BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

Evening Star, Issue 23143, 17 December 1938, Page 23

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN

VERSES MORTALITY Ah! one so young— What tragedy that he Should be, so early flung Into eternity 1 This slow, sad music of mortality, Of falling leaves and fading sighs, Should mean for marble things finality— Destruction which their stuff denies. Yesl Stone and unfeeling bronze should die, And, as a converse, man, Who feels and breathes, and whom no tie Binds to this earthly span, Should be immortal, during all time’s space To bring (perfection to this now so mortal race. —T. Nicholls, in ‘ Sydney Morning Herald.’ PREPARATION FOR WINTER Hoard not the hours, Hoard not the perfect notes Soaring from nesting throats In summer’s space. . . Hoard not the flowers. Nor April’s tender threads of rain; Each in its turn will come again, Here, in this place. . . . —Virginia Grilley, in ‘ Christian Science Monitor.’ MORE DISCONTENTS DR INGE AS JOURNALIST

There can be few commentators on the times who possess anything Jike the same directness, breadth of reading, and scholarship and pungency of style as Ur Inge, who in 4 Our Present Discontents ' has collected a batch of weekly articles on a great variety of. currenV topics. He is a journalist, but always a journalist with a difference: for professional journalists seldom have opportunities, even if they live to become septuagenarians, to acquire so much knowledge; and if they do they have at that age in all probability long lost the springiness of manner and style •which marks the ex-Dean of St. Paul’s. But the truth is that few of them can have lived in such good intellectual company as he has all his life (says ‘ The Times Literary Supplement.’ Disagree with Dr Inge many will; for agreement with him on some topics, particularly religious and ecclesiastical, of which several are handled in this volume, depends on something other than lomc. For instance, if you are an Anglo-Catholic you cannot be expected to assent to a good deal that is held by a Modern Churchman who does not object to being called, as Mr Shaw called Dr Inge, a Quaker at heart; on such questions as the possible union of the churches or the desirability of a largely celibate clergy in England prejudice, predilection, and temperament, apart from conviction, may make his views unacceptable. But here in this volume they are expressed clearly and forcibly, and there is no mistaking the point of view. On politics it is to a large extent the same. The Communist and the Socialist will not see eye to eye with Dr Inge; nor will anyone of any colour who attempts to enslave the individual in the State. But here it is a very ancient voice of England which is speaking through Dr Inge; and if he has apparently only an old political gospel to preach it can only be because a good many who pass in these days as lights and seers have forgotten their English history and the long stand which it represents against tyranny of all kinds. Strong as Dr Inge's words are, they would have been taken as quite commonplace by an older generation of liberty lovers. It is partly a measure of the times that Dr Inge should now feel called upon to speak out as plainly on these elementary matters as he does.

There is also the Victorian in Dr Inge, though it would be paradoxical if he showed no signs of. his own past, class, upbringing, and tradition. A man of his years is only faithful to himself and the best that is in him when he makes no attempt to disguise his origins. Old men who turn runagates ought always to he suspect. Consequently it is not surprising to find that Dr Tnije is no great enthusiast for prolonged schooling; too many students, he implies, only wish to read Marx—which is quite true; and school teachers as a body are persons who are responsible for a good deal of the snobbery which lies behind the rejection—lamented by Dr Inge—of domestic service as an honourable occupation. But snobbery itself, he observes, is decreasing; the ideal of the gentleman, he notes, has now become everybody’s; and herein lies one of the more hopeful phenomena which this septuagenarian philosopher has to take into account in the course of a survey of a world full of hideous possibilities. For the international outlook weighs heavily on this newspaper preacher, as on everyone else; and Dr Inge does nob neglect to deal with it more suo, more particularly in his introduction, the length and scope of which give him a chance of liberating his soul on several aspects of the present state of Europe. For instance, he strikes as hard as ho can and as a citation of documents will allow against the atrocities of the Communist power in Spain; for he holds that “ there can be no impartiality in the Spanish struggle when once the facts are stated.” These facts explain to a certain extent the dictatorships opposed to Communism; but elsewhere these dictatorships receive their full due, together with the philosophy, whether that of Hobbes or Hegel, which would appear to supply them with a

A LITERARY CORNER

NEW BOOKS 1 EARLY DAYS IN DUNEDIN ' MR R. GILKISON'S LATEST BOOK ‘ Early Days in Dunedin,’ by Robert Gilkison, is a successor to ‘ Early Days in Otago. 1 It shows much painstaking research, and is a valuable contribution to the history of this city and province. The narrative begins with a word picture of the John Wkikliffe, with Rilot Richard Driver in charge, sailing into Otago Harbour, bearing the first emigrants to this province. “ She has had a stormy passage, having narrowly escaped a collision in the English Channel and twice been very nearly wrecked on a lee coast, but has come safely through all dangers to this, her destination. With a grating roar the anchor drops in Koputai Bay. The voyage is over and the history of Otago settlement has begun.” Then we have descriptions of the adventures and vicissitudes encountered and overcome by the pioneers. This book is made up of incidents, sensational and otherwise, that accompanied the struggles in the making of a city and province. There is a diverting account of the first gaols and the leniency accorded to the prisoners, tvho at the beginning of the settlement wore seldom of the criminal type. They were mostly rowdy sailors. The author describes how on the eighth anniversary of the province the prisoners were given a holiday and permitted to go to the races. This outing was hardly a success. The warder’s report afterwards described the happenings in these words; “ 1 was asked might they have a drink ? I said yes. They were all supplied. Prisoners then went where they liked. At close of day all were intoxicated, four unable to walk. One had his jacket off and wanted to fight one of the town people. I had difficulty in getting them back. Some had returned in charge of no one.” A chapter is devoted to early justice in the province, with descriptions of the work of the first judges, magistrates, and other officials. The course of justice in the beginning did not run smoothly. This was only to be expected in the circumstances, but gradually the British traditional judicial methods ran in the province. A chapter is devoted to James Macandrew, who is with reason described _as a far-sighted colonist, and there-mretlfrequeht; references to other early builders of the city and to eccentric individuals, such as J. G. S. Grant, who was always a thorn in the side of the authorities. Tributes are paid to the explorers and surveyors, and the discovery of gold and the arrival of the miners from Australia are described. Various sensational trials, such as the Jarvey tragedy and the Butler episode are recalled, and there is an account of the fatal fight at Anderson’s Bay between escaped prisoners on one side and police and warders on the other. The book contains an account of three wrecks—the Pride of the Yarra between Port Chalmers and Dunedin, the Victory at Wickliffe Bay, and the Tararua. The strange adventures of Amy Bock are given in detail, and the last chapter is devoted to the life and work of the Rev. Dr Stuart, for many years the beloved pastor of Knox Church. ‘ Early Days in Dunedin ’ will be read with the keenest interest not only by those who have recollections of the pioneers and their courage and industry, but bv the younger generation to whom romance and adventure make an appeal. The publishers are Whitcombe and Tombs.

EARLY NEW ZEALAND The Dominion of New Zealand celebrates its centenary this year, and one of the first books celebrating the event is a literary find of world-wide interest. New Zealand attracted some interesting settlers in the early days. Keats’s great friend and collaborator, Charles Armitage Brown, went there; Charlotte Bronte’s friend, Mary Taylor (the Rose York in ‘Shirley’), opened a shop in Wellington ; Alfred Domett, the “ Waring ” of Browning’s poem, also settled in the new country. Among other visitors were Samuel Butler, the French etcher Charles Meryon, Froude, and Darwin. The story of these celebrated visitors and settlers has been gathered into a book by Hector Bolitho arid John Mulgan. The literary “ finds ” in the book include Charles Meryon’s diary and the journal which Charles Armitage Brown kept on his journey to New Zealand. The book is to be called ‘ New Zealand: Early Associations,’ and will be published _by Messrs Selwyn and Blount early in January, 1939. 1 IVORY VALLEY' Mr C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne, the creator of Captain Kettle, is a prolific writer. It is said that' his “ Kettle ” volumes alone have a sale record of over six million copies. In this book this breezy and determined adventurer is engaged ou new quest. The novelist’s theme is an old one, but it is of perennial interest. It is the search for the elephant’s cemetery which down the centuries has been a lure for many explorers. During this adventurous journey, which Mr Cutcliffe Hyne describes in characteristic style, the cemetery is found and a great store of ivory removed. Intrigue and rivalry, and the difficulties and perils associated with African travel ns described by the author make the book a highly exciting one. The publishers are Ward, Locke and Co.

more permanent justification than a coup d'etat. All this vigorous outspokenness can hardly fail to cheer the old guard of Liberalism, though it is probably too polemical to make converts of their opponents. The conclusion seems to he that current journalism cannot easily spare such a pen as Dr Inge’s, whether for principle clean forcihleness of statement. positive information on nil sorts of subjects, or an epigrammatic wit. He ought by now to have lived down his absurd detractors in Fleet Street a few years ago.

BRUCE LOCKHART * GUNS OR BUTTER' Mr R. 11. Bruce Lockhart’s latest book, ‘Guns or Rutter’ (Putnam;, comes appropriately at the present moment, for he has visited the war countries and peace countries of Europe, which he already knew well, and alter a close study of present conditions gives his impressions. Mr Lockhart has the gift of making everything he writes interesting, and in this book he has exhibited this talent to the full. The title is taken from Field-Marshal Goering’s epigram : “ Guns will make ns powerful; butter will only' make ns fat.” Few people know Europe so intimately as Mr Lockhart does. Moreover, he is a good linguist, and so was able to talk witi all classes of people in the countries he visited. The author, having been in the diplomatic service himself, had friends in most of the embassies and consulates, or had sufficient influence to got in touch with them, and obtained valuable information at first hand. The States visited included Holland and Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Balkan kingdoms, Hungary', Austria, and Germany. _Mr Lockhart was in Austria at the time’ of the accomplishment of Anschluss, and ho gives some vivid word pictures of that exciting time. He was in Czechoslovakia before the groat upheaval there. He talked during his travels with many rulers, statesmen, and among them being Dr Benes, King Carol of

Rumania, King Boris of Bulgaria, and Prince Paul, the Regent of Yugoslavia. The author’s contacts and adventures in lands where the tension just now is so great are described in vivid words. Discussing a much-debated point, Mr Lockhart says, the Balkan States are suspicious of Russia’s offers of assistance. If they fear Germany, they have no love for the Soviet. If Rumania, or, say, Yugoslavia, were faced with the alternative of hostile violation by Germany or friendly violation by Russia, many of her people would consider German violation as the lesser of two evils. But neither Rumania nor Yugoslavia has the slightest intention of allowing herself to be raped by anyone. Both countries will resist economic penetration to the best of their powers. They will certainly fight if their frontiers are invaded. But they seek to postpone the evil day as long as possible, relying on the democratic Great Powers to increase their own strength and that of the League to an extent that will make aggression anywhere in Europe impossible. This is a little picture of Hitler’s arrival in Vienna at the time «f the Nazi triumph: “As he passes the crowd surges forward in an ecstasy of emotional fervour. The women beside me at tbe open window spring to their feet. Their breasts are heaving. Their eyes are wet with tears of excitement. Thousands of hands shoot out at a rigid right angle, and to a series of roars of ‘ Sieg Hcil! Seig Hcil! ’ as rapid as machine-gun fire, the little man passes on his way. This Tuesday of March 15. 1938, was Hitler’s greatest triumph, and to find its parallel one has to go back to the days of Rome when illiterate privates became emperors.” Mr Lockhart quotes Nazi stories which were popular when he was in Berlin. One took the form of a riddle. What is the difference between Martin Luther, Hitler, Goebbels, and Dr Schacht? The answer is—

Martin Luther said what he believed. Hitler believes what he says. Goebbels does not believe what he says.

Schacht does not say what he believes. This book is a valuable and highly informative account of present-day conditions in Central Europe and the Balkans.

‘SEVEN DAYS’ HARD’ ‘ Seven Days’ Hard,’ by Sydney Parkman (Hodder and Stoughton), is not, as its name might suggest, a mystery novel, but a tale of adventure, and a remarkably good one. Arthur Orpen was employed in a bookseller’s shop. He quarrelled one night with his fiancee over a proposal to go to the pictures. He wanted one film, she another. Next day, feeling miserable, ho was not tactful in his dealings with a crochety old lady who wanted to buy a prayer hook, and lie was sacked on the spot. His annual holiday was due, and he had arranged to go to Hastings. He resolved to carry out this plan, and left London without making his peace with the girl. At Hastings he wont fishing in a boat without companions. Mist crept over the water and Orpen was lost. His boat was run down by one of Franco’s ships. Most extraordinary happenings follow. The sequel is that Orpen finds himself a soldier with the loyalist forces in Spain, and the narative that follows gives a vivid picture of the fighting, bombing, and conditions of the people in that distraught country. This book is one of absorbing interest, and can be recommended without hesitation.

‘ SAFETY IN THE MOUNTAINS' ADVICE IN SEASON Tlio Federated Mountain Clubs of Now Zealand have recently published a revised and aniplilied edition of their handboook for trninpers and mountaineers. This concise pamphlet, blending advice with information, is designed primarily lor those whose inexperience is a source of danger not only to other people, but to themselves. With the approach of the holiday season it is reasonable to suppose that some parties venturing off the beaten track may meet with situations involving at least discomfort, if not hazard. Adequate methods of dealing with most such situations which are likely to arise are described in the handbook. Indeed, the variety in, the handbook is patent. From moral observations on the niceties of behaviour with (or without) dogs or firearms to admonitions in regard to fires, huts, litter, and- language the advice veers to the intricacies of equipment, including first aid outfits, compasses, maps, and food. Solo mountaineering draws on its head a salutary condemnation. Parties are exhorted to take especial precautions at the end of a tiring day. Many accidents that have occurred in the annals of mountain work are attributable directly to disregard of these commonsense principles, for most of the technique of sale travel in hill country is based on common sense. In the realms of work with rope and ice-axe on rock and snow, common sense is seasoned with modern, well-proved theories. No one could quarrel with the exhortation to turn back in doubtful weather or conditions. Youth is impetuous, but its zeal should be tempered with control and disregard for safety for the sake of the prize should be discouraged. Perhaps the most valuable advice in the handbook lies in the section devoted to -river crossings, where it is emphasised that ropes should be used in dangerous fords. The sections on search organisation and distress signals give a melancholy warning to those who are heedless of caution. Appendices with lists of provisions, hut locations, and maps provide a practical and satisfactory conclusion. The handbook is well produced, and the typography of the title page is neat. Although the 3,600 members of the 36 clubs affiliated to the federation obtain a free copy of the handbook as of right, it is intended that it should be obtainable by the general public at a nominal price. It is hoped that in the interests of holiday safety the public will avail itself of this opportunity, and inquiries should bo addressed to the secretary, P.O. Box 1.604, Wellington. The anonymous compilers of the handbook are to be congratulated on their achievement.

OUTSTANDING NOVEL We have come to expect good work from the pen of Mazo de la Roche, the author of the chronicles of the Whiteoak family and other first-class novels, and admirers of her writing will not he disappointed with her latest book, ‘ Growth of a Man,’ just published by Macmillan and Co. Ltd. This is a story of Shaw Manifold’s boyhood and young manhood, his struggle against loneliness and poverty, and his stubborn determination to make a place for himself in the world and a home for his adored mother. It is a strong and moving story, and once again illustrates the author’s gift of characterisation. Shaw himself is a remarkable study, while the grandfather, his mother, the old family doctor, and others are all firmly etched against the background of a Canadian province. Mazo de la Roche has also the additional facility of being able to describe for the reader that particular environment where the characters happen to be, and thus we have excellent pictures of the Canadian winter, the northern forests, and life in a Quebec sanatorium. As the frontispiece states, the title of the book welt describes the unfolding and development of the character of the lonely little boy to the man whose life was to be devoted to the forests. Those readers who like a novel which is something more than just a story will appreciate ‘ Growth of a Mail.’

. A SILENT CELEBRITY Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), who came to the office, was a frequent member of week-end parties at Jorjalma, the Harvey’s country home. I can see him still, as vividly as when ho was among ns, dressed in one of the white linen or white flannel suits he always wore, with his white hair forming a halo around his splendid head and his dark eyes shining with mischief. He was as impish as a had boy, and we never knew what he would do next.

One evening I put him beside May Sinclair, the English novelist, at a dinner I was giving. It was Miss Sinclair’s first visit to America, and she was the most silent guest we had ever had from any shore. The favourite indoor sport of literary Now York that winter was the effort to draw Miss Sinclair out. No one succeeded. She had just published her novel 1 The Divine Fire,’ which was having a sensational success in England and America. Like the rest of ns, Mr Clemens was fascinated by the amazing contrast between the passion and power of that novel and the personality of the prim, tucked-in little woman who had written it. That night he did his best to make her talk. He himself had never been more entertaining. But Miss Sinclair took Mark Twain as she took everyone else—almost in silence. At the end of the dinner, when wo were leaving the men alone, Mr Clemens escorted Miss Sinclair to the dining room door. Having opened it for her he stopped, faced her, and fixed his brilliant eyes on hors. With the greatest of solemnity ho put his fingers to his lips and produced a long-drawn, sibilant “ H-u-s-s-h.” Then he went back to his place at the table. As wo passed' into the next room together Miss Sinclair stared at me and spoke at last.

“ Now, why did he do that?” she asked. “I hadn’t said a word!”— From * Three Rousing Cheers,’ by Elizabeth Jordan. 1

NOTES Among the latest announcements of the Oxford University Press is a study by Professor W. A. Sewell, of Auckland University College, of ‘ Milton’s Christian Doctrine.’

‘ Birdie Bowers of the Antarctic,’ recently published, is a worthy companion to ’• Edward Wilson, of the Antarctic,’ and it is by the same author, George Seavcr. This is the first biography of Bowers, one of the heroes of Scott’s Antarctic expedition.

Miss Freda Utley, the author of ‘ Japan’s Feet of Clay,’ which is banned in Japan, was recently refused permission to land in the country, where she had gone to act as correspondent for two English papers, the London ‘ News Chronicle ’ and the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’

Dr Sigmund Freud, who has found asylum in England, is reported from London to be writing a story of Moses, which, it is said, will be published early next year. Most of the book was written in Austria. A London commentator says he has been told that Dr Freud has set out to prove that Moses was not a Jew, but an Egyptian. A translation is being made by Dr and Mrs Ernest Jones. Dr Jones is a Harley Street psychiatrist, a former pupil of Freud, and one of those chiefly responsible for the famous Austrian going to England.

Dr C. W. Gordon, more widely known as “ Ralph Connor,” the novelist, had barely completed his autobiography when ho died just a year ago. It is the story of a man to whom life was always an adventure, whether as a ‘‘Sky Pilot” in his early days among the miners and lumbermen in the Rockies, serving as chaplain to the Canadian Forces on the Western Front, or striving for peace in the post-War world. Written when he was 75, it is entitled 1 Postscript to Adventure,’ and is being published by Hodder and Stoughton. .

Every ruling sovereign of Europe, wdlh one exception—King Zog of Albania—traces descent from the daughter of James VI., that “ Queen of Hearts ” whose portrait has been newly painted by Miss Caroki Oman in a book which Hodder and Stoughton are bringing out under the title ‘ Elizabeth of Bohemia.’ Like the author’s study of ‘ Henrietta Maria,’ with which she successfully turned two years ago from historical fiction to historical biography, it is based on sound scholarship and includes some documents and portraits now published for the first time.

Three notable books have just been published—Mr H. Newton Wethercd’s survey of ‘ The Art of Thackeray,’ which is a study of the man and the author in one; Sir George Arthur’s autobiography, a commentary on the Victorian scene which he has entitled ‘ Not Worth Reading ’; and Dr David Mathew’s review of ‘ The Jacobean Age,’ a period piece to which the Hatfield Manuscripts and other private papers have contributed.

A book which is full of interest is by Bertrand Russell, and is entitled ‘Power: A New Social Analysis.’ Jn it the authot sets out to prove that power Is the fundamental concept in social science in the same sense in which energy is the fundamental concept in physics. Power as desired by human beings is analysed in all its varied forms—priestly power, kingly power, revolutionary power, and many others, and in this survey of human laws and customs Mr Bertrand Russell has many apt and important things to say. The book is of particular significance at this moment, and the problems here handled by one of our leading social philosophers have many similarities with those facing the European statesman to-day.

Routledge’s have published an unusual book called ‘ Lover of the Great Bear.’ The author, Sergiusz Piasetski, is a Pole, who was one of a band of smugglers operating on the Russo-Polish frontier in the years 192123. With the break-up of the regular smuggling bands, Piasetski was outlawed. A price was on his head, and he was eventually tried and given a life sentence. In prison he learned to write, and after he had served nearly 10 years of his sentence he wrote this book. With the help of friends and his Polish publisher, he obtained his release as a result of it. The book is a best-seller on the Continent, and has been translated into several languages. It derives its title from the constellation which gave the smugglers their direction in their nocturnal escapades over the frontier.

The letters of T. E. Lawrence have been published for the trustees by Jonathan Cape. They have been edited by Mr David Garnett, who took over the editorship from Mr E. M. Forster. Hundreds of men and women in all classes of society were Lawrence’s correspondents, and almost all his letters have been placed at the disposal of the editor. This book, which documents exactly the whole of his life from his schoolboy archaeological expeditions, through* the Arab revolt, the Peace settlements, and his service in the Tank Corps and Air Force, down to the day of his death, in 1935, includes not only private letters, but also selections from his official reports, articles, diaries, and other published and unpublished material. Captain Liddell Hart says of these letters: “Through them he may live longest in literature, taking rank as the supreme letter writer.”/

While the Hamburg University Shakespeare Prize is far from being an honorary academic distinction—it is of 10,000 ,marks, approximately £Boo—it is not quite such a windfall as it sounds, as Mr John Masefield, this year’s recipient, is likely to discover, says a London writer. Last year, when the prize was awarded for the first time. Dr Vaughan Williams was the recipient. He travelled to Hamburg in Juno, and the prize was presented to him by the Rector, Professor Rein, in the great Mnsikhalle, while the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra played his works. Rut when he left he had to leave the money behind owing to currency regulations. All he actually brought back with him was his certificate and a bank receipt for the 10,000

marks. Presumably the Poet Laureate will also find, when he goes to Hamburg next year, that the prize has to be spent in Germany.

The personal memoir of King George V., which, it is officially announced from Buckingham Palace, has been authorised by the King, will be published bv John Murray. By the desire of the King and of Queen Mary, the work, which will not be concerned with any of the official aspects of the late King’s reign, will be undertaken hy Mr John Gore. The biographer who is the son of Sir Francis Gore, has already published several distinguished biographies, including one of Bishop Gore, his uncle, and another of Sydney Holland, Lord Knutsford. He also edited the further selection from Creevey’s correspondence, * Crecvey s Life and Times,’ which came from the same publishers in 1934. It is understood that he will have access to some of the private records of King George V., and authority to collect impressions and reminiscences from many of those who were in close personal touch with His Majesty.