LITERATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18541, 29 April 1922, Page 2

LITERATURE.

NEW ZEALAND AUTHORSHIP.* SOME RECENT BOOKS. By Constant Reader. I—HON. GEO. M, THOMSON, M.L.C. Mr G. M. Thomson has established himself as an authority, on certain scientific aspects of life in New Zealand, and this, hitherto, by dint of much patient research the restdts of which had been only privately recorded. By the publication of a substantial volume of over 600 pages, entitled “The Naturalisation of Animals and Plants in New Zealand,” Mr Thomson has added authorship to his other distinguished qualifications. Moreover, the fact that the book issues from the Cambridge University Press, and this on the recommendation of the University of Otago, stamps it as a work of high literary as well as scientific value. It is true that this is not Mr Thomson's first essay in authorship; he has to his credit several pamphlets and text books, including some manuals and bulletins contributed to the publications of the New Zealand Board of Science ’and Art, but “The Naturalisation of Animals and Plants in Now Zealand” stands in another and much more important category, representing to a large extent, the author’s life work. The book has a pathetic and poignant dedication: In Memory of My Youngest Son, John Henry Thomson. Who gave his life in the service of the Empire, and after three and a-half years of active service in Gallipoli and France, died - on April \5, 1918. His body was laid near Doullens, in France. His Soul is with his God. ) In a brief preface 'Mr Thomson points out that a historical account of the animals and plants introduced into ■ New Zealand has been greatly needed; but the changes that have been going on for the past 150 years and the fugitive nature of the records of and references to these changes, made it difficult “for many persons .interested in the n/atural history of the country to acquire any exact knowledge' of the subject.” In no wise daunted by the difficulties, Mr Thomson ;courageously set' to work to accumulate the facts, and in, so doing was led into a considerable correspondence on the subject. He has been encouraged in his research by the interest excited and the'-ready response made by all those appealed to for information. Ihe acknowledgments of indebtedness cover a number of names well known in scientific bircles, locally and in all parts of the dominion, and Mr Thomson adds: Inis work has given m© a great amount of P sure in the preparation. , I trust it willpro ve both interesting and useful to, ita readers.” . , , . . The first part of the book includes a general introduction and a historical record. The following paragraphs from the introduction may serve to indicate the scope and purpose of the-work. Mr Thomson writes; The naturalisation of animals and plants in any country is a -most mteresting and fascinating - subject, -as well as being one of very great and importance. ... . ' • AIn gathering the information required and working out the material,. it - was soon evident to me that the subject Was unique. It had never been attempted before—as far as I am aware—tor* any country. Indeed, it was seen that New Zealand was the only country m which such a bit of history could be attempted with any prospeo* oi success. ; . . . The generation of people now growing up' in this country is living under-condi-tions which are t largely different: -from those which prevailed when the first settlers colonised the islands, ihe surroundings at present are partly determined by the primitive conditions and partly by the introduction of many new animals and plants. Both the face of the ' country and its inhabitants have been largely changed, bub hitherto no connected account has been available Of the agencies that have brought about these profound changes. It is, important, then, that such an account should be prepared, because ©very year as it passes makes it increasingly difficult to gather the materials. , Mr Thomson stresses the fact that this book will be of the greatest value in shaping the future policy .of acclimatisation;the need of such a policy being seen in the bungles and blunders in wtyich the history of previous efforts abound, and of whioh some remarkable instances are given. The reasons which first led him to approach the subject of naturalisation from the pomt of view of natural selection are most interestingly set forth. Quite* early in his life Mr 'Thomson came under Darwin’s spell, and he read “with care and avidity” not only the Origin of Species,” but every work of his “ which bore on the subject of pvolution and natural selection,” following this up by a careful study of suoh writers as Hooker, Lyell, Huxley, Wallace, Asa Gray, Hseokel, and others. Between I£6B and 1892 Mr Thomson made "extensive botanical arid zoological collections in many parts of New Zealand from the Bay of Islands to file south of Stewart Island,” when an. injury put an end to further field work. The outcome of "these studies was the growth of a conviction that New Zealand presented a unique field in which the accuracy of certain of Darwin’s views could bo adequately tested. Although the subject occupied his thoughts, from time to time, Mr Thomson was unable to return to it until 1915, when he iyas able to resume the thread of the argument propounded twenty years betore. As an essential preliminary, it was necessary to ascertain, as far as was possible, “ what ppecies of animals and plants had become naturalised in the country ; what species had failed to establish themselves; to seek for the reasons of their success or failure; and to ascertain what effects had been produced on - the native fauna and flora” Hence the present volume. Comprehensiveness and completeness are the hall marks of Mr Thomson’s work, and its remarkable accuracy is a tribute alike to the author’s knowledge and to the care exercised by publisher and proof-reader, for Mr Thomson had no opportunity of revision. For the general reader much interest attaches to the historical record which starts from the arrival of Captain Cook in New Zealand on his second voyage in 1773, when, landing at Dusky Sound and at Queen Charlotte Sound, he left behind him various animals and sowed several kinds of garden vegetables, some of which survived. Mr Thomson also traverses thoroughly the question of the introduction and subsequent naturalisation of many plants and animals prior to the arrival of Captain Cook; he then hints at the impulses and desires which led the early settlers _ to .make further attempts .at naturalisation. ‘ He concludes the record by laying: In time some of the plants and animals which have been introduced not only, established' themselves securely, but increased at a rate which, upset all calculations. Conditions were produced which had never been anticipated, and the introductions became dangerous and expen- • sivo pests. Then public measures had to be taken to check the new-comers, and in some cases their natural enemies had I be introduced. Tips has led to further complications and unexpected results. These natural enemies, like the things they were meant to check, did not always do what was expected of them; they frequently failed to achieve the purpose for which they were'introduced, and took to destroying things which it was desirable be preserved. Legislation had to be resorted to in order to destroy some introduced things and to protect others. Noxious Weeds Act, Animal Protection ,\c(s Injurious Birds Acts, and so on, have’ been passed into law, together with countless Regulations and Orders-in-(Jounoil dealing with the same subject i„ its multifarious aspects By way of commentary and satire on the whole business the Government in many cases is itself the chief offender against the laws of its own making. At the close of nearly 160 years since Cook first, visited these shores, the oountry has not yet realised the necessity of a scientific treatment of the whole question of naturalisation. Species are still being introduced. In nearly _ every case now it is claimed that this is done for beneficent purposes, but the same argument justified the early settlers who in- ■ troduced insectivorous birds to eat up the caterpillars which were destroying

their grain crops, no doubt also the sheep farmers who helped to bring in stoats and weasels to enable them tp grow wool and mutton instead of rabbits. There is still no general principle underlying the work, and not sufficient knowledge of the possibilities of each problem.

The second and third parts of the book, comprising some 450 pages, are occupied with a detailed description of_ the animals and plants naturalised in New Zealand from the beginnings of the introductions so far as they can be traced and verified. The animals are carefully classified under the heads of Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, and Amphibia, Pishes, Mollusca, Insects, etc., while the plants are divided into two sections .entitled “Dicotyledons and Coriiferae” and “Monocotyledons and Ferns respectively. A fourth part deals with such subjects as “Interaction of Endemic and Introduced Faunas,” “.Alteration in Flora Since European Occupation of New Zealand,” “Acclimatisation Work,” and “Legislation.” Several . valuable appendices dealing with Opossums,- later records, the Tutira District, together with a Rainfall Map, a Bibliography, and indices complete the volume. Mr 'Thomson’s comments on “Legislation” are very much to the ppint;— /The record of the legislation passed by Parliaments: in New Zealand is historically of interest and of value from the point of view of the naturalist, as showing .how various animals and plants developing under mew.'conditions in a new country “run', away,” as at were, because so aggressive and eo in individuals as to constitute "a serious menace to the well-being of the community. At the -same time, it is rather a curious record when looked at as a whole, for hardly had any Bill -passed -into law when'amendments were found to he necessary, and these succeeded each other year after year with monotonous .regularitv The point reached to-day, howeyer, is one that can be cony templated -with a certain amount ofsatisfaction. As far as. new introduc-,’ tions of animals and plants are concerned, there is pretty close inspection at all ports of entry of seeds, fruits, etc., and few, deleterious things pass the in-, speotota Where objectionable introductions have' got in during recent yearsthey have in several oases-been followed up to the localities to which they were distributed and l ,, have" been eradicated. As to ' those animals and - plants whioh : are’ already-Inthe country,' arid'which it' is desirable to eradicate and A’eep, in - check the conditions are more difficult, but in many, cases the laws which have been passed, have enabled them to beicoped with. f The hone for the future lies in two directions—viz.; closer settle-, ment of the land, coupled with more in-, tensive cultivation; and better eduoa- , tion of all those concerned in the primi- , tive industries of the country, which are. mainly agricultural and pastoral, as to the economic watte which ensues whenever undesirable animals and plants are allowed -to thrive. There is a growing desire for such education, and it id be'»coming more fully recognised that it is one of the most important factors in the future success of the country. 1 “The Naturalisation of Animals* and Plants in New Zealand” is a notable contribution to the literature of t-Ijo dominion. It is a book, which it goes without saying will b© esteemed highly by all interested in scientific-pursuits and it is certain to have a place in all public, libraries and. the 'libraries of universities and other learned institutions Besides all this the book has a popular interest and a utilitarian value; as ft text book for teachers in primary and secondary schools, it can scarcely be surpassed, and the politician and publicist will be well advised to take an occasional dip' intp- its pages. ■ Mr Thomson is to be wayrnly jyjngratulated upon his work which ? laces -his- fellow citizens deeply in his debt.' t is doubtful,, however, whether he will reap the material benefit frpm the book, •to which his arduous labours in its production, so richly entitle liim. 11,— cawthron lectures. Closely allied in interest to Mr Thomson’s book is the first volume of Cawthron Lectures, covering the years; 1916-1919, and issued under the auspices of the Cawthron Institute of Scientific Research at Nelson. The booklet- has for frontispiece a portrait of the founder of the Institute, Thomas Cawthron, who was born at Camberwell on May 26, 1833, and-died at Nelson on October 8, 1915. There is also' a- view of the, ■lnstitute itself. , , In connection;'with the founding; of the institutei it was resolved that a scientificlecture of a. popular character should Ije delivered each year in memory of Thomas Cawthron and, the;first three of these lectures are here preserved- in permanent form —viz., “The Aih.s and Ideals of the Caw-, thron Institute,” by Professor T. H. Easter? field: “Biology in Relation to Agriculture.”by Professor W. B. Benham; and “The Distribution of the’Vegetation and Flora of New Zealand,” by_ Dr L. Cockayne. Dr Cockayne’s lecture is illustrated by a num-. ber of views . and this first volume of “Cawthron Lectures” will be much prized. 111.-A HISTORY OF AUCKLAND. The Auckland City Council have shown a commendable public spirit in having piepared and published a history of their city, concerning which Mayor Gunson says: "This History of the City of Auckland is issued by the City Council irr-the confident expectation that the wonderful progress recorded in the following pages will not only afford ' pleasure 'and information to a wide circle of readers, both in New Zealand and abroad, but that the work will prove to be an inspiration to good citizenship for 'the. further advancement of Auckland.” The work has been entrusted to Mr John Barr, the chief librarian of the city, and it represents the first attempt _ which has been made to write such a history. Mr Barr is fortunate in-having as collaborator Mr George Graham, who has -supplied a "Maori History of the -Auckland .Isthmus,” Mr Barr talcing up the running when Auckland was founded as a city by Captain William., Hobton' on September 18, 1840, and continuing 'the record up to 1920. In 1841 the estimated population of /Auckland was 1500 souls; in 1921 the population of the city and suburbs Was 150,000, and the record of this £0 years’ progress makes a study worth attention. Both Mr .Graham and Mr Barr have done their work ably and well, -and the publication of this history should help towards a better understanding in the south of the spirit of the. people of Auckland. There is much in this history that rightly belongs to New Zealand as a whole and not to Auckland in particular, and in a wider recognition of this fact lies the alleviation of local jealousies and the welding- together of the entire dominion. The book is well printed and adequately illustrated, and should fulfil the purpose tor which it has been published. Mr Barr expresses his regret that the work was not undertaken earlier “by someone who had been a spectator or a participant in the events described,”, since it lacks “that element of the personal which helps in the re-presentation of the events.” 'Ho also ventures a ho-e that “the appearance of the book will stimulate some of the older residents of tno citv to record their recollections, so that those of the younger school who are interested in the city’s past may have fuller information about '‘ Auckland of the early days.” • - THE COMPLEAT “LETTER WRITER.+ / v COMPILED BY PROFESSOR SAINTSBURY. By Constant Reader. Professor George Saintsbury is one of the most learned men living where English Literature is concerned, and this especially applies to English prosody., HeT has specialised in the literature of- the ’eighteenth century, as his delightful booty on “The Peace of the Augustans” abundantly testified. A few months back he made a delightful excursion into convivial literature, and evolved that moat fascinating volume “A Cellar Book.” He has now compiled a companion volume, which he has called “A Letter Book,” containing a representative collection of the best letters of all the ages, commencing with Synesius and Pliny, and ending with a letter of Robert Louis Stevenson, which addressed to Professor Saintsbury himself concerning Lockhart and a lost umbrella, has not hitherto seen) the light. The Letters are prefaced by an essay on the History and Art of Letter-writing, by the compiler. There are anthologies in abundance containing selections from the best letterwriters in the English language, such for instance of “The Great English Letter Writers,” in two volumes, compiled by W. J. Dawson and Coningsby W. Dawson for “The Readers’ Library.” There -are also

two substantial volumes in “The London Library,” arranged and* edited by F. A. Muffiby, under the title “Letters of Literary Men,” and comprising (1) “From Sir Thomas More to Robert Burns ’ and “The Nme- ' teenth Century.” Nor should the two most delightful anthologies by Mr E. y. Lucas be forgotten—“ The Gentlest Art: A Choice ot Letters! by Entertaining Hands and ‘The Second Post: A Companion to the Gentlest Art.” Professor Saintsbury, however, has aimed at something more than a mere anthology. He deals with tile Art of Letter Writing as such and With the nature of the Letter, to which end he has contrived that the letters selected and their separate prefatory. notes serve os to the Introduction, which in its turn acts as a guide to the letters. The result is a -■‘Compleat Letter Writer” of a novel sort, which, however, does not aim at giving “rules and instructions for writing good letters” except it be by showing how good letters have been written. , Professor Saintsbury’s introduction on “The History , and Art -of Letter Writing” occupies nearly a third ot the book—to .be precise -99 out of 306 pages—and, . divided into seven parts, it constitutes quite a comprehensive essay... Part I deals with “Ancient History” and is followed by “Letters in English ”r-(a) “Before .1700” j (b) “The Eighteenth Century ”; (c) “Nineteenth Century Letters—Early and Later”; (dV Some Special Kinds, of Letters”; and (c) Conclusion.” The opening paragraph reads as follows: — 1 'On- letter-writing, as on. most things that can themselves be written and talked about, there-are.- current- many “cliches —stock and banal phrases- that express, or have at -some time expressed, a certain amount, of truth. The most familiar of these for a good many- years past* -has been that the penny - j?ost has killed it. Whether revival of the twopenny has caused it to exhibit any kind <rf corresponding, resurrectionary symptoms is a , matter which cannot yet be pronounced upon. But it may be possible to avoid these cliches, or at any rate to make no more than necessary glances at .than, in composing this little paper, which aims at being a discussion oi the Letter as a branch of Literature, po less than an ■ introduction to the - specimens: of the kina which follow. ' i Professor Saintsbury sketches interestingly enough,the beginnings of letter-writing from ancient times, including Greek and Roman letter writers, with a passing glance at the Middle Ages. “Women write the best letters,” says Professor Saintsbury, “and get the best letters written to them; bufc it is doubtful .whether Greek women, save persons of a certain class-and other exceptions in different ways like Sappho and Diotima, ever, wrote at all. The Romans, after tbeor early period, were not merely a larger and ever larger community full of the most various business- and constantly extending their presence and their sway; but by their unique- faculty of organisation they put every part of their huge world m communication with every part. Here also we lack women’s letters; but we are by no means badly off for those of men. Professor Saintsbury detects a connection between the spread of Christianity and the spread of letter writing, and he pomfa out that a very large ,°f New Testament consists of “Epistles. He adds: _ at. Paul’s allusions to his journeys, his salutations, his acknowledgment of presents, ms reference to the cloak - and th® hooks, with its anxious ‘buk especially the parchments, and his excellent advice to Timothy about beverages, are all the and jnost genuine matter for mail-hags- ,The major part of the introduction, however, is taken up with a discussion of English Letters. While the survey of the letters written before 1760 is well done, it is not until the eighteenth century is reached that Professor Saintsbury tealjy waxes enthusiastic. Hera he is on not only familiar but favourite ground;— - . . ... Whatever may be- the P^ 1011 o *,.'“ e , seventeenth in respect ofietter -wuting, it is impossible for anything but sheer . ignorance, hopeless want of critical discernment, or idle paradox to mistake, m ' the direction of belittlement; that of toe eighteenth. By common consent of all opinion worth attention that century was, . in the two European literatures vluch were equally free from crudity and decadence—French- and the y palmiest day of the art. Everybody wrote letters; and a surprising number of people , wrote letters well. Our 6wn three most, famous epistolers of the male sex-Horaw Walpole, Gray, and wholly to it; and Lady Mary -our most famous she-tbito-belonga all but her childhood; as does Chesterfield, whom some not bad judges would put not far if at all below the t« rn® just mentioned. The rise of the novel in this century is hardly more remark able than the way in which that novel almost- wedded itself— certainly imned itself in the most frequent fne "7 hip \° the letter form. But perhaps the excellence of the choicer examples m this time ia not- really more important than f the abundance, variety, and tellers, whether good, indifferent, or bad. . To use one of the informal superlatives sanctioned by familiar custom, it was the “letler-writingest” of ages , from almost

every point of view. Professor Saintsbury has spent so much time in the- eighteenth century, aud has so habituated himself to its atmosphere, that he makes his readers long for the of the Augustans.”' 1 He declares that the proportion of people , who _ write tetters real letters—to-day is much smaller than was the case two hundred, one hundred, or even fifty , years ago. Tile newspaper has clone more to kill letters than any penny post, halfpenny postcard, or even sixpenny' telegram could .do- Professor Saintsbury omits to mention the innuence of the typewriter, which surely militate? against originality and in favour of mechanical letter-writting: but he 1 adds, with force; “nor perhaps have we yet mentioned the most powerful destructive agent of all, and that is. the ever-increasing want of leisure. The dulness of .modem Jack, in letters as elsewhere, arises .from ..the fact that when he is .not, ajb work he^ris too <,osperately set on playing to Kaye- time lot

anything else.” The Augustans had this in common with the Gods, that.they “lived easily.” This gives Professor Saintsbury a text for another, excursion:— There is perhaps still something to be said as to the apparently almost preestablished harmony between the eighteenth century and letter-writing. It concerns* what has been called the 'Peace of the Augustans”; the at least compare•• ■ tive freedom alike from the turmoil o< passion and the moist riotous' kinds df fun. Tragedy may be very fine in letters, as it may be anywhere, but, it is in them the most dangerous, muse - rarely successful and most frequently failed-in cf all motives—again as it is everywhere. Comedy in letters is good, but it--should be fairly “genteel” comedy, such as this age' excelled in—not roaring Farce. An “excruciatingly funny” letter runs the risk of hieing excruciating in a sadly literal sense. Now the me A of good Queen Anne and the first three . Georges were not given to excess, in these ways, at any rate, and there are few better examples of the happy mean than the best of their letters;. * The “Fiv6 commanding officers of fhe great army, representative of the 'very numerous constituents who do the servjoe and enjoy the franchise of letterwriting in the eighteenth century—that is to say, Swift, Chesterfield, “Lady Mary, Horace Walpole, Gray, and Oowper—are discussed and compared with that degree of intimate acquaintance which few other litterateurs possess. And when to these famous /fives are added letter-writers-like Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, Richardson, Berkely, Gibbon; r Fanny Burney,; and the “Swan of Avon,” otherwise Miss, Seward, there is abundant justification for Profqsspy Saints* bury’a --dictum., “there, is no doubt that the eighteenth century is the , century of letter writers,”- i i . ■ Nevertheless .“fhere, is l not the slightest intention’ of suggesting that the art <-f letter-writing died with the century in which it- flourished so greatly.”. Professor Saintsbury points out • that periods of literary art seldom or never “die” in a moment like a tropical sunset, but that one period necessarily overlaps the -next. “When the eighteenth . century closed Wordsworth, Coleridge,- Scott, and Southey were men approaching- more 'or less closely, thirty years of - age. Landor, Hazlitt, Lamb and Moore were at least, and some of them well,*past the conventional ‘coming of age’; De Quincey,, Byron. and Shelley were boys, and even Keats was more than an infant” And: no one of these is to be.despised as a letter-writer. Indeed, of Lamb it is declared that, like* Thackeray,. “if we had nothing but" his letters we /should almost be aide/to dejbeot ths qualities which he'shows in his regular works.’’ Keats, as . letterwriter, provides subject for much illuminating comment and also provides a text for a* .sermon on'the’ duty of editors and pub-, lishers of rorrespondence. As a * consequence of. - the controversies which the publication , of private letters, must ’.. frequently—in ' fact; with rare if any exceptions—have appeared in a con- ' dition of expurgation . which - cannot but have, affected their spirit and savour to a very considerable extent.” ■ The later nineteenth century to whom.' attention is specially directed, include Thackeray, Fitzgerald, Fanny Kemble, the Carlyles, Macaulay. and Dickens, ending, of course, with R. L. Stevenson. • 1 In ' the section of the ' introduction devoted -to “Some Special Kinds of Letters” comment is made ‘on the ever-increasing-' body of things “written to the papers,” concerning which Professor Saintsbury says:— , , ■ It is unnecessary _ to consider the justice of ,a sarcastic division of mankind into - ‘.‘those who write to the papers arid those who do not read the letters,” or to discuss what men have, been heard -to say—that the people who wrote, to papers are people* who’ have not written in them. It is quite certain that, for many years past, the less' frivolous kind of newspaper correspondence, has been of admitted ihtorest and importance; indeed, a pape? might conceivably 'maintain its position after its repute has sunk-in other ways, simply because more letters of importance appear in it than others. As a source of illustrations of how to write and how not to. write letters, this moderft development of. the art could hardly be quite neglected ; and it offers a curious study of various kinds. Professor Sointalmry concludes by saying that a bad letter-writer is sure to betray himself almost everywhere, and that while the man of one book, in the sense of having read it, is proverbially formidable, but in faot too frequently a bore, “the man .of one letter, in the sense of having written a just one and no. more, probably never existed.” The introduction is enjoyable and stimulating throughout, and carries the reader right on to die letters themselves. “A Letter Book” is a most desirable acquisition and should serve as a suitable “bod-book” for a good while to oome.