BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Evening Star, Issue 21079, 16 April 1932, Page 21

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

VERSES THE WAILING WALL Harvests pass and turbans pass and scimitars go by; Jerusalem in its ancient way is wise; It basks and keeps its wailing wall . . . and smiles. These stones hold cool, immobile breasts Where patriarchal hands still boat their ..knotted grief And women lean upon the weeping dusk. All cities need low wailing walls apart; Sun and stone and star respect the unashamed cry And honey-laden hills stand Druid for this rite. Desolation under roofs is agony twiceborne, Taut sorrow gasps like flame along the streets; 0 cities, rear for us a forum made for pain 1 Sharp grasses use the dust of Babylon, But Jerusalem has wine; 0 cities, make a place for weeping, carve a wall for tears! —Don Gordon in the . New York ‘ Herald-Tribune.’ SUMMER SUNSET The westerning sun sinks slowly to the hills, The weary world with golden glory glows; So softly flow the streamlets and the rills, And Nature bids her creatures seek repose; On yonder beach I hear the murmuring sea, The spirit of the hour enraptures me. 1 wander in my garden, and behold! A galaxy of colour greets me there; My roses tinged with orange, pink, and gold, What loveliness with sunset can compare ? Ah, garden of enchantment and delight, No pen can paint your beauty wondrous bright. I long to feel the petals of each flower, To touch the tender tints ere they should fade; And as I pass the scented stock a shower * Of perfume fills my garden’s glowing glade; Among the soothing sounds that float to me I hear the tireless humming of a bee. Awhile I pause, and high on poplar near A merry thrush sings sweetest evensong; His melody is full and loud and clear, To him ho sorrow's, cares, or griefs belong; Enthralled I listen, and I fear lest he Should break his heart in throbbing ecstasy. I westward turn my gaze, and there a shroud Of curtain red obscures the sun from view; Then sinking ’neath soft banks of crimson cloud, Through jagged mountain tops he shines anew, As though to stir with one last radiant ray —Lilias May Bhidges (Dunedin). The dying embers of departing day. H. G. WEILS AGAIN HIS NEW OUTLINE Mr Wells’s new book, ‘ The Work, Wealth, and Happiness of Mankind,’ begins: This book is intended to bo a picture of all mankind to-day, a picture of living mankind active, working, spending, making, and destroying. There are, we are told, one thousand nine hundred million human beings, more or less. They all breathe, eat, and sleep, and they are otherwise engaged in the most various activities. They co-operate with one another, and they are in conflict with one another. They die, but continually more are born to take up and extend the activities the dead have relinquished. We seek here to give all the activities in one crowded picture.” Mr Wells is never afraid of undertaking a gigantic task (writes the 1 inquiry Layman,’ in * John o’ London’s Weekly ’). This is the last book of a trilogy; the first was his well-known ‘ Outline of History,’ the second ‘ The Science of Life,’ and now this outline of social evolution and present-day society. Unlike the previous works, this one is published in the first instance at a popular price. No serious reader of books could spend 10s fid to better advantage. That 1 can say with confidence. And there is probably not another living person who could have written it with the same overflowing knowledge and the same charm of style. We might say another thing; it is a fine thing that such a keen mind and such a powerful and inspiring pen should devote such energy to tJie attainment of ideals. For this work is an effort to save the human race, shall we say, from perdition. At the. same time it will have to face the criticism of many economists and social reformers, who will take leave to differ. It could not be otherwise; there is no sovereign remedy for the evils that afflict the world at the present time, and no one man can pretend to be n specialist in every branch of knowledge Certainly when it comes to .matters like the present world economic crisis, such subjects as banking, currency schemes the gold standard, and suchlike. the last word is not with Mr Wells, nor any other one man. The precision of scientific method does not apply, and the human factor no one can gauge. THE BOOK; Even barely to outline the scope of this hook would tax our space. . What we can say in general is that this book is unlike its two predecessors in one respect. It is not so much history and science speaking through the voice of Mr Wells, speaking brilliantly and with a great deal of authoritative backing, as Mr Wells speaking from a pulpit of his own and preaching a faith that is his own. Like any other faith it cannot claim to be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. There is no such thing as a complete science of work, and wealth, and happiness.

A LITERARY CORNER

We speak of economic science, but does it exist as a strict science? But there is a history of human activities, and this history is given in the valuable opening chapters, entitled 'How Man Became an Economic Animal,’ ‘ How Man has Learnt to Gam Mastery Over Force and Matter,’ ‘The Conquest of Distance,’ ‘How Mankind is Fed,’ ‘How Mankind is Clothed and Housed,’ ‘ How Goods are Bought and Sold,’ ‘How Work is Organised ’ (which deals with the personnel factor, the relation of employer and employee, trade unions, etc.), chapter nine is ‘How Work is Paid for and Wealth Accumulated,’ followed by ‘ The Rich, the Poor, and Their Traditional Antagonism.’ He deals with the system of capitalistic enterprise, and the changing concepts of property and money, and with banking and such things as inflation, deflation, and the operation of tho credit system, etc. With chapter twelve we come to ' The Governments of Mankind and Their Economic and Military Welfare ’; here we have reflections on the League of Nations and other experiments in internationalism. The subject of chapter fifteen is ‘ How Mankind is Taught and Disciplined,’ which opens tho way to education, and, finally, ‘ The Outlook of Mankind ’ —all very informing, illuminating, and written with Mr Wells’s compelling force and charm of diction. But, as we have said, the historical narrative not all. Interwoven, or as addenda, we have polemic, we have pages of opinionative discussion and reasoning. Again all profoundly interesting, but no finality. On page 484, among other bright things, Mr Wells says of Mr Bernard Shaw: “ His is a fine intelligence which is always going off on the spree.” Occasionally it is just that we feel about Mr Wells himself, intoxicated with the exuberance of his own ideas. At the end of one long passage the present writer felt puzzled about its precise significance when a little sprite in his brain whispered; “ What is tho drift of all this?” He had to reply: “I am afraid I don’t know'.”

AN “ EXASPERATING SPECTACLE.” There is much acute analysis, and Mr Wells quotes a recent writer on the danger to our e-isting civilisation. “ Our civilisation will not last unless it be a civilisation not of one class but of the masses ”; education is the world’s hope, and “ it is to a better education and to a better education alone, therefore, that we must look for any hope of ameliorating substantially the confusions and distresses of our present life.” Education of all classes; for the better classes need awakening from habit and traditional “ stupidity.” Mr Wells is very severe with men like Professor Soddy, to whom “the world is an exasperating spectacle of reasonable creatures behaving unreasonably and wickedly.” The fact is, Mr Wells thinks, they are not yet very reasonable creatures. He does not think that the hearts of all rich men are naturally wicked; they suffer from a common failing. Ho bids Professor Soddy look again at the spectacle of our dragging distresses, tho , baseness and injustices of the world. “ Let him look at the spectacle again and look at it whole, as we are trying to do in this work; let him look at it as a species of about nineteen hundred million individuals, descended from rather ferocious, ego-centred, ape-like ancestors, not very greatly modified yet, and modifying very slowly, and only very slowly muddling their way to knowledge, reason, and efficient cooperation. He can never see tho, absurdities of tho situation better than he does now, but he will find then that he has a better grasp upon the obstacles he is up against and the nature of the remedial processes in which we have to put our trust. He will become less impatient and more constructive.” THE RICH. The present writer has no knowledge of Professor Soddy’s particular views, but there is point in another quotation we may give. “He thinks, for example, that the present struggle to arrest the hopeful expansion ofnunian affairs for the soke of the gold standard is due to a conspiracy of powerful, aggressive, able men. Wo think that it is due to blind convergence of fear, habit, and traditional stupidity. He cannot wait for the steadfast unfolding of our release from tradition. . . . We do not believe that any largo proportion of bankers are plotting to keep tho world poor. There is a mVTnber of honestly perplexed men among them, men who are dismayed and distressed by the turn things are taking. They are often business men unaccustomed as yet to the scientific method of thought, but they are picking up steadily.” I have quoted this not as a complete answer to those who are of Professor Soddy’s way of thinking, but as a statement that has good sense behind it. One is obliged to say that Mr Wells finds among tho powerful and the rich some boors and bandits who stand in the way of modifying our economic system. From this Mr Wells turns to the subject of the rich generally, but we have not space to say more than we have already hinted at. He concludes: “ The way to the new world economy, when everyone will be prosperous, is likely to be hard! difficult, and dangerous. But the best brains will be on our side. They will not be against us. Wo may have to wade through morasses of foolishness and fight stampedes of boorish plutocrats, but that plotting of a 1 majority of the most forceful and successful people in the community ’ against progress is a nightmare of Professor Soddy’s bad hours. It is a nightmare to be exorcised, _ because such things rankle in the brain and make us violent and bitter, just when, if we are to be of any real service to_ mankind, we should be most careful in our adjustments and accusations.” BAD TRADITIONS. It is refreshing to read Mr Wells in this vein, for we had not thought that his own chief virtue was patience or philosophical calm, or that he himself was altogether guiltless of denunciation and impassioned accusations. The closing words of the chapter ‘ How Mankind is Taught and Disciplined ” are as follows:

“If in space and time, but outside of and above our world or work and wealth altogether, some commanding intelligence could survey and appraise it in its simplest form, tbo whole spectacle of our activities, our desires, our efforts, and our defeats would appear as one continuing struggle between the creative synthetic will and thought of the human mind on the one hand, and the subtle, endlessly various selfcentred recalcitrance of tho individual man on the other.”-

And to the present reviewer that is the sum and substance of it. One comes away from this book primed with a vast array of interesting details, set forth with brilliant statement and understanding, but one comes away from it, too, without any leading ideas which can be taken as an inspired heaven-sent way to reconstruction. .No readjustment can be planned on vague phrases and airy ideals Mr Wells does well to break down the barriers of bad tradition and obsolete survivals, but new things that will take their place can only come by growth. It is more easy to* construct an ideal system for economic society than to fit a society into it, so conflicting are the forces that so variedly go to make up human nature. A house built to suit Mr Wells may not be the house that great numbers would be happy or content to live in. You may relashion man in the shape of Mr Wells’s economic man to* live in Mr Wells’s economic world and yet find something lacking. And some will ask if Mr Wells’s basic faith in the redeeming power of education and intelligence is justified. Education may go far, very far, but is the foundation of education in itself the foundation for a New Jerusalem, or the New World State? I think that was the pointed, if implied, question in a recent article by Professor Soddy. That 1 this is a valuable hook tor everyone to road is certain, and that it is' published at so moderate a price is something for which we should bo thankful. 1 have not touched more than the merest fringe of it. Mr Wells is no gloomy pessimist. We live in gloomy times, “ but there is no inevitability about any of these gloomy mischances. The unknown is lull of possible surprises for mankind. There is no more probability of these surprises being dreadful than there is of their being delightful. The chances are strictlv even.” Mr Wells says that there are times and seasons and moods of exaltation “ when the whole universe about us seems bright with the presence of as yet unimaginable things.” He heads the section where he says that, ‘ Hope and Courage are Inevitable.’ NEW KIPLING SONG TWO KINDS OF MEN Mr Kipling wrote for a gathering in the Albert Hall, London, promoted by the National Council of Social Service., a new song in two stanzas, which is described as a sort of sequel to his ‘lf.’ The first stanza tells of ‘the man that is kindly of heart,” and of the good things that attend him. It is as follows; — The man that is kindly of heart towards his neighbour, And stops to consider his likes and dislikes— His blood shall be wholesome, whatever his labour — His luck shall be with him, whatever ho strikes. The splendour of morning shall duly possess him— And he shall not be sad at the falling of eve. And, when he has done with mere living, God bless him! A many shall sigh—and one woman shall grieve! The second, or admonitory, stanza runs: — But he that is costive of soul towards his fellow, In the ways and the works and the woes of this life, Him food shall not fatten, him drink shall, not mellow. And his innards shall brew him perpetual strife! His eye shall be blind to God’s glory above him— His ear shall be deaf to earth’s laughter around. His friends and his club and his dog shall not love him— And his widow shall skip when he goes underground. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES A DISTINGUISHED SON Oliver Wendell Holmes is, happily, still living. He is not the original ‘ Autocrat of the Breakfast Table,’ but a son. He recently retired from the bench of the United States Supreme Court. One of the most distinguished of American citizens, he is also an eminent jurist. Lord Morley went so far as to call him the greatest judge in the English-speaking world; ana his judgments were famous for their literary style. Lord Haldane said that he, Morley, and Garabetta were the three best talkers he had ever known. Mr Justice Holmes served in the Civil War, and was dangerously wounded, but recovered. On returning to civilian life ho studied for the bar, and was soon writing and lecturing on law with a glace and clarity that won him an international reputation. He entered upon his ninety-second year lately. GERMAN POET'S NOVEL Even in Germany poets have to write novels. ‘ The Labyrinth,’ by Ina Seidel, translated from the German by Oakley Williams, is Frau Seidel’s first novel, although she lias already a limb repute in Germany for her poetry. She has chosen to reconstruct the life of a certain George .Forster, who went with Captain Cook on his second voyage round the world. The book falls naturally into two divisions; The first describing this voyage in graphic detail, the second treating oi Forster’s unhappy cumiesuc life in Germany. The historical background of this second part has received high praise for its imaginative reconstruction of a period. This book is to ho translated into English. COOK'S VOYAGES An interesting addition to the manuscript department of the _ British Museum is the volume of memoirs written by John Elliott, of Elliott House. This has been presented by Mrs Ashmore. Elliott served as a midshipman in the Resolution during Cook’s voyage of 1772-75, and the memoir supplements his log of the voyage, which is in the Public Record Office. Much of it is amusing for its personal detail. Thus there is an account of Sir Joseph Banks, withdrawing _ from the vessel, together with the painter, Zoffany, and swearing and stamping on the quay.

NEW BOOKS 1 PROSPECTING FOR GOLD ' The greatly increased gold yields reported by all the mines departments of Australia, add interest to the new edition of ‘Prospecting for Gold,’ by lon L. Idriess, which has just been published. This third edition has been enriched by eight additional chapters on ‘ Erecting a Battery,’ ‘ Amalgamation ’ (two), ‘Battery Work,’ ‘Cyanide Poisoning and Cure,’ and 1 Cleaning Up Old Battery Sites,’ ‘Opal Mining’ (two): together with a note on the cyanide process. The detailed instructions (illustrated) on how to build a stamper battery will bo found invaluable by prospectors wanting one, The book is now complete so tar as gold, tin, and opal mining by the poor' man is concerned. ‘Prospecting for Gold ’ embodies the experience or a prospector who for half a life time had to win his living by prospecting. The easily _ understandable knowledge contained in it will put the new chum wise to what otherwise it would take him years of toil and bitter disappointment to learn. . The additional chapters on roof mining cover reef prospecting, erection of a five-head stamper battery, crushing, amalgamation, treatment of plates, retorting, right to the final smelting of the gold. The extra chapter on cleaning up old battery sites is packed with valuable hints in a condensed form that, enlarged, would make a book in itself. The chapter on the erection of a stamper battery is. unique. From this description men in the bush, without engineering tools or engineering experience, will bo able to erect their own batteries, The chapters on alluvial prospecting and mining lead bv easily understandable instruction right up from the first phase of alluvial prospecting to the treatment of large bodies of washdirt by hydraulic sluicing—the modern form of alluvial mining on a huge scale. This method, under conditions where it can he applied, makes ground pay which, under the pidk and shovel, cradle and dish, would not return tobacco money. The poor man is taught how to make his own plant at extremely low cost; thus disproving the fallacy that hydraulic work is for the company men alone. In these days the prospector must know all these things, for tho days when a man could go out with a pick and shovel and win rich gold, are gone. Except in undiscovered fields, only tho poor ground is left to tho modern prospector; and to make that ground pay he must understand and be able to apply modern methods of work. Ho must put through far larger quantities in less time and at less cost. The new chapter on hydraulic elevators will be of interest to many inquirers who read the earlier editions of this book. The new hand miner going out equipped with the third edition of ‘.Prospecting for Gold ’ will have not only the author’s practical experience, but the condensed experience of tho Mines Departments of Australia and New Zealand as well, Our cony is from tho publishers (Angus and Robertson, Sydney). A CHARMING ROMANCE ' The Laughter of Life,’ by Efim Adelaide Rowlands (Ward, Lock, and Co.). This is a romance of incident and charm, and all who enjoy a good love story will find this entertaining reading. It tells of a girl who resented her mother's second marriage, and, though her stepfather and stepsister worshipped her, she was eager to leave homo, especially as she had conceived a dislike for her stepfather who did all in his power to make her happy. Her experiences in the outer world and what she does with her new life are well told by the author, but before she achieves happiness sho has some unenviable experiences, though all go to make a readable story.. Our copy comes from the publishers.

A BOOK FOR DIABETICS Diabetes is a disease which is practically only a name to the outside public, but the number of sufferers from this complaint is surprisingly large, so that it is a matter of interest to them when one of their own number sets down in print his observations and conclusions drawn from his own experience. The title of the book is ‘ Notes for Diabetics,’ by “Ono of Them,” and an interesting foreword is written by Dr Harvey Sutton, an eminent Australian medical man, who expresses the opinion that the book should be of value both to the patient and the doctor. It has been said of diabetes that only an intelligent person can live with it, for the simple reason that the patient, to a considerable extent, has to be a law unto himself. He must give his doctor his co-operation, but to, an extent ho must be his own doctor. There have been some admirable works on diabetes, but most of them are of too technical a nature for the ordinary person, and this latest diabetic notebook should prove of inestimable value to sufferers from this complaint, especially as it tells them from the viewpoint of a patient himself, how to surmount many of the difficulties associated with the disease, especially those concerned with diet and insulin. Without going into detail, it may be said that the use of insulin by hypodermic injection is a comparatively recent development, discovered by two young scientists, Banting and Best, 10 or 11 years ago. The writer of these notes should alleviate the fears of any sufferer who may be hesitant upon the advisability of improving his condition and well-being by taking insulin, and an interesting chapter is devoted to ‘ How to Take Insulin.’ Tests, quack remedies, and others, diet in general, and the way to make the best o' the diets allowable are dealt with, and in pithy manner he deals with the sensations of a man who has gone through the experience both of insulin reaction and diabetic coma. The book is written in a light and most readable style, and is one that diabetics will find a welcome to their libraries. Our copy comes from the publishers. (Messrs Angus and Robertson, Sydney.) * THE FOUNTAIN ‘ When reviewing Mr Charles Morgan’s first novel, ‘ Portrait in a Mirror,’ Mr Hugh Walpole predicted an immense future success for the author. With ‘ The Fountain ’ Mr Morgan has fulfilled that prophecy, as this second novel from his pen is a story of real beauty. It will not appeal to people who like their mental food in extract or concentrated form, as what would be called “ padding ” in an ordinary novel is here perfect prose, tending to the philosophical and contemplative life. It is in this more than in the story itself in which the charm of the book lies. It is a story of prisoners of war in Holland during the Great War—-an angle which has been neglected by post-war writers. There are only a few characters, but these are all individual types, well contrasted and powerfully drawn. Being a prisoner of war reacts differently on people. In this case it suits one man, the central character, who is desirous of quietness and solitude in order that he may study the,classics for the purpose of writing a history. The eternal triangle protrudes itself when he meets his former pupil, an English girl now married to a German officer. A hackneyed theme perhaps, but so skilfully does the author handle_ it that it takes on new life and new dignity. It is an arresting novel, and well worth reading slowly and intelligently so as to appreciate its merit. Messrs Macmillan and Co. Ltd. (London)- are the publishers.

• THE PATRIOT KING ’ History used to be regarded as a dry-as-dust subject, but it can be made very interesting and enjoyable if it is treated as Miss Grace E. Thompson treats it in her works. Her latest publication is ‘ The Patriot King,’ a full study of King William IV., who was a far more important figure in the history of England than is generally supposed, and has been peculiarly neglected by biographers. Miss Thompson delves deep into the life of this monarch and the part he played during his short reign. There are clever pictures of most of the great men and women of the period, such as Lord Grey, Brougham, Duke of Wellington, Lady Holland, etc. It is interesting to note that England then, as now, was in the throes of a financial depression following the war. There were food riots, and the people behaved then just as they are now. The author shows King William, in a different light to which he is generally displayed by historians. It was fashionable in those days to label William as a buffoon, but he' was anything but a fool, and loved his country well, and did much to abolish many of the iniquities of the eighteenth century. Under Miss Thompson’s pen William IV.’s biography becomes the history of the country, hut without a dull moment. Messrs Hutchinson’s Ltd. (London) are the publishers, and our copy is from Whitoombe and Tombs Ltd. A CHILDREN'S CLASSIC * Swallowdale,’ by Arthur llansomo (Jonathan Cape), is a sequel to Swallows and Amazons,’ and. is the type ot book that is fit to rank among chi - dren’a classics. It is a delightful book of the open air, full of fun, and without a tedious lino. ’ In this book the Swallows and Amazons, as the children call themselves, meet once more on Wild Cat Island'. But this year in the background ot the Amazons there is a grown-up person w'ho does not approve of the freedom allowed them by their mother,, and at the beginning of the holiday the little sailing boat Swallow is wrecked. The story tells of the happenings while the “ship’s company” was without a vessel, - and while the "crew” of the “Amazon” were unjustly supposed to be home for meals. It tells or how they discovered Swallowdale, a secret valley in the high moors above the lake, and of how they could not live op the island; it tells of many other exciting incidents, and of how in the end all is well and the Swallows and Amazons get back to their island life. A refreshing story, our copy comes from the publishers. NOTES Miss Edith Sitwell has written a book about the city of Bath m the magnificent days of Beau Nash. Lord Lloyd is writing a book about his experiences in Egypt, where he was High Commissioner from 1925 to 1929. Mr J. R. B. Masefield, the naturallist, who has died at the age of eightyone, was a cousin of Mr John Masefield, the Poet Laureate. Mr and Mrs John _ Galsworthy have done a new translation of ‘ Carmen.’ The English edition is limited to three hundred signed copies. Charles Dickens’s grandson, Captain G. C. Dickens, has been promoted Rear-admiral. Ho is a son of Sir Henry F, Dickens, K.C., the Common Sergeant. Mr J. L, Garvin is making progress with the biography of Joseph Chamberlain, which he undertook to write some ten years ago. The first and possibly the second volumes are to appear this year.;

Mr T. S. Eliot, who has been appointed Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University, will be away from England about seven months. He will probably return in May, 1933. It is reported that a hitherto unknown' poem by Richard Brinsley Sheridan has been discovered in Dublin by Mr Seumas O’Sullivan, editor of the ‘ Dublin Magazine.’ It is said to he a satire of some 500 words. At a recent London sale a letter written by Burns to Clarinda and a letter written by her to him fetched £1.360. A first edition of ‘ A Christmas Carol,' inscribed by Dickens, went for £4BO, and an eleven-page MS. of Thackeray for £7BO. * Limits and Renewals ’ is the title of a volume of new stories from Mr Rudyard Kipling which Messrs Macmillan announce for March publication. Mr Kipling revives his delectable custom in this volume of breaking the ground between stories with poems in keeping. The Tyktt Psalter, one of the treasures from Lord Lothian’s library, which was recently sold in America, has been presented by an unknown benefactor to the Spencer collection in the New York Public Library. The Psalter dates f. ra the early fourteenth century. Mr Shaw Desmond, who is soon publishing a book called 1 Windjammer—the Book of the Horn,’ an account of five months he spent on a Finnish fourmasted barque, has just completed two new plays. One is a four-act comedy with an Irish setting, and the other a fantasy based on one of his stories. A statue of a child, intended as a memorial to David Copperfield, has been unveiled in the Municipal Gardens, New Kent road, London, by Mr H. A. Vachell, the president of the Dickens Fellowship. It was erected in front of the site of the pond near which David Copperfield is supposed to have rested before his flight to his aunt at Dover,

Those who are looking for thoughtful books will be interested in ' The Religion of Scientists,’ edited by C. L. Drawbridge, and published by Messrs Benn. It contains the opinions of 200 Fellows of the Royal Society, expressed as the result of a questionnaire submitted to them by the editor. It is a symptom of the times we live in that many people are turning to scientists for guidance in matters of faith. “ What can I believe ?” is their despairing question, and it seems to them that the scientist, notably cautioiisin formulating conclusions and in giving them public expression, avowedly in search of truth alone, can be relied upon to give an honest, unconfusmg, and disinterested answer. Whether 200 of them can do so is not quite the same matter—sometimes we are inclined to make supermen of scientists; but at anv rate this book should regenerate our own thoughts. It is stimulating to share clear thinking. If these opinions are not they do at least compel a reconsideration.