihe widespread poverty, in tho author’s opinion, is that the resources of the country are not developed on right lines. Ho says; “I consider that it is disgraceful to the British Empire that there should be any large body of its citizens who are continually hungry. I do not. think that tho Government can bo blamed for occasional failures. When tho monsoon fails tho crops fail, and there must 'bo hardships and shortage of food, and I do not say that occasional hardships are necessarily a great evil to a people, but I am told that fifty millions of the subjects of the Emperor of India never have a full meal from the Ist of January to tho 31st of December. . , The first effort of any ruler should bo to see if it is possible to improve the economic position of tho people, so. that under average conditions of climate the people shall bo well fed, well clothed, and well .housed, and live in sanitary conditions which give them the enjoyment of good health.” It is a large order to provide for the material wants of $19,000,000 people of mixed races and m;any religions in 'the face of the difficulties which are inherent 'to the country and aroTn part the result of a way of life that is repugnant, to tho ideas of civilised western peoples. Tho author overlooks what has been done for India under British rules. The condition® leave much to bo desired, sit is admitted; but under the British Raj India is an infinitely better country than it would bo under any other form of government that can be suggested. The British officials are incorruptible, and justice has her way. Tho causes of poverty, it is asserted, are duo chiefly to the impoverishment of the soil. India once contained great forests. Most of the country is now treeless. As a consequence there is little fuel for the people, coal supplies being unavailable on the ground of expense. Tho result is that the cow dung which should go to fertilise the fields is collected, dried, and used 'as fuel. This practice is general in British India. The remedy in the author’s opinion is an extensive system of irrigation, tree planting on a big scale, tho purchase and distribution of fertilisers, and. Die extension of the railway systems. The expense would’bo very groat, but Dio author believes that it would bo Justified by the results, which would bring health and happiness to the people, vastly increase, tie production, and save immense sums by the absence of local disturbances and the consequent decreased burden of military and police maintenance.

NOTES. Miss Marjorie Bowen is at work on a new novel which deals entirely _ with modern life and characters. This is the first novel concerned with the life of to-day that Miss Bowen has written.

Mr Herbert Hoover, tho well-known American statesman, worked his way through Stanford University by running a laundry agency.

It is announced {says tho Wellington ‘Post’s’ London correspondent) that Mr Lloyd Osbourne has taken a house in Eaton square, and will make London his headquarters for some time, if not permanently. Ho is to see a good deal of English'literary and, political society. The two books on which Mr Osbourne worked with. 'Stevenson are ‘The Wrecker’ and ‘The Ebb Tide.’ Stevenson himself once explained l|nv ‘The Wrecker’ was written. He and Osbourne talked over tho plot and characters, and then Osbourne wrote the first copy of the book. Then Stevenson worked it all over again, rewriting every line. He spent a month in rewriting one of the chapters. Stevenson was doubtful at first of ‘The Wreckers” “forced, violent, alembicated stylo”; and the story was finished in bitterness of heart. “There it is,” he said, “and about as grim a tale as was ever written, and as grimy as hateful.” But when the proofs came back he was of another mind. “I did not dream it was near as good/’ ho declared. “I am afraid I think it excellent.”

Tho heroines of the famous poets are in this our day and generation being made heroines of full books, though none of them is ever likely to be so much written about as Nelson’s Emma. '‘Not Swift,” Sterne wrote to his Eliza Draper, “so loved his Stella, Scarron his Muinlenon, or Waller his Sacohaiissa ns I will love and sing thee.” ’ In mind, ns well as in beauty, Eliza was worthy di this Tribute, as a bundle of her letters which wo are to get will prove. It has lain away for long years in the Basing collection of papers at that stately home of England, Hod'dington Hall. Many of the letters were written from India, which Eliza visited and, indeed, where she stayed.— ‘John o’ London’s Weekly.’

Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., have forwarded to us a copy of the September ‘ Strand.’ To maintain its popularity a magazine must maintain a high standard, and it is to a recognition of this condition that tho ‘ Strand ’ owes its enduring success. The September issue has contributions by a number of stars in the literary firmament. Mr H. G. Wells discourses on tho six greatest men in history, while included in the contributors are P. G. Wodehonse, Gilbert Frankau, Phillips Oppenhcim, and Stacy Aumonier. Tho same firm has sent a copy of the September number of the ‘Windsor,’ which also has a great number of readers wherever the English language is used. The illustrations, as usual, are excellent, and the short stories, of which there are a large number, are by men who have achieved success in this lino of fiction. There is also a capital article by Randolph Lycett on ‘ Double Play in Tennis.’

In his third edition of that standard work ‘ A Life "of William Shakespeare ’ Sidney Lee denis with that incticstimr theory put forward that Shakespeare used a peculiar style of punctuation m order to emphasise the pauses or stresses he wished the actor to observe In speaking the lines. Sir Sidney adds a timely wcid about tiro accelerated pace at which rare examples of Shakeepearia.na are passing from England to America. John Banyan has been given a now nose. His recumbent effigy in London’s old cemetery in BunhilJ Fields suffered the loss of this member many years ago, either by accident or by the too pious enthusiasm of a relic hunter. The Baptist and Congregational Unions have made tho injury good. This burial ground is unique in London, and is within but a few minutes’ walk of the Bank of England. Here lie the heroes of Puritan England, the champions of civil and religious liberty, the upholders of diligence in business ana fervency of spirit. If Melrose should be visited by moonlight this “ Campo Santo of Nonconformity,” as Southey called it, is best seen on an autumn afternoon, when tils leaves are falling and, dusk begins to wrap tho haunts of Wesley. Although the ground is thick with gravestones and its gate pillars inscribed with scores of names, the number of interments in this cemetery, opposite John Wcslcv’s great old chapel, exceeds any that tile scone suggests. That number is said to bo about 124,000. Here Banyan ended his pilgrim's progress on earth, and in many old family Bibles there are record's that a father or a mother was laid near' —so many feet from—his grave. Here Cromwell’s remains aro buried; Isaac Watt’s name hallows one stone, and not far off the hand that wrote ‘Robinson Crusoe ’ moulders under the crass.

An appeal has been sent by a group of poets living in Viareggio to poets and writers throughout the world _ for funis for tho construction of a memorial to Shelley near the spot where his body was buried after being washed up by tho eea. Wenro to have “popular and revised” editions of ‘The Mirrors of Downing Street 1 and ‘ The Glass of Fashion’ (says ' John o’ London’s Weekly ’). _ It was Mr Chesterton who described their author as “ that valuable public servant,_ a Gentleman with a Duster.’’ His identity is known, but he has never admitted it, and there is to be no admission on the_ titlepages of these new editions. You will get them at half a crown each, which is half tho price of tho books in their original editions. Moreover, you will get more for tho less money, became Mr H— — B has written new inbvyl«otions. His publishers, too, h4vo done thalr part by finding fresh portraits for fho new editions, especially one of Lord Grey. Maxim Gorki, tho famous Russian novelist, manages to keep in the limelight, either literary or political, in. spite of chronic had health. A year or so ago ho was reported to be dying of tuberculosis. The latest news of him is to tho effect that he is on tho high road to recovery at tho villa ho has taken at Swincmuendo. He has been engaged on his _ autobiography, tho continuation of uhich bears the title of 'My First Love.’ It is said to contain self-revelations of a startling character. Some time ago it was rumored that efforts were being made obtain permission for Gorki to land in England, but tho proposal was not proceeded with.