LITERATURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2967, 25 January 1911, Page 81

LITERATURE.

BOOK NOTICES. *' The Golden Rose," by Mrs Hugh Fraser and J. I. Stahlmann. London : Hutchinson and Co. Dunedin: J. Braithwaite (3s 6d, 2s 6d.) Airs Hugh Fraser is one of those clever and conscientious writers who never allow themselves to be in a hurry, or insult their public by giving them anything less than their best. Her style is one of great distinction and restraint. She never "gives herself away," or allows her characters to do so. She never leaves anything to ■chance, and her plots are carefullj thought out and worked up to a moving dramatic, often tragic, climax, the effect being obtained by a reservation of force which, like a slowly-rising river, gathers momentum until it gradually sweeps all before it, with a calm, irresistable finality, resembling a Greek tragedy in its impression of absolute, irrevocable fate. In 'The Golden Rote" we have the pathetic picture of a young mother disappointed in all her own hopes, centring her love and devotion on the little child Rose Aurore (Golden Rose), born a few hours after her father's murder in the house of his mistress. On this child Pauline, Countess Karolai, centres her heart and her life. Though, still young —under 20, — she refuses to marry again or to accept new duties and interests lest anything should interfere with her devotion to her child. Her one hope, aim, and intention is that Rose shall be "perfectly happy," that she shall never know sorrow, that even the smallest pain shall be eliminated from her life; and: yet Rose is not spoiled in the usual sense of the word, and is carefully taught and trained in all things that befit a maiden of ohigh degree. But the mother's watchful eyes and guiding hand are never for a moment removed, and in her passionate love Pauline makes a bargain with Heaven: "'All-powerful, cruel God,' she cried in her anguish, 'you have killed my love for you. All I shall ever love in youi splendid heaven or horrid earth lies here on my breast. But for this child I would deny you openly. Yet you are all-powerful, and, for aught I know, may torture her as you have tortured me. I sw r ear that so long as you refrain I will submit: I will pay you and yours all honour. . . . But I ask this child's happiness. In the hour that you smite her we part company. I shall have nothing more to fear from you, for I shall have already entered my hell.' " Time goes on. Pauline's father, Count Czarda, a beautiful and saintly old man, lives with his daughter and her Golden Rose, and helps to take care of both. The life is idyllic, but absolutely removed from the world and its temptations. It is the ideal life with all that money, refinement, culture, love of Nature and of Art can give. No distractions, no low and mean motives, no sordid cares, no sickness or poverty are allowed to touch the cherished child. She herself is radiant as the morn, happy as a dancing sunbeam, unconscious of evil, beautiful as a dream; and below it all the reader feels the tragedy that is coming. Pauline, who would have given her life for the child, who had elected to be her Providence, is herself guilty of the folly of "barring the loopholes and leaving the chief entrance open." Her "little heartwhole, innocent maid is captured while she looks on." The very perfection of Rose's character, her intense warmth of nature, her inborn constancy, her wideeyed faith in those dear to her, make her an easy prey when the great passion comes along. The young Prince of a reigning house has bs-sn her childhood's friend and frequent companion, as his mother was of her mother. Ferdinand and Rose played together as brother and sister until the time came when the ywere no longer children. Ferdinand wooes her as a lover, and believes she was created for him, and Rose gives her heart to a man "who can only marry a girl of royal blood, chosen already in all probability by the heads of his House." A man who is not his own, but belongs to the Chancellories, the politics of the nation. The scene of the story is laid in a small German kingdom, the identity of which, as of the principal actors, is thinly disguised under an alias, which all who are well up in European politics will easily penetrate, and so be able to identify the chief actors in the pitiful drama, * Of course the Prince, if he marries Rose at all, can only marry her morganatically. The idea of such a union is repugnant to the pride and honour of the'Karolais, who are, moreover, strict Roman Catholics. Too late Pauline sees the danger, and also that she herself "must be her child's executioner." From this time on the tragedy mounts. The young Prince gets plenty of willing sycophants to aid him in his purpose. smoot h tne wa y anc * ma^e things easy. At first be is in earnest, having no thought if evil ; he declares that the irregular marriage will be binding in his eyes, and if ever he comes to the throne "Rose shall be his queen" and q jt by his side, honoured and beloved of aU men. In vain Pauline shows her daughter the dangers and misery of the equivocal position. Rose's pure heart cannot understand; there is no evil in her world. She loves her mother no less than before, but she loves "Ferdi" more. Like her mother, she gives with both hands and never counts the cost; but she has never •earned to deny herself or to consider a higher will than her own. She haa been dutiful and honourable because she has had no temptation to be otherwise Sorrow and pain are not for her,-she will SJe none pf them. And Pauline sees the

edifrce built with eo much labour for 17 years broken to atoms, and crumbling at her feet. She is powerless. Aided by false friends, the young people marry, and the marriage is not even so legal as it might be, for the forms of the Catholic Church are not properly complied with. A few days of ©static happiness follow, and tben the firtt blow falls. Pauline and Rose's other relatives find out the trick that has been played on the girl, and urge the Prince to legalise the marriage. He promises everything, and in a moment of weakness they trust him and withdraw their opposition, feeling that the mischief is already done. A year or two of happiness for the bride, immured in a hunting lodge, where her quiet upbringing makes her abundantly content, and then Ferdinand begins to weary. His is a nature without backbone, which easily forgets and makes love to the "lips that are near." A war breaks out. He is the nominal commander, and reaps great glory. He feels himself a man —a man, a soldier, and a prince. He is a person of consequence; the eyes of nations are fixed upon him. He must make a great alliance. The traditions of his house demand it. He scarcely thinks of Rose: she is in his way—he will always love her, of course; but an official wife is a necessity. He is not really married ; the ceremony was a mere salve to her conscience, and though he believed in it at the time, he has long since learned to look upon it as a farce. So the second blow falls. And the bargain that Pauline had made with her God falls too, and she knows herself defeated all round. But the story is not ended, and before the last page is reached the great overshadowing Divine love brings peace and healing to both these stricken hearts. The story is powerfully written and intensely interesting. The characters are wonderfully drawn ; Pauiine and her "Golden Rose" are two of the purest and most beautiful creatures that we have ever met with in fiction The men are equally well done. The pictures of Court life and the intimate details of "the inner circle" there are admirable, and the whole tone is noble and uplifting, with a deep religious undernote dominating the whole. "The Golden Rose" is a life romance with a convincing atmosphere and a ring of truth that will touch every woman's heart.

"First Principles," by Herbert Spencer. Two vols., 240 pages each; bound in cloth. London: Williams and Norgate. Dunedin: Whitcombe and Tombs (Ltd). (2s 6d.) [Reviewed by " Dinornis."] Evidence abounds to prove that the present is an era of cheap BOOKS; not merely of cheap fiction. That there is a leal demand for imoderately-priced editions of solidly philosophical works beyond question. That this demand proceeds from a new and growing constituency of readers is equally little to be doubted. That the demand will, in the present : nstance, prove sufficiently emcouraging to induce the publishers and the Herbert Spencer trustees to go on with their intention of issuing the whole series of the Synthetic Philosophy in similar style and at correspondingly low price, is sincerely to be desired. Spencer is not always easy to read and follow, but to those who 'bring intelligent perseverance to the study of his works cranes rich reward from the floods of light thrown by him upon subjects often dark and difficult in themselves. This popular edition of "First Principles" contains the final amendments both of matter and form made by Herbert Spencer not long before his death. In the preface to the sixth edition he states: "While the changes of substance constitute improvements of some significance, the changes of form constitute a greater general improvement." Spencer had let the revision of this Avork stand over so long that its ultimate recasting made of it a new thing. "First Principles" may fitly be called the basal courses of the whole structure of the Synthetic Philosophy. The two volumes must 'be read by anyone seeking to know the illustrious author's syste-n as a whole. The claim made for this cheap popular issue that it will rank among the marvels of modern publishing is certainly justified. The two volumes are -well bound in cloth, and excellently printed on good paper. In fact, a library edition, of nominal price and phenomenal value. "Christianity and Mythology." By John M. Robertson. Second edition, revised and expanded. London: Watts and Co. Dunedin: Whitcombe and Tombs (Ltd.) ; R. J. Stark and Co. ; and Braithwaite's Book Arcade. 472 pp. 5s net. [Reviewed by " Dinornis."] The question of whether there is any connection between Christianity and mythology is one on which doctors differ. The bulk of the English school, cautious to a degree, led by Mr Andrew Lang, decide that there is not; while the German school, much more radical in their tendencies, have come to the conclusion that there is a very vital connection. Mr J. M. Robertson's "Christianity and Mythology" will give anyone who has an interest in the question of religious origins an immense amount of data upon -which to base an opinion. The writings of this author all exhibit a power of reasoning and depth of knowledge which are rare, and the book under notice is no exception to the rest of his work in TJais respect. His acquaintance with the literature of the subject is encyclopedic, hie treatment is philosophical and impartial, and in the text it is quite apparent that an endeavour has been made, and sucesefully, to use language of a non-technical character, so that anyone with sufficient interest in the subject to read the book could quite easily understand and appreciate the argument. The principal purpose of the author _ is to refute -what is called the Separatist Theory—a theory which, denies the possibility of any connection between mythology and Christianity and the other

higher religions of the present day. In the course of proving that "there is such a connection he deals very severely with Mr Lang, and the method adopted of confuting him from his own works is, certainly effective. He also adversely criticises modern Biblical scholars, Avho, he alleges, " pay themselves with innocuous textual matters to the exclusion of essentials in the shape of the origins of the stories, which might he arrived at by a proper use of comparative mytheology." Further, he states that "the relations between mythology and the j higher religions of the prejsent day have j been obscured by the prepossessions of the j scientists who have discussed the subject." I It is a matter of history how great a j drag these prepossessions were upon the progress of, say, geology and biology, j and Mr Robertson argues that the same spirit iis hindering our arrival at the truth upon the question under discussion. Most people are now ureparecL to admit the mythical origin cf many Old Testament stories, but when the same explanation is put forward to account for the origin of New Testament narratives, they refuse to accept it. On this aspect of the question our author quotes, from a work written in defence of the Catholic faith, the following pertinent passage: —"It is a most singular and astonishing fact . . . that the Christian faith as embodied in the Apostles' Creed finds its parallel or dimly foreshadowed counterpart, article by article, in the different systems of Paganism." There is no dispute as to priority here, yet many authorities, Mr San day among the rest, refuse to admit that there is a causal connection between the Pagan myth and the New Testament story. Mr Robertson makes out a strong case in opposition to these Separatist scientists. "Christianity and Mythology" is divided into three parts. The first gives a brief history of mythology; the second traces the parallel between the Krishna myth of India and the narrative of Christ's life as given in the gospels, and endeavours to settle the vexed question of priority; the third deals with the gospel stories in detail, an endeavour I being- made to trace the evolution of ! each. The third part is fascinating reading, and will appeal to many who take only a cursory interest in such questions. Those interested in religious origins will j derive pleasure and orofit from a per- j Ujsal of this work. It is quite an im- j partial treatise by one who in knowwledue j and mental equipment is eminentlv quali- j fied to treat the subject in a manner at j once full and thorough. j

LITERARY NOTES. The story of Douglas Jerraid's association with Punch is told by Mr Walter Jerrold, one of his grandsons, in a volume to be published this month by Messrs Macmillan. This history occupies the first part of the book, and it may be mentioned that, in collecting his material, the author has been able to identify everything which Jerrold contributed to the journal. In the second l part are reproduced some of the more important of these contributions, which are little known to readers of the present day. Since the Ist of June —the glorious Ist of June they may well call it—Messrs Nelson have, manufactured three; million volumes at their great factory in Edinburgh. "Not only," they add in their current circular to the book trade, " have these been sold, but our stock of bound, volumes has dwindled, our reserve stock of sheets is all but exhausted, and we havp found it impossible to reprint all the volumes in our lists without some delay." Certainly, says the Chronicle, the popular library at the popular price for the people goes onward and upward. Mr Stephen Reynolds, in his remarkable novel, " A Poor Man's House," which gives so vivid a glimpse into the life of the fislhenman, and of which Macmillans have just published a new edition, says: " My belief grows stronger that the poor have kept essentially what a schoolboy calls the better end of the stick; not because their circumstances are better —materially their lives are often terrible enough,—but because they know better how to, make the most of the material circumstances they have. If they could improve their material circumstances and continue making the best of themselves. . . That is the problem." A noteworthy comment on the decline of literary feeling among American college graduates has lately been made by Professor John Erskine, of Columbia. University. With the passing of Greek and the neglect of Latin, " the American college boy," he says, "has become wordblind and word-deaf; he fails to, notice how a word looks, and therefore, cannot spell it, nor detect its resemblance to _ other words of the same root; and he is deaf to word-music and sentence-cadence." Professor Erskine, has no other remedy to suggest—granted the exclusion, of Greek and Latin from the curriculum—than that this type of student should take the courses in Odd and Middle English, "where the ancient forms may arouse his curiosity and startle him into observing, and the original meanings of familiar words may vitalise for him their modern use." One of the best imitations of style in Mr Algernon Cecil's " Essays _ in Imitation " represents Carlyle reflecting on the present political crisis, and especially upon Mr Lloyd George:—"The new Chancellor of the 'Exchequer is Little David, whose qualifications for that office the world must for nine days ignorantly debate. Which gasecjusi discussion, Ibeing forcibly compressed, may be packed into two propositions of moderate compass —viz., that the said right hnourable personage is a product of Welsh temperament and Nonconformist conscience (see to, it, David 1 , that thou give men no occasion to say that thou art of Welsh conscience and Nonconformist temperament !): that the result is a character of some complexity, bitter-violent in, presence of King Demos, and sweet-concili-atoiry in presence of gentlemen; that, in brief, the readiness of Right Honourable tongue is nowise disputable, nor the steadiness of same unruly member anywise assured." The expulsion of the house of Braganza from Portugal giveis immediate interest to Mr Edmund B. d'Auvergne's history, published with portraits by Hutchinson, of a tragedy that, in the year 1657, astonished all Europe, and 1 excited special interest in England, inasmuch as the two

principal actors in it were the brothers of Cba-rles ll's queen. It was the palace Involution by which the Infante Dom Pedro deprived his brother, Alfonso VI, of both kingdom and wife, succeeding hun promptly as husband, and, so soon as a cruel imprisonment could do its work, as King. The heroine of the fraternal drama is the twice-over Queen Consort, MarieFrancoise, daughter of the sixth Duo do Nemours, the Erondeur, by Elizabeth, daughter of the Due de Vendome, and granddaughter of Henri Quafcre and Gabnelle d'Estrees. The accepted story of the whole business has hitherto been, favourable to Dom Pedro; nearly aE history, not excluding' our own, has a habit of being on the winning side; and, indeed, it must be owned that the capable King Pedro for the half-crazy ruffian, King Alfonso was a change for the better. Mr d'Auvergne, however, has had. the good fortune to find in the British Museum a manuscript volume in Spanish, evidently written by a servant of the unfortunate Alfonso, which at any nate shows the accepted account to be in need of considerable revision. The accepted idea that the boy poet, Cbatterton, died of actual want is disputed by the Spectator, in noticing Mr J. H. Ingram's book, "The True Chatterton' : "The immediate cause of his death was poison; whether he were mad, or disappointed, or despairing, or dismayed, or wornout and over-wrought, it is impossible to sav. But, unless he were reckless with money, it is difficult to maintain, that ho was literallv starved. He had literary connections before he arrived in London; and the amount he wrote there shows that he never wanted work. His accounts for May, 1770, give receipts for £4- 15s 9d', which is equivalent to at least £2O of our money. In, June he received £5 ss, or over £2O, from one source alone. All this could have carried him easily over August, when he died; and, therefore, we think it! is arguable that if he died for want of money that want was not caused' by failure of work or scanty earnings. There must have been other reasons for his impecuniosity, if it existed. And wo hazard this conclusion, hoping that the whole matter may be reconsidered 1 more carefully and dispassionately than it has been, hitherto." One of the epics of the backwoods—> told by Mr John G. Neihardfc in " The River and I" (Putnam's)—is thf adventure of old Hugh Glass, who was terribly mauled by a grizzly up the Missouri, so terribly that the rest of the expedition pushed on, leaving a young friend with several others to see the end. " It seemed plain that he would have to go coon. So the young friend and the others left the old man in the wilderness to finish the job by himself. They took his weapons and hastened after the main party, for the country was hostile. But one day old Glass woke up and got one of his eyes open. And when he saw how things stood, he swore to God ho would live, merely for the, sake of killing his false friend. He crawled to a spring close by, whore he found a bush of ripo bull-berries. He waited day after day for trength, and finally started out to crawl a small matter of 100 miles to the nearest fort. And he did it, too! Also, he found his friend after much wandering —and forgave him." Mr Robert Hickens was present at the Easter ceremonies in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and im his latest work, "The Holy Land," gives the following vividly-written account of the Holy Fire: " It came at last. And then delirium seized the close-packed thousands. _ All the mouths, opened to let out yells, shrieks, and the wild twittering of women. All the arms gesticulated with frenzy towards the smoky yellow flames. All the bodies struggled desperately, to get to them. And the priest dipped his torch, and suddenly fire began to rush through the great church. The patriarch tore out of the Holy Sepulchre, and fell in the Greek Cathedral with the fire im his ihands. _ By the staircase inside the marble house priests gained its roof and lighted the lamps above it. From' the balconies near the blue, star-spangled dome masses of candles were let down by long cords, were lighted by priests below, and were drawn up flaming. Fiare encircled the rotunda three tiers of fire. Fire rushed into every recess of this temple of worship and frenzy, up to its roof and down to its most renlotei

cave of the rock. All tlhe thousands ofi faces lit up by a yellow glare. Above the contending bodies rose wreaths of smoke. A heat that felt unnatural aji<s

• menacing began to invade the sanctuary, 1 growing stronger with every moment. Tint ' iroar of voices sounded menacing. Always ! above it rose the wild twittering of the I women. Beneath me a woman's bundle caught fire, and was extinguished; a shawl flared up, and was put out by the pressure 1 of the ca-owd. . . Beneath my feet the tlhin boards on whidh I stood grew hot. The pilgrims immediately below had lighted theii candles, were waving them, were thrusting them upward till the flames came through the holes in the wood, and played ! about our feet. Wo stamped, knocked, ■ bent, shouted down to Our voices were drowned in the uproar." 1 The straightest canal in the world runt . from Eritlh, in Cambridgeshire, to Denver* Sluice, 22 miles away. It was here that, 40 years ago, a decisive experiment wa« I conducted to orove the sphericity of the I earth. At that time (says " Highways and i Byways in Cambridgeshire") a deluded ! gentleman, who called himself " Parallax. i was obsessed with the notion that the globe i was a flat disc, and used to go lecturing I with great vigour on the subject. After | these lectures he invited questions, none> of i which was able to shake his belief. When I asked, for example, " Why dees the hull ' of a ship disappear below the horizon while the masts remain visible?" he would! answer, "Because the lowest stratum of air is the densest, and, soonest oonceals objects seen through it." . . . Finally he showed big, wholehearted behel in his absurd view 9 by laying a heavy wager that no one would disprove them. The stakes were deposited in the hands of judges, and the trial, under agreed conditions, took place upon the New River (as part of the canal xs called). Three boats ' were mooi-ed three miles apart, each pro- | vided with a oross-tree of equal height. ! If the earth were spherical, the central i cross would appear aSbove the other to< an observer looking through a telexope levelled from the cross-tree of the boat- at either end; if it were flat he would eee both the other cross-trees as one. "Parallax" declared that ho did so, but the judges decided against him, and the poor" man lost his money. —A Canadian bookseller was asked whether the Canadians encouraged Canadian books,, and he replied: "Yes, decidedly. The best Canadian books have a large sale- in Canada'; just as they have in the United States and in England." "Of the tv,-o latter, which is the ultimate better market for Canadian books?" " Well—England ; providing Canadian books are good ; and soi far the best of them are a good sample." " Speaking generally, what nationality of books give the best sale in Canada?" "English. We handle a largo number of the ! best English works here. Of course, I speak for the better class of readers." ! "As to variety of books, what?" "Biography stands high. Books of travel next. No, poetry is not a leader'. Good fiction) —yes, I should say that in spite of th® vast output of trashy and formless ' literature'' there is a decided' improvement _in taste among the better class of Canadian reader®. We sell more good books now than ever. I am very hopeful of Canadians as a reading people." Similar evidence was given by another " dealer," who caters more to the. "popular" demand, and does it in a big way. Seventy-five l per cent, of this dealer's sales are standard works. He sella 60,000 copies a year of "Everyman's Library," a selection of cheap classics in biography, travel, fiction, and history, costing from 25 cents to 45 cents. He sells every year on an average 500 expensive sets of Thackeray, Stevenson, Balzac, and Dickens. He also finds that the American book in Canada is declining in favour of the English. Ten years ago American fiction made 90 per cent, of sales over his counters. Now English books have got up to 50 per cent.;' partly because English publishers have & knack of getting out attractive books at a moderate price. As to Canadian books, 15 pes' cent, of tho_ new fiction sold by this deader are Canadian works. Frequently, ■he a.n edition of a Canadian book in, Canada runs to 10,000 copies, while Canadian rights of an outside "best sellersrun on 1 about a third of that number.