LITERATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21196, 29 November 1930, Page 4

LITERATURE.

STANDARD WORKS IN NEW EDITIONS. HISTORY, DISCOVERY. Af® ! ECONOMICS. English Literature The Middle Ages and the Renascence." By' Emila "tSvSl 8 ’ translat , cd hy Helen Douglas Irvine-sji£”-,«r.sr- j - m - ““ "Outlines of Economics." By B. S. Murphy, B ” B A Com " E - E - s - Professor P of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Commerce In Victoria University College, New ZeaCh n rMchnrrh nd S® V r6vlsed and rewritten. Setr Ch ' and Tombs. (15s ml* 1119 . ? om ? of the Blizzard: Being the » Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1311-1914, By Sir Douglas Mawson, D.Sc., - H.E. Abridged popular edition. Illustrated, „ 5“ ?l ap3 v . London; Hodder and Stoughton. (143 oa net.) "The Outline of History." By H. G. Wells. With maps and plans by J. F. Horrabln. New and revised edition. Illustrated. London; Cassell and Company. (Ss 6d nek) The hook entitled “ A History of English Literature ’ is a notable one for more ;than its generous, all-embracihg content, its keen judgments and its value to the student. It is notable for these things, and in good measure, but the roost remarkable thing about it is that it was written by Frenchmen for French readers .—that, without any suggestion from the authors, it has been translated into English, has gone through its editions (it appeared in two volumes in 1926 and 1927) and in answer to a demand has now been revised and reset in one volume. At mst, thought it might seem almost humiliating that- a history of .the literature of the British Isles, which has, so far as we know, no counterpart for completeness, should have been writby two French professors, but the authors explain—one almost said apologises for—this anachronism so engagingly that we are cpnvinced that this very fact has marked advantages. Their view of the ® U j c ,t is that of outsiders’ “who are indeed fervent admirers of its strength and, splendour, hilt yet have an independence of mind due to their foreign training, ■ to the fact that they have not inherited nor been nurtured on this literature, but nave approached it consciously and of deliberate choice, as men rather than children. They hope,' therefore, that T “ iei r judgments may have an added impartimity, their praise more weight. Thus they flatter us by confessing that of all literatures the English has seemed to them mttot worthy of study. It is perhaps our fluty to admit,’ ip return, the something of truth in their suggestion that the favourable reception of the book in Englash is to some extent, because they have .taken into other account certain demands i . proper to the mentality of their nation, have satisfied “ that need for connected composition, for the presentment of a ®hain of facts and ideas, without which the. French do not easily assimilate the they study.”. The unforeeen result g x they therefore pursued was ■ Jr 1 , fh® English critics found in their hook a certain novelty.” This is a most : graceful way_ of ‘ saying, that perhaps foreigners might be better qualified to. study our literature: than Englishmen, and to set out the - result of their study, and, as has already been - observed, the -book -, here presented gives a certain justification to the implication. Ejearch where one may, there is the , greatest difficulty in finding in this book ,;a word of criticism or, even more important in such a survey, of praise that does • not seem entirely merited. Professor Legouia lights exactly upon the importance ' of Chaucer, for instance, who, with copious and unashamed borrowings from the . literature of other lands, still was a very -■ mature English artist who opened a newperiod in our literature, and in his verse gave to English words, “frozen by a long ' winter of waiting,” their first fragrance. Again, Professor Cazamian, in giving H. :’G. Wells, the space.he deserves among present-day writers, remarks that the novel by Wella.betomes “ a. confession of evil . in all its forms, and an ample discussion of its remedies; it, develops at the same time towards international politics, as the solidarity of- peoples and the supremacy of public opinion are already adumbrating them; and towards religious ; philosophy, , the free examination of supreme questions and last issues.” This is well stated, as are all other matters in the book.. It would not be easy to in- . terpret one of- our writers better than these authors have done, let alone hundreds of them. Withal, “A History of English Literature,” which in its compact form is almost certain to become a text book for our students, is pleasantly' written, with a nicety of phrasing and expression that will make, its perusal enjoyable. # * * If there is a fault to be found with Professor Murphy’s “Outlines of’ Economics ” it is that it proceeds so inexorably, without giving the reader any opportunity of pause for breath, step by step, from one aspect of economic study and its effdet upon individual and national life to another. Herein, of course, lies its extreme value to the serious student, who 17111 find in the work the last word upon a subject that has only too few able ®9»°nents in this Dominion,» and certairly no others who have expressed economic principles in New Zealand terms so completely as has Mr Murphy. On the : other hand, however, the author makes it clear, in designating the work “ a book for business men” that it is hoped that those who, above all others, might derive f tracheal benefit from it will study it. t would he useless to attempt to genera- ’ lise- as to what the business man will and wiß not read, or even to define the all--embracing expression under which the commercial section of the community is but one cannot help feeling that . Outlines of Economics” may prove, to a large number of business men, of somewhat forbidding aspect in its closelymarked development from precedent to , precedent, • , Professor Murphy is no theoretical or academic economist, content merely to • express in general terms the principles of Ins .study and to leave the reader to ’ those principles to the’ peculiar problems of New Zealand. His book definitely is written for New Zealanders, with the New Zealand stanndpoint kept always foremost in his treatment; it is in a word, intensely practical. Upon all the important economic problems of the day, as the Dominion has to face and overcome tflem, he speaks with authority, and his exposition is lucid and easy to follow. .Larins, the arbitration system trusts and combines, unemployment, national!eation in industry, public expenditure and taxation, the gold standard, and London exchange, are all given their application to our national life. The theory of the cycle may be selected at random as having a pertinent bearing upon on r present difficulties, and as giving justification, also, for a ray of hope:— New Zealand on account of her large .foreign trade with Britain is particularly sensitive to movements of .the cycle initiated from abroad. A period of high prices for ou r primary produce exports in Britain brings about a favourable balance of trade and in conjunction with public borrowing, builds up large bank. balances to the credit of New Zealanders in the London and Dominion offices of our banks. 4r p is additional spending power is reflected in an increase of imports, which persists after the favourable period for our exports has spent itself. The rethat purchasing power is depleted, bank deposits fall, and the ratio ox bank advances to. deposits grows. Then ensues a dearth of purchasing - power, and a rise in the local overdraft rate in order to discourage importation by making its finance expensive, imports are restricted and export balances are 'again built up, and so the cycle revolves. " Outlines Economics ” i s a most valuable and useful text-book for the student, the politician, the financier be his operations large or small. It is gratifying to find a demand for a new edition which brines the discussion of our problems up to the present day. . * * • Interest in Antarctic exploration, which has lately received an added stimulus in the successful- venture of Admiral Byrd and the equally worth-while, though less sensationa! enterprise of the Australian and New Zealand expedition under Sir LlougJas Mawson, has prepared the public ■ mind for a new edition of Mawson’s Home of the Blizzard.” This book tells a story that in its scientific and human aspects is , intensely interesting, and is

entitled to rank with the half-dozen other standard works which, from almost an over-abundance of literature relating to South Polar adventurings, will gain in value as new discoveries are made under better conditions. - , The Australasian Antarctic Expedition left Hobart for* the south in the Aurora on December 2. 1911, and a base was established on Macquarie Island. The vessel pushed through the ice and landed a party on _an undiscovered portion of to® Antarctic Continent adjacent to n E-n v s Land, and, journeying 1500 miles to the west of this base, landed another party, then returned to Hobart to relit and to; carry out oceanographical investigations in the waters south of Australia and New Zealand.- In 1912 the Aurora returned to relieve the two P a J® ies * In the meantime a calamity had befallen Mawson's own sledging party, Nmnia and. Mertz losing their lives, and Jv s a^ 1V al back was delayed for eo long that the Aurora had to leave sis men on the ice to search for the missing party. Ihus prearranged plans were upset, and the expedition returned in parts, but tragic as made the venture, in one way, it has given this book another tale oi heroism for Antarctic records e edition of “The Home of the Blizzard .has been, to use Sir Douglas Mawson s term “ concentrater,” and a considerable amount of technical data that in the first edition might have repeiled the ordinary reader, has been omitted. -The photographs are numerous and excellent, as are the maps and diagrams. ** * . Mr Wells describes a preoccupation with and with the general forces that make history, as “ the twist of his mind." Lven when he was a science student he kept a notebook for historical reading, ?, rst Polished etory, 1“ The Time Machine (1894), was a fantastic speculation about the trend of human history. His now faraous_" Outline ” is, in fact, the result of a lifetime of thought and study, for even when he was at the height of his popularity as a novelist, before his writings all assumed their definite trend, he was producing minor works dealing with the social and scientific aspects of the human race. From his original plan of a general review of European unity .developed this .far-reaching book, for sys*tematic research convinced him that the real beginning of things was further back than Rome or Judea. The story carried him on the one hand to the Aryan bef innings in the forests and plains of jurope and Western Asia, and on the other to the earlier stages of civilisation -in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the submerged m the Mediterranean basin. If| he says, his “ Outline ” is sometimes “ laboured ®ud ■ pitifully insignificant”—a charge that has never been levelled at it—at ‘ others it seems to have planned and. written itself. Of it he says:- ; Its background is unfathomable mystery, the riddle of the stars, the meaaurelessness of space and time. There appears life struggling towards consciousness, gathering power, accumulating will, through millions of years and through countless billions of individual lives,' until it reaches the tragic confusions ® p d perplexites of the world of to-day, ®o. full of fear and yet so full of promise and opportunity. We see man rising from lonely beginnings to this present dawn of world fellowship., We see a fi human institutions grow and change. • • • The display ends in a tremendous note of interrogation. The writer is a kuide who brings his reader at last to _the present edge, the advancing edge of things, and stops and whispers beside him: “ This is onr inheritance.” This cheap edition of the “Outline of History contains the full material of the two-volume issue, and is revised to 1930. Ihe maps, charts, and drawings of Mr JiorrabiD, the chronological tables, also brought up-to-date, and the pronouncing index are all included. J, M. “ THE DICKENS ADVERTISER.” NOTES ON A PAST AGE. T 4 h l B V* 6lla Advertiser: A Collection of mo Advertisements In the Original Parts of Novels by Charles Dickens." Tmted by Bernard Danrin. mustrated. London: Elkin Mathews and Msrrot. (7s 6d net.) “The Dickens Advertiser” is a joy a delight to us complacent mortals of the twentieth century who have at last mastered the art of advertising (dr think we have), and can find in the pages of Mr JJarwin s book most satisfying evidence of the superiority of onr methods of attracting public interest over those employed some ninety odd years, ago by the enterprising salesman of Dickens’s day.- Mr Darwin bases his study upon, the advertisements that, as a separate ment, were sewn into the blue-green parts in which most of the novels of Dickens first saw the light. Often they must have been intolerably dull, as for instance the pamphlet reporting the conversation of a Gentleman and a Farmer npon_ fhe Corn Law, which proceeds interminably, as it would seem,. through closely-printed pagds, the poor Farmer remarking: “I lake to hear you talk, and yet 1 don t like to hear you, if you can make that out.” Usually, however, the advertisements are cheerful, and most optimistic. Mr Moses and Mr Doudney were tailors, and both employed versewriters to sell their wares—superfine dress coats, £2 7a 6d, summer trousers, 10fi, fid, and eo on; and Mrs Geary was also a maker of clothes. In a certain corset, readere were informed, her genius has full swing,” while she was particularly skilful in_ dealing with “parts adapted to prominences. Morison was the greatest of the pill men, whose numper was legion, hut he had less to say than Mr Cockle, “ Surgeon Extraordinary to Her Serene Highness the Landgravine of Hesse Homburg,” and maker of “antibmons pills, ’ or than Mr Simpson, whose remedy had cured “ young persons, wasting away and with every appearance of going into a decline.” The hair-oil merchants, headed by Rowland, were well represented, but soap was apparently just soap, and the famous Pears floes not appear .until the publication of the .first parts of “Edwin Drood.” ■ The book advertisements, and those of music publishers, were numerous. ■ Such eongs were popular as “I’m Quite aLadies' Man,” and “That’s the Way the Money Goes,” while for the more sentimentally inclined there were “When the Heart is Fond and True,” “Nay, Smile Again! ” and “A Maiden Sought the Dewy Grove.” Among the books, Lockhart’s “ Life of Scott ” received 16 closelyprinted pages of eulogy, while “Hintson Etiquette ” was described as “ equally ‘ necessary to the most elevated and most mind, and not less to the man of principle and piety than to the man of the world.” It is interesting to find' Punch, in its early days, following. the general Podsnappian trend and advertising that care is observed in the exclusion of whatever is offensive to good morals, or even to good manners, and declaring that, “no parent could object its introduction among his children.” A nook that sounds intriguing is “Tom Racquet and his Three Maiden Aunts," but even more dramatic* surely, was that entitled “The Greatest Plague of Life, or The Adventures of a Lady in Search - of a Good Servant by. One who. has been nearly Worried to Death,” Mr Darwin’s comments upon the advertisements which come under review reveal him as having a sense of humour and, more important, an intimate acquaintance with everything relating to Dickens and his times. The genera] reader will be entertained in drawing comparison between advertising then and now, and will find it difficult to realise that the period covered, is only a few decades past, while to the Dickensian the volume will prove a_ necessary arid instructive addition to his library, and one that has long been needed. Tim book is well and amusingly illustrated with reproductions of pictures and advertisements from the Dickens “ advertisers,” and the cover design by Violet Macdonald is in the best tradition of the day. J. M. Unless otherwise stated the prices of bonks and other publications issued outside Australia and New Zealand reviewed on this page are the prices at the place of origin, and generally are subject to alteration In New Zealand.

CURRENT FICTION. LIFE FROM VARIOUS ANGLES. By A William Bills. London; Hutchinson and Co. (6s net.) EMh Battle." By Dorothy Cottrell. Lon“°2Hodder an( * htoughton. (6s net.) V«U.Lt(L" H - M - E - Clamp. Lon. do S;, Hurst aud Blackett. (6s net.) Marivosa." By the Baroness Orczy. London : Cassell and Co. (6s netj ‘ The Circle of Confusion." By Palmer White. London: Chapman and Hall. (6s net.) Sir John Macglll’s Last Journey," By Freeman Wills Crofts. London: W. Collins Sons. (6s net.) " The Girl From Baffin Land." By Herbert ..London: John Long. (6s net.) The Bone of Contention." By Elizabeth ...IS®- London: Mills and Boon. (6s net.) The Romance of a Very Young Man." By Winifred Boggs. London: Herbert Jenkins. (6s net.)

In Ascetic,” his second book, Mr William Ellis has produced a novel that deserves to he considered seriously, despite the fact that there are certain immaturities in treatment, especially in the earlier chapters when the hero, Adam Black, and hi 3 suprisingly unworldly medical friend, Hugh M'Nabb, discuss religion and sex. Coming from a brilliant lecturer and a Fellow of the College of Surgeons, Hugh's sentimental idealism sounds somewhat inane. After Hugh's unhappy marriage, however and after Adam has dedicated himself to a life of asceticism as the best waj of undertaking creative writing (“ Healthy sex-power,” says Hugh, " is the artist's greatest asset, when he refrains from squandering it and transmutes it into the power s to create art”), the book becomes more purposeful. Adam is ordered to a Swiss mountain resort on account of' bis health, and it is in this gloomy jjlace, where death continually comes to friends in a night, that the rest of the story is set. In one'of his plays, Eugene O'Neill chose a sanatorium as the scene, and produced a work compelling and terribly dismal. It is to the credit of Mr William Ellis that, treating of a similar subject, he infuses rare beauty and wistfulness into his book, especially in his characterisation of the wraith-like Mignonette, whom Adam loves. The book has an appeal about if of verity, and .the author’s sketches of life in Dorfplatz, and.of the patients who live out their lives in this unhappy alpine village, are well done. The conflict in Adam between his ascetic vow and his natural impulses is .not as strongly marked., Mr William Ellis does not infuse into his principal character that strong undercurrent of feeling which, we are asked to believe, causes turmoil. Adam, in fact, is rather an unemotional young man with fixed ideas as to how his life is to be led, and a smug satisfaction at the. priggishnesa_ which guides him. The book ends tragically, as the reader would ‘expect. “Ascetic” is well worth reading, and the author’s introduction of a sort" of free verse method of adding dramatic, force: to his scenes is sparingly and effectively used. * ♦ ♦ “ Earth Battle ” is also a second novel, and one which the .reader, remembering the excellent quality of Miss Cottrell's “ Singing Gold, may approach with some trepidation. There is, however, ho need for any sense of misgiving,- for in this book the author has given us another well-written story that interprets, in a way that should appeal to colonial readers, the country life of Queensland, where land is measured in miles instead of acres. H. B. Henries, known throughout the territory’ as “ H. 8.," is a, colossus of a man, ambitious and hard-working,, who really makes only one mistake, and, through it, brings his work to ashes. Henries wants more power, more land, more sheep, and particularly he covets “ Tharlane,” an adjoining property. He gets it by unfair means, and prospers. During the long period of time when his Nemesis, in the person of a wronged acquaintance, is lying in gaol. Miss Cottrell follows the fortunes of the little community around Henries with, realistic skill.- In a few defty-woven sentences she indicates outstanding characteristics, and brings her characters through childhood to maturity, while the theme of the battle with the earth. —the fight against drought, and the other troubles of theAustralian rancher—is. well controlled. The climax of the book’ is reached when the man whom “H. B.” sent to gaol: returns and takes his vengeance upon the countryside. Miss Cottrell’s dramatic ability combines with a keen knowledge of her subject to make these scenes memorable, and “Earth Battle” a strong story of Australian life. * ’• * * H. M. E. Clamp’s latest novel, “ Venus Ltd., ’ also possesses its dramatic moments, but the book will be read for ifa pleasant, and often amusing, description of London society and people of wealth. The plot is romantic to a degree, and not particularly original, but the author tells her etory well, and introduces the reader to some delightful characters.’ Mary Willaby is the heroine, daughter of the multi-millionaire Willabye who are famous as makers of a household commodity. Mary is oddly beautiful, with aristocratic features, but, alas, her speech ig purest Cockney. Her parents .are socially ambitious, and Mrs Willaby is finding great difficulty in gaining an entrance to Mayfair when she meets, the Hon. Patricia and the Hon,. Imperia Courcy-Guest. blue-blooded proprietors of Venus Ltd., a beauty salon. Mrs Willaby is interested ’ in their reducing method, and they are interested in her money. They introduce Mary for a consideration into society, but were not prepared to see the handsome Guest Courcy-Guest marry • her. _ Ee_ does, however, at his Aunt Antonia's instigation, and the marriage is for a time in - danger of being a failure. Happily the author of V enus Ltd. is not dismayed by the turn events take, and, with the aid of a Russian prince®, overcomes all obstacles and rounds off the romance smoothly. * # * ■ ’ ■ ~T h, e Baroness Orczy, from hdr home at Monte Carlo, has sent many excellent books upon their travels throughout the world, and her Marivosa ” shows her as skdful 38 ever. ■ The story on this occasion is centred m the wild regions of author expresses a debt of gratitude to Mr Cunnmghame Graham iS r inspiration of his st Brazilian Mystic.” Timothy O’Clerigh, the Irish hero, goes into the wilderness of Sertao m an effort to procure evidence that will £ r r L- lm - his * itle , to an Irish lu tmioumeyings he crosses the track of the Great Unknown,” leader of a band of lawless ruffians. Marivosa dc Gloria, The daughter of the “Great Unknown, who is believed to belong to the Brazilian nobility, is one of the first peopie Tim meets,-and he falls in love with her. The Great Unknown,” however, does not welcome the presence of an intruder in his domain, particularly when ne > discovers Tim s mission, and the young irishman and Marivosa have some thrilling and troubling moments before the complicated strands of an ingenious tale are sorted out and. the lovers are enabled .^ rn , to Ireland, Tim to take his rightful place as lord of the manor, and Marivosa to adapt herself to the role of a great Irish lady instead of Brazilian. * * * •Readers of Mr White’s “Mystery island _wul, doubtless, welcome his new ' V llca i Q a sense a sequel, Ronald Barstow, the Auckland solicitor, and Rita,-being encountered honeymooning in the faouth of France. There they meet an old friend. Sir Neil Probert, who is engaged on a secret diplomatic mission and is awaiting a messenger. The excitement .commences, when the body of the ■messenger is found in a train, the despatches having disappeared. It is of the greatest , importance that the papers shall be delivered before a certain date, and Barstow takes , up the investigation. Before he has proceeded far with hisiriqinries, he is further troubled when Sir Neil Probert is kidnappped. With the aid of a university professor who has come to his rescue in a cafe brawl, he linds tuat at trie source of ttie tnysterione happenings is a gang of Bolshevist plotters with a‘ system of code-writing from which the book derives its title, ine members of this organisation prove that they will stop at .nothing in their desire to obtain certain oil leases, and Barstow and his ally have to endure some hair-raising adventures before they locate the headquarters of the gang, save the life of Sir Neil, and effect the capture of the men who had stolen his despatches. The Circle of Confusion ” is a well-planned and well-told secret service story of the sensational order. * * * In Sir John Macgiil’s Last Journey” Mr Crofts again writes of that famous lard. Instead of aduering to-the usual custom, however, of springing a surprise •upon the intrigued reader in the last chapter, Mr Crofts tails this story from the viewpoint of the inspector, and we are enabled to wonder at the skill with which evidence is collected and trifling clues are dovetailed. French's problem is to ascertain what has become of Macgill, a linen merchant who departs from Euston station on a visit to his Belfast mill, and disappears shortly after his arrival

at hia destination. His sons. JVTalcolm and Victor are both unaware of what can have happened to their father, and matters are complicated when it ia found that Sir John was carrying on his person particulars of a new process for combining linen and silk. In following Inspector French from Belfast to Glasgow, London and a number of to.wns on the Scottish coast, the reader will find his interest kept at high pitch, and he will not be disappointed when the net which has been so laboriously spread is drawn in. * * * Mr Patrick Lee’s latest story, “The Girl From Baffin Land/ , deals with adventure in the Far North, a region with which he appears to be familiar. The atmosphere of the story, set in a land that demands the most from men in endurance, prepares one for descriptions of dangers overcome, of feuds and rivalries, and there is no disappointment in the pages of this book. The central theme concerns the efforts of the trappers to resist the onrush of “ big business ” into their territory, and Mr Leo shows vividly how ruthless the force of money can be in such a case. Angus Cameron is the man who seeks to bind the pe'ople of Baffin Land to hia will, and Jan, his son, who realises better than hia father the resentment of the' trappers, is the hero. The character to whom we grow most attached, however, -is Annette, daughter of an upright trapper, whose allegiance to her father, despite the fact that her affections have been captured by the millionaire’s son, forms an episode of nobility in keeping with Mr Lee’s delineation of the life of these people. The book ends happily, with feuds all settled to the satisfaction of both trappers and “ big business.” * ♦ ♦ Elizabeth Carfrae has, so we are informed, & large circle of admirers, and it may be better, therefore, to withhold comment upon "The Bone of Contention,’ her latest highly-flavoured romance, merely outlining the unusual story. Jeremy Taylor la thrown over by the womoi\ ke loves, and decides to spend the rest of hig Ufa at Labani, in the West Indies, He becomes the guardian of an orphaned baby, Timothy, and later the woman who had not married him thrusts i Isabel, her daughter, into his care. Jeremy a foster-children grow up in antagonism, and when Jeremy is murdered each is left a small farm, the principal of his holdings being bequeathed to whichever -of the two is most worthy of it in five years’ time. When Timothy is going to the war Isabel marries him, that an heir may be provided for the property, on the understanding that a_ divorce will be obtained if he returns alive. He does so { and “ The Bone of Contention ” is satisfactorily buried. * * * Nicholas Emsley is indeed a very young man, and.a naive and unfortunate one at that. _ The son of a poor country vicar, he obtains employment with the firm of Sl .r, Cartwright and falls in love with Mavis, the daughter of hia employer. When Mavis marries into the nobility ■ Nicholas attempts to commit suicide, hut is as unsuccessful as in pressing his suit. He then retires to the country, writes a novel which makes his name, and meets Selma, the sad-faced * and quiet little thing whom he marries, only to discover that she is the centre of an intrigue in which murder and blackmail are infolved. He obtains his happiness in the end, for which the reader will be thank-, ful. V. V. L. A ‘MARSHAL OF FRANCE. "Turenne: Marshal of Prance," By General Max Weygand, Chief of the French Army General Staff. Translated by George B. Ives. Illustrated. London;. George G. Harrap. (10s 6d net.) Of all the generals who have gone before me, and perhaps will come after me, the greatest is Turenne,” Napoleon is reported to have said of Marshal vicomte de Turenne. Napoleon advised all soldiers and military students to read and re-read ” the story of Turenne’e" campaigns. It is very fitting that General Max Weygand, who was Marshal roch’s chief 6£ staff, and is mainly re®P°U£jble for the post-war disposition of the French army should have written a biography of the first of the three greatest soldiers of France, If General Weygand approaches his subject rather in the nature of a worshipper, that is a pleasant indication that an excellent ; soldier and severe task-master can retain a capacity, for hero-worship. The book may the student-of tactics, perhaps* from the fact, that. there is no detailed study and criticism of Turenne’a strategies, his application of military principles, but for the ordinary reader it gains m readabilthis account, as there is a good deal °f biographical material. Ge “eral Weygand describes straightforwardly the story of the military achievements of Turenne, who, with ichelieu, Mazarm. and others, dreamed great dreams m the seventeenth century. His important campaigns during the Thirty xears War are well described, and the cba , p V^, s . Ascribing 'hia campaign of 1672 and 1674, when he entered Holland, then crossed the Rhine, ravaging the Palatinate and laying waste Alsace, and finally out tar into Germany, are vigorous and absorbing. A chapter is devoted to the story of' Turenne’s conversion to Cathoiicism, and there are numerous careful sketches of the great persons with whom' he came in contact. A strict disciplinarian. the author remarks, Turenne believed in looking after the welfare of his troops;— He was determined that his soldiers should be paid regularly and well fed. •tie was tireless in indulgence for their pranks when they had shown gallantry on the battlefield. He’ bestowed his favours on good officers, and was always ready to take, up their defence when luck went against them. But he would - hq obeyed, and 3 would not condone resistance to an order. “I speak harshly •n llO , one > he. said one day, “but I vn ll ? our - bead instant you refuse to obey me. , hookis illustrated with reproduoel,®hj portraits of personalities of Turenne a day. A. LT f. MISCELLANY, '' POETS, POLITICIANS, PROPAGANDISTS. _ Primroses for My Fair and Other Veraiw" & nS? North - Wellington: HsfryVS.. Dawson; “The Loyalty." By Elbert Hubbar^Tho^BemSSErsLSsz* ■«?ssra , J Shop ß t B n ista t Sts."° ,,^ a H Pr r 6^B 1 W for Angus and Robertson/ (2s ?d net Sydney: Australian Heather.” By j d RohertKBE e to eWO w.t h by Slr James A. Mirdteh, K.B.ii., etc. With portrait. Sydney • William Homer (per Dymock’s Book Arcade). t j .Lawrence." By Richard Aldington ThV Cm i!° W ‘ ndu3 - Gs 6d m?L) ?nn r c Shlp . a ?, d Pub,tc Morality: An Georae Wih C // re S tl !. S - By Brlan Uoyd and son. (2s U neU Sydney: Ancus and Rohort"Empire and Prosperity." By the Right Hon. vvnrt , A ?* M.P.; “ Unemployment and m£v k ’ Nna 9q Krn , eS L Eenn ‘ Criterion Mlscel- &. (Is neu Londtm: Faber and wII/ h L I ’. OU u Geor f es -’ J ' B ? W. M. Thackeray. 1 London: Blackle and Son. Miss Esina ■. North is a New Zealand poet now living in Nelson, whose work we have not previously encountered. As is the case with so many of our Dominion poets, we find that she has gone abroad for a considerable part of her inspiration, those verses written at Bedford College and entitled “ Etchings from Mv College utudy Window, being among the most interesting, while a sonnet written at -bayeux Cathedral on Year*B Bay has distinct merit. Miss North has good technical equipment for her work, and her use of rhyme and assonance is assured. In her lilting poem on Londontown, for example, she employs a difficult metre with good effect, while her lyrics are sweet. If there is a fault to be iound in the work m this book, it is that the writer has expressed conventional, wellworn themes in her own verse, rather than allowed originality of thought to enter. ” * ♦ # The Lothian Publishing Company’s very commendable habit 1s to produce at this season of the year additions to that senes of Remembrance ”, booklets which is well known in Australia and New Zealand as comprising little volumes suitable for presentation. The three additions to the senes here acknowledged are attractively produced and boxed, that which probably will find most favour in this part of the world containing three Lawson. “Mateship,” . *4;, M‘Stuke. and Stranger’s Friend.” Air Elbert Hubbard is responsible for the

little essays in “ The Divine in Man" and “Love, Life and Loyalty," all of which are probably familiar to most readers. Mr Beable, who is an ex-president of the Incorporated Sales Managers’ Association, of London, has written his book ‘for the man and the woman behind the counter: for those who serve customers that come into shops.” He is no author of the ordinary “ how to succeed ” variety, his advice being always practical and to the point, and his experience is shown to be. extensive. The book embraces every activity of the retail trade, and helps the ambitious employee with hints on how to study the psychology of . the customer and how to equip himself for a position of greater responsibility than that of shop assistant. Its value is endorsed by Mr William Fraser, editor of the Shop Assistant. • * * Ih a foreword to the late Mr Roberfc--Australian Heather,” Sir James Alurdoch remarks that his outstanding characteristic was zeal for the right, which burned so strongly that even the immense amount of work he put Into every cause he took up . did not satisfy it, bo that he had to express himself in song, wa find tnat characteristic strongly marked in the Scottish verses reproduced in this attractive book. The poet—for Mr Robertson proves himself a poet in the Scots tradition—writes of the better things in life, revealing himself on every page as a kindly and sincere man. The book is published under the auspices of the Highland Society. * * « Mr Aldington’s sketch of the late D. H. Lawrence was written some years ago, and was reprinted after Lawrence’s death. It therefore, that the tense might have been altered, as the publication forms something of an obituary notice. One might feel, also, that there was scarcely need for Mr Aldington to ?E!l+k barsb }y of the public, suggesting tnat tha genius of Lawrence remained unrecognised. As a fact, Lawrence’s greatness. received acknowledgment from many critics and others who, nurtured in an older school of thought, would perhaps have been.justified in decrying him. All the same, this is a well-written and interesting criticism of a poet by a poet. * * * The authors of “The Censorship and .Public Morality write in a white-heat of indignation of the absurdities of book censorship as it is sometimes applied in the Commonwealth, and if they seem i f? 1 *°, . ? nd the humour in a situation which for them ft outfarces farce they also show themselves as appreciative of the incongruities that are brought about by .Federal and State censorship. The subject, is such a difficult one that it really needs to be approached more warily than is done in this thesis, but the authors make out a good condemnation of the galling prohibitions that a well-meaning authority may inflict upon literature in the name of morality, and their pamphlet ia informative and enjoyable. * * * The two latest additions to the Crltenon Miscellany form an interesting distribution to the thought of well-known men upon the Empire problems of the day. Mr Amery expounds the case for Empire trade and for “the root and branch reform of our fiscal system,” capably, and Sir Ernest Benn (the author j Confessions of a Capitalist”) contends . that the more we interfere with the industrial machine the worse it works, yet the worse it works the more we interfere. He believes that a start towards the regeneration of Great Britain must be made by the resuscitation of the spirit of service. .* *. * * Thackeray’s “The Pour Georges” appears, "with its introduction by George Meredith, in a handy, easily-read form m Messrs Blackie’s Wallet" library The book contains a portrait of the author, reproduced from Laurence’s painting in tae .National Portrait Gallery. The text of- this edition has been revised, and notes added by Mr Thomas Bayne. J. M. HOW U IS DONE. A GERMAN LOOKS AT ENGLAND. _“How They Do It In England." By Rudolf Kircher. Translation by Francos, Countess of London: Elkin Mathews and Marrot. (10s 6d net.) Dr Kircher is an admirer of England, and he believes that the British people, possess a “ certain IT,” which has enabled them to adhere -to a sane if cumbersome form of democracy when most European countries are becoming intrigued with extremist doctrines, whether monarchist, Fascist, or Socialist. “We people of the European Continent,” he says, “lookupon England as a_ country of perseverance, as a country in which the Conservative powers have become’. again and again strong enough to tie up, to paralyse, the inevitable influence of progress, or, at any rate, to reduce them to a bearable minimum.” His purpose in this book is to produce “ a sober list ” of tha most important tendencies which show themselves in the democratic era which has succeeded liberialism and now dominates English public ' life. He is not uncritical, and finds a certain amount to question in making his inventory, but he is at the same tune impartial, and has understanding of the deep-lying aims and aspirations of the British peoples and Governments, which to many a foreigner are entirely concealed by their inability to fathom the British, temperament. Even Dr Kircher, who has lived in London, and is a keen student, shows himself hardly appreciative of the Briton’s viewpoint when he says that an Englishman plays at politics while they play in other countries at soldiers. The local “parliaments,” debating societies, and so on which he mentions in support of this view generally would not be pleased to hear their ..work spoken of thus. Dr Kircher permits • himself a discreet - chuckle at the time that is spent in tha British Houses in debate than cannot be expected to alter the voting when the division bells ring, but he thinks that in the end this very fact enables the British to understand the burden of democracy, “to explain and to defend everything," and that what is lost by Parliament in time is won in power of life and in philosophical understanding of the nation. He finds it instructive for Germane to observe how England gradually educated the imported race oi princes who originated in Brunswick—Luneberg, and made it more suitable, from generation. - to generation, for what the English nation expects from a modern monarch. The first George had to be made a gentleman out of a bad man, and a friend instead of an enemy of the people. The reason that the descendants of Hie House of Hanover have made good rulers for Great Britain, and that England is the only modern land in which the King’s throne .is perfectly safe is, he considers, not through a great conception of the British for loyalty and tradition, but because the English kings have advanced with the times:— English Parliaments would not have tolerated Wilhelm in the twentieth century, even for half a day, nor would the people have done so. Here lies the difference, not in the greater loyalty of the British. The English Kings—and foremost George Y—have learnt that there can be no longer any dictating, and a fussy much-ado in the politics of our times.. They have learnt that.the value of a kingdom lies, so to say, in its abstractions; in the idea, in symbolic value, not in an individualistic fussiness. Throughout this book Dr Kircher shows keen perception of the psychology of the British peoples, and - a realisation of the regard in which are held institutions that have not, in actual truth, any concrete justification. In the final pages he_ gives'a concise review of our literary orientation as it appears to a thoughtful German, his comments on writers and tendencies being shrewd and pointed M‘G. . The Sunday Times has a very appreciative reference to Alies Brenda Guthrie’s New Zealand Memories," which has been published by John Lane, at the price of 18a (states our London correspondent). The reviewer describee the story of the making of New Zealand thus told in miniature as “ inspiring,” and refers to the “ enterprising days preparing the way for the big ideas, later on of Edward Gilibon Wakefield and Sir George Grey, with keen rivalries which still, exist. . Miss Guthrie describes’it all as a family affair, constantly reinforced in her own case from Scotland, for her grandfather .was always urging workers in all classes to go out from his native land. . . . Round her family history she clusters with almost lyrical enthusiasm, a great amount of Maori. and pioneering history. Her book, with its 46 excellent illustrations, is unusually welcome at this moment of the Imperial Conference.”