BOOK NOTICES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11534, 21 September 1899, Page 6

BOOK NOTICES.

"Rupert, By the Grace of God— —." By -Dora- Greenwe'll M'Chesney London .- Macmiilan and Co. JJuncdin'. .'Braithwaite.

This is !. picturesque a'ad :-:eaiist;o iiv,".toricai, romance., .dealing witb tlie story of an unrecorded ptoi to place Prince Rupert oi Bohemia, son or. Elisabeth, Charles I's

.sister on iiis uncle s throne. .it .is, oi coarse, v. cale oi the Civil W?.t. mil of fighting and adventure. The hero aud narrator, Will Fortescue, .Is a loyal, .simplehearted fellow.; whom passionate Jove for, ana devotion -,o ,nis noble general, leads into a plo+ to place-the ''strong man' in the shoes' ot the. vacillating King. Rupert •or ■■.! -<ong -jime knows nothing oi! this scheme and when the offer of v. prospective nrnvrr,. is made repudiate* jfi Tvinh fLu atrnoso scorn *no. loathing scourging the " "naitors" with tongue, and sword. 'S.ms seene —one of the. most powerful in the nooK —is ■ well drawn, and full oi life ami vigoiu Pviipeiv nsvei wavery in Jais loyally, though Yi. is severely trieu dv seevet enemies ana mistaken Irienas. Bis ohb.racter stands out. we'll «f, chau or die typical Cavalier,-'«'ho never disputes "the right aivine oi kings co govern wrong"., brave. heroic, single-inindea, but incapable oi seeing kwo side? co ,v question. This scory is well and orightly written, fall of picturesque scenes from one opening one in which Royalists and Roundheads struggle i-ogetne.i foi ohe possession of Manor House Chapel, and the heroine, i;o save herself from botli parties, acts- the part of a. statue lying on an altai tomb, and then ot a spirit gliding. untouched through the midst ot the startled roysterers, to the end. where Fortesque gives his life for his beloved Prince. This is nob Miss M'Chesney's first effort in historical romance, and we may safely, predict that it will not be the last. Her writing has much vitality and power, and is singularly free from mannerism and die use m the obsolete words and phrases with whicn some authors : try- ,o galvanise their-puppets into life; I Ifc is .certain that human nature has Deen I the same at all periods oi history , and ><> is onfy wheiv the.historian recognises onis, and makes us subtly conscious ot the real map in another environment. T.liat De touches, tne heart, and the intellect oi his readers, and. makes his romance n- reality. Of modern writers, Stanley Weyrnau best exemplifies out meaning, and miss M'Ohesney wisely follows in his scepr,. " Oriole's Daughter " By Tessie j;'olnergill. Londoii ■. W, Heinemann. .ft new edition or j, deservedly popular novel, ''Oriole's Daughter" us one o- Miss Tt'owiergill's inosi, characteristic works. X lias all the keen introspection, cne de'ii cale psychic analysis, ior which i-his charming writer js in wafi known. "' Oriole's Daughter " is a, Roman swny, and, although t]ie local colouring is •doi. so .strong as in Marion Crawford's- Sani.emesc& series, it s vet-a'very efficient setting ior <* story of spiritual. ' storm and stress," wnich would have been scarcely possible under other- conditions. The.unacknowledged fa-thei., with hn beautiful, tendev. devocect rioui, Dending himself to cruel drudgery in expiation of an olrt sm, the seifish, worldly, coarseminded nioiner, v,'ho deliberately sells her .daughter, in to uhc Vi-ovsi. siavery in ordev thai", she .uerselt "may eav, annk, and. be merry," are fine 'cna-nieter sketches. >So also "is the Deautifui. ;hild ""nlvia, vitU r»i! -(■kit budding -passion o. lier southeru j ;tce, married ,wu 16 ::o a man wnoin :.ne nates ana loathes, e-nd" jtoih whom sne vainly iinjjloras j-elease. vSurelj' something must uappeii, ■' ih.n sayh. 'Ant> nofcliirig ■but- -i miracle-w.oiiki ibiicii r.liai' selfisn havr'-., and

fcney-B ate 110 miiac'le* .lowadayr-, uvi .10, '' shivering with terror. 'Irak, sf.rimg up co the highest-, -pitch, a. seli-s.'»uogation,.% she .s given ',0 lie netted sftrangar; >.o become d. rich voinaTi. wUti servants and carriage-.;, diamonds ond ' ai-ess'!S. &116. u> g>"ve in return — am- 8011.1, kb: .' be>. sou). i=; ;>.ee.a —;poov nttie ■Ji'iilvia's beaur.itVi so-i\ sun. >;nrjobeatmg -neai'i;. —wuile )r*< body- "no rj.<ub.c.T.n are Jeff. U> rivfi Iv "<f»s .uer own -mother wiiu d.'ti i>. Si>e> inwaered wi.ihoiii) kili.'ng • Jisrv'- '.'"'be ■..esnltinsj struggle iri well picuiiet', .md if .?ultj-.. Tins in the b.nd sht h; Edveil 'as oy hrft." 'A.i tile supreme momsjilv o: wiai siie ■.'■.m:ojik to its? fathftT. "Arid U>e rhoiignv ■?■&.-: iiKe 5, :..v.y oC iighi, i.i thfe b]..K.k!iC5S." iShe casW iierself on ins iovft s-nd iMie- and is saved, A most voiichiug ; ilustraijioii of the old story, "I wilt arise am" .fo >■*> >"? Father.-' The hook: 110.-5 inaa;v; »ide ;.;s-iik3, and theve axe .some 'beautiful iriendsnips, which reflect equal credit on the heart and the skill oi i-iis aiiliioi. '

"The O'Connors of JJal'linahiiwh." ay iV.i-s Hungerford, Lpndou: W. He'me--11) am.l. A brighv, amusing IrWn story, rail 01 quips and cranks, and quaint sketches of life And. maimera. Delightful is "i;e dcsoriptiou. oj i-iiß uucside-car oriven by Mickey-the-Sainfc, " who might have been called'-Mickev Ltie ot.li.i-- thirg without feuof ]ibel, r> and wiio drives the three penniless beauties ou s> visit of ceremony, vvhiuli ps-o-yaw ■ the -irurnirig point oi thei»- lives. >To less comic if. the leUer ol" the proprietor of the said vac-. 'Dear Maiu,—The car you

oaa ha»s i. iSbe-veather holds tip and \i .0. V. permits." 'i'iie stovy is but sligUv, the cnip.r ovamatia persona: being a, ciuu-in-;iifi; vmpeeanior!.-: .(itMier—lliu O'Connor,--tha tin:':;* Jo«ely daugi;tei-s Aforesaid, and ibvee voang meo, -wbo'-ourii up just at^.'.be ii-.ck 0): vhne io woo sod weci them. Tue •oecu'liarities of the v.'hole party are awmsiinfly sketched by the autobiographer, 'Molly, "the middle girl."' The denouement is b.-t-s-- ened by v'le finding -of ;> bin-ied lreasuj-e wiiicb. .a "cp,ri,aii)iy ..ivenJ, point; oi ins sr,ovy. «s a miserly grandfather i.-, dofcldedlv oui'o? place .in the O'Connor family ; rttiil ?•;, -anaoi, dc wi'-d •.<> t)s quits iunn)HAibj«.

and die tiiseovcry 13 highly driiiuaoir. T;i,K(xi aJtogefche^ M)is is ju:-,b the si.orf i.o .virile away t,, spa.'c honv vA\m yon urav-s amusemeTir. pure and uimple. and d» »^ l:a ;-e -to-be -called on" V. solve w.i the simplest problem. Such moments con.-c to all of Us, HAid the novel that helps «3 to vms through them cannot bo su-id to !*U far short of its aim.

"Come Live With Me and be My I^ve." 13y Robert Buchanan. London: V^Bubiemaiiu. , \ pastoral novel, lounded oji Marlowe s veil-known lines. It is a reprint, «n^ i(""

ready in its third edition. Those readers who have known Robert Buchanan in his more serious books " God and the Man,' "The Coming Terror," "The Shadow of tne Sword." will perhaps not care for this simple story, while others will be delighted witn its" Arcadian touches of " perfumed fields and meadows swimming in the mists oX summer heat,"' where the " growing grass, the kindling air, were happy and alive, and the earth seemed drawing in great, deep breaths of peace and ]oy." The heroine is sun-touched. "" brown like a rich, brown pear," farms her own land, and sometimes worus with her own haymakers, tossing the long grass in "the five-acre"—a woman to whom the complexities of modern civilisation are entirely unknown, and who charms us by her absolute simplicity and directness. The hero, Geoffrey Doone, is Catherine's righthand man aiid overseer, who " had grown like a, firm-rooted oak in that soil.^and had few wishes or dreams beyond it." He is a fine, strong, manly character, possessing great self-control, and, like, the oak, capable of supporting ;md strengthening all weaker things under his firm branches. The other pair of lovers, Bridget and George, are of slighter texture and more conventional type George's father—The Gaffer—is a terribie old man, whom a ruling passion long pandered to renders a murderer m will, and almost in deed. One of the most interesting characters is that of old jaspei, the shepherd, "who has lived for nearly 60 years high up on the Weald/- mostly in solitude, treading night and morn the 'thin track worn by his own feet leading from the -fold to his " hu". <>n wheels," arid has there drunk deep oi the wisdom that Nature teaches to all who love her and are willing to -be taught in her school. •' Densely ignorant of all the world calls 'knowledge, not even the learned Culpc«T>er could- have' taught him anything regarding the nature and properties of'the herbs and plants that grow upon the Weald. He could decipher the meaning of every flow of wind and film of cloud . and tell the hour a-nd minute of the day or night so long as sun or star was visible." This fine old peasant, with his deep wisdom and simple piety, serves, .is the deus ex msichina of the catastrophe which is brought about and averted by his skill. A touch of humour is given to the book by some of Catherine's suitors—Button, the vet. . and Marsh, the tax collector, —and their contest in the ha.yfiekl, when the laughter-loving girl sets them to work in the hot sun, offering .a prize to the winner, is a scene not easily to be forgotten.

"Lou." }3y Baron Yon Roberts. London •. W. Heinemann. This Is a translation,, and a very good one, oi a German author who has recently achieved, considerable fame even beyond j the limits of his own country, where he is j one of the most active and popular of ] novelists. "L«u" is a delightfully fresh mi a original story, quite out of the common.' It is the story of a man and a dog.,] A noble, laithfui. single-hearted man, whose skin is unfortunately ■ black, -but whose heart, is of the purest gold , who is faithful unto death to his friend and his love, though his friend is." only a dog," and his love, "the golden Mira-," allows linn to be put up for sale in her boudoir and KnocKeci down ai; 28,000 francs, "a. torn raz with the other rags." The dog, Zrippa. is ;i Do/nish hound of great value, possessed (if > clmoso humau intelligence, Ann move inau human' devotion. The incidents oi. this story are ulever. pathetic, humorous, it abounds with telling situations and flushes of keen perception, «.s where the visitors turn over the possessions of rhe dead Marquis (who has just committed suicide, "with an agreeable itching sensation oV horror," loosened locks of red hair :ue compared to "tongues of flame .around the tiny face—one almost heard them hiss, and' crackle"; and tlie vevv name of Lou is said to be "so small, one would almost be afraid of. losing it." Taken altogether, this book will certainly add. to the fame of the authorj and ■ the translation is so good that one misses nothing of 'the original keenness.