BOOK NOTICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14457, 25 February 1909, Page 3

BOOK NOTICES

"The T>hlcd T/imp." % f; . Hnnford Henderson, l'.nstou and Now \ oik: Houghton, Millli " C "' 1)l,n « lin: B - J. Stark and Co (Clolli 6s 6d.) This is a story of the evolution of that lfHier consciousness sometimes called cosmic cui'sciousness, of which modem p;.yclioiogi.'t.s bave much '" '• t '" IIS - t''- m " .sid'cied in ll"' light u ' a earcful psychoid-u-ii-iil study, it is not one word too long; hlit as a mere story the first half certailliV brags <'' Httlo. Bobcat Pendenter is a clerk in a codec and spice warehouse in Ho.-ton, U.S.A. Up to the age. of 31 ho has been " inoffensive and common-place''--a man asleep. Then two events occur : he has a nervous breakdown, and comes into a, fortune of £6000 per annum.The money enables him to consult a doctor and follow his advice. He breaks from ail old ties (they aio not many), and goes to Europe as an independent man, who may follow the whim of the moment, do what he likes, and go where fancy leads him. He is to all intents and pur-' poses a new man, now horn, as much fo as: if he wove a babe awakening to consciousness. .Mr Ilanford llemlerton gives us the full story of this awakening, of the appeal made by outward conditions, and especially by pereons, mi this nowlyawakcued pciccption. Robert's progress is rapid. With rare intuition he not only accomiiiodalcs himself to the new conditions, but aluoilis tliem. Those who see him at inleivals arc struck by the change. But tiie real expansion is on another plane. His inner powers become amazingly quickened. He grows in knowledge, wisdom, and power; his consciousness is quickened and expanded : he. comes into realisation oi those ; n;ier psychic powers which have been roughly defined as the "sixth sense." In short, ho "wakes," and the lamp is "lighted." And, as a lamp with the light shining through it. is not so much changed a.s transfigured, so he remains the same, and yet not lliu tame. Many pertains and places take part in this evolution, but the reader feels, as he is intended to feel, that they are but means to an end, which would have been attained without them though in a dilierenl and, perhaps, slower way] Like "the century dower"—to winch it is compared—Hubert's evolution had slowly attained the flowering point, and nothing could really have kept it back, though the conditions might easily have Ix'cn much less iavnaruule, and the jlowei might then have been seaieely recognisable. The places to which .Mr Ilanford Henderson takes his hero aie, lirst, the ship, with its fpecial life and opportunities, and then YVa'.es, with its niuitiiUiiis, the English ami Scotch lames, the English cathedrals, London, Tails, and, finally, Italy. Each exercises 'Is special influence. Yoik Minster strikes the dominant spiritual note, while the natural strength and simplicity of Italian life give "warmth and colour," and "that wholesome appeal to the suiim.'s which sets Ihe inner life throbbing, and speaks of tiro mine abiding lift? 01 the spirit, the eternal undercurrent that, alone malas the sensuous life desirable." But more important than the places are, the persons with whom Robert is thrown into contact. Stephen .Morse, the practical, broadminded lawyer, and Donald '/crgus-on, the pott and di earner, accompany him lrom America, and remain with him during the first part of his travels in pleasant, friendly relations. The women are types rather than individuals. I'auliue Marshall is the embodiment of life, physical vitality, and the splendid joy of living. If she could preach a sermon it would lie always from the same lext— " lie big, my friends, be big." jUieia is more subtil 1 , more stimulating, more witisjyiu!;. She represents the higher menial life, the iiie of the ever-growing and expanding soul; while Mrs L'osiello, tviiu is of im age, whose very voice is impersonal, who lives but to help and serve otheis, whose own high state of ciiiKiMuasiie.-s has been attained through "a long and arduous initiation," is the ideal pi-.-'ttess of modern liie, and stands, as it were, at the door of the temple ready to welcome every .newcomer who, knowing himself freeborn, struggles up the alUir-stiviis ti> freedom. That Mr Henderson has been able to show us all this, aiid much more—that he has ben able. to put into the concrete form of a modern story of mil twentieth-century life his own abstract ideas of " Education and the Larger Life," and all the newest psychology mi the subject.—is quite mi timisual '" tour tie force." And when lie makes his people, in addition, real, palpitating llesh anil blood, capable of marriage and the desire for children, we feel that his work is reiily wonderful and excellent, a practical commentary on the great lesson uf the ultimate Irimnpli of good. "There may be minor detcals, disappointment*, retardations, Iml in the whole scheme of things . . . no ultimate defeat. 'Che forces at work upon the soul may he slow and weak, or tremulous and rapid, but in eithoi ca.se they carry Ihe inescapable feed of victory, for they carry with Ihcm infinite time. . . . Hoberl might ask what he would—knowledge, wisdom, power, goodness, love—ami iiwie could gainsay his quest. He fell the divine touch of the .Spirit. He knew that ;'or him the nigh! was passing, the night of defeat and doiibl. and ahead be could already see the radiance of a great light." tin his own lamp is " lighted "—a lamp which can never be extinguished until a greater Light shall dawn.

" Lays from Manriland : Being Songs and i'oi'ms, Knillish and Knglif.li." UNWilliam M. Nleuhouse, M.D. Paisley: Alexander Gardner. (Cloth 3s 6d.) Most of us are well acipiainlod with Dr Slenhouse's pleasant, versus, many of

wliieli liavo from time In time appeared in otiv Dnftwlin papcis, and we are now glad to welcome them in a raoro permanent form. Dr Stenhousu is epiite at home in the language of liis hcloved lluTiin, and the (irst half of his work hears iaU'rual. as well as external, evidence of the influence of his great fellowcountryman. In the eapital tines entitled "The. Puiv Auld Barhelor,'' we read:— An' '.onetimes 1 read in my I'uriis or Scot I, An' then a' the trouhl: = of life are forgot.

In Scotland, a puir man ne'er hangs bis

hold docn, But carric-. it high as il wcarin' a croon: For ipoortith whan honef-i, as Hunk didares. Wed ranks wi' the nobles for a' llwir lino

Anil these sentiments do honour to the poet'? head and heart. Of a mora humorous turn are the'lines: "Ere I was Born," in which the author indulges in a few technicalities, and speaks of himself disrespectfully as "a wee, untimely lirat, forlorn." "The Smuggler" is a Scot? story of "sixty year sin'," of some length; but for ourselves we prefer the shorter pieces, Nidi as " The Happiest Time," which gives the palm to

"... Three score and ten An' an auld airm ■.•hair at a cosy lire-ben-The Kngiislt poems contain one long story of " A 'Scholar's Weird," fidl of musings and questionings, showing how, solitary, liu gradually turned from hooks lo the study of Nature, folding in her teaching the universal panacea for "unavailing legret," and, linally, fell in love with a dini-iuiug girl, aiid found his happiness in liu couiinoii lot. There are some good' sonnets on Uunedin at different times and under various aspc-cts, which show Dr Steiilivusj's ma.Viery of a dillicult medium, and will be heartily citdoiscd by all true lovvis of our heautitul city. Tho lines on " The Death of t.liatlerton" show much put-tic deling, but we-cannot say the sanio of "Xiie Answer ol the Sea," where the lines Such as 1 am, I've rolled a million y-wirs, While man lives but a moment and then <l it-appears, arc- a [ioor imitation of Byron's famous "Tune writes no wrinkle on thine a/.iiro brow." The Chess Sonnets are good, but not, we think, so good as those Mklresstd to Dunedin. "King llaby the First" is a charming little gem, which all mothers ami most fathers will appreciate, "'i'lie Derelict" touches a sa<klcr nolo. Of course, a post, especially of (he school of liurns, Jiuisl try his Jitintl tit amatory verse. Dr iSlenliouse has done his duty in this respect, and, like other lovers, k has been a little hard on the

"tickle mislrcss." There are some good " In .Meiiioriam " verses, and chief among the-*) are the lines dedicated lo the memory of a little daughter, who died in her fourteenth year. Other friends who have "pa-y-vd over" have also a place in this section. Altogether Dr Sienhouso's versos show him to be a genial, kindly, sympathetic man, with a pretty gift 01 metrical expression, and his little book .will doubtless! lind a hearty welcome in maiiy homes throughout- the Dominion, and, possibly, in a wider field.

"The Revolt of the l.'oternkiu." By Constantino- Feklmaun. Translated i'lom the l'ussian by Constance Carnett. Dondoii: \V. Hei'iieiitann. (Cloth, 5s 6d.) This is the narrative, as told by an eye-witness, of the mutiny of the sailors on board the great battleship Prince I'otemliin. and o; the iingic events which immediately led to it, beginning with the "Bloody .Sunday "-January 'J, 1905 —

" Hlieii iliu workmen of &. i'etetsbnrg, led by Father tlupoii,' ami iu;cumpimi«l by women and children in holiday attire and priests bearing crosses and holy banners, attempted lo go in procession to lay their sorrow.-, More the Czar, their 'I/iltlc Father,' in the simple belief that- 1b would hear and help them. Tills crowd, perfectly peiiivful ami orderly, wns fired on by the soldiers, many being, killed and wounded." liie fatal' Sunday was followed by risings in different parts of liiiHda. The narrative beioK' lis concent;; itself more patticularly with that ot Odessa. When the industrial climax following the Itusso-Japanese war reached the southern dish ids of the Empire the people swte well ripe for rebellion. " Mot yet, however, was the misery so extreme as to beget the heroism of despair and the systematic organisation of labour, but it Was in the air." The writer, an active member of the Social Democratic party, was an eye-witness of the events which followed that fatal Sunday, ot tho smothered wiath of She people, rising, and rising to articulate fury, and of the abortive efforts of the Government to keep them in some kiwi of restraint. At tho critical moment the squadron flagship, Prince Putemkiu. came into harbour flying the :cd Hag, with the motto, "One for all, all for one." The crew had mutinied on jit-coum of the meal served out to them, lead killed their olliccrs, and had come to Odessa to join the workmen. As is well known, the rising came to : nothing, and is, therefore, stigmatised ax a "revolt" rather than a "revolution." It failed bscausv the people had no leader, and, therefore, no cohesion. The moment ban tome, but not Ik- man, ami the rising was foredoomed to failure. Mr Ke.'dniaun's tale is of a. mest thrilling nature; his iidveiitnres equal Ihose ot any sensational novel, and his linal escape was little kss than marvellous. Again and ugaiu the triumph of the revolution appeared sure and the days of autocrr.ev iminbetv.l. lint there was no order, no system, and soon the terrible erv of

" treachery" began to be heard. The crew of the Poiemkin split into two parties, the revolutionists on shore into it dozen. " The panic grew and grow. I't was like some machine, gaining impetus and turning its wheels more and more rapidly " lo destroy itself. Tiro I'otemkin got. up steam and departed. Feldmaiin and his immediate companions were taken by the police ; they were imprisoned, conil<<mtieil to death, and guarded with every rigour. lCsrape seemed impossible. But

"tho comrades" were not to be daunted. Plans of all hinds were made and given up. The Social Democrat party sent envoys, male and female. At last Feldnianu himself succeeded in softening the heart of one of his gaolers. Thin man went to the conspirators to open conuminications. Then followed a time of breathless anxiety. " One's heart was in one's mouth." It was necessary not only to get- Feldmami out of the prison, but to secure him a lodging in the town where. lie might lie hidden for a few days. I'lvcryono was in terror. No one would receive him. It seemed hopeless, but it was done, lie escaped—leaving a bundle of clothes in his place, lie 'was cleanshaven, disguised as a high school boy, hidden for a few days, and finally smuggled uvcr the frontier. In the last part of his journey Feldmami travelled as (.he son of a rich Judy, She imdorlook the journey simply because she know whom she was he.lmng, and she showed the greatest public spirit and courage. Similar efforts were mado lo rescue other prisoner*, but for tno most- part in vain. The book is written in a. sinipk', graphic, convincing maimer,. and the translation is excellent. ii is a narrative, that speaks for itsvlf, h, is not made the vehicle for any political propaganda. Perhaps it is all the stronger oh that account.