LITERARY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4715, 5 August 1893, Page 2

LITERARY NOTES.

[PBOM* OTJB OWN CORRESPONDENT, j London, June 10. Mr W, E. Henley has prepared for the press a seleotion from the poems of Walt Whitman, of whom he was one of the earliest admirers in this country. Though it is the oustom in English literaryciroles to Bpeak of Mr E. W. Hornung as "the Australian novelist," he really gained his Colonial experienoe merely as a visitor, whilst aoting tutor to the son of a * Viotorion squatter. Mr ■ Hornung is engaged to Dr Conan Doyle's sister. Sarah Grand, the authoress of "The Heavenly Twins," has jnst put the finishing touohes to a new novel dealing with the aspirations 'of women to a greater recognition in literature and art. It will be eagerly awaited, &_, ao far, eaoh new book of hers has been an improvement on the last. The new Australian authoress, Mrs A. Blity, whose novel, "An Australian Millionaire," • was published by Ward, Look and Tyler, will not Bet the Thames afire. The plot ia old,' being based on the anoient expedient of mixing up two babies at nurse, and there isno local colour worth Speaking of. • .-.' v It may not be known to the present generation, though stated at, the time of tha publication of the poem, that " Enoch Arden" is founded on faot. . The story was told Lord Tennyson by the late Mr Woolner, the sculptor, ia the possession of whose widow a statement of the original circumstances still is. Aa Florence Marryat oontinues to turn out a new three-volume story once every sir months with unfailing regularity, I supfse she has readers still. Let me confess gave the lady np after perusing, .««. The Bisen Dead," aad not evea to oblige possible admirers of hers at the Antipodes could I undertake to wade through "Parson Jones." The latter was published by Griffith and Farran, who aleo announce 2s editions of. "There Is No Death" and "The Risen Dead." "Parson Jones" ia Miss Marry af b forty-sixth novel. *In the June magazines note " Mad atedlicott," by Grant Allen, "The Bed Cross Hill " and a budget of "Derby Anecdotes" ih the enormously improved and improving English Illustrated _ the commencement of Blaokmore's " Perlyorosa" in Macmittan, and William Black's *' The Humes *' in Harper's ; the "Greeri Flag," a stirring war tale, by Conan Doyle, in the Pall Mall Magazine, wbioh shows an improvement, by the way, on No. 1; "Experiences of a Woman Journalist," in Blackwood; and Archibald Forbes' account of "The Death of the Prince Imperial " in the Century. The latter also contains an excellent appreciation of Christina Boasetti, by Edward Gosse. . The six shilling edition of Miss Chensells' account of her experiences as governess and companion to. " An Egyptian ; Princess," should find a ready sale in parts of India and the Colonies where the more expensive issue failed to penetrate. Itis a perfectly safe book. Miss Chennells •was no dragon of propriety. Whether there were any " goings on " in Ibrahim's ■ harem when the British governess turned her baok it boots not to enquire; She, at any rate, complains, of nothing save the incorrigible lasiness of the slaves and eunuchs. Neither system nor punctuality were known in the harem. Meals o&me up at all hours and anyhow. The advent of ' the Khedive himself alone seemed to wake up the slothful Nubians to aotion, "The Voice of a Flower," by Mies E. Gerard (not Dorothea Gerard but her elder sister, author of "The Land Beyond the Forest"), is a Transylvanian love story founded on an ingenious legend whioh makes a flower the means of bringing home a base murder to the criminal. Livia Bonaecca is the cultivator of a family heirloom called the Bonaecca carnation, the blooms of whioh the maiden Bon&eccaa may only give to their fianc 4s. When bidding her lover Guido Ferrari farewell prior to a year's absence, Livia bestows npon him a splendid carnation, and also some of the seed in order that he. may have a plant of his own whilst away from ber* An boar later Count S^umJeader, who also loves Livia, meets Guido in the heart of the Transylvanian forest, and, driven frantic by the sight of the carnation in the youth's button-hole (the significance of which he realises), kills him and buries him there and then. Livia iv time is persuaded to believe Guido false, and engages herself to Sturmfeddeiy The pair are walking in the forest two years later, on the eve of their marriage, when fate § aides their footsteps to the glade where errari's bones lie buried. To the Count's horror, the spot is marked by a group of magnificent plants of the uniqo&'Bonsecca oarnationß, Livia, remembering the seed Bhe gave Guido, instantly suspects foul play, and petrified by her fierce, accusing glance, the haunted and remorseful Sturmfedder confesses his crime and subsequently shoots himself. In the "Red Sultan/ which relates the thrilling experiences of Cosmo M'Laurin and come Scotch friends amongst the Moors of Western Barbary rather more than a century ago, Mr Maclaren Cobban has produced a capital tale of adventure, laid in comparatively fresh and untrodden scenes. So briskly told is the narrative, and so well imagined the principal characters, that a few years back, before : the publio was surfeited with Haggardy— ■ Steyensonian . romances, it would have been safe to prophesy for the " Bed Sultan "a big Buccess. Whether the book will catch on now is just a toss up. In Some respects, of course, it is a misfortune it should clash with a masterpiece like " The Befugees," but then the latter is not ourpaßsedevenby the " Master of Ballantrae." "The Red Saltan " doeia not aspire to rank aa a classic, but it is excellent reading. I may mention, bytheVay, that Mr Cobban's hero, the terrible Ited-haired Sultan, ia no mere creation of the imagination, but an historic figure. The son of a Moorish father and Irish mother, he had Bomeof the best qualities of our race and some of the worst of^ the barbarous Oriental. He had two warring natures ; he was half angel and half fiend, and, as Mr Cobban shows, the fiend won. The narrator of the story, young Cosmo M'Laurin, is somehow rather a shadowy personality,, but the canny Scotch Basha Kiamil (otherwise Campbell) and his friend Lorimer, are worthy of Stevenson. The vindictive old Sultana, -the Eed One's mother,' is alao a striking figure. • Mr Gilbert Parker is the Anglo-Colonial -scribe coming most rapidly to the front. His novel " Mrs Falchion" deserves all the kind things the reviewers are saying about it. From first to last the reader finds Mmßelf thoroughly interested. Whether describing life on a P. and O. liner or in a remote settlement in British Columbia, the author writes equally graphically. The central character bf the story, Mrs Falchion, is a woman of great beauty, magnetic charm and marvellous nerve, who inspires passions to which she seems herself wholly insusceptible. The narrator, . Dr .Marmion, commences by, falling in love with her, but she laughs at him, and presently her coldness, hardness and apparent

utter heartier-Tees revolt him. Mrs Falohion has previously had two devoted lovers. One she coldly dismissed, the other Bhe equally coldly inarrifd. The latter [ unfortunate disgraces himself— -robs his i employer— to gratify her lust for luxury. |He is found out and punished. Mrs i Folohion inatantly turns her back on him and wipes him out of her life. He, however, refuseß to be wiped out, and, after cunningly dogging her footsteps, confronts her at a fanoy dress ball on board the P. and 0. Bteamer, aboard which the first act of Mr Parker's drama is played. At this meeting, when Boyd Madras (as he iBoalled) sues to his wife for her love and forgiveness, she treats him with blighting cruelty and contempt. He is lees than nothing to her and next morning, when in despair the wretched man drop 3 overboard, Mrs Falchion (to the disgust;' of Dr Marmion, wbo' knows her secret) doesn't turn a hair. Of course, Madras isn't really drowned. Mrs Falohion, however, thinks he is, and pro--1 f.eedo to tail in love with Gait Rosooe, the bro of the story, who comes on board the Bteamer at Aden. Rosoob is leaving the navy to enver the ohurob. The seoond part of Mra falohion is laid in British Columbia, and moves even more briskly than the firbt. Therein Nemesis descends on Mrs Falchion, for though her heart is at last touched and she loves R-.v Gait Koacoe passionately, ho doesn't care a button for her, in faot adores someone else. Unfortunately ehe kuows facts .connected with hia early life as a naval officer in the South Seas, which, if disclosed, would both break oif his engagement and ruin hi* usefulness as a parson. At firat the woman's inclination lies in the direction of disgracing Roscoe, and toaking his fiancde utterly miserable. But knowledge of the suffering hopeless love entails, insensibly Bof tens her; heart, and without obliging Dr Marmion to frustrate her schemes by resurrecting Madras, she resolves to quit the field. Mr Parker has also a capital novelette in Lippincott's. This is called "The Translation of a Savage," and relates the strange experiences of an Indian girl, a chief's daughter, whom Frank Armour marries in a fit of spleen. Frank's notion is to revenge himself . on his people (a smart county family) for interfering in his love affairs, so having married Eye-oft-the-Moon'a daughter, he packs her off home to the oare of his dismayed relatives. . The resolute pluck with which old General Armour and hiß wife resolve to make the best of the situation, and the agonies they endure, whilst convoying Mrs Frank Armour (wearing Native costume and wrapt in a blanket) from Liverpool to Armour Park are excellently described. In I Borne respects indeed " The Translation of a Savage " is a more artistio piece of work than " Mrs Falohion."