THE WORLD OF BOOKS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume 16, Issue 14, 16 October 1909, Page 5

THE WORLD OF BOOKS.

"THE DOMINION OF NEW ZEALAND." SIR ARTHUR DOUGLASS NEW BOOK. (From Our London Correspondent.) LONDON, Aug. 31. I have been of the above work by Sir Arthur P. Doutdas, Bt. The book is published b> 8k Isaac Pitman and &»»><«£ form* one of a •erfes.jrf »»«* '^ Commonwealth of Australia" has alrmdv apptared. The work, which is o^rcd* l^ edged in red, * a most intoresting one, not only to the dwelle«rn tiKle little isl<», and to the other Mrts of the British Empire, but to New Zealanders themselves, ©specially the riaing generation, to whom many of it* items will be news. Tho book commences with a map of the l world in fit year Mg^-^^J with another in the year lWo, the British Empire in esch case'boing coloured Jed. From this we see at a glance that in 1800 the Empire «m>P»«£only, in addition to these isles— »n Europe, Gibraltar and Malta; in Asia,, about • third of India, and Ceylon: m Australasia, a ▼ory small part of Australia, about a third the sl«e of New Zealand : rnAfrica, Gambia, Sierra Leone, and £t *SSSmo much of the C*pe as would fill New Zealand ; and about two-thirds of CWaTwith Labrador, and NewSaXnd; whUe In .1900 the Empire consisted of, in addition to the Mother Ktr£-m f Europe, Gi*" l *" !^ Malta • in Asia, the Indian Empire, Ceyton, Aden 'and Perim, Cyprus Straita SettlenHmt*, Hong Kong, and parto of Borneo, etc.; in Australasia. &Toommonweatoi of A«atral», *°d Tasmania, N*w Zealand, British New Guinea, the Fiji iW««k, •«£. B««i Tr^aaTßhodesia, Basutoland. GamSaTthe 'Gold Co«,t w Sierra _teone Lagos, Nigeria, and British East AfrioaTthe Dominion of Canada; and the the objection to "meandering about the world of the oH ladybuyer of Darid Copperfield's Sdr^Mis the re«lt of the meandering propensitie* of our forefatibers. Sidperkap. on such an interesting mbieX limTy be exousedif I do a little meindeniis *V*M, *»d give a few par{jetriars oTtSp Empire which are not contained in th*-book I am referring to? tt k doubtful »«y Briton m Europe or elsewber* ka. •"5,« d «J™^ idea of tke magnitude of the British Empire. TbofoUowing particulars, whiok I take from itatirtic* now nx yean oU, will give aome idea of What, £rtke*orib of CSanada, forms the "Greatest Empire the world ha* ever ■*Tke Britiah Empire i> fifty4ihree time* the *iae of France, fifty-two times the die of Germany, three and a bait tSeTthS .hi dTthe United States of America, three times the, sue of Europe, with treble the population of •B the Roaiias. It extend* oVer 11,288.277 Mnare mile*— that i», .ninety- . three times the aise of the United Kingdom; occupies a fifth of the globe, and contains over a fifth of the human raoe>; or 395 million, of PeoPiji.'t ombraces four oontinents, 10^000 lsbinds, 500 promontories, and 2000 rivers. The whole has been acquired by the people of Great Britain and Ireland, mainly within the past 160 years, either by adventurous settlement or conquest by ttie blood of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland spilt in foreign wars, costing £9002000,000, two-thirds of which are still owing, at an annual charge to the tax-payer of to-day of £25,000,000. For this and an advance of £1,100,000,000 of capital, an interBritish trade has been securedlamowting now to upwards of £400,000,000 a T*ar, and capable of limitless expansion, for there is nothing known to man which cannot be produced from tbe vaajri sous and varied dimes of the Empire. . , „ . , To return to the book ; it is dedicated to the Earl of Rknfurly, G.C.M.G., etc., "who rendered such good service to New Zealand during his seven years of office a* it* Governor." In die preface the writer remarks that those who havo resided in New Zealand for any length of time generally become enthusiastic about the dominion, it* history, its rapid rise, and it* many attractions. He says it is especially difficult to avoid mperiatives if one na* had there, like the author, many experiences of colonial life under varied circumstances during a considerable number of years. *He has, however, endeavoured to steer a middle course, and to tell an unvarnished tale. , , The splendid illustrations include Queen's Wharf at Wellington, the Auckland wharves and shipping, Wauganui River (two scenes), Waunangu Geyser, Sugar Loaf (Bealey Gorge), a raw sugar storo (Chelsea, Auckland), Hamilton (Waikato district), Christchurch, Dunadin (looking south), the Government buildings at Wellington, Lyttelton, Mount Cook and St. David's Dome, gold dredge (Buller Gorge), Aoroa Mills (Nairoa River), and the Government Experimental .Station at Waerenga. SHAKESPEARE'S PERSONALITY. That perenially" fascinating subject, the Personality of Shakespeare—fascinating to those writers who have a special penchant for erecting palatial structures out of the barest modicum of material — is again to tbe fore in a new theory. This time, happily, Shakespeare is allowed to nave a personality, and not only that but a personality that has written itself large in most of the plnys that bear his name. And it is from this writing that Frank Harris, the novelist, has carefully constructed "The Man Shakespeare and His Tragic Life Story," a book which will shortly be published by Mitchell Kennerlcy in America. Play by play, we are told, Mr. Harris has reconstructed "the finest spirit that has yet been born nmong men," telling us in his preface that "this tragedy of tragedies, in nhich 'Lear' is only one scene— this riso in intensest life and widest vision and fill through abysms of despair and nind•e*s to exhaustion and. death — can be followed, experience by oxperjence, from Stratford to London and its thirty years of paSsfanafe living, and then from London to village Stratford again, and the eternal shrouding silence." One gathers from thi* that Mr. Hams finds Shakespeare's life, as it is autobiographically depicted in the plays, was a strenuous one and involved a love, affair of tragic intensity, only the beginnings of which were indicated in Shakespeare's "Sonnets." ENGLISH CULTURE One of the most remarkable works recently published on the Continent is "Deutschland und England," by Herr Karl Bleibtreu, and it is especially notable for the tribute it pays not only to English literature, but to the reading hunger of tbe British people. In spite of the modern German- devotion to culture, Herr Bleibtreu places the English '■ as the first reading people in the world. Tbe literary culture of the Englishman, he says, inasmuch as that term covers knowledge of his own literature, stands higher than that of the Continent. The Briton reads everywhere. With him reading i» a necessary of J^fe, like eating and drinking. In literature Herr Bleibtreu finds that Great Britain bents all the records of the past and the present. In richness in all fields of knowledge lie places it before the Greek, and he adds: "A nation which leaves such a literature behind a* a reflection of its genius ha* a light to' pride. Such a notion is truly the first." Tho Englishman will probably add (opmments »n English paper) that he hopes it will be long before the greatness of its literature wjD bo bM*d solely on the

achievements of the past. The output now is greater than ever before, and ii will be strange if from all the chafi there cannot be winnowed something that in the judgment of ages still to come will be worthy to stand alongside the beat of earlier days. HALL CAINE PILLORIED. Since the Spectator cut up Dr. Emil lleich's so-called lectures on Plato, the celebrated weekly has published no criticism so scathing as its review of- Mr. Hall Caine's new novel, "The White Prophet." Of the thinly-veiled portrait of a celebrated British administrator in "Egypt, the Spectator says: — "We bavo nlore than once been m6ved to protest in this column against a modern, and, in out opinion, a-pfceutirfr* ly obnoxious form' of portrait fiction. But we have never, in the course of a pretty long acquaintance, with, modern novels, encountered a more objectionable and mischievous. specimen of this class of novel than Mr. Hall Caino's latest venture. The method, or, rather, the special yariant on it practised by this popular author, is as follows. You take a notable personage, living for choice, and, veiling his- identity under a transparent pseudonym, jyou proceed to incorporate the greater part of his public record in your narrative, retaining the scene of his labours, and many other circumstantial details, W that there oan be no doubt whatever as to whom -you are aiming *t." On this basis you then deliberately proceed to rear an elaborate structure of imaginary incidents, actions, and attributes* .the great majority of which are calculated to bring tlie persoriage in question into contempt, derision, and aversion. Your original is a strong and just- man, and you frequently lay stress on tbat fact ; yet nine times out -of ten* you represent him as behaving like a tyrant, a bully, or an hysterical fool. He is a man of singular ! reserve' attd simplicity, who lias always avoided and evaded publicity, yet you 'make - " him behave like a neurotic cad, and drag him on the stage in his most intfnjate domestic relations ; yon slobber orer 1 his sorrows, and you subject this monstrous puppet of your imagination to all manner of odious indignities.'* ' ' ' '" *" ' A NOVELIST'S RETHtEMENT. On the eve of- the,' production of her new book, "Low the Thief," with her gift 3 undiminished, , her energies as great as ever, Miss Helen Mathers (Mrs. Henry Reeves) has announced her intention of never writing another novel. "Why am I retiring?" she said. "There are two reasons. First, since Host my son I have not. felt .the; same aest in writing as before. Secondly, the- book market is so unsatisfactory that I prefer to go into business, where I hope to be ablfr to make more money and help other people, which is now my sole object in life. I hope, however, I »m not so vulgar or so conceited ifc to threaten to leave my public because it is likely to leavb meJ for up lo the present time I have had the same love for what has been mine for thirty-four Scars." As to th* Unsatisfactory oonition of tho -book market, Miss Mathers pointed out how entirely different are the conditions now fronvthose that prevailed when she knew it first. "I Find," she *aid, "tb* price*, that reign and are likely to' reign, mainly owing to th© 7d edition,; so pbor 1 that it is quite beneath the jUgnity of a«y selfrespecting author t«' go on writing until the market recovers.' And in any ease I have been writing for «b long that I do not feel disposed to wmt for this recovery." Mis* Mathers takes a modest view of her literary gifts. ,Out of more than two score novels front her pen she regards but dne" is good— "Comiri' Thro' the Rye£_ / ... I hope You have oot*aioi**Jifca» liberal arts ; Learning is an addition beyond Nobility of birth ; honour of blood, Without the .ornament ol knowledge, In but a glorious ignorance: . • .... I never knew „ More sweet and happy koqr* than I employed Upon my books. ' - —James Shirley, in "The Lady of Pleasure." LONDON. ' Thou art sad with the sorrows of ages, Thou art grim with the, lusting ot gain, / '. . , , Thou art wise with the wisdom of sages, And m&rUess and Vayywith.pain. Thou hast passioirnOi sating appeases. And thy tears are. more bitter than brine—'. „ . „ • , /. , . Yet thy voice is as vast; a* the sea's is, , . Oh! Mother of -Mine. Thy soul is more strange. than onr life is, ... And subtle, and secret with sin : Thou.arJj.mad.with.mo^.^nadne^s than strife is, . That was mad since God made it begin. • • ','■'. Thouart cruel, and thou know >fc not of pity, *c • • ' fe»< . Yet sweeter .tb*n> Joy* t is< or wine, Oh t weary unwearying 4aty, , 1 Ohl Mother of Mule. „ , , , ,1,1. . . ( i Oh ! maker of men, and nnmaker, .. Thou art drear with tke ruin of dreams: ' • ' i Oh I lover, beguiler, forsakeri > Thou art -jet a-glitter with Heams: ' " • ' '," Thy secret ib thine, and is no man s, Thou hast sirt in thy streets for a Yet tny' voice is more sweet than a woman's, ": : • ! Ohl Mother of Mine* 1 — J*mes Baft*, • in the Westwinßter Ganette. MY LADY OF DREAMS. (From Hie French of' Paul Verlaine.) Oft-times, in dreams intense, she doth This unknown one I Jove, who loveth Subtly she changes, ye* unchanged is she . «^ » Each time she cometh to me, ab, .now near! .'••.. - . My heart for. her transparent is (but clear . . v For her alone, alas! it^ mystery). Ohe- smoothes my forehead, aU-mv She weeps away— she >enly, loved and dear. • * How lookoth she, what colour eyes and lcunnottell! Her name P 'Tis sonorous «• And sweet as those that rtonsomed spirits bran " ! ' . No sculptured goddess hath more calm a mien; And for her voice-root sweeter were to us j . . Loved voices that now are not— that have been.—Frank Niven, in The Nation. ELIOT WARBTJRTONL A correspondent, signing himself J. E. M., stotes that he ha* lately read Eliot Warburton's novel "Darien,' and would like to know something of -the author's life. Warbnrton w»s Wrn at Aughrim, County Galway, in 1810. and yaa a' son of the Inspector-General of Constabulary in Ireland. His. real name was Bartholomew Elliott George Warburton. He studied at Tnwty College, Cambridge, and was called to tho bar, but sotm .devoted himaelf to literature and the cultivation of h»» Irish estates. In 1643 he toured the East his impressions and -the material he gathered finding expression in his well-known book "The Creooent and the Cross," published in 1844, which at ouco found favour with the critics for its descriptions of the East. % In 1»48 Warburton published "The Memoirs of J'rince Rupert and the Cavaliers," and in 1850 "Reginald Hastings'" an unsuccessful historical novel. Warburtoh also edited the "Memoirs of Horace Walpole nnd his Contemporaries," by N F. Williams, and "Hochen»g«, or England in the NoW World," a description of Canada, by his brother. Major George Warburton. It was m 1851

: that Warburton issued the historical ; at sea. In the same year Warburtou • was deputed by the Atlantic and Pacific ■ Junction Company, to visit the Indians of- the 'Isthmus .«* Darien, establish - deadly relatiOt* with them, *nd become thoroughly acquainted with them.' He left England on the steamer Amu- , son, and was amongst the passengers . who perished by fire in that vessel.