LITERARY NOTES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1510, 7 February 1901, Page 31

LITERARY NOTES.

* i would; rather be a poor man in a gar- * ' ret with plenty of books than a king who- did not love reading/'—Lofd Macaulay.

Address all communications for this cotuinn. to "The Editor, New Zealand Mail.

Publishers sending books for review are requested to mention, their price.

Publishers and booksellers are invited to send books and publications of general interest for notice in this column, thereby enabling country readers to be in touch With the latest works in the colony.

MW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS

“Miscellanies/’ by Edward Fitzgerald. London,: Macmillan and Co.; Wellington, S. and W. Mackay. - Price, 2s 6di cloth.

It is but a few mc-nfbs ago since Messrs Macmillan issued in their ever-welcome ’“Go!d/>n Treasury” series a very welcome new and cheaper edition of Edward Fitzgerald's-famous version of the “Rubiyat of the- Persian, astronomer-poet,. Omar Khayyam, winning •thousands, of new admirers for that superb poem of “Life and Love and, 1 Death/' The same firm, recognising the great interest that has latterly been taken in the life and works of the-East Anglian recluse who. numbered men like Thackeray, Lord Houprhton (Monckton Milne), Tennyson and other celebrities, among his personal friends, onw publishes a slender volume of his “Miscellanies/’ We are glad to- see extended knowiege of any of Fitzgerald’s writings made possible, -but Ave should have imagined that it had been wiser to have first issued a cheaper edition of Fitzgerald’s “Letters," now only obtainable in an expensive edition, but wfcieh contain the most delightful reading. We ■trust this may vet be done, meanwhile we may he thankful for small mercies in the-sha.ne of Fitzgerald’s appreciative essay on the lire and works, of Bernard Barter,. the Quaker poet, whose poetrv was admired by men of such varied standards of criticism as Southey, Lamb, and the Etfcriek Shepherd. It is pleasant- to read of the - q-uiefc, simple life of Barton,, for forty years a bank clerk, and who thwarted- all attempts to lionise him. Fitzgerald, by the way, married Barton's daughter, a lady of eccentric manners. It was 3j most unsuitable match for the translator or Omar, The marriage proved an unhappy one and Carlyle's sympathy witn the husband was characteristically Qualified by a sound rating of his friend’s folly./ The_ principal item in the “Miscellanies” .is not, however, Fitzgerald's delicate little sketch of Barton, but a semi-philosophical essay, or collection of conversations between a,n old Onmbr’dcn in,an, “Ff.tz" himself, and some of his old college chums. This is entitled “EupK ranor,” and although somewhat old-fash-ioned in style, maxes very pleasant j eadmg. containing-, as it doe’s, criticisms and gossio on Lamb, Wordsworth, Rir 'K.erieim. Digbv, sno. on several cf the Latin and- Greek classics. Fitzgerald was a friend and admirer cf George Crabbe, a fellow 'East Anglian, and in the present volume w© have a sketch of the poet, who Was not tinhapoilv called “a r.oet in worsted stockings.” A dated biograohy of Lamb, an, essa.v on “Red Boxes"—a-hu-mourous imitation of an essay by Sir Arthiyr.; Helps——and a- few occasional verses, make ut> the collection, which, if not appealing to the general public,* will .receive a hearty welcome from nil who ■are '.interested in Fitzgerald’s life arui work. '/Tf '%^ s Macmillan reoubTGh’ the '“Lettors and I/fcersry R<>. mains." including Fit-zp-eraid’s TrsnsbUom - from the Sr-enbh of Calderon',' Wnd' the Greek of ZFsohvlvs and Sn-ohocles, in the cheo.eAnd tasteful form 4 that • miwbieh the “Rfcbiavat" Lpd the “MisoULpyi.es’' ha.vo . students and »diri!’ c ”'V of Fitzgerald would be rgi-v o-rateful. a,s.thev,.would then be nble'to a 6 moderate chare-as' of e fairly erw.nfeth edition of n Vrfir-afn 7 rnd id 'many ways charming e?sa.vlst- sod n rot- ...

“The. Courtesy Dame” by 11. Murray Gilchrist; “Eli’s Daughter” by J. H. Pearce; “'The Princess Sophia’” bv Er F. Benson. (Hieneman’s Colonial : Library). Londqn William Hiene- : rndtihl’' Price' 2s 6d paper. 3s. 6cl cloth.

One' is rarely disappointed with, tb - nor els of which "Mr Eienemann' Supplies cheap ' editions in his ' Oolouiai Library, and if none of the three latest additions to this series may be said to be very notably examples of modern fiction, at least they are interesting in, plot, wholesoma .in tone, and decidedly readable. Mr Gilchrist’s story is almost a. prose idyll. „._H?s “Courtesy Dame,” Anne Witche.fct, .is the daughter of ah innkeeper. Her birth is humble, but she has beauty, virtue and wit. A "fine gentleman,” Lord Bo stern, falls in love., with her beauty and brings her up as his companion. An old roue, he is also at the time an invalid, and the relations of the pair are purely platonic. The nobleman takes Mime with him on a, tour round Europe, and has her educated, but she remains always virtuous and unspoiled by her surrounding's. When, however, they return to Lord Bos tern’s English home, ‘he tongue. of Scandal wags freely, and an ugly construction is placed upon the title of “Courtesy Dame.” Each by this time

loves the other, and the story of the strife against temptation is told with much restrained power. Eventually, to please her benefactor, Anne becomes engaged to one of his relatives, but will not marry him until Lord Bostern dies. There is. in this clever and artistically worked out story, a delicacy of treatment which is very agreeable to the reader. There is humour, too, in the book, which should gain not a few admirers.

In "'Eli’s Daughter,” Mr Pearce introduces us alternately to life'in Cornwall and London. The principal characters are very unfortunate in their love affairs. The hero, a well-meaning, hut weak and hasty-tempered young fisherman, is mixed up. in a public-house row, and goes to prison. Poor Deivence, his sweetheart, is forced into marrying Abe Tregarthen, whom she does not love, whilst poor Hal, on coming out of prison, goes to London and there marries a worthless woman, whose real character he only/discovers when she deserts him to go back to a vicious life. Deivence''s marriage has also an unhappy ending. Her husband proves unfaithful and finally, in a fit of anger, kills her father. Hal wanders back to his native Cornwall and meets Deivence again, but the pair never marry, although the death of poor Deivence’s convict husband had made the event possible. On both sides there are unhappy memories, and they prefer to remain friends only, going down the fading years of life, soberly waiting the end. The general tone of the story is one of sadness, bub as a picture of life amongst the Cornish fishermen and miners, “Eli’s Daughter’’ is a work of no small interest and charm. Deivence is a heroine of whom any novelist might well be proud.

After “Dodo” and “Mammon and C 0.,” with their sparkling epigrams, and their general brilliancy of dialogue, Mr Benson’s latest story, “Princess Sophia,” seem-s a, trifle tame. He imitates Anthony Hope and creates an imaginary European Kingdom, Of which the Princess Sophia, his principal character, is nominal ruler. She has wit, beauty and ability on her side, but unfortunately she is a born gambler, and after the fall of her husband l , who plots to depose her, her State becomes a second Monte Carlo. Eventually her only son plays his mother for the kindgom and wins the game, and forthwith starts an era of reform which disgusts the princess. As his mother says to the English gentleman who tells the story, “He is married, and has five children, none of whom have ever seen a, pack of cards, and they are all the picture of health, and go to bed at nine. . . It is horrible. The Education Department ought to see to it. But in Rhodope, unfortunately, I doubt whether even the Education Department know what cards are now.” etc., etc. The Princess is, it must be admitted, a very frivolous woman, but her sallies and her follies make an entertaining story. It would be more entertaining had it been compressed a. little. There is an occasional epigram, but Mr Benson has been far from repeating his previous successes. 'Another '-'Babe for instance, would better please his old admirers than a. dozen such novels as “The Princess Sophia.”

“The House of Giants,” by Yorick Everett ; “A Hero of Romance,” by Richard Marsh. (London and Melbourne : Ward, Lock and Co. Wellington : S. and W. Mackay. (Price, 2s 6d cloth.)

The first of the stories which appear under the title of ‘The House of Giants” deals with the now somewhat Venerable motif of the • travelling Britisher who becomes entangled in the meshes of foreign conspirators and the Russian secret police, and has to encounter considerable annoyance, not to say grave personal peril, before lie emerges with the hand of a beautiful lady as his recompense. In “The House of Giants” the hero is a Scotsman named David Galbraith, who is induced to temporarily, personate a German, one Demetrius Gottfried, who has an unsavoury past as a forger and spy, but who- is blessed with a virtuous and lovely sister. Before Galbraith shakes himself, free from the trouble into which his masquerades lead him, and wins the hand of the lovely Alma, lie is kidnapped at least twice, and with the help of two male friends and an “American” lady journalist, kidnaps his future wife. The scene alternates rapidly between London and Paris, and there can be no complaint as to the lack of stirring incident. Also, there is some relief from ultra-sensa-tion, in the shape of Humour, a feature not always found in this class of fiction. The remainder of the stories in the collection are mainly of the ordinary magazine style. They are uneven in. merit, but “The Sapphire Pins” and “The Captain’s Quartette,” are niuch above the general average. Mr Everett, in his preface, says that “readers of fiction haye a, habit of neglecting all but the title story” in these collections. In this case it is to be hoped that the rule will be proved by an exception, for some of the shorter stories are very well worth reading.

Our surmise may be incorrect, bait we have a notion that “A Hero of Ro-

in a nee,” the latest story to which the now familiar name of Richard Marsh is attached, is an early effort, the publication cf which has been mainly prompted by the success of later effusions from the same pen. It is certainly not worthy of Mr Marsh’s reputation, although it cannot be said to be either dull or idwritten. The hero is a. boy of fourteen, one Bertie Bailey, who runs away from a private school, and falls into the hands of some clever and brutal London thieves. Accidently overhearing the story of a big jewel robbery, and the fact being discovered, the boy is spirited away to France by the chief of the gang, one Captain Loftus, and is not recovered by Lis parents until after he has undergone some startling adventures and- some decidedly unpleasant experiences. • The story of Bertie's wanderings between leaving the hated’ precincts of Mecklenberg House and .his falling in with the London thieves, is calculated, we should say, to act as a wholesome deterrent to- any foolish youth, who, after a course of “penny awful,” may dream of a romantic career; but we dislike exceedingly the tone of the earlier chapters. The boys at Mecklenburg House appear, by the author’s own sho-w----ing, to have been a. mob of ill-manner-ed, ill-bred young cubs, and as for bis bov hero. a. sound flogging or two would probably have saved both himself and his parents a world of trouble.

“Besmonde, M.D.,” by Mr Willard French. (Unwin’s Colonial Library.) London: T. Fisher Unwin. (Price, 2s 6d paper, 3s 6d cloth.)

Those of our readers who like a fullflavoured —a very full-flavoured—story in which hypnotism and the unpleasant antics which can be played 1 by a morphiamaniac take a principal part, are recommended to read “Desmonde, M.D.” The story, we should say, from various internal evidence is of American origin. The hero, a doctor, who performs, at her own request, an operation upon a hospital nurse whom he loves, at a critical moment loses bis nerve and is guilty of a. blunder, which, for many years, lie believes cost the patient her life. As' a matter of fact, he had gone temporarily insane, and had given up profession and position and rushed off to America, whilst the lady had recovered, but had not been able to trace liis whereabouts. The story is told by a friend of the doctor’s, a hero-worshipper, indeed, who puts up quite cheerfully with a hundred and one eccentricities of his hero, who, to tell the truth, we found an exceedingly wearisome individual. The story, the conclusion of which is decidedly vague, is told in a high-flown style, and is replete with' what, to us, at least, is very largely the incomprehensible- jargon of live not ism—of the novelist’s kind. ~ 1

‘“Cunning Murrell,” bj r Arthur Morrison. (Methuen's Colonial Library.) London: Methuen and Co. Wel-

lington-: Whitcombe and Tombs

Mr Morrison has apparently grown weary ..of the “M ean Streets” he made so famous, and of the small tragedies of the East End of London. In his latest story, “Cunning Murrell,” he has taken the Essex Marshes, the low-lying land with its scattered villages, at the mouth of the Thames, as his scene. Here, in the fifties, at Leigh, Hadleigh, and thereabouts, lived a. population, half peasant, half iishe#men, tinctured largely with the- smuggler element. “Cunning Murrell” is an elderly man of great local repute as an authority on “spells, 7 ’’ and “witchcraft” generally. No Maori tohunga ever possessed or wielded a greater influence over his tribe than does Murrell, and Mr Morrison must be complemented upon having created an exceedingly fine character—as a character, of course. How Mrs Martin, the widow of a coast guardsman, and mother of a fine young sailor, who is away serving iii the Balitc against the “Rooshians.” is suspected of casting a spell on poor Meg Bfinham how “Cunning Murrell’s” services are called in, and what are the consequences of his cures; how Murrell becomes involved in the smugglers’ schemes, how sweet- Dorrily, a really charming heroine, loses her lover, Jack Martin, and is pestered with the attentions of Stephen Cloyse, escaping them, however, to find happiness with the sturdy blacksmith, Lingoo<i, we must not recount in detail. It-'is a capital story, recalling by it's, careful study of peasant life and character in the same country, Baring Gould’s “Mehnlah,” but possessing an originality and a, charm all its own. “Cunning Murrell,” with his curious admixture of knowledge and ignorance, superstition and shrewdness, is a truly delightful character, and the quaintly-named old - sailor, Roboshobery Dave, is sure to make a host of friends amongst readers of this attractive story of Mr Morrison’s.