NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1678, 27 April 1904, Page 21

NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS

“Tennyson.” T. N. Foulis, 3 Frederick street, Edinburgh. It is the laudable design of Mr Foulis to publish the best of all British poetry in neat and even elegant books, at a remarkably cheap price. The volume before us comprises some one hundred 1 and fifty pages, and- the selected works of the late poet laureate are printed on good paper, tastefully decorated, and bound in light bluei aid cloth. Matthew Arnold said that “in literature we have present and waiting ready to form iu®, the best which hals been thought and! said in the would. Our business is to get at this best and to know it well.” In this Series of volume® Mir Foulis promises ws that almost all that can be called the “best” of-each poet will be found. In the case of Tennyson the aim of selection, hats been to avoid any test of mere convention, and to decide on purely poetical grounds what that “best” is. The publisher has to be congratulated on the success of his work as far as Tennyson is concerned, and against his judgment the most ardent lovers of this poet will take no exception. He wilThave more difficulty with Burns and Scott,for every Scotsman will then become a poetical critic. ‘Library of English Prose.—Essays of EUa.” By Charles^Lamb. T. N. Foulis, 3 Frederick , street, Edin- . burgh. ’kAir-T:. *• This is another praiseworthy effort on the part of Mr Foulis to bring the best work of the best authors within the r&ach of ail classes. The series will comprise -seleotions from the texts of Francis Bacon. Sir Thos. Browne, Carlyle, and

other authors “wihom it is no freak of dilettantism to admire.” The “Essays of Elia” liave been an acknowledged classic for nearly a century, and they are not unfrequently the subject of examination in English in ofiir universities. Wo may note that the aim of the publisher in this series is not to make foirfoften worthies conspicuous by the magnificence of their attire, but to give the reader his favourite prose classics in a book worth having as a book—carefully printed in good £ype and decorated in a manner that breaks the bare monotony of text, without doing violence to the right supremacy of the meaning it conveys. Mr C. D. O. Barrie’s biographical sketch of the author is admirably done, and the volume is printed and bo;umd in a style that i ! s certain to be everywhere appreciated. “British Weights and Measures considered from a Practical Standpoint.” By James W. Evans, Metropolitan Inspector of Weight® and Measure®, Sydney, N.S.W. Published by F. W. White, 344 Kent street, Sydney. A recently-issued Blue Book at Home state,® that it has been shown “that the majority of the colonies favour the metric system of weights and measures.” It does not follow that this dictum applies to the self-governing colonies; a® a matter of fact, no means have been taken to ascertain the views of the people of Australasia on the subject, though the press and the Chambers of Commerce have to a large extent pronounced in favour of the rnetrio system, and still more largely in favour of decimal coinage. Mir Evans clearly demonstrate® in this forcible work that at'leaat one person in this part of the world who is competent to speak on the subject is strongly avei'se to any change in the prevailing system of weights and measures. He advances a powerful plea for the retention of the existing system, a® being the most convenient to the great bulk of the people, and also as lending itbelf most readily to easy calculation. In support of his position ho quotes the late Herbert Spencer, whose inveterate objection to the metric system was such that in his will lie directed that should a Bill ever be introduced into the Imperial Parliament dealing with that subject liis pamphlet against it, published in 1896, should be reprinted, placed oil salo at a nominal prioe, and copies distributed among the members of both Houses. A few weeks ago it was reported by cable that the House of Lords had passed the Second reading of a measure purporting to make the use of the metric system compulsory after 1906, presumably, therefore, the terms of Mr Spencer’s will have been complied with, and the British public and politicians are busily engaged debating the question. Mr Evans’® treatise is, therefore, opportune, and will provide' opponents of change with many cogent arguments. His reasoning and his facts are certainly weighty enough to cause unthinking advocate’s of the reform to pause and consider. For example, he points out that within the United States and Canada, though possessing decimal coinage, liave not thought- fit to adopt metric weights and measures. “In Canada, though the metric system has been permissive since 1871, it ha’s failed to come into use, and is not likely to. On the contrary, adherence to British standards libs been strengthened.” We can heartily commend this little book to all who are interested in the question of a change in existing British standards of weight and measurement.