LITERARY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 70

LITERARY NOTES.

— Messrs Heywood and Company have in hmd, as a subscription work, limited to a comparatively small number of sets, " The British Empire in the First Year of the Twentieth Century : Its Capital Cities and Notable Men." It is to be issued in two \ohimes, bound in vellum, at 10 guineas, and will contain over 400 illustrations and pcrtraits, with appendices, giving in brief form a mass of statistical, historical, and biographical information. —Mr Archibald Colquhoun's, new work, " The Mastery of the Pacific,' was published in Febiuaiy by Mr William Heinemann. It is partly the result of an eight months' journey, and contains a detailed account of the domains of the \ariod3 Powers in the Pacific and the problems that beaet them. It appears at an opportune moment, as public attention is largely turned towards the oversea dominions of Australa*ii and Canada, as well as towards our new ally Japan. —Mr .T Pei:derrl-Brodhur«t has written a " Life of King Edward VII from His Birth to His Coronation, ' in four volumes, the first of w hich was issued to subscribers m February. The work i? intended to represent a complete and exhaustive view of the career of the King during the 60 years — in many respects tlio most eventful m English history — which have elapsed since his birth. It will be sumptuously illustrated both in the text and by a series of 30 photogravure plates. Messrs Virtue and Co. are the publishers, and the price will be half a guinea a volume. —It is a fallacy to suppose that bpcau«© a novel is no longer read it is no longer readable. What was really good is always good. Who reads Defoe.< "" Moll Flanders ".' Few people, perhaps, now icad "Peregrine Pickle" and " Humphrey Clinker," but a great many people have a well-founded feeling that they Ought to read them, and that they nil' do so_ some day. That is fame Smollett is one of tho^e authors whom Charles Lamb honourably exempted from the need of co-tly bindingd : — "Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, and all that class of perpetually «el f -productive volumes, great Nature's stereotypes, we see them individually perish with less regret because we know the copies of them to be ' cterno." " — dobe. — Will the King take the- opportunity that the Coronation offers of decorating the men who at the beginning- of his reign are upholding tho> traditions of English literature? Thr> question is one worthy the attention of !m Majesty's ad\isers. Would not the knighting of the Poet Laureate be a gracious act? And would the decorating of Mr Andrew Lang, Mr George Meredith, j Mi Thomas Hardy. Mr Rudyard Kipling. Mr Le3he Stephen, Mr Edmund CJosse r Mr J. M. Barrie, or Mr Justin -Vl'Carthy — to mention only a few worthy of honour — not be as well desencd as that of hundreds of men whose names we find in the " Peerage " and Baronetage." — One of the most recent of prominent literary biographies is Mr Scuddc-r's " Life of Lowell," and now comes the news of the death of the biographer at the comparatively early age of 63. Mr Scudder, says the >Sr James's Gazette, succeeded Mr T. B. Aldrich as the cdicor of the Atlantic Monthly, tho magazine of which Lowell himself was the original editor, and which owed so much of it* position and literary quality to Lciv oil's energy and .skill in cnlioting th<? < w-(j t joration ot the best American men of le-it. ra of the mid-conturv and hi* tac'. ad eJnor. Tlie principle he laid clown for hims°li a-- cd tor was to gi\ c his contributors ti cv- head?, "nly interfering m case 3 of bad j taste and bad swrnmar. Mr Scudder towards the end of his life edited the maga-:-u> - -u.Lce-ofully for some ciglit yoar«. Aa..J-t the multifarious work of a busy life, lie erfltod, with Mr-, llan=<=u Taylor, the Life and Letters of Bayard Taylor " — '"Anthony Hope" began lij s career as a barrister, tried for parliamentary hom-iir-, and failed; took to writing no\elb, ant! succeeded; and now seems likely to end hi-, day, in the forefront of luigh-h dramatists. His new play. " PinkertonS IVciagc," produced at thp Garrick Theatre i~ a modern ] drama ol political life. Tho author of '"The j Prisoner of Zenda," writer Mr Alec Tnocdie. I in the Pall Mall Gazette, i*, one of the bei-t-known bachelor*! in London society. He love-, our great city. Mr Hope is mod sociable by nature; not only does he dine out incessantly, but he i» one of those delightful men who take the trouble to entertain their lady friends. Charming little dinners and luncheons are given by this man of letters. His charming sister-in-law often plays the role of hostess for him. She is a. ' Norwegian by birth, and an intimate friend of the Scandinavian writer. BjornstjerneBjornson. Mrs Geoffrey Hawkins is herself j somewhat literary, and is at the moment translating Mrs W. K. Clifford's play, "The Likeness of the Night," into Norwegian. — Everything that M Huysmans write* is read with eagerness by a certain circle of admirers. He has his devotees, his, band of consistent and docile auditor-,, and these are drawn to him and kr>pt at hi-, side by a quality in which he stands to-day almost alone The geniu- of M. Huysmarii i-> obstinate and domineering ; Ins influence is the result of pure htrength of character. He docs ' not charm, or amuso, or beguile v-> : he dors | not awaken our sympathif-. to which he is : in penou'-ly indifferent : he does not come ' a step to meet us in his choice of subject, I of treatment, or of language But his perfect self-confidence, his independence and arrogance, when they do not repel the j reader, exercise a singular attraction over him One can imagine asking M. Huysmans, ' with regard to the subject of an essay or a book. " But is all this of general interest?"' and one can hoar the reply. "It is of in- ! terost to me. If not to you, you can go .;« d\~ '" — Chronicle — Mr Bcn|.itnin Kidd. whoco boo. ■" Pi mr.i.le-, of Western CiviL-ation " ha-* bec-n pubh-hed by Mf-rs Afacnullan ami Co., i^, •i mpnib<'i •>{ th.it brilliaul band of author* ' who unite. >r did at ono period of their nrpfr timtp. thoir 'Pr\'ce to tho State with their lo liteiature. Among thorn may be mentioned Mr Edmund Go=se. Mr Austin Dobson, Mr Maurice Hewlett, Mi W. \\. Jacobs, and Mr A. B. Walkley. Mr Ben|amin Kidd, who is 44- year^ of age, was in tlu- Inland .Revenue Department from 1877 until 1897, when he retired with the intention of devoting- liun^elf entirely to th» -trdy of practical biology, the fruits of whu h aie to be seen in hii second great book R wih nr 1894 that lux Rr~t work, Social E\olution," appeared, and it immediately attracted widespread attention, not meiely in England, but on tin Continent and in America. It has been tran*- I lated mt> German. Swedish. Russian. French, and Italian, and in its English form tax aused th-rounU. 44 {ogg£ a* 19 edUuuu, I

—Mr John Murray has just published, under the title of " National Education," a very valuable collection of " Essays Towards a Conservative Policy," by Professor H. E. Armstrong. Mr H. W. Eve, Sir ; Joshua Fitch, Professor W. A. S. Hewins, Mr John C. Medd, Mr T. A. Organ. Mr A. D. Provand, the Rev. B. Reynolds, and Mr Francis Stow. The editor of the volume is Mr Laurie Magnus. M.A., son of Sir Philip Magnus, the distinguished technical education expert. Mr Magnus writes an introchictoiy paper which from its breadth of view and earnestness of purpose shows that he is thoroughly well equipped for his task. Very appropriately* does he quote at the outset of hn esr'ay the lines : — Chaos umpire sits, And by decision more embroils the fray By which he reignt. Yet Mr Magnus thinks the conception of a system of national education exist- m thi* country, and with a view to bringing this conception to fruition those essays have been written. What the Government will make of its coming effort to solve the problem — one of the mo^t serious and important that at the present moment confront the people of this country — remains to be seen : but all educationists may be recommended to read the book with care. It is excellent in its purpose, and cannot fail to be beneficial in its effects. — Home paper. • — It is possible to combine the task) of administering a vast Empire with the pursuit of literature: the late Earl of Lytton may be cited as an example-. The late Lord Duffenn. although his instincts were for the literary life, yet found his time too much occupied to cultivate that talent for writing which with him was hereditary. His mother, a- all the world know*, wa3 a granddaughter of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and herself a song writer of both charm and pathos. Perhaps hrv b.'Ft remembered pong is "The Irish Emigrant." The wit and brilliance of his great-grandfather Lord Dufferin pos-ies-eel to a lanye extent, and none of his many speech?- but had gems worth preseiviug Soiiie of these, such as tho^e delivered chirmg l.ia Viceroyally of India, bavraheady been published; it is hoped we shall shortly see a more complete coller-tion. But Lord Dufferin's literary fanvo will lest upon " The Letter-, from High Latitude*." published so long ago as 1856. and whit h havo maintained their vitality ( vcr since. This is not to be wondered at considering the verve, grace, and freshness of the vi riling which embodies the aurhor's imnreselons on a voyage to Iceland. It has boon stated that Lord Dufferin had begun recording his reminiscence*. We do not know how far this work had progressed, but in any c-ato there is aanple material for a biography of England's "man of all woil:^ '"— a _biogiaphy which should not be too '" official.''