BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10407, 3 April 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Tub Forum (New York: Forum Publishing Company; London :G. P. Putnam's Sons, 24, Bedford-street, Strand), for February, contains a number of articles on different phases of tho great questions of tho day. The Forum, us a rule, completely fnllils the functions of a magazine. Tho articles are not meroly academical or abstract: they have all a relation to current events, and to subjects which are occupying men's minds, while they are of a much more complete and thoughtful nature than c:m bo expected from newspapers. " Tho Present and Future of Cuba" is dealt with by Fidel G. Pierra, chairman of the Cuban Press Delegation, from the point of view of the Cuban insurgents. He declares that the Spaniards are making no progress in the suppression of the insurrection, and concludes his article thus :— The space at my command does not allow me to enter into further details; but such facts as I have presented prove, JL believe, that there are ample tangible, positive, and practical reasons for the United States to adopt such a policy as will hring about the immediate withdrawal of Spain from Cuba, and the independence of her people from a mother country which has grievously abused her trust, and indicted upon them every possible evil. For the protection, as well as for the advantage and convenience ot the United States, the Cuban question should be dealt with at once, effectively, and definitively.

Tho article on "Ladies' Club 3 in London" shows that the fair sex are making appreciable progress in the setting up of an institution of which they have boon the direst enemies when ib was the sole possession of tho other eex. Misa Zimmern, the writer of the article, says that Kingsley's line, " Men must work, and women must weep," is all nonsense, "since women work too nowadays, and hence have less time and occasion for weeping." She refers to the plea seb up by simplo wives in the oldfashioned days, now rapidly passing away, that the husband who works hard all day " must have some amusement in the evening," and assumes" thab women too have a right) to a little fun when their day's work is over." Judging by the' disclosures she makes, however, there is not much in the women's clubs which "the mere man" would call " fun," bub then Miss Zmmern may not disclose everything. We read, however, in respecb of some of the clubs, that tea may be had, bub " there is no embargo on stronger drink, and wine may also be had on the premises." The writer also bays:—" Ladies who do nob desire an exclusively feminino domain may join tho Albemarle, or one of the other few mixed clubs, but these are apb to be more expensive than those that cater only for the less hungry sex. In any case, the number of feminine clubs is increasing so fasb bhab the clubless woman will soon be a rarity." In tho above quotation the writer gets in a hit at the poor persecuted mule creature as a " hungry" being, and opens up a dreadful prospect of the time when every woman will be a member of a club, into which, and into whose secrets no prying husband dare penetrate. The well-known Roman Catholic priesb, Rev. Dr. Edward McGlynn, has an article on the mission of Cardinal Satolli to the United States as Papal delegate, in which he vindicates the policy of His Holiness in sending a delegate. The mosb interesting article in the number is entitled "The Criminal in the Open." The writer says that hitherto the criminal class has been studied almost exclusively behind prison bars, bub that gives a false impression of Hie whole class. The writer sets out hie claim to be regarded as an authority thus ;-

It is now a full decade since I first became acquainted with tramps. Sly purpose in seelcing them out was to learn about tneir life; and I soon saw that, to know it well, I must become joined to it, apd bepart and parcel of its various manifestations. At different times during this period-some of them lengthening out into months—l have lived intiiMtely with the v»wboud« of bow

England and the United States. In the tramp class, or so near it that the separation is almost imperceptible, are to be found any number of criminals associating freely, either for purposes of business or sociability, with their less ambitious brethren. In nearly every large city of the two countries mentioned 1 kuow something about them; and in not a few instances I have succeeded in becoming well acquainted with notorious members of thsir class.

The article is really a very valuable contribution to the subject. Here is a curious paragraph on the subjecbof nationality :— Concerning their nationalities, I must say that most of them are indigenous to the countries iu which they live. In this country (the United States) it is often said that foreigners are the main offenders, ;uid a great deal has been writteu about Eutope dumping its criminal population on American shores: but the main offenders, iu the opeu at least, are natives, and are generally of Irish-American pareutage. In England, unmixed blood is a little more noticeable. Ireland is said to be the leist criminal laud in all Europe, aud this may be the case so far as local crime is concerned ; but more crimiuals trace their ancestry back to that country than to any other where English is spoken. Indeed, iu America, it is considered something quite out of the ordinary if the criminal cannot attach himself somehow or other to the " Emerald Isle;" and nothing has hindered me more in my intercourse with him than the fact that my own connection with it is very slight.

We should think that this is, to a great extent, a survival of a former condition of things, and that under tho present happier condition of affairs in Ireland such bad

pre-eminence will not be maintained. On the subject of the health of the criminal wo have an important statement :—

The general health of the criminal is Rood. Up to 25 years of age he is as hardy and vigorous as the average person. Although he comes from the slums, he gets somehow a very fair constitution; and, if he would only take care of it, he might live to a good old age. When he nears his thirtieth year, however, his strength and vigour begin to fail him. By that time he has served a number of terms in prison, and it is this existence that dra»s him down. In the open he seems able to endure a great deal and still keep his health; but behind the bars, care for him as the penologist will, he weakens and withers away. This side of his life has scarcely received the attention it deserves from investigators who find the criminal diseased. That he becomes diseased must be readily admitted; but, as a rnle, it is only after society has shut him up in its penal institutions. Stand, for instance, at the doors of one of these institutions when a ten-year convict is released, and see how he looks! I once did this, and a worse wreck of a formerly strong man I have never encountered—a being ruined in both body and mind—a victim of passions which in the open he would have abhorred Even the tramp is a less patient person in couuty gaols than he is in the open: but his stay there is so short, and the confinement, compared with that in convict prisons, is so much easier to bear, that he soon recuperates. I can write from personal experience on this point; for, as an American tramp, I have had to take my share of ruol life, and 1 have never been so nervous and impatient as when undergoing ic. In the open, on the other hand, 1 have never been so healthy and under control. If a few days' confinement can have sach an effect upon an absolutely voluntary prisoner, what must be the effect of years of this sort of life upon the man who'rtates prison as he does poison, and is not sure that when tie is released an officer may not be waiting to read him a warrant for another arrest ? Criminologists, who believe in the innate nervous weakness of the criminal, would do well to test their own nerves cluring even voluntary residence in prison celra in order to estimate its power to disturb a n.itural equilibrium.

The above article is, on the whole, a mosb valuable contribution to the science of Criminology, and one can only wonder at the tastes of the writer which led him to undergo the experience which enabled him to write it.

Taquisaka: By F. Marion Crawford. London : Macmillan and Co.—Mr. Marion Crawford 19 one of the most copious writers of a generation of copious writers, but ib may safely bp. said that tew of them, if indeed any of them, have' maintained so high a level. Mr. Crawford has written much about Italy, stories i» which all the characters are Italians, and differ greatly from ourselves in beliefs, in customs, and in manners. And yet ho can always make his readors feel deeply interested in the pereonality of his creations, and follow with concern all their doings and thoughts. " Taquisara" is onp of the most powerful of Mr. Crawford's acories, and we are not surprised to hear that the author is dramatising it for the stage. It has several situations of great force and interest. The author has a most intimate knowledge of Italy, but only on rare occasions does he stray into its politics. We quote a passage showing the condition of Italy, and prophotic of the fate of the* military ambition which has terminated e<? disastrously in Africa:—

Veronfca wondered how uny people could be poorer than these, and her facs grew still more sad. She tried to apeak to the children, but they could not understand her. She got some little coins from her purse, but they were too much frightened to come forward and take them, They were not afraid of the priest, however, and Dou Teodoro got out of the camVe and put the mouey into their horrible little hands, aud they ran away with strange small cries and wild, half-uoiselesa laughter -if laughter can be anything but noisy. Leb such words pass as come; for no words of our toneue can quite tell all Veronica aaw and heard on that day. The great Italian myth survives in foreign nations j it has ev«n more life, perhaps, in Italy itself, north of the Roman line; but-only those those know what Italyjis, who have trudged on foot, and ridden by mountain paths, and driven by sonthern highways, through hill and valley and mountain and plain, from home to house, where there are neither inns nor taverns), throughout that vast region which is the half of the whole country, or more, and where the abominatiou of desolation reigus supreme in broad day. That Italy has done what she has done in thirty years, be a power among nations, is a marvel, a Vvonder, and almost a miracle. That she shoulil have done it at all is the greatest mistalw ever committed by a civilised nation, aurt it is irrevocable, as its results are to be fytal and lasting. But upon the good reality oS unity, the deadly dream of military greatness descended as a killing blight, and the evil vision of political power has blasted the common sense of the whole people. It is one thiiig to be one, as a united family, each working , for the good of each and all; it is another thin?, and a worse thing, to be one as a vast and idle army, sitting down to besiege its own storehouses, each eating something' of the whole and doing nothing to increaste that whole, till all is goue, and the vision fides in the awaken , - ing from the dream, leaving the bare nakedness of desolation to tell (she story of a huge mistake.

Indigestion and Nervobs Dyspepsia.Wβ have to acknowledge receipt of a work on " Indigestion and Nervous Dyspepsia : Their Origin and Cure (Dietetic and Hygienic)," by Dr. Albin Lurz, of Melbourne, a specialiifc in nervous, rheumatic, and gout diseases, foimerly a Btaff-gargeon in the German Army. There are 32 chapters, covering all the complaints incident to indigestion and the nervous system, also the cour33 of life Mid plan of remedial treatment to be »dopted by those who do not desire to become victims of such distressing maladiea. The doctor pronounces againut vegetarianism, yet denounces the evil practice and effects of high feeding, holding tluib gluttony kiUi more than the sword, aud much food makes many maladies. Referenceisalaomadetothenecessity of good cooking, cookery being a scaeuce, and the necessity of adapting out food to our difforonb constitutions, age, temper, seasons, climate, etc. Several chapters ate denroted to some haul gout dishes, beef and pork, Christmas roast, condiments and sauces, vegetables and salad:, dessert, afternoon tea, and the use of alcohol. A chapter is given to the knotty question, " What to Drink and what to Avoid." Some words of advice are given in the concluding sections to women against the evils of tight-lacing and the dancing mania; also to both sexes as to the cycle craze and Neptunian pleasures. Dr. Lurz*a lasb word is, " Live as you would wish to hare lived, when you die I" To attain that position he gives his readers a good-deal of wholesome advice and friendly counsel.

The Imperial Album of New Zealand Sceneby: Published by the New Zealand Scenery Publishing Company. McKee and Gambit, WelJiDgWβ. Wβ bare to acknow

ledge receipt of Part XVI. of the above popular work. It opetis with a portrait of Rewi, the fainou3 Ngatimaniapoto chief tain. Lake Whakatipu is seen with" the lake steamer Mountaineer alongside the Kinloch wharf, and Biiiey's hotel at Glenorchy. Southern alpine scenery is represented by a view of Aorangi, Mount Cook, " tho cloud piercer," the Weka Pass, Otira Gorge. Among the views are the Garrison Hall, Dunedin: Post Office, Wellington ; a Maori pa, Akaroaj and railway station, New Plymouth. Native life is illustrated by a Maori pataka and native carvings, and the Lake Country scenery by a view of ihe Crow's Nest, Wairakei. A good idea is given of the mining industry by the sketch, " Interior of a Thames Gold Battery." The present number is an excellent one.

Macmillax's Magazine : Macniillan and Co., Limited, 29 and 30, Bedford-street, Strand, London.—"The Secret of Saint Florel," an exciting story, is concluded in the February number. A chanty article is furnishod on "From Far Cathay." and another on " Literature and Music." Tho following passage showiug the mistaken musical allusions made by novelists is very good :— In their allusions to the musical art our novelists commit the most amazing blunders with the most serene conscience, blunders of which any schoolgirl would be ashamed, and from which uo more trouble than is necessary to turn over the leaves of a dictionary of music might have saved them. One novelist, for example, makes his hero a soprano; another pictures a Scottish Highlander sittiug on the roadside singing a Jacobite song and accompanying himself on the baepipe, Mr. Marion Crawford has ascribed " La Favorita" to Verdi, a feat paralleled by Mr. Black in setting a lady down to a piano to play Beethoven's "Farewell," a composition unknown to that musician's many admirers. Mr. Black has ai»iu distinguished himself by describing one of his heroines as playing an unheard of and impossible sonata of Mozart's in A sharp major. One of tho early Popes stigmatised the innocent scale of C major as lascivious, and banished it from the music of the Church, One can understand Mr. Black's key of A sharD major beiug placed on the index expurgatorious of the musician, for the ten sharps which would be required to make up its signature would frighten a Diabolus among piano players. Even Charles Reade, who really did know something about music, at any rate about old violins, was on dangerous ground when he ventured on details of musical technique. In "Peg Woffington," for example, he makes the famous actress whistle a quick movement upon a huge paste ring, and then tells how Mr. Cibber was confounded by " this sparkling adagio." No wonder Mr. Cibber _wa3 confounded ; a quick movement which is at the same time an adagio is enough to confound anybody. Nor are Englishmen the only offenders. Victor Hugo in " Les Misirables," has three violins and a flute playing some of Haydn's quartettes at a wedding. The combination is curious enough in all conscience, and certainly Haydn never wrote for any such quartette of instruments. Aristotle held that the moral effectofa flute is bad and exciting; what it might be when combined with three violins we can only guess. A description is given of "Political Parties in America." Perhaps the best sketch of the number is the thrilling story oi " The Two Priests of Konnoto." "Vanishing Paris" reveals some word pictures of the Olden Time. By contrast we hare two humorous stories, "The Flying Bishops" and "An Epoch on Rambling Creek." The history of " The Coldstream Goarde" is admirably narrated. The author concludes the itory of this celebrated corps by stating, " There still remains one regiment which ha 3 seen, at the bidding of its colonel, the most renowned Parliament in our history dissolve itself precipitately, and that regiment is the Coldstream, Guards."

St. Nicholas Magazine. Century Company, Union Square, New York: Mac« millan and Co., Bedford-street, London.— The February issue of this well-known magazino for young folks is composed of stories and pictures of an interesting and instructive character. If the rising generation of the Anglo-Saxon race are nob better informed Chan their fathers, it is nob because they are not zealously catered for in all possible directions. And if agreeable literaturo has any effect, they ought to be happier than any generation which has gone before. But then so much depends upon the mind which is brought to bear upon the material.