BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13146, 7 April 1906, Page 5 (Supplement)

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Tin: Lake: By George Moore. W. Hcinemaiin,■ London.— George-Moore is an Irishman and a Roman Catholic—-tliough?] apparently not a strict oneand in his old age lias : abandoned the topic of the ; struggles and trials of the , flesh ; for the topic of the ; struggles , and trials of the soul. By this particular Irish .lake lives Father Oliver, who was born near by. We are told of the growth and development of this earnest, simple -man until he; becomes: ai priest by: th& shore of the lake- he loved, and then, .unfortunately for his peace of i.;j'"d. meets handsome Rose Leicester. Rose is reg. I'l.ed by wiser Father Peter: as "a danger to wis.- parish" when she comes there as tin; new schoolmistress and kindly -Father Olivet is wan.* a ;p her defence. This throws. them into sympathy with one another and when she leaves, under a cloud, he; writes her letters in ''which' his inner .thoughts learn to ; bubble nr>. Finally he cannot endure being a priest, and cannot hear to think i of. the trouble aM .sorrow that would follow his open retirement, from the office. So he goes swimming in the lake, with a suit of civilian clothes on the other side, and is off to New York whill everybody thinks.that the has been drowned ' : ~>„..- . ; ; -

HOW : McDoTJGALI/ TOPPED THE SCORE : By Thos. E. Spencer. New South. Wales Bookstall Co.. 476. George-street, Sydney. With portraits and twelve full-page illustrations by Lionel Lindsay arid H. W. Cotton. —-The book is in two parts, verses mostly humorous, led by the title-piece and ; humorous prose • dealing with the MeSweeneys. 01 the verses a fair sample : * As I don't hail from Brogan's Flat? it don't apply to me; : So ycu can take my word this tale is true. The people there possessed in a superlative degree . "- • The faculty to go for all they knew. If a Brogan's Flat inhabitant played cards lie played to win; And. he; always held the joker and the bower; But if he didn't play at cards then cards were deadly sin And a. shocking' waste of energy and power. How Hi-; Died, and Other Poems : By John Farrell. Angus and Robertson, 89, Castlereiigh-street, Sydney.—The late Mr. John Fairrell will always be included among the earlier poets of Australia, and his readers will regret that he did not write*inore. This republication of his principal verses in popular form comes very opportunely, and will prove very acceptable to many bookshelves. : One of the most dramatic stories ever told of Australian bush life is in bis '.'Last Bullet," when the;frontiersman, rushed-'by "'blacks,- kills his wife, at her passionate entreaty, with his last bullet. The poem is worthy of the subject. Where so much is good it is hard to choose, j but undoubtedly the best work ever done by Mr. Farrell is in his Diamond. Jubilee " Australia to England,'' considered by many great critics the best verses of the many thousands written on that great occasion. The eighteen verses of the poem run in this fashion A heaving' sea of life, that beats Like England's heart of pride to-day, And up from roaring miles of streets Flings on the roofs its human spray; And fluttering mile 3 of flags aflow, And cannon's voice, and boom of bell, And seas of fire to-night.' as .though ; A hundred cities flamed and fell; While, under many a fair festoon And flowering crescent, set ablaze With all the dyes that English June Can lend to deck a- day of days, And wast where mart and palace rise. And shrine and temple lift their spears, Be'.Qw live million misted eyes y Goes a grey Queen of Sixty YearsGo lords, and servants of the lords Of earth, with homage,on their lips, And kinsmen carrying English swords, ■;.-■-. And offering England's battleships; And tribute-payers, on whose hands Their English fetters scarce appear; And gathered,round from utmost lands Ambassadors of Love and Fear! For this your sons, foreseeing not Or heeding not the aftermath, Because their strenuous hearts were hot Went first on many a cruel path, \ And, trusting first and last to blows, - Fed death with such as would gainsay Their instant passing,' or oppose With talk of Eight strength's right of way! By lust of flesh and lust of gold, And depth of loins and hairy breadth Of breast, and hands to take and hold. And boastful scorn of pain and death, And .something more of manliness .- Than tamer men, and growing shame Of shameful things, and; something less Of final faith in sword and flame—

By many a battle fought for wrong:, And many a battle fought for right. So have you grown august and strong, Magnificent'in all men's sight— A voice.for which the kings have ears, A face the craftiest statesmen scan; A mini 1 to mould the after year?. And mint the destinies of man!

And greater (".reams! .0 Englishmen, Be sure the safest time of all For even the mightiest State is when Not even the least desires its fall! Make England stand supreme for aye, Because supreme for peace and good, Warned well by wrecks of yesterday That strongest feet may slip in blood!

The Unseen- World: By Be v. A. M. Lepicier, O.S.M. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trulmer and Co., Ltd., . 43, ;Gerrand-street, London. —Spiritualism as "spiritism" has become sufficiently noticeable-to attract the attention of: the Roman Church, this book being " an exposition of Catholic Theology in its relation to Modern Spiritism," written by a professor of divinity in the College of Propaganda at Rome. The lesson unhesitatingly given : "If amongst the effects of hypnotism some may be attributed to natural causes others cannot be accounted for except- by the immediate agency of pure spiritual substances which we call angels. Audi as .these cannot \ belong to the class of faiithful. angels, who never act in the world except at God's command and as His ministers, it follows that these effects must be attributed to the action of the fallen angels, who, with divine permission, may. exercise their natural .powers over the elements of matter, thereby causing a variety of remarkable effects, mechanical, physiological and psychological." It is urged 1 that: "He who diligently seeks for truth can find it both in the book of nature and in revelation, and need not have recourse to deceitful and masquerading spirits."

John Chinaman- on the Rand: By an, Eve-witness. R. A. Everett and Son, 10-12, Garrick-street, W.C., London.— This is an eloquent and able indictment of the coolie-system against which these colonies have strongly protested. We are informed :" That white labour could be used, and be used profitably, was proved beyond a doubt. Even "when the higher wages were taikeri into account it was found that in the: cyanide works of the gold mines the Kaffirs' cost per ton was"ss 3d, against the whites' 4s 9d. In developing and stopping actual work of the mining underground the Kaffirs cost Is 8d and the whites. 4s 2d per ton. It was only in the machine drill work that the Kaffirs' proved slightly cheaper, than the whites. There Kaffir labour worked out at 6s 4d per ton,' white labour at 6s 9d; .a difference of 5d per /ton,, so small a difference as to be almost a negligible quantity." ..." Every day it became more clean* that, the Transvaal was to be no place for an Englishman. The while man's blood and the white man's treasure may have been spent to win it for the one-time flag of freedom, but the Englishman was not ■to make his home or earn his living upon the land. 'We. want no white proletariat,' Lord Miluer had said." This popular little review ' of the situation is ', well worth reading by all who desire to be thoroughly posted on the subject." Te • Raw*araha— •W. T. L. Tracers; and 'Tire Sacking :; of Kaiapohia—by the Rev. J. W. : Stack. Whitcombe, and Tombs, Ltd., Christchiu'ch.-— first part of this interesting little volume is reprinted from papers read in 1872 before ; the Wellington Philosophical . Society. The other part deals with the famous raids of. Te 'Rail-, Parana upon the South Island, events which had' so much to do with the subsequent ease of European settlement; : ■ Book-keeping Down To Date : B. A. Munro. Effingham ~;■Wilson, '54. Thread-needle-street,; London, E.G.-—This is the second edition of a. very practical! book, which has deservedly attained! sonic popularity. ■

William Pitt: By Charles -Whibley. With; Portraits and Caricatures. William Blackwood and Sons,: Edinburgh:-—We have already ;. given extensive quotations from this most readable biography 'ot the greatest of; English statesmen,: ""the pilot who ■ weathered,the storm." : Nov "is it possible to deal with such i- hook excepting by quotations, for its style cannot be summarised; and ■ every- page is vividly interesting. We give the' last':.-:" Bom : to an inheritance of , patriotism, trained: in a great school of statesmanship, Pitt lived and died the loyal servant •of his country. \: If the security of England; were at stake ; he shrank from no sacrifice, he deemed no toil excessive. Like all heroes, vhe fought the battle alone, and) alone enjoyed the fruits of: victory. As he could place but slight dependence upon friends so he was indifferent to the insolence of his enemies. In the days of his fiercest conflict he saw himself descried by- colleagues and attacked with ail the fury of success by exulting opponents. But he neither wavered in his purpose nor changed his policy a jot. Perhaps the one man in Europe who understood his solitary grandeur was Napoleon. "Ah!" said the Emperor, "if I had .such an • instrument I should not be afraid of the Chambers." And Napoleon understood him, because he faced him and fought him. ' Nor was Pitt's career incomplete because his • purpose was not achieved, 'though he died with the gloom of AuSterlitz upon him he saw .clearly the ultimate end- of the war. 'Rob up the map of Europe,' said he when he retiii ned home for the last time in 1806 'if will I.at be wanted for ten years.' And not for to- years did the battle of Waterlob, which 'hit! genius had prepared and which his wisdi.ni foresaw, restore to England and to Europe the honourable peace to gain which all his battles, by laud and by sea, had been fought.',';. Mr. Whibley may be congratulated 1 upon having erected ai worthy' literary monument to one of our national heroes. V ■'

Wild Wheat:- By M. E. Francis (Mrs. | Francis Blundell). Longmans, Green and ; Co., London. ' (Received through Messrs. Upton and Co., Auckland).-—Mrs. Blundell has attained that dexterity with t*\e pen which makes everything she; writes very excellent reading, and, ais she is generally shrewd enough to confine herself to the Dorsetshire she knows so well, her stone,* arc not only always readable but alwaysinteresting. * Compared to the average popular novel "Wild Wheat" is in the first class; but it is not among the best of Mrs. Blundell's work. , Farmer Hounsell, yeoman landowner of the dying class, leaves by will all his property to the elder son, as is the custom; of the Hounsells. Peter, , the younger son, feels hurt at this, the more "so when he falls in love with a mysterious young lady, companion to an old lady who is as eccentric as she is wealthy. After quarrelling with his brother and mother Peter, son of landed men, goes as assistant gamekeeper to the old lady in order to be near the young one, and when jilted makes bad worse by marrying the softly affectionate and quite simple" gamekeeper's daughter. Finally he learns to love his wife, and Sifter his brother's death is reconciled to his mother. The point is that his escapades are, wild wheat, not wild oats ; only Peter is quite an abnormal young man, while the young lady and the old one and his wife are equally and altogether abnormal. Consequently the story fails to arouse any deep sympathy with its characters, although it will be read with interest and pleasure.

Geometry : Theoretical and Practical—Part I: By W. P. Workman, A., B.Sc, and A. G. Pracknell, M.A.,;B.Se, F.C.V. W. B. Clive, 157, Drury Lane, London, W.C. —The author informs us that: "It is the object of this book to provide a course of geometry in which theoretical and practical work are properly co-ordinated. Accordingly these two parts I of the subject have not, been placed in ] sepairatej; sections of the : book,. but are combined and intermingled as occasion requires. It must be clearly ; understood, however, by the student that the formal course of theory is logically complete in itself and he will find no difficulty in distinguishing this course from the remainder of the book, as it consists exclusively of definitions, axioms, and propositions; moreover the distinction will be further emphasised in a very practical! manner, as he will be ejected to commit the argument of the formal course to memory—though not, of course, to learn its words "by heart.'" ■-;.;. ' ' <

The Art Reader: By P. E. Quinn. E. J. Forbes, Harbour-street, Wellington.— Of the. making of school-books, there is no end, nor will be until.the existing system collapses by its own weight. This " reader" deals with the artistic records of the various civilisations, from the Pyramids to the modern pictures in Australian, galleries. It is an exceedingly creditable production of the kind, well-printed, well-illustrated, well-bound and well-compiled.

Wisdex's Cricketers' Almanack, 1906: Edited by Sydney H. Parton. John Wisden and Co., 21, Cranbourii-street, Loudon, W.C.—Every cricketer: who follows the records of the great English game is familiar with this reliable year book, now in its forty-third annual edition. Among the special features of the 1906 edition is " The Australians in England," giving the scoring in all their matches.: