A LITERARY CORNER

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7057, 19 February 1910, Page 9

A LITERARY CORNER

i.ISY "LIBL'R.") A BOOK OF THE MY. QUEEN BESS AS A CIIKL. "The Girlhood of Queen Elizabeth." By Frank Arthur :.hlllby; with an introduction by H. S. liait. M.A.. follow ci New College, Oxiurd; with nine porirnit and a letter in fat '"" milu. London: A. Constable and Co.

"The imlv history worth reading." eays Luskin, "is that written at the time -,t which it treat.. Ihe what was done am! H-m out the month, .j.' men wli?<!-< -ind bum-. l.'U'Skins d ; =ium i* singularly a-poropntUo to the admirable compilation tor which llr MiimO.v i<- iispou.-ible lit', tells tnc storv of tho early lite ot tile great t,, con «ho was to be by means ol contcmnon.rv letters, with a running com■montarv which weld:, the ivhole into a full cnnlinuous. and most fascinating narrative. Never km flic girl more wini)let"lv the mother of ihe woman than in the cii.«o of Queen Elizabeth. Mr Ircuue tohl us inn oh, but. his omissions -were many—ometimes. it is to be feared, wilful, with a view to supporting his own pergonal arid peculiar point of view. Mr Slunby has had the advantage ot being able to quote from contemporary records and correspondence unknown to his great pl-pdfcex-or. and is honest enough. to warn his readers when he colliders that his memoirt*. ,'pour sorvir are o, doubtful accuracy. In these ear y letters of the youne prince-is. whom ,ii? bpanfeh Ambassador called '"the Bastard, the princess who, when queen, was to prove the sharpest thorn in tho side of the proud Spaniards, -ivo ran see the growth of those, influent:?*, «om« good, but many evil, which undoubtedly contributed in no small degree to the development and iashiomng of that strangely complex character ot later years. No wonder need ho cspiesaed at Queen Bess being cunning and ehifty. ami deliberately untruthful, no wonder she wad .suspicious and rusted no cm verj- lo"B. »» wonder she behaved as a woman so indecorously as to cause tho tongue of scandal to busy itself with her fair name. Tor there was much in her up-briiigmg which would breed all these unenviable traits H here waa a natural sod ot personal hanguiineso, love of arbitrary power—inherited on t lie paternal side—and cunning and shutiness and a tendency to what it is almost a gll"«in" of the tenth to .style indtNOr%m. inherited from Anne do Bolans, her mother, the mother most of us know as Anno Boleyn. Her very birth mate enemies of her relatives, and especially embittered her half-sister, tor Henry actually desired to degrade Catherine- of Aragon'-s daughter -.-!' her title as Princess, and went. -o far in pergonal meanness as to deprive her ot her suite. Those were evil and unhappy days for Mary, but her pride sii-ia.ned her and when ill her urn. Kliznbeth was de£oled. her mother <lr„! and hers,lf left in the hands of a goveim--. one cabs certain that Mary felt no great pity for her step-sister.

One of the very first letters .in tho collection is that written by this same Koverne*,-; or guardian, -Lady Jfryan, to r *Mv lord Cromwell." Her ladyship begs that .provision be made for suitable raiment for tho child, "for she hath nenher .-own nor kirtle (slip;, nor petticoat, nor So manner of linen, nor siuccivs. uov kerchiefs, nor rails 'm S at-dres«cs). bodv suitchcta (corsets), nor handKeichiefs, nor sleeves, nor mufflers (mob caps), nor biggens ■(night-caps). , Aso her iadvship thinks "My lady Ehzabeth ehoukl not be permitted to 'dine and sup at the Board of Estate,' for there Bhß shall seo divers meats and fruits and wine which it would be hard forms to restrain her Grace trom. this soeins a very sensible opinion, considerin" "My lady Elizabeth hath great r,am with her. (treat teeth, and they cotne very slowly forth, which causeth me to Buffer her 'Grace to have her will more than I would I trust to God an her teeth were well graft, to have-her, Grace after another fashion than she is. Evidently the child of three had a will and a temper of her own. At nine we read of her great inclinations to study. Catherine Parr, the last of her lathers six wives, seems to have been kind to her, but tho child's character did not improve in a court environment, and after tho lung's death—Elizabeth being at that time only fourteen—her conduct seems to have been inoro than merely frivolous. Admiral Lord ibeymour, a man of forty, actually proposed to. her. His letter is a masterpiece of subtle flattery The youn-j princess refused mm, in a letter "which is a marvel" of clever reasoning and almost priggish maidenly modesty, and Seymour turned to an old Same, the Queen-Dowager, and married Catherine Tho prince now went to reside with her step-mother and the man whom she had only a few months pre-, ■riously refused. Then, began what we Should nowadays call a flirtation, betwoen the middlo-aged Seymour and the Jirincess, the'latter behaving with such precocious indecorum as to make people ikink and eay some very ugly things.

There may have been, indeed there. was. so we aire assured, nothing, actually wrong, but the depositions made to the Privy Council (which, solemnly fiat in - :i udgnient upon Elizabeth's skittishnass). by Mrs Ashley, her governess, certainly make fcoinoii-hat scandalous and suggestive reading. Seymour appears to have had but email sense of propriety, and one can ciuite understand the horror of the virrtuous Mrs Ashley when ray loTd. "tried .to kiss the princess in her bed, and would Strike her on the back familiarly as she lay therein." Apparently the. Queen-Dowager, the skittish Seymour's •wife and Elizabeth's step-mother, eaw no harm 'in - this "skylarking," for "at Jlamworth. on two mornings, the Queen. n-as with him. and they both'tickled my Lady Elzabeth in lior bed." Seymour died, on the .fcnnold. and the next stage of Elizabeth's career was ono'of retirement and study.at Hatfield. And study (-•he did-to such good purpose that her tutor, the famous .Roger Ascham, predicted (treat things of her whom ho at first called "that noble imp.". "Good Ascham" grows quite, enthusiastic as Tie discusses, in «i letter to John yturmius, the wonderful progress of his distinguished, 'pupil.

She has tho most ardent love of true religion, and of the best kind of literature. Tho constitution of I her mind is exempt from feroaJo I weakness, and she is endued with, a masculine -power of application. Xo apprehension-can be quicker than hor's, no memory more relentive. French and Italian she speaks like English; Latin, with fluency, propriety, and Judgment; she alto spoke Greek with' me. frequently, willingly, and moderately well. Of how many New Zealand matriculated students of sixteen could such a formidable catalogue* of linguistic accomplishments bo set forth? At the same time one cannot help suspecting tliax "good Master Ascham" was somewhat of a sixteenth century 3lr Barlow, for it is quite in the -approved manner of pri""ishnes=i made famous in the "Sandford" and Morton" of our voutli that the tutor expatiates upon the simplicity of tho Princess's, ideas on, the subject of personal adornment. He says :—- With regard to personal decoration, she crreatlv prefers a simple eleffiiicc to show and (splendour, so despising "the outward adorning of plaiting the .hair and of wearing of j

gold" that in the whole manner of life sh- ralher resembles itippolyta than Phaedra. •As Sam Wei let- remarked on a certain oiea.ion "This is raythor too' rich." fVrlainlv, in later years, Elizabeth exhibited none of tho "chaste simplicity which the "good Aveham" so belauded, for none there was in all her age who ,o delighted in swelling farthingales, l-u"e r.ifil-s and the "pearls and other •■Vrds" a"iiinst which the earlier I'uri"in. devoted such wholesoulod denunciation. Indeed, she was so fond of jewels twit IVria. the Spanish Ambassador to England in 1-038, wrote to Philip: I have sent.- her (the Oueeu). by the Ad•niiral's wife the two rings that your Mnjc'ty .gave me which belonged to the iate Queen (Queen Mary;, because, as I saw she was ~» fond of her newels, I thought, bet to -,'ive her rip even the poorest of them."

Some of the most historically interestins and valuable of the letters are those rcfating to her life during the reign of her rival and pueleeessor. Here Elizabeth shows a marvellous grasp of the difficulties and dangers of her position. Tho •"licdingticld Papers," which describe her imprisc-ninent at Woodstock, were -unknown to or at least unused by Frouda. She greatly impressed the Venetian Ambassador by "her astute and judicious behaviour," but poor Sir Henry Ueiiingfield. whose vigilance against communications from the- Protestant party was so cleverly evaded by his prisoner and lier Mends outside, must have found her hard to deal with. Later on. "Wyatt's conspiracy enraged Mary and drove her to dare the indignation of the Londoners, with whom Klizaboth. was alirradv a great favourite, and to send her step-sister to the Tower. Mr Munby gives the hitherto untranslated letters from Elizabeth's alleged lover, Edward Courtenav. which appeared in the suppressed Italian "Life of Elizabeth," by tho Venetian Lefi. and a host of other new material is incorporated. As Mr Rait says in his preface, "it is scarcely necessary to insist upon the usefulness, for historical inquiry, of the fierce light shed bv private letters upon "human character and motives, or to enlarge upon the value of the glimpses they afford of social life a nil eustoni, and the insight into the habit of mind of bygone generations." Mr Munbv could pride himself, did he so wish, upon having made what is not onlv a moat valuable contribution to English historical literature, but with having produced a, book which is full of piquantly interesting sidelights upon one of the most famous and fascinating figures of her age. Portraits of Elizabeth at various age, and of several of the leading personages of her time, also a facsimile of the letter' written topiary when she was. ordered to the Tower, are included in tho book, to- which, so we are glad to see. a full index- has been appended.

j A MIXED BATCH. i , "Sweetness and Light." "Things Worth Thinking ' About": (Melbourne: T. C. Lothian), is the title "iven to a sorics of essays upon Literafure and Culture, by Professor Tucker, of the University of Melbourne. The6e short studies, originally delivered as lectures bft'ore various societies, subsccjuent- ! ly appeared in the columns of the "Melbourne Argus." The author declares their general .aim fo DO the "encouraging in an undogmatic way that huma'ner culture and that open-mindedness and receptivity which alone can counteract tho harsh and vulgarising materialism wherewith our future development as a people is palpably threatened." The heading 01 tho various lectures Rive a fair idea of their general 'scope: "Our Earliest .Ancestors and their Beliefs"; "The Nature and Province of Poetry": /'Literature, Science, and Education"; 'Culture and Cant": "The Teachings of History": "The Teachings of. Travels"; and "Litorarv Judgment." Professor ' Tucker makes a gallant and convincing; defence of tho value of literary study as a mental training, and is courageous enough to confess his belief that "in a democratic country excessive scientific education may lead to too great a faith in machinery, to doctrinaire methods, insufficiently considering tho constituent parts of the nature of man." There is much sound commonsense in his plea for a more careful study of and a deeper regard for tho teachings of history by young Australians, and especially Australian politicians. He is by no means undemocratic, but he wishes to see a really well educated not mere fact-cram-med democracy, a democracy capable of distinguishing and valuing mental and spiritual as well as merely materia] progress. Tlie various lectures axe decidedly thought-provoking and stimulating. (Price 3s - Gd).

Popular Magnetism. To their excellent and marvellously cheap "Wonder Book" series, the publishers (Messrs W. and R. Chambers. Edinburgh) have added "The Wonder Book of Magnetism," by Edwin J. Houston, Ph.D. Writing with a special viewto interesting youthful readers in the marvels of. natural science; the author wisely employs a great variety of practical and attractive illustration taken from fairy stories and other sources. For instance, the subject of magnetic flux is introduced by reference to the story of the invisible attendants in the palace of the "AVhite Cat." The constant escape of magnetic flux from the north .pole of a magnet ,and its entrance into the magnet at its south pole, finds an illustration in tho well-known story of "The Blowing Servant of Fortunio."ißut it is especially in the stories of "The Magic Wand" and the "Unernptiable Purse of Fortunatus, that the almost ina"ical ability of a magnetised penknife blade continually to expend energy in magnetising other penknife blades without losing any ,of its magnetising power, finds its best illustration. Every uhii«B of magnetic force is described and rxpinined. and there are noi fewer than seventy-seven plates and.diagrams in illustration, of the text. -A, better gift for an intelligent boy could, not well be imagined. Teachers'of primary science would find the chapters dealing with tho Mariner's Compass ;and the Auroral Eights most useful as bases tor class lessons. (Price 3s Gd).

The "Handy Man's" Friend. In. "My Life Among Blue Jackets" (London : Bell - and Sons. W elhngtoo.' :. Whitcombe and '/»mte) Miss Agnes Weston tells the story of the earnest selfsacrificing work to which she consecrated her life. Wherever the "handy man is found there,will be, unstinted tribute to the value of Miss Weston's work. . bne has fought against intemperance .and vice, has encouraged tho bluejacket to bo pnident and thrifty.-die has arranged for his comfort ashore, and has done not » little towards securing him greater consideration and comfort afloat. At Christmas, 190 S, this truly good and useful woman, completed forty. years of earnest work, and "nas well earned the leisure. a portion of which has been devoted io writing her reminiscences. Everyone who is interested in the history of the British Navy—and who in these days is not? —should read this brightly and modestly written record of a well-spent life., A number of illustrations, including views of the various Sailors' Resta which owe their existence to Miss Weston's untiring zeal, add to the interest of an autobiographv which should find a place in every public library. (Price 3s Gd). House-Planning and Building. "How to Plan a House," by George Gordon Samson. Architect (London: Crosbv, Lockwood and Son), is described on its title pase.as "a. book for all about to build." The author's object has been to treat a very exhaustive subject—that of planning domestic houses—in a condensed form, and divesting it of all technicality, to make himself intelligible to the lay mind. Mr Samson is writing ,

of course, for Old Country readers, but i very much tho same conditions prevail in Xew Zealand as in England, especially at rewards tho ignorance of the avera"e client, who too seldom knows exact-I ly what, he wants, and when he does know cannot explain his reauiremente to tho architect. A perusal and caretui study of Mr Samson's book, tho caiet virtue of which is the essentially practical character of the advice therein given could not fail to be productive ot good 'result. Here in New Zealand, and especially in "Wellington, where the design or want of design, of our residences, and the singular lack of ordinary conveniences bv which too many of them are characterised, have become almost a by-word cf reproach by visitors from other countries such practical counsel as that given in the book before ns is badly needed. If Mr Samson, insists upon the ignorance of the average client, he is equally severe on the incompetence of many architects, and the inefficiency of too many builders. Ground and sectional plans of houses, costinc from .£3(10 up to .£3OOO or .£4OOO. are given, and should prove very useful—allowance being made for differences in material cmployed 1 and the cost of building in England and Xew Zealand. The price ot the work, of which .the pre.s»nt is a new, enlarged, and revised edition, is 3s 6d. The Rubber Ruffians

Now that "the infamous Leopold, as the indignant Dr Clifford recently called him, is dead, and that the Belgian national conscience seems at last to have been aroused to a. sense of shame over the Congo iniquities, there would appear to be 6ome reasonable hope that the horrible cruelties inflicted upon the wretched Congo natives by their - European slave-masters may gradually, if not immediately, cease. Exactly what those cruelties wore, how cynically .inhuman were tho means employed by the rubber dealers to force the miserable natives to search for and bring in the coveted product, mav be fullv realised by anyone who will spend a shilling on a well printed, neatly bound volume entitled "Bokwala" (The Slave). "Tho -Story of a Congo Victim," written bv "A Congo Resident." and published bv the Religious Tract Society. A more pathetic story than this of the simpleminded, industrious native, who is torn from his villaae and compelled to become the slave of greedy and almost fiendishly cruel Europeans I have never read. Apart from its moral (and every fact brought forward in the story can, it is said, be verified on oath} it gives a most interesting: picture of native manners and customs. Heading this- touching narrative it seems almost incredible that the atrocities for which the rubber-dealers and the chief exploiter of the Congo Trade, that most Christian and virtuous monarch. Queen Victoria's cousin, Leopold. King of the Belgians, were for_ so many real's responsible, did not bring upon their, heads some direct and awful punishment from an indignant Creator. Trulv were those blood-stained millions over" which the mera'oors of the Belgian roval family have been so recently squabbling. The Keverend T. Curattan Guinness contributes a brief preface to the book .which has for frontispiece a suitable picture of a Congo native. (Price Is.)

Mission Work in Many Fields. "Out of tho Darkness." by Andrew D. Stewart, a Director of tho London Missionary Society (London: Tho Religious Tract Society)., is a collection of short, but well-written narratives, which serve as-"illustrations of adventure, suffering, progress and blessing in the missionfield." To the making of, this volume a large number of writers, most of them practically and personally connected with mission work, have contributed. The progress of Christian missions in the South Seas,.in India, in Arabia and Persia. Burniah. China, and Japan, Africai Madagascar and America, is set forth and explained by anecdotes and stories, each based upon personal experience in the various oo*untries' dealt with. In some—in many ■ places—where tho good seed has been sown at great cost _ of money, and often, too, of human lifo, the harvest has been but meagre and unsatisfying. But in other ground the seed has taken root and a bounteous crop of good has resulted. Quite apart from its religious side, the volume is a most interesting record of enterprise, adventure, and a spirit of self-acriflce closely akin to downright heroism. Those who believe, tiuito erroneously, that money spent on mission work is money wasted, are advised to read this unpretending but excellent record of work done and good achieved. To the sceptic as to the value of Christian missions it should prove a useful eye-opener. / No Breakfast! •*Go=sip." the author of "No Breakfast, or The Secret of Life" (Melbourne : T. C. Lothian), informs us in his prefaoe that the "message" he delivers in his book "is full of salvation for the race." The race certainly needs salva " tion," if. as the author says in Chapter V., "there are very few really .healthy people amonir us." : A healthy, hearty old man or woman is- a rarity. Our streets are full of chemists* shops, and doctors, and mighty hospitals; and millions of people, especially women, are dragging out a miserable existence. The" pessimism of our race is terrible, and no wonder. The source of our life is polluted, our "blood is impure by over-eating, and our women are the slaves of our worship of Little Mary."

To put everything in this tired and, pace our friend. "Gossip," dreadfully unhealthy world of ours, the secret cure is "No Breakfast." It is cralte a mistake, a vulgar evil-working error, to imagine we are hungry when we sit down to this useless and dangerous meal, the guilty breakfast! Nay, the author goes further and has his doubts about lunch. "After four years' experience,' he says. "I find that taking no breakfast is all right, but a hearty lunch is a mistake. I prefer to have a plate of porridge for lunch and some bread and butter. Then a light dinner at night. But I feel that the mid-day lunch, even of porridge, is too TOUoh!" Don't eat until vmi re sore you're really hungry, says our author. And . you are to. know... you are hungry only 'when "you are hungry m the mouth, when your teeth run water. This is all very well, but how about a man who has artificial teeth? "Gossip is terribly in earnest, but personally I have found his arguments more amusing than convincing. (Price Is). "Te Koro." Slowly but surely Messrs Whiteombe and Tombs are building quite a respectable collection of publications dealing with early New Zealand and the Maori race. It seems but the other day that I was reading Mr James Cowan's fine work on "The Maoris," and already another new book, bearing tho firm's now-well-known imprint, lies on my table. This is "Koro," -the story' of "how a commonplace Maori tried to do what he thought was his duty, in .life." The author is the Rev. J. Stack, late of the Maori Mission and formerly a Canon of Christchurch. Mr Stack first met Te Koro at Port Levy, on Bank's Peninsula, in 1859, Te Koro being then a lay-reader. It is with the life history of this native who died in the early eighties, that the 'book deals. Several chapters are devoted to Te Koro'e work in Canterbury «s a> Christian teacher, but to the average layman Te Koro's account of his capture, as a young man, by the famous Te Eauparaha. and experiences in the North Island, will probably prove the most interesting section of the book. : - The author is evidently . a warm friend and admirer of the native race, and his remarks on the Maori wars', the Hauhau movement, and the altered and much improved position of the Maori of to-day are ail imbued with a spirit of broad-minded sympathy for the natives. Had the effects of Christian mission work amongst the Maoris always

been so successful as they were in the case of Te Ivoro, -the Maori would bo .a. better man all-round to-day. Mr Stack's little book should find a place in every library where attention is paid to literature dealing with the Maoris and with the early history of the Dominion. (Price 25.) ' s

A Capital "Crusoe." Scores, nay, I might almost say, hundreds of editions of Defoe's masterpiece, have been published during the last few years, but new- admirersof our old friends Crusoe and the ingenuous but ever-de-lightful / Friday are coming along every year, ajhd it is a pood and true old adage where publishers do congregate that there is always room for a new "Bobinson Crusoe." And here, to-day, in Messrs Bell and Son's now .edition. (Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs) is surely one of the best, printed and certainly one of the best illustrated editions ever issued. There is .no intrusive in-troduction—-with a classic like "Crusoe" even a Chestertonian preface would seem an impertinence—but Defoo is ieft to speak for himself without any patronising comment. The type la clear, , and paper wood, and the illustrations by Mies Gertrude Lecse—eight of.them fullpace plates in colour —are admirable. That which depicts Crusoe's, astonishment and fear on coming across the footprint on-the beach is specially good, and .the weird .diabolerie of "tho savages dancing round the .fire" is equally convincing. Christmas has come and gone, now this manv a' day, but .readers.of "Hobinson" there will .be all this year, and for many years to come. Messrs Bell's new edition should always be in demand. (Price iss.) \ New Zealand. Messrs A. and C. Black. London, forward, through Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs, Wellington, a copy of New Zealand, by P. A Vaile ,with twelve fullpago illustrations in colour by F. and W. Wright. This is a volume oi Messrs Black's "l'eeps at Many L.inde" series. A column review of this work appeared in the ".New Zealand Times" early in November last.

• A LITEKAKY LETTEK , (BY "LIBER.") "The Spectator." - It is now some years since I first began to read "The Spectator" regularly, and I cherish for that sound and essentially sano English weekly a feeling of respect which is narrowly akin to atiection. With certain of the political views expressed in its columns 1 am strongly at variance. But in politics we must all agree to differ. What I specially respect "The Spectator" for is its never varying moderation of tone, ite scrupulous fairness, its unalterable maintenance, of the very best and highest traditions of Enßlish journalism, of that journalism .as we knew it—6ome. of us at least —in, the seventies and eighties, aye, well into the nineties. English journalism was not, then, as it is now, in so many instances, tainted —1 had almost written .polluted—by that spirit of base and selfish and, often utterly, unprincipled commercialism which is now too frequently reflected in so many journals once respected tout now sadly iallen from their high estate. To these remarks I am moved by the appearance, in . the January number of "The Bookman," of a special illustrated article on Air J. St. Loe Strachey, now the sole editor and proprietor of the ''Spectator." Mj: Strachey succeeded. Mr, W. Jti. Hutton', who for many years edited this Jaiaoa 3 weekly, and whose essays—so profoua i yet never pedantic—will always have a< 1iniring readers. The- "Spectator" wj is founded by Joseph Hume and oth< ;r Radicals in lb2B. It had varying fortunes until, under Hutton's editorshj p, it became the organ of intellectual L Lbexalism. it is still an. airdj jnt champion of i'ree Trade, and a dei ender but a stern critic of the Engl ash Church. It is anti-Home Bule and a ntiSooialist, but both Home Kule and Socialism are never merely sneered or ] peered at in its columns; the dominant ;noVe of the editorial page always reflects c ourteey, calmness, ana a broad tolerance.

And Its Editor. Mr Stirachey has had a brilliant -career as a writer on politics and social. problems. Ho has done perhaps mory > than any man in England to create and foster an enthusiasm for national d) sfence. Keen as he is on this subj ect, ti tier© is no trace of Chauvinism or Jing-a ism in his articles or in those of lur 3 staff. He wants to see a clean, wholesoaae, publio life, and he can on occasion, hit out very hard at those whose influence, public or private, is calculated to 7 rork for evil and not for good. Personal ly, what I specially enjoy in "The Specl ator" is its purely literary section. If .'i have a grievance it is that its reviews are frequently somewhat belated, but they are always worth waiting for, and .an experience of over twonty years ta iches one that when the "Spectator" co# nxnends a book, that book is worth bu ying. On the other hand, a condemnat ion never suggests either personal or pol itical bias. Would that I could say thj j samo of certain other English journals which shall be nameless. "The Bookmaii " article js full of interesting side-lighf a upon a notable -personality and potent force in English criticism —both liter ary and political—and I would I couh?. 6pare space to quote it at length. , j

A Famous American Editor. ] Nearly all tho leading American magazines for .Tanuiiry give interesting obituary notices of Richard Watson Gilder, who, from ISBU up to his death in November last. . was the editor of "The Century .Magazine." The fine standard of never varying excellence, both literary and autistic, " which was .maintained by "Tho Century" during Gilder's editorship, was the .best testimony to his busin&ss capacity .and fine literary taste. Professor Br! aider Matthews' article on Gilder, in itHie January issue of the "North Amci.-ican B-eview," is warmly amd yet judicially appreciative, and is well worth -reading. Although a poet, a .man 'if ltf bters. a -man who preferred a. life of woi -k and semi-retirement, Gilder's enthusiasm for the cause of municipal .and Jitate Tefcrni was *x> strong that on than one occasion he left the calm so elusion of his editorial office, where the task of urging reform impersonally is -comparatively easy and pleasant enough, to igo out into the streets to .further {the cause of common honesty. Professor Matthews says: "Gilder hitched his was on to a star —but first of all he made s. ure it was not a falling star. And ho di< 1 .not ishrink from standing up in the war gon to say what he believed so that all could hear it. In other words, h< ■. took part in the cart-tail speaking on street corners in more than, one mur.'i qipal campaign. . .. This sort of public.- 'experience was distasteful; to I him, but); he did. iiot hestitato to lay, aside hie own feelings when he had once heard tb.e call of duty.'""

Gilder as Poet. Gilder was mot only a wonderfully I shrewd .and tmost discriminating editor, e\ier on (the watch for new blood, aaid ever ready .to (Extend a kindly hand of welcome and (assistance to a young or unknown writer, but he iras an agreeable if not brilliant essayist and a poet, some o£ whose work is worth preserving. His lovely .sonnet, "Call Me Not Dead," will, I feel 6ure, delight many of my readers : Call me not: dead when I, indeed have gone Into .the .company of the overliving, High and most glorious -poets! Let thanksgiving Rather 'be made. Say: "He at last hath won Rest and release, converse supreme and wise Music and song and liffht of immortal faces; To-day, perhaps, wandering in starry places, He bath .met Keaits, and known, him by his eyes, I To-morrow (who can jsay?) Shakespeare may (pass And our lost friend just catch one syllable Of that three-cemturied, iwit that kept so well; Or Milton, or Dante, looking on the grass, Thinking of Beatrice, and listening still To chanted hymns that sound from the heavenly hill." Professor .Matthews tells us that Gilder "went to the front in the dark days of Gettysburg; and he did not wear the ired ribbon of -the Legion of' Honour with more pride .than the bronze button of the Grand Army of the Republic." It was no doubt the memories of his own fighting days that inspired his fin© poem on-the burial of General Sherman, from which I must fain quote one stanza as an eloquent sample of the brilliant whole: — Glory and honour a.nd fame; the pomp that a. soldier prizes; The league-loner waving line as the marching falls and rises; Runrbling of caissons and guns; the clatter of horses' feet, And a million, awe-struck faces all down ] the waiting street.

The Atlantic Monthly. Last week I said "The Atlantic Monthly" seemed to mc to be far and away the best of the American magazines, I have juat been reading the January number, and -note that my good c-d favourite appears in a new type, al7iiost a facsimile, it is stated, of a Boston fount of 1835. Also the page is larger, 'the margins ampler, and, blessed innovation, the magazine is sewed, not bound together with the wire_ staples now go objectionably general. Naturally one turns first to the "Japanese Letters of Lafcadio Hearn." which are edited by Elizabeth Kisland, Beam's biographer. They make most delightful reading, being full of picturesque little character skutehes of the Japanese, notes on quaint customs and habits, with here and there a touch of that almost plaintive melancholy ,and weariness of the world which one iso often finds in Heart's writings. Amongst the most interesting features of these letters (ire the scraps of li-tsrary criticism. Thus, 1 iind him saying of William Watson's poetry—he is writing in IS9I: —■ This -poetry is like wedding-cake: one must rmlv eat a little at a time. The "Dream of man" is high sublimity; and iirged mo to fresh work at once on my "Stone Buddha" I was considering* nearly the wnie puzzle; but my theory, luckily, is quite the reverse. It is that tn? motive and -creative power of the universe are burnt-out passions and fears and sorrows, which are onlv transformed as forces by death, and must continue to make birth and re-birth till such times as they reach «\ second and supreme, form of transformation by the triumph in all worlds of Buddha's own theory. Alas, I can't write poetry.

The "Highest Poetry." After saying that Watson's dedicatory or introductory poem on London reminded him of the "colossal power" of Alexander Smith's "Edinburgh"—"Smith t Jit the ,grim -heart of a city as 1 think no one else—certainly no Latin—ever felt it," llcarn proceeds: There are bits here and there that made -ins think of Villont cf course you know Payne's wonderful translation). I was'a little startled by the verses on Oscar Wilde. Why do we feel that a ipoet like Watson has no right to .be a. mocker, to Bay cruel things ito his fallen man r" (This remark, in view of Watson's notorious ]M>om, "The Woman with the Serpent's Tongue," is specially interesting just now.—"Liber.") We feel the same in reading Tennyson's terrible satire on Bulwcr .Lytton. and Browning's brutal anger at Edward FitzGerald. I think we regard it as mi obscene poem by a. priest, or in other words, as a sacrilege to self. fl'C have not yet learned (as I think \vo shall some day) to confess aloud that the highest poetry is Religion, and its world-priests the true prophets and teachers. But we feel it. Therefore we are shocked and pained when ' these betray any sign of those paltry or mean passions above which their . art at other times lifts us.

A new portrait or the weil-known English poet, whose poem, "The Woman With the Serpent's Tongue," has caused some sensation. When in . New York recently Mr Watson is said to have admitted that the poem was intended to convey a combined portrait of Mrs and Miss Asquith, 'the wife and daughter of the British Prime Minister, against whom the author has some real or imaginary

"Romance is Dead." Heairn loved to live in his own world —a " world 'of ghosts," he called it~for he .found ordinary, evory-day, socalled civilised lite a dull and cold ntmosphore. Here is a typical lament over the all-pervading "baldness" of miodern life : The world of electricity, steam, mathematics, is blank rand cold and void. No man can even write about it. Who can find 'a speck of romance in it? What are our novelists doing? Crawford -must write of Italy oir India or ancient Persia; Kipling' of India; Black of remote .Scotch "' country life; James lives only as a marvellous nßtiychologist—and he has to live and make his characters live on .file Continent; Howell portrays the ugliest and harshest commonplaces of a transient democracy. For their -pictures of Hearn's domestic life in Japan, a life, apparently, at that time, whatever it may have become later, one of iquiet happiness, these letters are well worth reading. !No admirer of Lnfcadio Heani can afford to overlook these charming letters.

From the Conservative Point of View. Bo far nearlv all the writers, who have written histories or historical studies of the last century, have approachfcd the subject from a strongly 'Whig or Liberal point of view. <I have specially in mind Sir Spencer Walpole's, <Mr Justin McCarthy's .and Mr Herbert Paul's works, all of' which are deeply ijtterestinjr and of permanent thougn perhaps not of equal value. History must ever be somewhat one-sided, but it is always just as well even for the most prejudiced and partisan reader to study the other side. For this reason I welcome the appearance of the first volume of Sir Herbert Maxwell's new work, "A Century of Empire." which deals with British history between ISM and 1832. and is published by Mr Edward Arnold. Sir Herbert Maxwell, is a clever essayist, a delightful writer on natural history (a 6 all who know his "Memories of the Months" \?iU agree), and hia "Life of Wellington," published a few years ano. proved his ability as an historian. Sir Herbert, as beconnes a regular contributor to "Blackwood's Magazine," is a Conservative, and .he has admittedly striven in his new history to place the Conservative side in a' better and fairer light. His work is to be completed in three volumes. I hope to give a review of the first volume in next week's issue.

"Colt and Saxon." The first chapters of George Meredtth'e >posthumou<= novel, "Celt and Saxon," which he left unfinished, are published in the January number cf 'The Forum." It is said that shortly before his death the poet-novelist expressed a desire that no one would attempt a completion of what he then knew was to be his last work of fiction. Judging by this first instalment, "Celt and SasoD" possesses

all the old and well-known lleredithian characteristics. There 19 some reallj sparkling dialogue. There are, too, evidences of tiie oid and wonderfully rich gift by which Meredith could infuse philosophy and even romance into wnat, to most of ns. would at first-appear the most commonplace Of actions or proceedings. Here is an example, from Chapter IV., where the young hero, after an evening of keen discussion—mainly on the Irish question—with a .clever host, indulges in a morning fiwim : He attributed to his desire lor it the strange' deadness of the atmosphere, and his incapacity to get an idea out of anything he looked on; ho had not a. sensation of cold till the stinging element gripped him. It is the finest school for dreamers, two minutes of stout watery battle, with the -enemy, close all round, but none the less inveterate, convinced him .that, in winter at least, we have only - to jump out of our clothes to feel the reality of thingp in a trice. The dip was sharpening; he could say that his prescription was good for him; his craving to Ret an idea ceased with it absolutely, and he stood in far betteir trim to" meet his redoubtable adversary of over-night: but the rascal was a bandit, and had robbed him of his purse; that was a positive fact; his vision had gone; he felt himself poor and empty and rejoicing in (he keenness of his. hunger i'or breakfast, singularly lean. A youth despoiled of his vision and made sensible bv the activity of his physical state that ho ,is a common, machine, is eager for, meat, ur excess of whatsoever you may ofter him: he is on the highroad of recklessness, and had it been .the bott)* instead of Caroline's coSee-eup, Patrick would soon have reoelveu a priming for a delivery of views upon the sex, and upon love, and the fools known us lovers, acrid enough lo win the applause of cynics.

From "The States." It is gratifying to me to notice that outside appreciation of "The Literary Coiner" of the "New Zealand Times' extends so far as Boston, that traditional home and headquarters of all that is best in American publishing. I have just received a package of books i'or review sent me by Messrs L. C. Page, the wellknown publishers ill the city we all know so well who have read our Oliver Wendell Holmes. I hope to refer, to some of these books in, my review columns next

TWO BOOKS FOE MOTHERS

"The Care of Children, from Babyhood to Adolescence; for tbe use of mothers and imraw." By Bernard Myers. M.D. London : Henry Kempion. The importance to the State of a careful of child life is Ux> well worn a subject to need further discussion. The chief trouble is that so few mothers -possess any • really adequate grasp of the difficulties which arise m babyhood and childhood. Dr Myers, who lias already written iux important woi'K on "Home Nursing"; now comes forward with a simple and yet exhaustive manual or "handbook.- in. which every danser incidental to child life is met and explained. In separate chapters Dr Myers, whose advice is warmly extolled as being essentially practical and completely reliable, by Dr Still. Professor of Diseases of Children at lime s College. London, describes the proper way to rear infants. commencinK with their birth and following the various stages of-their life in six monthly periods, up,to tkease of two years. Succeeding cha-Dters contain advice on the. teeth, tlothiiut. diet and .physical, aiKl mental education of. children, on various, illnesses and accidents to which .children, are specially subject,; on medicines and their administration.; and on the L management of children generally. Technical terms are avoided-as much as is possible and the advice civen is set tortn in plain and simple lanEua K o, easily to be understood by any fairly well educated and intelliiient-mother. The book is one which deserves, and it is to l> e hoped, will .enjoy a wide circulation ui New Zealand, of which, we beheve, the author is a native. {Price 3s 6d.) -

"From Cradle to School: A Book for Mothers." By ,the late i>Xrs Ada_S. Ballin. London: Constable and 00. The late llrs Ballin. was, for .some vears the editor of periodicals dealing with domestic subjects, ami was the author of more than one book dealin" with the care and management or children. "ITrom Cradro to School' micht verv - well bo entitled The Mother's Cyclopaedia,", for the information and advice it contains appear 10 co "er and meet every possible emergency upon which a mother micht oesireoounsel. Jhrs BaUin begins, as does Dr Myers with the child in its rntancy. aua itc more tender years, but trie scope or her Tork is mo™ extended for she deals at some lewrth with; the and social up-bringing, of boys and girls. Throughout, she is .practical and sensible and when discussing certain dan-, serl wS confront boys and 'iwta'fcWK Sly 'ooys) who have reached their "Sens "« courageously. ouispoken. An excXnt tndex is a specially oornmeudaMe feature. The copy sent ns by the publishers is priced Is. on «Ue_ pa„e but this must surely be a mistake. U not this well-nrinted, well-bound - -volume of over 300 pages, T>askc-d with usem information, and wise counsel, is a perfect marvel of cheapness.

"LIBER'S" LETTER-BAa. "A Reading from the Poets." A correspondent, "Parent," writes as follows: Mv Dear Liber— I have,.just read a. -KeadinK from the Poets in this momiua'e •'Times." It. is very pretty . reading and I agree with some of n. 1 believe in traminß up youn-r mind* ' Mo appreciate (rood stuff, and all tnat. sort of thins, but the article m que*tion is spoilt to me from the fac that it does not ring true. Here is a mother with, mark you, eifrht clm- . dreu, the younfrest, An>ne, in *>*>; mother's lay. Takmsr the ■ children s . ages from the youngest, who must be at least four years old, irom tha description (how absurd to read' ine Lady of the bo a kid ot fourj. they~:would work put on. an average thus:"-Ann?, 4; Judith, 51; Mamie, j: Donald. 8k; GiUet, 10; Ruth, lli: Amy. 13; and Tom, 151. If you start at an earlier ags than four the aosurdity of the •'readinjt" is even, mors pronounced. In any case,, from tne description Amy must be oyer 12. as below that ase she would not be working at a banner. Now, all these children listen to the readme and they all ko to bed at the same time, - that is. according to one part of the narrative, although in another place it is inferred the youniter ones ro to bed earlier. Tom, who must be eight years at least older than. Mamie, ev> - dently Roes to bed at the same time, and he has to appeal to his mother! Now, is any of this true to life.- 1 Most emphatically no! The whole thing is fate?, and simply, an article written without thought.

A reader of tie "Times" "Literary Corner" neks me to Rive the source of (he folloviiiK quotations. Can any of mr readers supply the desired information?. ... . . -...,,:. "He who ser-ves well and 6peaks not, merits more Than they who clamour loudest at the door."

'We blame others for slight things, but overlook creator things in ourselves"

"Over the Hill, and over the Dale, And over the Bourne to Dawlish. Whore gingerhcad wives have u scanty sale. And igingerbread nuts are smallish."

"0, sair. sair. did we greet, ami muckle did we say. We, took but ae kis-s and I bade him gang away, I wish that. I were dead, but I'm mo like to dee, And why was I born (o say,- wac s me' \"

•1 cared not for life, for true friend I had none, , I had heard 'twas a blessing not under the mm. , ,'„ ' Some injures called friends, hollow, proud, or cold-hearted. Come to me like- shadows, like shadows departed; , ~ But a day came that turned all any sorrow to glee, „ T -nWhen Jlrpt 1 «saw Willie, and Willie saw one."