LITERARY NOTES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 29

LITERARY NOTES.

‘’’l would, rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of books than a king who did not love reading.”—Lord Macaulay. Address all communications for this column 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.

A REVIEW.

-The ‘Times’ History of the War in South Africa.” Editor: L. S. Amery, Eel low of All Souls. Publishers : Sampson Low, Houston, and Company, Ltd. Students of history will rejoice in the opportunity of having at their fingers’ ends the first volume of this remarkable, comprehensive work. The book lacks absolute impartiality, because, as the author admits, '“Absolute impartiality in dealing with so momentous and so recent a conflict of political principles and political ambitions is perhaps hardly attainable.” Further, Mr Amery goes on to ' say : ‘ The present volume has been written frankly from the point of view of one who is convinced that the essential right and justice of the controversy have been with his own 'country, and that the policy which has been pursued by the British - Government has been, both politically and morally, justifiable.” It transpires from a perusal of the volume, however, that it contains more than the “view of one.” In fact, one of its remarkable features is that it hears a composite and partly anonymous authorship. Thus expert evidence has been secured, even if the judicial element has been to an extent sacrificed. We find that “Chapters V. and VI. dealing with the grievances of the Uitlanders and the struggle for political supremacy within the 'Transvaal before the Jameson raid are, in the main, the work of Miss Flora Shaw.” The greater part of Chapter VIII. is from a contributor who- has preferred to remain anonymous. For Chapter IX. the editor is indebted to Mr W. F. Monypenny. Naturally the work done by these writers has literary excellences which must appeal to the student, even where he is not en rapport with the point of view. The comprehensiveness of the volume, too, will weigh with the majority of readers, who will agree that a. remarkably clever and well-argued case has been made for the Imperial standpoint. The editor in his opening chapter insists that the South African war has been the greatest political event in the history of the British Empire since the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars. He admits that such a description may at first sight appear exaggerated when applied to the suppression by a great Empire of two small Republics in a remote part of the world. But, he goes on to point out, it is justified by the importance of the political! (principles involved, by the magnitude and extent of the military operations, and by the profound effect the war has created throughout the whole British Empire, and even among foreign nations. It is, Mr Amery concludes, no less justified by the farreaching results that the war is destined to have in the future upon the organisation of the British Army, the political and economical development of South Africa, the relations between the various self-governing parts of the British Empire, and the position of that Empire among the nations of the world. The motive of the f( ‘Times’ History of the war in South Africa” is set forth by the editor in- the following terms: “We have fought, not to maintain the white man’s burden, but to vindicate the white man’s birthright—the right of all white men that come into a new country to join in the work of developing and making it, to claim a share of its political privileges. Our endeavour has been . . . to prevent a vast region inhabited by men of English blood . . . from being lost to the

community of liberty-loving and progressive nations that make up Greater Britain.” Of the struggle itself we are told: “One of the first effects of the war was to show up the weakness of and inefficiency existing in many departments of our costly military organisation, the paucity of capable senior officers, the serious lack of training of both officers and men for the_ conditions of active service, the failure of those responsible for the general direction. of the army to anticipate the profound change in the whole character of warfare brought about by the improvements in modern firearms. But the course of the struggle brought into no less striking relief the unflinching personal bravery of the British soldier . , i . and the vast reserve of power latent in the patriotism of the free nations which compose the British Empire. . . Every thrill of hope or fear ■ that has been felt in South Africa or in .England has been felt no less in Canada, in Australia, in New Zealand. Every drop of colonial blood shed in

South Africa lias cemented more closely the bond of kinship between the parts of the British Empire.” The manner in which the author sums up the position . in regard to the colonials is decidedly complimentary, but there is a left-handed compliment to me Imperial officers conveyed which will hardly prove palatable in certain quarters. “The colonial volunteers have gained much of their experience of serious fighting/’ says Mr Amery, “as units in a large and regular army. Bat the regular officers have gained even more from their contact with the colonials. They have learned that mechanical precision in useless evolutions is not absolutely essential to military efficiency, and that a certain easy familiarity between officers and men is not incompatible with unquestioning obedience to orders.” The reference to the Uitlanders is hardly so happy. “The war which has been fought for the much-alm.sed Uitlander has justified him* in his countrymen’s eyes,” is. hardly borne out by the subsequent statement that “some five thousand Uitlanders have been fighting for their own good right.” For. after all. wb s t compari on does this little “cont in rend’ bear to t' !, e e* a moo us crowd which made the welkin ring with their shoutings for the loan cf a ballot-box? In a later chapter of the very volume from which we are quoting the following statement appears : “An estimate made in 18S3 gave 25.000 as the number of fully enfranchised burghers, and 50,000 as the approximate number of adult male Uitlanders then resident in the Transvaal.” Is 5000 then a fair fighting representation of 50,000? The fact is that the troubles of Uitlanders are made far too much use of right through the volume. The British are at present fighting, for broad principles, and not for the Uitlanders, who from the Jameson raid downward have cut but ail ignoble figure in South African operations. A feature of the “History” is its whole-souled condemnation of the methods and conduct of Cecil Rhodes, whose machinations and war-plottings are conscientiously and fearlessly revealed with a wealth of accompanying detail. On the other hand, the author considers that the moderation and sincere loyalty of men like Mr Schreiner and, Mr Solomon have been fully vindicated by their conduct in circumstances of exceptional difficulty. The question of suzerainty is somewhat laboured in the volume in the light of subsequent information, and it is almost wonderful that such well-informed writers as the authors of this volume should still seriously regard the “Edgar incident,” seeing that it hardly survived the political necessities which brought it into prominence. The volume is excellently bound and printed, ancY contains a number of very valuable half-tone pictures of participants in South' African history-making. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. “The Brass Bottle,” by F. Anstey. London, Longmans, Green and Co. Wellington : Messrs Whittaker Bros. Out of “The Strand Magazine/’ where it attracted a great deal of interest and! attention, into Longman’s Colonial Library is the evolution of "The Brass Bottle.” It is a delightful holiday story, showing its author to have a quaint imagination and to he possessed of a rich fund of humour. Evidently obtaining inspiration from a perusal of “The Arabian Nights,” Mr Anstey ventured the difficult task of adapting an Arabian jinnee to local conditions. His manner of doing so displays eixcellent workmanship. To go into details and disclose the plot would be to. rob the book of its chief charm, which is originality : v a proceeding which would be unfair to Mr Ans u tey and to his prospective readers alike. It may, however, be predicted that the verdict of novel lovers will be that here is a story, well-written, spicy, laughterprovoking—well worth the reading. “The Duke,” by Stcrer Clouston. London : Longmans, Green and Co. Wellington : Messrs Whittaker Bros. Mr Clouston, whose “The Lunatic at Large,” met with a favourable retception, is a good example of the modern school of fictional writers. His new story covers merely a month in the life cf a character of singular interest—Lambert Heseflle—who from a wanderer leaps into • possession of vast wealth and an ancient title; but that month is crammed full of incident and romance. Strong, clearly defined characters are set before the reader. Their® are practically two ber~ in- the book, the young duke and his friend Kavanagh, a penniless adventurer, whom the neir persuades to personate him for a month in order that he (the heiir) may be free to clear up the mystery surrounding a dead father’s disgrace. After the Duke and his friend -—an admirably limned portrait of a volatile, reckless Irishman —have changed their identities, complications of ail kinds not unnaturally ensue). The chapters teem with incident, and the doings of aristocratic English society, as reflected in Mr Clouston’s lively pages, ace chronicled in a manner by no means flattering to that exclusive set. The threads of a tangled skein are in capable hands, and Mr Clouston liberates them, one by one, with rarefitp’&l and evident relish. His invention fflMkr fails, and his detail

is always piquant. The result is a hook that should be widely popular. “Rodman the Boatsteerer/’ end other stories, by Louis Becke- London : George Newnes, Limited, by arrangement with M* T. Fisher Lnwin.' (Sixpenny edition). To read this series of South Sea yarns is nob-unlike inspecting the. work in a painter’s studio. There are in the stories variations cf style, a nd, it may almost be said, degrees of finish. Some of the stories resemble an impressionist sketch, having the same broad effects and the same lack of elaboration. Others, again, possess all the completeness of a picture on which the greatest care has been bestowed. But even in his round- y est work Mr Becke does not laboui. .His writing has the charm of spontaneity, ana also t-lie directness which goes so far towards the making of a good story. In islands where Nature, when she arouses herself in the fury of the hurricane, is quick to destroy; where the inhabitants are swift to shed blood, and where in a general way.might is right, there is little opportunity for concealment. A man or a woman —-trader, missionary. sailing master, or native chief —» is soon known in his true colours. Prolonged dissimulation such as is possible under the cover of civilisation in temperate climes is a thing scarcely known. Mr Be eke’s themes are tljo adventures, the loves, and the brave and base deeds of New Bedford whalers, Sydney traders, labour recruiters, historical pirates, convicts, escapees, deserters, and beach-combers on the one side and native men and women on the ether. The unions, some permanent but many temporary, of the white man and the coloured woman form the basis of a large proportion of his vivid narratives- “ God’s Lad,” a novel by Paul Cushing. London : George Bell and Sons’ Indian and Colonial LibraryLove, without which a novel-were incomplete, has a corner, but little more than that, in “God’s Lad.” The early chapters are much in the nature of ~ prologue. They merely serve to introduce some English folk, gentle and simple, two of whom, a- man and a maid, fignre prominently in the story proper, when the scene is changed to the Western Hemisphere. The author uses his story as the vehicle for conveying striking descriptions of life aboard an American ship- in the year 1849, in San Francisco, when the •cmest of gold drew men from all parts of the world to California, and on the goldfields themselves. Over the crew of the ship Samantha the rule of fist and revolver prevailed, and the exciting happenings aboard. her are described without reserve, while the same free pen is used in detailing; her ’cute captain’s schemes and brutalities. The strange condition of San Francisco, with its immense fleet of deserted vessels in the Bay and the money-making and gambling that went on ashore, in days when gold-dust and nuggets were currency and high wages were the rule, is picturesquely depicted. Incidents of mining camps are also detailed in an attractive manner. The story has no great amount of cohesion, but persons who like piquant language, and can bear the unadulterated linguistic peculiarities of sailors and miners, will find it readable. “The Circling Hearths.” By Roderic Quinn. Published by the Bulletin Newspaper Company. This booklet, which is the third of the “Bulletin” series, is a daintily got-up volume of thirty-two pages, whose contents are in thorough keeping with its appearance. Mr Quinn belongs to the younger school of Australian poets, and nis work, as testified by a formatbooklet, now out of print, is marked; by a wealth of fancy and a grace of diction which gives promise of even better performance when the maturity of his mental powers shell have been reacneJ. In the poem that gives the title to this volume Mr Quinn apostrophises his countrymen of the six “circling hearths” that make the Australian Commonwealth : Six Ploughmen in the same field side by side, But, if neafd be, six Swords as one r * and in a fine stanza thus limns their destiny— To keep these hearth-fires red, to keep the door Of each house wide, that is our part; Surely ’tis noble! Surely heart x o heart, God’s love upon us and one goal before, Is something worth; something to win Our hearts to effort; something it were good To garner soon; and something ’twould be sin To cast aside in wanton mood. The most conspicuous vice* of the author is a straining after original forms of versification. He will do better work when he remembers or learns that the true craftsman is he who. can. best graft new thoughts and new music on the old simple forms. Of the other poems in this collection* we like best, because of the evidence of thought it contains, that entitled “Love! and Intuition,” dealing with the problem of sexantagonism and the all-conquering power of sex-passion. It tells of a lover,

his reason discrowned by the “perilous sweetness” of a woman’s attraction. But lie paused yet a little; he heard from afar The Voice of the Past—- “ Her blood and thy blocd, they ares!agger ed for war; She was born from the first not to ma&e thee, but mar.” And his soul stood aghast. “Canst- thou thouch her and kiss her who wrought thee this wrong "Who dimmed thy race-star? Her soul and thy soul are a-surge and a-throng With foe-forces that warred through Hie centuries long, And for ever shall war.’’ Of course,Hn the upshot Love is triumphant ; the lover is enslaved by the seductive charms of the enchantress; And locked in her beautiful prison of arms, He laughed at the Past, the instinctive alarms That bade him beware. The exuberance ei fancy and imagination, which so strongly recommends Mr Quinn’s verses to people of the poetic temperament, will militate against his popularity with the Australasian public until he becomes more external and material. This booklet proves that he has the true poetic stuff in him, and itwill whet the appetite of lovers of literature for more of like quality.