Literary Notes.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1056, 26 May 1892, Page 13

Literary Notes.

Edited by C. W. Headers of the Mail who are interested in literary subjects and who meet with any difficulties in the Btudy thereof, are invited to put their trouble into a question and send it to this column and an answer will be given herein ns enrly as c onvenient. Publishers and booksellers are invited to send books and publications of general interest for notice In this column, thereby enabling country readers to to be in touch with the latest works in the Colony. As an encouragement to literary beginners tke editor will faiily and honestly criticise any writings sent to him for that purpose and short contributions from readers will be welcomed for publication. Address all communications for this column to the Literary Editor, New Zealand Mail.’ - ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. E.G.D. (Masterton). — Walter Besant was born at Portsmouth in 1838. He introduces the fine old seaport into more than one of Ills stories. He was at Mauritius for some time as Professor in the Royal College. Some local colour in his t do ‘My Little Q-irl’ is no doubt duo to his residence in Mauritius. ‘Ready Money Mortiboy ’ was written in conjunction with Mr James Rice, who is said to have been mainly responsible for the plot. Mr Rice was, I believe, a Canadian. .* The Chaplain of the Fleet’ is generally considered t he best novel written by Messrs Besant and Rice. Steaditk. —You ought to have known the earlier history of your ‘ hero,’ as he is constantly recounting his early experiences. He is the son of the Rev. W. Stead, Congregational minister, at Ilowdon onTyne. After some mercantile experience he was appointed editor of the Northern Echo, published at Darlington, and got his start in journalistic Loudon In 18S0 as assistant editor, under Mr John. Morley, on tho Pall Mall Gazette. Puzzled (Pet-one). —The author of * Yerdant Green ’ is the Rev. Edward Bvadley, who wrote the humorous little work under the nom de plume of ‘ Cuthbert Bede.’ ‘A Country Parson ’ was for years the nom de plume of the Rev. A. K. H. Boyd, who nowadays used bis initials as a signature. The real name of the lady novelist ‘Rita’ is Mrs E. M. Von Booth. Glad you like the ‘ Literary Notes,’ and shall be happy to hear from you at any time. H.M-H. (Masterton). —‘The song that was never sung ’ was received but unfortunately overlooked. I hope to publish it in an early issue of the Mail. Kindly accept apology for delay in acknowledgement, "WRITERS OF TO-DAY. No 1. MR. J. M. BARRIE AND ETIS LATEST BOOK. Mr J. M. Barrie has leaped into such a great literary popularity during the past three years j his work is so fresh,

bright, and original, that the announcement of a new book from his pen is received by the reading public with considerable interest. ‘ Tho Little Minister, his most recent work, is now on sale in Wellington in a cheap form. Before referring further to ‘ The Little Minister a few words about its author may not be out of place. Mr B.irrie is a Scotchman, having been born in the year 1860 at Kerriemuir, in Forfarshire, a small town he has semi immortalised under the name of ‘Thrums.’ Educated first at Dumfries Academy, he went to the Edinburgh University, where he graduated M A. In 1882. He soon entered tho busy world of journalism, and after residing at Nottingham for a time, migrated to London.., Mr Barrie’s first introduction to tho reading public was through the columns of the British Weekly, wherein he at once made a name for himself by his exquisite little pictures of Scottish village life. He gradually worked his way into more important papers, and now does very high

class work for the St. James’ Gazette, The National Observer, The Speaker, and other weeklies where literature is held of almost equal importance with politics. His novel ‘When a Man’s Single,’ appeared in 1888. It was a clever, if somewhat uneven sketch of the life of a young journalist, and attracted the attention of the public at once. In the same year appeared a volume of sketches entitled ‘ AuldLicht Idylls,’ by which Mr J. M. Barrie made a name with the most highly critical readers. ‘ Auld Licht Idylls ’ are brilliant sketches of the quaint life of ‘ Thrums,’or Kerriemuir, a series of pen portraits of all the quaint personalities of the p’ace. Mrs Oiiphant, an authorry on Scotch character drawing, warmly praised the book of the hitherto unknown Scotchman, and Mr J. M. Barrie became a literary lion, whose essays were eagerly looked forward to by readers of the weeklies we mentioned above. In 1890 he produced a vnliime of collected sketches entitled ‘MyLtdy Nicotine.’ In these he again displayed a keen sense of the humorous, and although the devotees / of Raleigh’s weed will perhaps best appreciate the sketches, they took the public

fancy generally by the quaintly humorous style in which they were written. Doing meanwhile agood deal of high class journalistic work, Mr Barrie found time to write what is incomparably the best book he has yet produced, ‘The Little Minister.’ This ran in serial form through the magazine, Good Words, last year, and now appears in tho single volume edition before us. It is not our intention to give a detailed description of the plot of ‘The Little Minister,’ for plot is not its strong point. It is simply the love story of a young Scotch minister ; but what a story. Surely nothing more delightful was ever written of late years than this book. It is full of life, full of gems of humour, full of keen insight into the human mind, full of sound common sense. ‘Thrums’ is a weaving town, and we have tho weavers of fifty ago, with their hand looms,

their small earnings, their wretched dwellings, their discontent, and their occasional violations of the law. An ultraPuritanical folk in their religion, no doubt, and pettifogging in their re-' ligious prejudices in favour of the U.P.’s or ‘The Auld Licit Is,’as the two rival Scotch churches are called in the book. Gavin Dishart, ‘The Little Minister,’ is an ‘ Auld Licht,’ and surely nothing more delicately humorous has been written of his experiences when he took possession, a young man of barely 21, of the ‘ Auld Licht’ pulpit in Thrums. The various members of his congregation, each a character, are limmod with a minuteness of dotail which makes each portrait stand out by itself. We have road many novels in which Scottish humour has been a feature, but we cannot remember laughing as heartily as wo have done over Mr Barrie’s Lang Tam mas, the Precentor, or Rub Dow, the weaver, who was periodically rescued from long ‘sprees’ by the minister, and who, in an intensely dramatic scene in one of the last chapters of the book, i 3 described laying down his own life for that of the Minister, who had

treated him as « man, and not as an animal. We would much like to give quotations, but where cou/d we begin or where could we stop in a book which has not a dull' page, and which is brilliant throughout. Tho dialect of Thrums may be found a little difficult at times, but it does not overpower the book, which all lovers of real literature, as apart from mere fiction, will, <ve make no doubt, heartily appreciate. The title should not frighten away that large section of the public who dislike to have theology crammed down their throats under a very shadowy covering of romance. ‘ The Little Minister ’ is not a book of the ‘Robert Elsmero ’ order, for which fact we are personally grateful. It deals with Scottish church life, but we are never bored with religious disquisitions,- and yet no novel of the past twenty years can be healthier in tone or point a better moral. Would that the world contained more such simple-hearted, lovable creatures as Gavin Dishart, ‘ The Little Minister.’ Of his erratic yet delightful sweetheart, ‘ Babbie,’ and how he won her, and what the ‘ Auld Light ’ congregation thought of the manner of his wooing, we must leave these to those who buy and read the book, which, if our recommendation be worth anything, should be very many.

GOSSIP,

Tho book of travel is Mr Edward Whympor’s ‘ Travels Amongst the Great Indies.’ The book is publishod at £3 3s, and it will bo some time before we colonials have a chance of reading it. The cost of the book is duo to the great expense incurred on the illustrations, which aro said to be superb. Mr Thomas Hardy has been interviewed, and gave some interesting information re his books. Jn answer to the question ‘ Are many of your characters from life, Mr Hardy ’; he said— ‘ Oh, yes, almost all of them. I knew those dairymaids (in Tess) as a boy well. The old clergyman was a much beloved vicar in this very neighbourhood. Bathsheba Everdene in ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ was my own aunt. Now and again real people with their own names walk into my pages. Do you remember Admiral Hardy in “ The Trumpet Major?” Well, there he is,’ and Mr Hardy pointed to a handsome old naval officer on the wall, ‘ that is Sir Thomas Thomas Hardy, in whose arms Nelson died ; he was a relation of mine.’

Book-owners who are also book-lenders will appreciate tho motive which prompted the motto on David Garrick’s book-plate. It was a French quotation, of which the following is a rough translation : —‘The first thing that one ought to do when one has borrowed a book is to read it, so as to be able to return it as soon as possible.’

It is stated by the Manchester Guardian that tho late Professor Freeman frequently contributed its review department. Professor Freeman must (says Tho Bookman) have written more than almost all his contemporaries. He was a prompt and painstaking correspondent, always ready to respond to enquiries.

Mr Quiller Couch, ‘ Q,’ who gave us ‘ Tho Splendid Spur’ and ‘Troy Town,’ is of opinion that ‘ the vogue of the novel is far from being on the wane.’ He instances the great success of George Meredith’s ‘ One of our Conquerors,’ Hall Caine’s ‘Scapegoat,’ Hardy’s ‘ Tess,’ and Barrie’s ‘Little Minister.’ He remarks ‘ they are getting out of the old conventional groove.’ To transplant a bad French convention and to defy Mudie, as a year or two ago people wero inclined to do, is not good art, nor is it realism. But to produce splendid originality and a clean healthy realism is to promulgate a new gospel. The outlook is very bright.’ David Christie Murray has written, and has nearly ready for publication, a novel entitled ‘ 'the Fleshly Robe,’ in which he deals with the question of theosophy, and satirises some of its exponents. Mr Andrew Lang’s ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ Fairy Books are well known, and very popular. He is now preparing a third volume of fairy tales, to be called ‘The Green Fairy Book.’

Mr Rudyard Kipling, now on his way to Samoa, will write a series of letters descriptive of his travel. These will be published simultaneously in the Now York Sun and The Melbourne Argus. ‘ Bookman.’

Mr Oscar Wilde’s play, ‘ Lady Windermere’s Fan,’ recently produced at home, was remarkable for tho number of would-be smart epigrammatic sayings it contained. Mr W. Watson writes to the Spectator as follows : Sib, —The quotation in a recent Spectator of an epigrammatic observation of Mr Oscar Wilde’s, set me wondering if it would be very difficult to produce off-hand a few specimens of pensde3 after Mr Wilde’s pattern. Half an hour’s cogitation on tho nature of things yielded the following result: 1. Of all the enemies of virtue, morality is the most insidious. 2. Amusement is the only occupation worthy of a serious human being. 3. The Unattainable can always be bad for nothing. 4. Nature is the most imperfect of all creations of Art. 5. Nothing is true but the incredible. 6 To enjoy himself at the expense of mankind at large, is the sole duty of the individual. 7. The world was designed with especial reference to its eligibility for tho purposes of the epigrammatist. 3. Life is saved from insignifieanco by its absurdity. 9. The Bast ia only a slightly vari.d repetition of the Future. 10. Happiness is endurab’o as a foil to suffering. 11. Honesty is, of all liuma i weaknesses, the most easily ex.msed. 12. By a strong effort of will a man may learn to bate even his enemies. 13. Popular success is the most lamentable of all forms of failure. 14. The universe is justified by its obvious inutility. 15. Life is too long for any serious undertaking. 16. Morally, the possession of a conscience places Man at a disadvantage by comparison with the superior animals. 17. From great events what trivial causes spring 1

Mrs Bonner has made considerable progress with the biography of her father, the late Mr Charles Bradlaugh. Some portion of the biography is to appear in the 'National Reformer before reaching the book stage. ' Mr Hall Ciine is writing a new story, *Cap’n Davy’s Honeymoon,’ exclusively for Lloyd’s News. The first instalment opens with the picture of a Manxman’s return from the colonies, after making a fortune, to marry his early love. —Athenaeum. A biographical sketch of Joseph Severn, the friend of John Keats, written by Mr William Sharp, has appeared. A death-bed incident is thus relatad by Severn in a letter : ‘ One day be (Keats) broke down suddenly, and demanded that this “foreseen resource ” should be given him. The demand was for

the phial of laudanum I had bought at bis request at Gravesend. When I demurred, he said to me that lie claimed it as his own and bis right, for, be added, wiilh great emotion, “ As my death ia certain, I only wish to save you from tho long miseries of attending and beholding it. It rosy yet be deferred, and I can see that you will thereby bo stranded through your lack of resources, and that you will ruin all your prospects. I am keeping you from your painting, and, as I am sure to die, why not let mo die now? I have now determined to take this laudanum, and anticipate a lingering death, while emancipating you.” As I still refused to let him have the laudanum, ho became furious. He even supplicated me with touching pathos, and with equally touching eloquence described the manner of his death ; but on my persistent refusal he grew more and more violent against me, and I was afraid ho might die in the midst of his despairing rage. And yet in all this there was no fear of death, no want of fortitude or manliness, but only the strong feeling on my account to which he regarded himself and his dying as secondary. So for loug we contended —l e for his death, and I for his life. I told Dr Clark about the bottle of laudanum, and he took it away with him.’

Of Shelley, Joseph Severn gives the following portrait: —‘I first became known to Shelley in 1817, through Leigh Hunt. The poet’s fine presence is still vivkUy before me : his tall, elegant, but slender figure ; his countenance painfully intellectual, inasmuch as it showed traces of his struggle with humanity, and betrayed the abstract gift of a high mind in little relation with the world. His restless blue eyes used to dwell more on the in ivard than the outward aspect of nature. His manner, aristocratic though gentle, aided his personal beauty. Fine classical features, luxuriant brown hair, and a slightly ruddy complexion, combined with his unconsciousness of his attractive appearance, added to his fine exterior. He expressed himself in subclued accents, which commanded attention from their select mental sharacter.’

Lord Tennyson is said to be greatly angered at the book in which Mr Ckurton Collins seems, at any rate, to bring against him a charge of plagiarism. This is a charge which has always had the most irritating effect upon the poet. ‘ These writers,’ he said to a friend, on the occasion whon he was last made the subject of a similar charge—‘these writers are the lice on the locks of literature.’ REVIEW. Imperial Defence, by Sir C. W. Dilke and Spenser Wilkinson. London and New York : Maomillan and Co., 1892. The subject which Sir Charles Dilke and Mr Wilkinson bring before the public in this volume is of transcendent importance. The wide acquaintance with Imperial matters which Sir Charles Dilke undoubtedly possesses, and the experience of practical military affairs which Mr Wilkinson enjoys, justify the reader in anticipating a treatise at once broad and clear, oamprehsnsive and practical upon the subject under discussion. Imperial Defence —that is the means of preserving Britain and her scattered progeny of nations from aggression and minis a theme which might well arouse the patriotic feelings and the keenest intellectual power. The interests involved not only for England but the common interests of humanity are vast. The theatre upon which war_ with England would be waged is wide. The possible features uf such a strife are complex. We are therefore entitled to expect from men of acknowlodged reputation and political experience a survey of the possible dangers to which we are exposed, and a plan, more or less complete, by whioh these dangers are to be

averted or escaped. And we should expect also some information as to the means and resources at our command, with a plan of action to render these means and resources available. The perusal of this bonk loaves behind it a sentiment of regret, a feeling of dissatisfaction, .n a somewhat long but sell reasoned introduction tbe authors justify war upoa two grounds. War, they say, “should be conceived of as imposed upon States by an irreconcilable opposition of purposes.” The ethics of their reasoning are sound. They do not advocate war. They treat it as a terrible necessity—as a last resort. Tbe abstract reasoning of the introduction is admirable, but it is hardly necessary to the consideration of the subject. Imperial defence by its name presupposes that war is forced upon us, and that we take up arms simply to fulfil that urgent law of existence—self-preservation. The book consists of six chapters—the two first treat of tbe Navy and tbe command of the sea, the third and fourth of India and the probabilities of a war with Rusin, with suggestions as to preparations for that contest. The two last speak of the English armies and their management. Of those the only chapters which deal adequately with the real question at issue are the two first. Tho sea is the proper battle ground of England. For centuries W 6 as a people have bad reason to thank

God for the “ silver streak ” which separates the Island homes of our fathers .from the continent of Europe. London is the only capital in Europe which has never been bumbled by the entrance of a conqueror. Great Britain is the only country which has not been devastated and plundered by foreign armies. Our commerce Hows to all the world over the sea, that great highway of tbe nation. So long as we can keep the dominion of the seas shall we be the dominant race, and no longer. The constant aim of English statesmen should he, therefore, to form a federal union of the English speaking peoples, with the object of keeping the absolute control of the sea in every quarter of the globe. The chapters upon India and a possible Russian war, are, no doubt, important in their way, but they fail to satisfy the longing which is excited by the previous pages to hear a plan propounded by which vve may retain that prond dominion celebrated while we sing “ Britannia Rules the Waves.” The last chapters, on the armies of England, are poos? and meagre. They are

composed of & mass of detailed suggestions of the merit of whioh practical military men must be the jndges. Bub they atso leave a sense of disappointment behind them. Tho introduction contains, as wa have said, a philosophic dissertation upon the Ethics of war. The opening chapters discuss with vigour and breadth of view the all important question of maritime supremacy, and then the book fades away into a possible conflict with Russia, and a mass of military details. The work, as a whole, does tot sustain the reputation of its authors. It adds little, if anything, to the knowledge of the subject ou which it professes to bs written.