BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Evening Star, Issue 19776, 28 January 1928, Page 17

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

VERSES A BALLADE OF MR SAMUEL PEPYS. “ Up, to the office, and there till four; Up, to the office, andjto the play.” Thus Mr Pepys in the jears of yore. This is the sum of his earthly day. Early he rose, or long: he lay; Donned his stockings) and ate his bread, ! Went to court in , a splendid shay. • ■ • j , “ Up, to the office .i. . and so to bed.” ] -i “ Saw the ships as they left the shore; Met with Nelly . • / . my wife distrait; ' Kissed Mrs Knipp . . • but I vowed no more.” : This is the sum of his eirthly day. ‘‘So to church for an hour, to pray; So to a barber’s, who trimmed my head. Met with Mercer, who siid me nay. Up, to the office . . . and so to bed. “Donned my surtout I bad never wore; So to the office, accounts to pay. Met with Nell, which 1 do deplore.” This is the sura of his earthly day. “So to the playhouse, and thence away Home, and a volume' of Potters read. Played my flute, and was merry and gay • • • , Up, to the office . . and so to bed.” L’ENVOi. Gather ve rosebuds while ye may— This is the sum of his earthly day. And, when the whole of it’s done and said, “Up, to the office . . ■ and so to bed.” —New York ‘World. BENEATH A DATE PALM’S SHADE. Beneath a date palm’s shade I view my garden fair, In morning’s dazzling light Beauty walks there. The drowsy sunlight pours In pools of amber light, Where milk-w'hite butterflies Pause in their flight., Hundreds of golden beads Adorn a kuraquat tree; Huge snowball clouds roll by Dreamily. High on the trelliscd pyre A gaudy flame vine weaves; The jasmine’s scent is mixed Whsh camphor leaves. A bougainvillea vine Blooms purple on the wall, A red bird praises God In fluted call. Franklin N. Mood, in ‘Sunset Hours.’

NEW BOOKS WAR HISTORIES AUSTRALIANS AT RABAUL. [By W. M‘L.] Australia has evidently determined ihat the deeds of its sons in the Great <Var, as far as written records, at any rate, can perpetuate them, shall not bo forgotten by the people of Australia and by succeeding generations. Fortunate, indeed, was it lor this purpose that the Australian armies had attached to them in the various theatres of war official Australian correspondents appointed by the Government. Some of these correspondents, notably Captain C. E. W. Bean and Mr W. &. Gullett, wrote during the course of the great struggle accounts which compared favorably with the work of the correspondents from other countries. At the close of the war the Australian Government arranged lor the publication of an official history of Australia in the war, and the thorough manner in which it provided for the work may be judged bv the fact that, when completed, the ‘history will occupy twelve bulky volumes. Six of these have been issued since the war closed, and the fart that some of the writers engaged are still at their task of producing the remaining volumes gives an idea of haw carefully the work is being done. The latest volume to be issued is The Australians at Rabaul, the ,Capture and Administration of the German Possessions in the Southern Pacific,’ the book being volume ten of the series. Jhe author is Mr S. S. Mackenzie.^ It may bo asserted that it is rather late in the clay for histories of the war to be issued, but the Australian Government has probably wisely taken the view that they are not being produced altogether for present-day people, but largely for the stimulation of those to come in knowing what the manhood of the country was prepared io sacrifice for all that we hold dear. It is the desire of the Australian Government tjiat the people shall be told the whole truth, and, except in the case of tne volume dealing with the activities of the Australian navy, the writers nave been left entirely unhampered by any form of censorship. In some degree the accounts of campaigns in such places as Rabaul and other Pacific islands are of more than ordinary tinterest, for the reason that at the time they were proceeding thepublicity given to them was overshadowed by the messages from the more important scats of war. At the same time many of these “ side issues,” so to speak, had a most important bearing on German strategy and plans of operation. Much, therefore, of what is contained in Mr Mackenzie’s book is entirely new to the general reader. He deal interestingly with his subject from first to last, and his accounts of _ the Australians’ capture of the various of importance are not too Technical to be understood by anyone without any knowledge of military matters. Apart from the actual description of the campaigns, Mr Mackenzie finds it necessary to delve into the past history of some of the German possesions in The Pacific, and in that; respect alone his volume is full of interest. The first chapter deals with German colonisation in the Pacific.. In 1884, after an annexation of New Guinea by Queensland had been disavowed at the instance of the Imperial Government, Germany hoisted her flag., there. It was always suspected in Australia that Germany’s real purpose in New Guinea was the building up of her naval power in the Pacific. New Guinea gave her a naval base within easy steaming distance of Australia. Her next requirement would be a strategic point from which she could strike at New Zealand. That - object appeared to he attained

when, in 1900, she succeeded in getting control of Samoa. Potential naval sta- ' tions in the South Pacific were then assured. In the meantime she had turned her attention to the North Pacific. She wrested Kaiochao, from the

effete Chinese Government in 1897, and established there at Tsingtijo a naval '’“ndquarters. In 1899 she purchased > Spain the Caroline, Marshall, and

A LITERARY CORNER

Marianne Islands, which formed a useful connecting link between Kaiachau, New Guinea, and Samoa. By the year 1914 Germany was an important factor in the trade of the Pacific. And always behind this commercial expansion there was suspected a primary aim—to increase her naval power in the Pacific. When, on August 4, 1914, the nations woke to war, the German possessions in the Pacific became at once factors of great strategic importance. A powerful German fleet was in that ocean; it had bases and coaling stations at carefully selected points, with which it could communicate by wireless. As long as it remained in the Pacific and could maintain communication with its bases in the islands, the position urns one fraught with endless possibilties for Australia and New Zealand. It was inevitable that those countries should bo involved in operations against the German possessions. The call came very quickly. Two days after Britain’s declaration’ of war the Secretary of State for the Colonies despatched to the Governor-General of Australia a cypher telegram from which the following is an extractin' your Ministers desire and feel themselves able to seize German wireless stations at Yap in Marshall Islands, Nauru on Pleasant Island, and New Guinea, we should feel that this was a great and urgent Imperial service. You will, however, realise that any territory now occupied must be at the disposal of the Imperial Government for purposes of an ultimate settlement at the conclusion of the war Other dominions are acting in a similar way on the same understanding, in particular, suggestion is being made to Now Zealand in regard to Samoa.

After an interesting chapter on the story of the discovery and early history of New Guinea, the writer goes on to describe how within a fortnight Australia had ready to despatch her naval and military Expeditionary Force, known as the A.N. and M.E.F. Embarkation was carried out during August 18, seven days after the first infantryman had been enrolled. Along the route by which it marched through the Sydney streets the battalion was cheered by a. warm-hearted people, for whom the sight of departing continents was to become a common experience. The naval and other units wore embarked on the same day. Shortly after noon on August 19 the steamer Berrima, flying the White Ensign. made for the Heads. The next chapter is devoted by _ the writer to the position of affairs in New Guinea and Rabaul at the outbreak of war. The Germans carried the wireless plant inland, and removed the seat of Government from the sea coast, where defensive preparations were made by the handful of Germans, who trained native troops for service. Guarded by the warship Australia and other ships of the Australian fleet, the force arrived safely off Rabaul on September 11, the naval brigade making the first landing. Considerable opposition was encountered, and the density of the jungle made the advance precarious. In spite of difficulties, however, the Germans and native were overpowered, the Australian casualties being lighter than might have been expected. Steady troops in such entrenched and picked positions could have taken heavy toll of advancing parties, who in unknown country had nt every turn to meet the fire of an unseen enemy at close range. But the morale of the native constabulary had been unequal to the test of meeting disciplined white troops, and with all thu advantage of cover and prepared positions had proved a failure. The German official report admitted that the capacity of the Australians to fight in bush country had been under-esti-mated, and it is known that the advance in extended order disconcerted the Germans, who had expected it to he confined to the narrow line of the road. On the afternoon of Sunday. September 13, the British flag was hoisted at Rabaul. Garrisons were established at various parts of the islands. The terms of capitulation and the establishment of a military administration are interestingly described in further chapters. In a. despatch on 'December 11 the commander of the Australian Expedition (Colonel W. Holmes’) reported: “The whole of the late German possessions south of the Equator may be considered to have been satisfactorily dealt with by my force. Other stations will be visited ns opportunity occurs.” The account of the capture of a German Government steamer called tlm Komet makes interesting reading. This vessel was found concealed along the coast by a small armed yacht, the Nusa, manned by Australian naval men. and was captured without much trouble. It is interesting to note that, before the wireless station was nut out of action at Rabaul, the Unmet had received word t i proceed to a. rendezvous with coal for Admiral Von Spec’s German warshins.

Tho military occupation of Nauru, a place of some considerable interest to New Zealand, provides material for another chapter. This island, with its rich phosphate deposits, was formally taken over on November 7, the wireless plant there having been rendered inoperative hy a landing party icoin the cruiser Melbourne on September 9. Then followed a North-west Pacific expedition for the occupation of German islands north of tho Equator, ibis work being successfully accomplished by n fresh force from Australia. Further chapters are devoted to the work of the Medical Corps, which had rn extremely difficult task in dealing with tropical diseases, tho administration of native affairs, financial problems and administration of trade, land policy, control of trade and commerce, and life on tho ontstations.

Though the men who comprised the garrisons of the islands did not know war as those in France and other theatres did, their life was a trying and irksome one. As the writer says: "The very tranquility of visible things —the great mountains, the untravorsed forests, the shimmering coral islands—and the very remoteness from tho theatre of war increased the irksomeness of days, weeks, and months passed in isolation from the main currents of events. ... To serve with

an expeditionary force which had become. an occupying force, to submit to the conditions of a military establishment, the restraint of discipline, and the monotony of garrison _ routine, to relinquish normal civilian life and freedom, and yet to lack the excitement, the adventure, and the ‘ crowded hour ’ of the -fighting zone—all this meant, week by week, month by month, the enduring of conditions which levied a continuous toll on the good sense and spirits of most men.” The mandate and the end of the military occupation form the subject of the concluding chapter. The period of administration in New Guinea, extending from September 12, 1914, til] May 9, 1921, represented the first occasion on which Australians had been faced with the mission of capturing an enemy country and establishing and carrying on the government of enemy territory under military occupation. Tt was something new in the history of the British Empire—and, indeed, in the history of the world—that an overseas dominion under the British Crown should send a fleet and a military force

nearly 2,000 miles to wrest a colony ium the grasp of a European Power. It will stand to the credit of Australia that her young land and sea' forces swiftly and successfully occupied difficult territory. But it is still more to her credit that in those forces were found the men who capably administered every branch of the Government not merely with a respect for the law of nations which, on the whole, won the implicit approval even of German inhabitants, but with that consideration of the interests of the natives which already distinguished Australian administration of Papua, and which has long been the mark of British rule in new territories, however undeveloped, and among backward peoples. Mr Mackenzie’s work, like the previous volumes, has been handsomely produced by Messrs Angus and Robertson, the printing and workmanship being up to their usual high standard. There are fifty-five maps and ninetyone illustrations, the latter all reproductions of real photographs. •THE ARUHTA' A STUDY OF A STONE-AGE PEOPLE. [By Tal. Johnston.] This work, Irani the able pens of Sir Baldwin Spencer, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., and his collaborator, the late Mr F. J. Gillen, clearly demonstrates the truth of the old saying, that for mankind the best study is man. The authors, as respectively Chief and Sub'Protector of Aborigines in the Northern Territory of Australia, spent thirty years of exhaustive research in the compilation of these two interesting volumes, which should be of immense value to those whoso interest lies in anthropology. More especially when it is remembered that the Warramunga people, with which the work is concerned, is reputed to be the “ father of all mankind ’’ and the fount from which all the existing races have sprung.

“ The aim of this w'ork,” to quote the preface, “ is to give as complete an account as possible, based upon years of close study, of the organisation, customs, beliefs, and general culture of a people that affords as much insight as we are now ever likely to gain into the manner of life of men and women who have long since disappeared in other parts of the -world, and are now known to ns only through their stone implements, which, together with rock drawings and more or less crude carvings, were the only imperishable records of their culture that they could leave behind them.”

The authors were accepted by the natives as fully initiated members of the Arunta tribe, being accorded membership of the Udnirringita totem, and were thereby enabled more freely to delve into the closely guarded secrets of tribal life—the ceremonial observances and rites which govern the religious and material lives of the tribesmen. These ceremonies—or corrobborees—are held on every possible occasion, and differ from those of many other native races in that they are noticeably free from obscenities, and appear to have their origin more in an ancient cult of mysticism than in the more common, blind worship of natural functions. The tribesman follows his ritual with a meticulous attention to detail and a spirit of hidebound conservatism in regard to procedure. What his fathers did before him, that he must do. if during the performance of a ceremony his ancestors painted a white line across the forehead that line he must paint, and instant punishment would follow upon any deviation, however slight. The practice of suh-dividing tribes into totemistic groups, which at first sight appears to bo an entirely useless and amazingly complicated system of blood relationships, is shown by the authors to have a basis of sound common sense. It removes the clangor of promiscuous inter-marrying in a very simple manner. For instance, a man of the Emu totem is permitted to choose a wife only from the Black-snake totem. Their child will automatically become a member of, say, the Tree totem, with its choice of a future' husband or wife limited to the people of the Rain-water totem. _ These restrictions, with other regulations to cope with any extraordinary case that may arise, are as comprehensive and all embracing as the bv-laws of a modern city, and are capable of making things very warm for any tribesman who steps off the paths of virtue.

Generosity seems to be a definite trait of the native character. Portions of food, of the spoils of war, or any unconsidered trifle he may acquire, are unhesitatingly given away by the owner, and as unhesitatingly accepted by tho recipient. Whether there is, or is not, an understanding between them to the effect that one good turn deserves another would be a difficult point to decide, but one can at least follow the example of tho authors, and incidently of English laws, by giving them the benefit of the doubt. With regard to the custom of giving, there is one. thing that has created a great deal of misunderstanding on tho part of white people who have given presents to the natives. They express no gratitude, considering that, as it is every man’s duty to give to his fellows, it would be superfluous to expect praise for an act prompted more by obedience to tribal custom than spontaneous generosity. A very interesting chapter is the one dealing with the native cookery. Sir Baldwin neglects to mention whether he and his collaborator entered so far into the spirit of the business as to partake of it, but possibly he considers that a description of some of the popular dishes renders a statement unnecessary. An emu, partially eviscerated, stuffed with its own feathers, and very lightly cooked, is a dish for which a taste would have to be acquired. Perhaps a bowl of the intoxicant compounded from crushed honey ants and an entree of ground grubs would help one to regard the emu piece de resistance with a kindlier eye. That the aborigine has well-developed reasoning power is clearly shown, and the following is one of the many incidents which are related in proof of it:—Tho native, who is innocent of clothing at all times, builds a lire to warm him on cold nights. There is an abundance of fuel, .yet he prefers to build a very tiny fire, over which he crouches as closely as possible. When asked the reason for this, he replies that the small fire calls for less exertion in fuel gathering, it generates sufficient heat for his needs, and is much more sensible than the camp fire of the white man, which is made so large that a man is scorched if he approaches within yards of it.

The value of the work is enhanced by the numerous photographs and sketches of native scenes and objects of interest. The originals of the photographs, together with cinematographic and phonographic records of the corrobboree dances and totemic ceremonies, with their accompanying “ songs,” have been placed in the collection of the National Museum, Melbourne, where they will be a valuable addition to the previously acquired knowledge of these people. The- work, in two attractively bound volumes, is published by Messrs MacMillan and Co., Ltd.

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE ‘ Science Yesterday, To-day, and To-morrow,’ by Joseph M'Caba (Methuen and Co.), is an illuminating little book written in a form that can be easily comprehended by the layman. He begins by describing the rapid advance in mechanical power, showing how the physicist makes his wonderful discoveries, and the portentous energy of the electrons. Then he proceeds to show the developments from the alchemist to the creative chemist, pointing put that our discovery of the nature of matter leads to an unprecedented manipulation of it, and the transforming effect on life for the mass of the people. Dealing with the food problem and the increase of population, he shows that our progress has been phenomenal compared with that of any previous age. “ Our political systems,’’ be declares, “ would have broken down under the strain of modern problems if science had not enabled agriculture, industry, ami commerce to meet them. It has enabled the nation to give some SO per cent, of its members at least three times the wage and twice the leisure which their grandfathers and grandmothers had, and in the general conditions of their life they are six or seven times better off than in the days of Cobbett.” The author in a chapter dealing with the conquest of pain describes the ghastly epidemics and maladies of the Middle Ages, and compares them with the conditions that prevail to-day. After dealing with the work of the astronomers and the new conception of the vastness of the universe, ho closes with some observations on the prospects of the world, and dwells on the lack of co-ordination in scientific matters in England, declaring that our blunders are duo to the lack of application of science. “ Our people are as vigorous, mentally and physically, as any in the world. But we have no_ ideas adequate to the situation, and it will take a very large and bold application of scientific thought to food production in England and to the adjustment of industrial productivity to the New World situation to restore its prosperity.” In one instance the author takes too much for granted when ho says; “It is only a few years since diabetes was decisively and wonderfully conquered by the discovery of insulin, tho Spahlinger treatment seems to promise a further large reduction of mortality from consumption, and we have traced the germ of cancer and face the mysterious malady more confidently.” On the whole, however, the book is an excellent summary of the achievements of science in the last hundrd years.

A BOOK OF TRAVEL It is a welcome change from the highly flavored romances and detective stories of present-day novels to read ‘ Through the Congo Basin,’ by Douglas Fraser (Messrs Herbert Jenkins, Ltd.). This is a most interesting description of the lesser-known tracts of the Congo, the native tribes .and their quaint customs, the wild game and vegetation, and the trade of the country with its possibilities. The book is profusely illustrated with photographs and maps, and the author has an agreeable style of setting forth his experiences, facts, and observations. The Congo is Belgian territory, and one curious fact mentioned by Mr Fraser is that British goods would have no chance of a sale if the prices which are demanded in England obtained there; consequently, it is found possible to ship the same goods more than 7,000 miles, tranship twice, and then actually dispose of them cheaper than in their country of origin. How is this done? The natives in the coastal and river districts are a lazy and worthless lot, and are completely spoiled by contact with civilisation, but in the interior they are of a finer type., and so different that the traveller might almost have stepped on to a different continent for the time being. The author, at the beginning of his book, refers to tho_ Congo as the land of silence, and the impression remained throughout liis travels. The natives are dour and silent, and the skies are grey. Unfortunately, says the author, the Belgians still look upon their colony as a last resource, and in consequence the type of emigrant met with in the country does not as a rule figure very high in the social scale. 'White Cargo,’ with all its sinister incidents, soon begins te make its presence felt. GUILTY OR HOT GUILTY ? ‘Gentlemen of the Jury,’ by Patrick Leyton and A. Compton Pickett (Herbert Jenkins), is a highly dramatic tale. The principal figures that cross the stage are Juanita Merrick, Sir Horace and Lady Blekeney, Valentine Mason (the latter’s sou by a former marriage), Rodney Ashton, and Juanita’s villainous cousin. The book opens at the moment of a murder trial, when_ the extremely beautiful Spaniard Juanita is in the dock on a charge of having poisoned her husband. She is acquitted, thanks to the eloquence of her advocate, Sir Horace Blekeney. His record in the courts is a brilliant one, but his wife hate's his criminal work because she thinks that sometimes lie may be successful in gaining an acquittal for a guilty person. The Jury acquits Juanita in the face of the strongest circumstantial evidence. Lady Blekeney bad already judged her guilty in her own mind, so that consternation is felt when Juanita arrives at Sir Horace’s house to thank him for bis efforts on her behalf. Both he and bis wife, by some curious sense of prevision, are anxious to keep young Mason from meeting Juanita, but lie does get a glimpse of her at Ashton studio. _ The events that follow are dramatic and exciting to the Inst degree. It would spoil the story to give any indication of their nature. A GIRL IN THE UNDERWORLD ‘ The Quest of the Golden Garter,’ by Ethel Holdswortb (Herbert Jenkins), is a mystery story written on somewhat conventional lines, but the plot is well constructed, and the interest is maintained to the last chapter. A beautiful girl with a fine nature is by force of circumstances compelled to be a thief’s accomplice in the underworld. Billy Durant, a fashionable young man about town, falls in love with her. She lives in a well-appointed house with every . appearance of luxury. All Durant’s advances are met with the same command : “Go away, and as you value your life don’t come back.” As he is an enterprising youth he disregards this advice, and becomes a more determiner wooer. The events that follow put some strain on the reader’s credulity, but possibly such things do happen "in real life. In any case the adventures of Billy Durant and Lydia Carstairs make entertaining reading. TRAVEL IH SWITZERLAND ‘ Oberland ’ is the latest novel by Dorothy Richardson, and makes an addition to the series of her out-of-thc-usual stories. ‘ Oberland ’ is a travel novel of Switzerland, featured by the distinctive, artistic writing of Miss Richardson. But it is not a story that will suit the mass of leaders, the theme being handled too heavily. ‘ Oberland ’ is published by Duckworth, from whom we have received our copy.

HIDDEN TREASURE Luke Swayne, the son of an imp&cunious peer, goes to Australia with the intention of retrieving the family fortunes. He acquires a selection in the backblocks, and has settled down to hard work, when a well-to-do farmer nearby sends for him and makes the dying confession that he had many years before taken possession of a large sum of money which belonged to the previous peer, Luke’s uncle. The disappearance of this money had remained a mystery. The dying man said he had stolen it out of revenge, but had never used it. He declared his intention of telling Luke where was hidden, and had just got oat the words, “It is under the fourth—” when he collapsed and died. Luke at once returned to England, much to his cynical and worldly father’s disgust, with the object of mu'ring a thorough search of Swarfield Hall, the family seat. The earl was frankly sceptical, and put forward every obstacle to the search j but Luke, assisted by his charming cousin, Delphinium, was not to be held back, and exciting incidents followed. ‘ Under the Fourth ’ is written by Peter Luck. The publishers are Herbert Jenkins, Limited.

ALGERNON BLACKWOOD ‘The Dance of Death,” by Algernon Blackwood, is a collection of six tales of mystery and imagination. This talented author does not deal with the common mystery of crime or murder, but rather with the mystic and supernatural—strange stories _of strange happenings. They are weird tales, but fascinating. The reader is between worlds of phantasy and reality, but such is the genius of Mr Blackwood that the situation does not seem singular. The story entitled 1 A Psychical Invasion ’ is perhaps the most eerie of the collection, and in this the author has let his imagination run riot, with the result that the reader’s scalp is inclined to tingle and bright lights are welcome. In contrast is 1 The Touch of Pan,’ which is a delightful prose idyll. Our copy is from the publishers, Messrs Herbert Jenkins, Ltd. ' PIGS AND PEARLS ' The claim is made by Herbert Jenkins, the publishers, that ‘ Pigs and Pearls ’ is a story of adventure, full of verve and humor. The novel docs not quite live up to that claim. Margaret Hogge, the author, makes a prosy opening, and although the story moves more freely in tho later chapters, tho writer appears to be laboring under strain. In many ways ‘ Pigs and Pearls ’ is an entertaining story of an English M.P. who loses a valuable black pearl and has a mania for pig raising.

SIR HENRY NEWBOLT HONORED A bronze tablet on the wall of St. Mary’s Vicarage, Bilston, was unveiled recently in honor of Sir Henry Newbolt, who was bom there on June 6, 1862, during the vicariate of his father, the Rev. H. F. Newbolt. The tablet commemorated Sir Henry Newbolt’s birth. After the ceremony Sir Henry Newbolt expressed his pleasure at the commemoration, and said that the idea, which he supposed sprang out of Bilston. soil, struck him as being one of the most unique of which he had heard. To be buried in Westminster Abbey was supposed to be the greatest ambition of most men who had distinguished themselves, but he had never been strongly moved by such desire. He was not sure that it was not a greater honor to be commemorated by his native town. He did not suggest there had been any jealousy, but there must be some chagrin that he was the first Englishman to see his memorial unveiled during his lifetime. He', could, imagine, his friend George Bernard'Shaw’s feelings, and he should take good care to acquaint him with it. During the afternoon school children sang two of Sir Henry Newholt’s poems. The Vice-chairman of Bilston District Council said that Sir Henry Newbolt that night would sleep in the same room as was his nursery when a habv.

“Why should it cause chagrin to me,” Mr Bernard Shaw said, on his attention being called to Sir Henry Newbolt’s remark by a representative of the 1 Observer.’ “On the contrary,” was his comment, “I applaud it; I think it an excellent precedent. I should be very glad to see memorials erected to Sir Henry Newbolt all over the country. The only objection iu a general way to erecting memorials to a man in his lifetime is that you never know how he may end. There is no danger, of course, in Sir Henry Newbolt’s case; hut if a memorial were to be put up to mo before I died the possibility is 1 might be hanged. There is just this that might be said, too. There are a great many eminent men who cease to_ bo useful a long time before they die. I think they might have memorials erected, with the date of their death inscribed on them for people to look at!” NOTES A copy of the first edition of Dickens’s ‘ The .Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club ’ has been sold at auction in Now York for £‘.3,260. The highest price previously paid for a first edition is said to be £1,600 at a sale in England. A loading London publisher expresses the opinion that the future of bookselling is likely to be in the hands of well-educated, well-trained women. J. G. M'Donald, one of the rapidlydiminishing group of men who worked in close contact with Cecil Rhodes, has completed a new biography of him. Eden Phillpotts condemns the fashion among our highbrow novelists to sneer at Sir Walter Scott, whose “little finger is mightier than the thigh of any one among us men and women who are writing novels to-day.” John Galsworthy finds that the trilogy} as a form of fiction writing, has the advantage that the background is there, once for all, and you can give more attention to the development of your characters.

‘ The Times ’ reprints the following paragraph from its issue of November 17, 1827 The Family Expurgator: The Rev. Mr Bowdler has lately obliged the world with a Family Gibbon and a Family Shakespeare, in which every gross and improper allusion is carefully expunged from the text. It is rumored that the same gentleman has it in contemplation to publish a Family Bible on the same plan. Mr Edward Shanks thinks Sir Edmund Gosse has probably caused more books to be read than any other man now living, and not merely, as some critics do, by a sort of intellectual bullying. Ho drives no one to literature as schoolmasters drive children to church. He simply has the gift of making any book that he has enjoyed seem attractive.

R. L. Mogroz reports that he has collected, both from books and from the testimonies of friends, a surprising number of _ instances of anticipatory dreams, which lie hopes to publish in an anthology of the subject. It is said that the younger customers of London booksellers are asking a good deal for old diaries and old memoirs. This is interesting, because since the Great War a very modern literary note has, as Mr Rudyard Kipling said about the three-volume novel, been thought " the only certain packet to the Islands of the Blest.” The stream of old and new memoirs is running very full.