A CHAT ON BOOKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2479, 18 September 1901, Page 61

A CHAT ON BOOKS.

A book that has all eddy been so mueli and w exhaustively reviewed as Winston Churchill's "The Crisis'' might well do ■without any words of mine. Yet I know — and the knowledge is very pleasant— that juanj; of y_ou look, for and place confidence

ter h'om the same view point : the same almo-t grote&que imagination still does duty for a .sense <>t humour ; the same question of ''sex" colours all the relations of men and women. Of cri&p, worldly "« isdom, the chaim of a clever personality which continually meals itself, and the pleasant influence o. lefined writing, take equal paits, and mix the ,*auce which penetrate* the whole book. "Babs" herself is a truly impossible figuie. t.ishioned from what was left over from the material accumulated for "The Heavenly Twins.'' With the instincts* of an imp, she renders the lives of those about her one perpetual apprehension ; with the lace of an angel, wins forgi vene^ without repentance. The airival of a oeitain Mr Jellybond Tinney in the social circle of the lovely English \ alley cho>en as the scene of the story is the opening "motif of the novel. The intense excitement which ihe arrival of tln-N excellent, wealthy, but quite unknown gentleman arouses in every feminine brea-l. is characteristic of Madame Grand's, view >f her own sex. For me. I cannot lead it with patience! Maid and matron, wife and widow, all are sensible of an added zest in life, a delightful but feverish desire to charm, a. 'uvid nvalry with one another foi the attentions and admiration of this "tall, not jo say ponderous, gentleman in a black frock coat, obtiusively white linen, and a &ilk hat.'' Oidinaiy enough attire Jot great cities but -ufficiently unusual in this iiistociatic Arcadia, taken in conjune+ion with the impressive manner of the wearer, to unanimously entitle Mr Jelly-bond Tinney to the epithet of '"the distinguished stranger." His delibeiate manner, line choice cf language, and exlraoulinury deference make a deep impression on little Miss Ally Spice, a veil-known spinster, whose claims to gentility aie as undisputed as are her limited means. Mr Jellybond Tinney, by the sxcrci«e of some well-directed flattery, "nuiks iown" the little spmstei as his first conquest, and though he add so largely tr the list or hia admirer" a" to include, 're long, every maid, matron a-uJ in the nei^h-

' bourhood, little Ally Spice, blue-eyed, I flaxen-ringletted, as loyal as she is übsvnd, ! remains faithful to him — living on the faliaI cious hoper which sprang to life with hisI careless kiss and the delicious clasp o l h«• large hand upon her meagre wai*t. Wealth, too. Mr Jellybond Tinney cvi- , dentlv add< to the attraction* of hi* impressive presence and genia'.. ingi\itiating manner, foi he loses no time in buying a charming place called "the Swi-s cottage" fiom its owner. Squire Kornianton. In lefes time than one conceive^ probable. Mi ! .Te'lvbovd T nnev becomes quite ;u intnnnt ' vi^itoi at Dene's CVuit (the lie.me of I?ab« i the Impossible), whore he is ,ih\a\s iecciv<d \ with Tuoionsness by Mr.-. Kingsconstani c at le.i^l, Jiough Aunt Loraine maintains an attitud of (nilcibni, and Babs fiankly ex-])i-e < sses her opinion that the big man m dh th > curious.lv cleft, soft hands is ",i beest— 1 a fat old bca^t." There are rnnmenh -tthen the reader feels heartily inclined to endorse Bab's opinion, tLeie iei c something .so annoying about this osf£jre.s* ; ve]v deliberate and compldcent \~><nvenu One momentarily expucts to find him revealed as an adventurer masqucrad ng under an a«nmed name, and bent on "ffarious matrimonial chemt". ; a geiith'manlv burglar planning giirantic robbeiits : ' anvthmLT. in fact, but w'v»t he mrns ou 1 )•> the pud tn be. Mrs King--con>tance is ,■ •"-oni' l^ sufh as novelists of the Sarah f4r'"d tvps love to draw, i ,-leek. ■« ell-fed, comf -rt ible cat would c'aim as much afle..tio'iate interest a> this hand.some, adiiiif-fibl^-bc-hav^d arid beautifully - ilre-<-e<l wonnn, whose most tender tunotioii.s. au~ those, awakened by the pleasures' of tLe table. H"r peace of m:nd is disturbed { during a whole lonsr drive because .she had | forgotten to oid^r the savoury for dinner, ■ir.d was now beset by ])a*sionate longings fnr ''ante's on hrusebafk" — '\ind thp oysters were in the house too. ' Bodily ease, dainty food, luxury, and absence fi'om the ie-Jst annoj'ance constitute the Ji'ppines* <*t women of the Kincrscoriijtance type. One undei?tands in their ca^e the undercurrent of sensuality which is easily awakened by the flattery and admiration, of any prefpntt'ble man — because he is <i man. and Introduces a new element of excitement into the slothful, &elt-indulgtnt life. It is-, however, absolutely repulsn'e to find the authoress crediting tveiy woman in the neighbourhood: gills for ■whom no lover has yet appeared ; elderly spinsters for whom the old ptory was surely told long years ago; cumbersome widow ladies sli'l mourning the "dear departed 1 ' — in theory, at least — and staid British matrons with husbands and families to amply expend their store of tenderness upon — .ill reduced to the same ridiculous tremor of pleasurable excitement over the personal attention.. )f Mi Jellvbond Tinney! It is a'L insiil*- to womankind to suppose such whulc.-s-le abmrditv, surely! The contrast to Mrs Kiugsconstance, with her amiable weaknesses. is jYT.i»s K : ngsconstanr-e, whose nahi'ally biilliant and !=.pitituelle natuie, starved and baffled, threatens to turn to melancholia, when the return of Cadenhouso to his home on the hill brines to her life the clean, pure influenfe which saves her. Cadenhoust is the direct antipodes of Jellybond Tinner — Tie is expected to re&tcne ihe values in thi*> strangely over-diawn company. Something of a mystic, a pure idealist, whose almost complete isolation from society has gained him a name foi eccentricity, the gentle Cadenhouse appeals to tht reader as a most lovable man rather thar a.s an earl of historic title and unequalled status and wealth. Lovable he i& — so lovable that the impossible Babs, with her ngelic face and her fiery, rebsllious heart. lovevS him not one whit less absorbingly than does the ex ;,»'- «:te Loraine Kuitcsconstanee, her aunt. Babs, to her sorrow, keeps ivr the semblance of defiant indifference so long and so perfectly that Cndenhous<\ conscious only of an exquisite friendship for Loraine. finds himself engaged to her in time m realise too late that Babs returns hi»* line an hundredfold. There is but one grave for the hean's trasedie? — silence and parting — and the reader takes comfort in the knowledge th t :f to such a man as Cadenhouse the peace ol making Loiaine's life h*ppy will hi iiig i • own healing, while to Bab-3 the d.iy of litV is still too young to spjll fnihne The excellent Mr Jellybond Tinnev, \\ho by tln^ time has revealed many and unsuspected virtues, iv at last happily manied to tht most uninteresting per>on in the bonL — Mi-KingbConsta-nce In '"Crucial TnsiaiT.>.-i ' yi-u will iiud y< t another type of book ulteil} and eianely distinct from either of the preceding ones. It consists of seven slioit f-tone, wntten by '■Iditl' Wharton, some of v. Inch I in :<>:i.scious of having lead befoie in magazine pages-. To these, however, I have paid tlie sincere compliment of reading them again, with even greater enjoyment. 'Iheie is a wonderful breadth and variety m the characters, nationality, and mist en scene of the 'Crucial Instance*.'' The writer i< equally at home in the local colour and the temperamental distinguishments of that weiid Italian tiagedy which forms the initial story as she i.s in the lovely little American fragment, -''Th Angel at the Grave." The harmonious comp l elenes' ! of "The. Recovei-y" and '"The RembiMncVi" is .i-^ vividly tma to life and ledolent of ait ai "The Moving Finger" is imaginative auel oiigiiiiil. Moreovei. there aie biilliant epigrams, wonderfully rich nnd suggesthe leflectio'is and dreamy asides set like jewel . in these pag"s. Indeed, if you want to send for a le-dly good volume oi stoiic*, V it lit, ' CiuciaT Instances. ' 'The Angel aid ihe Demon"— a selection )f shoit stonei whose sad "mont" i-5 m every case the e\ ll ni ought by intemjjev.mcc .urprises one most in the name of the mhore-s — Klk-n Thoinycioft Fowlei! It is right that temperance stories sshoukl be written, and. if written, it is better still that they be wutten by the be.2£

in "EmmelineV opinion ovei that of the reviewei. Therefore, without attempting any review of the book— foi you are sure to have read one or more — I recommend you to '"beg. steal, or borrow"' it. You will remember that we discussed at length "Richard Carvel,"' by the same author, and iound it entiiely charming. There is no actual connection betweor the two books, though the faut that the Miss Carvel in 'The Ciisis" is the giand-daughter of Richard Caivel and that there i^ many a passing refeience to the family hist or j of tins or that character, a f - told in ''Eichaid Carvel, ' ctit.unly links tin books togethei with subtle threads of sympathy. Some critics object that in many respects it is somewhat of a plagiarism (>n Thackeray's "Virginians." My own feeling, however, is th* t "The Viigmians" lihs so surely come to b-> accepted as a perfect pictuie of the pocnl .in- 1 political life of the time tint any other wntei can but "follow " There is 'eeifamly one cuiioii*. bnt tufling, an.'chionism. by which. 3R The Tnad (to whom cnticism is' the health of life) points out, the heroine is made to play Newman'.s beautiful hymn, "Lead, kindly Light,"' ye irs- befoie it Avas- composed.

This., however, is a mere detail, and need not m the lci^t detract from the pleasure witl which you will, I m tire, read "The Cnsis."' "Bjbb the Impossible, Madame Sarah (Ji-'ind's new novel, i.s a "horse ot a very difieient colour.' Whether you would like it or not you may easily determine by recalling your verdict in legard to that bygone sensation of hers, ' The Heavenly Twins." Madame Grand still studies life and charac-

writers, kept free from the slang of the temperance lecturer and the violence of the prohibitionist. The question is a mighty one — mightier, far, than the tAvo dread scourges, tuberculosis and cancer, about Avhich the nations confer, and all the Avorld hangs on the result of their conference. Tt is & ?tep in the right direction to find writers of Mi:~s FoAvler's ability ready to write temperance stories, xnd I am sorry that the success jf the.se earlier tales of hers, published in The Briti&h Workman, paved the way only to the writing of socity novels, hoAveA r ei brilliant. Then are nine stories in all in the little volume, and though they are simple enough, and perhaps devoid of "style," they are natural, touching, and full of human nature.