LITERARY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7891, 22 December 1903, Page 1

LITERARY.

: — » TN'OTES FROM LONDON. [From Otra Cokbbspokdect.] LONDON, October 9. WILLIAM WATSON'S POEMS. The poetic protests in -which Mr WjUiam Watson during th« past three years denounced the Boer war, have been collected and re-issued in book form this week, from the publishing house of Mr John Lane. In a dedication, to th& Right Hon Leonard Courtney, Mr Watson declares that his poems " w«re inspired by the hope of ' assisting in the promotion of a reasonable human feeling towards those -who were out adversaries in the late epical conflict." And he reprints them now in permanent form in the assurance that " the spirit of detraction and falsification is no true English growth, and musf presently perish, or seek eomo fitter soil and clime." Full credit^ must be given to Mr Watson for the courage with : which he faced the obloquy attaching to ' the pro-Boer during the recent war, when ■ passions ran high, and judgments were un- ' sparing in their severity. Nor can we 1 doubt the sincerity of his attachment to [ his "beloved and worshipped homeland." Nevertheless, he cannot expect the mass of I his countrymen to' approve the bitter : taunts he utters, or love their late adver- \ saries any the more through the reading of impassioned verse in such a strain as this : Blind beyond! cure! Despoil and burn; ; Fling forth the helpless — babes as well; ' Ajid let the children's children learn. . To hate ug -with ihe hate of hell ■ There is much, indeed-, in these poems, which must bo read with pain by the many who feel that the honour of their country • has been unjustifiably impeached. But one . must admire the ring of sincerity in Mr , Watson's utterances, the force and impressiveness of his verse. Viewed from' the standpoint of artistic merit, his poetry ranks high. The style, is dignified and scholarly ; ornate, but rarely over-embroid-ered. Here and there a line suggests a straining after effect, as in the phrase;: "She that with ruthless John and truthless Charles," but the bulk of the poems are notable for their felicity of diction, and/ their stately 1 rhythm. As one of the best examples of Mr Watson's force and skill I should quote "The Slain":— • "Partners in Bilence, mates in noteless doom, P«&r« in. oblivion's commonalty merged; TTtato like deeds by differing mandates urged, And equalled in the unrespectiv© tomb ; Leal or perfidious, cruel or tender, whom Precipitate fate haith of your frailties purged ; " "Whom, duly the impartial winds have dirged;, In autumn or thfe glorying vernal bloom; Already is your strife beoome as nought; Idle the bullet's -flight, the bayonet's thrust, The senseless cannon's dull, unmeaning word; Idte your feud; and all for which ye. fought To this arbiiprament of loam referred', Andi cold adjudication of the duat." A BEACONSFIELD BIOGRAPH. Mr Wilfrid MeyoeU's "Benjamin Disraeli : An Unconventional Biography," published this week, is made up largely of gossip and anecdotes of the dead statesman. Many of his pithy sayings are chronicled. "Be amusing," said Disraeli to a small boy, ; by way of advice 5 " never tell unkind stories ; above all, never tell long ones." Asked once at a dinner party if he had read "Daniel D«ronda," he replied, "When 1 I want to lead a novel, I write one." To someone who asked if he thought the uses of adrver&ity were really sweet, "Dizzy's" answer was, "Yes, if the adversity does not last too long." He is reported to have said of Mr Chamberlain, after the latter' s maiden speech, "He wears his eye-glass like a gentleman." One story in the "Unconventional Biography" furnishes an amusing commentary upon the secrecy that doth hedge a Cabinet meeting. A lord-in-waiting, who by Boyal command, had gone in search of a Fellow of the Royal Society, found him at a supper of Gaiety girls, who were discussing the question, "WMch would they choose if they had to marry- — Gladstone or ■ Disraeli?" All elected Disraeli save one, who was much frowned on Oby the company till she explained, "Gladstone, so that sho \ might elope with Disraeli and break Gladstone's heart." On the lord-in-waiting telling Disraeli this he remarked, "Of • course I am gratified — you know my tender 1 fe«ling for all women." But the sequel is more remarkable. A Cabinet. Council summoned for noon next day — "at a time l when the Russian Bear was suspected of • sharpening his claws >F — was kept waiting ' for the arrival. of a Minister, and, to pass the time, Disraeli told his colleagues the story, to the disgust of Lord Cairns. Dis- '■ raeli was put out of countenance, and he • mada th« continued rabsenoe of a colleague ' the excuse for postponing the Council for a couple of hours. That afternoon the , papers came out with "War Imminent: A t Second Cabinet Council Summoned," and ■ " all Europe felt the thrill." A BATCH OF NOVELS. Miss Hekn Mathers has written some very readable books — I citfr "Corain' Thro' the Rye "•'—'but I question whether her late st unconventional tale concerning unconventional people wili please so much as that work, or even " My Lady Gxeensleeves." In "Griff of Griffithscourt " (Methuen), her 1 " unconventional " folk are mor« or less $>re--1 posterous caricatures. One of ttik female ; characters is a child named Dan. She is < \ thirteen at the opening of the Btoi.y» and her leading characteristics are laat she "gets expelled whenever she goes- to school , and* 'that i she tells stories to a two-year-old baby with j • the moral, " You must never tell a lie — ex- ! 1 cept to shield a pal." Dan's particular II " pal " is Angel, the wife 'of Griff, who has , > I exquisite beauty, a perfect taste in dress, i and gratifies all her fancies without regard to the fact that Griff is a comparatively ■ poor man. Then there is her another-in--1 law, Elizabeth, who is represented a* ador- • 1 able, and declared in a moment of confid- , [ I ence that shVhas " never had her wiiacV

When she is a grandmother she is talking ti> a. man who has long lovtd her, and sii-e "lauuhs, clasping both hands behind her head. Hence you arc not surprised that 1 the lover remarks, " You're no side-show,' or that her d,.ughter-in-lnw i-egards her as rather younger than herself^ There is also i a -very unpleasant millionaire who is enamoured of Angel, and the story is made up of his infatuation, Angel's extravagance and Dan's devotion. Miss Mutters, I believe, oiioe lost the MSS. of a novel in a cab, or some such public conveyance. I feel disposed to grieve that it was not " Griff of Griffithscourt." But tastes— happily for authors— differ, and as the ''bus conductor said of the -weather: "F'r them as likes this kind o' thing it'a just all right." I am not sure Mr Fred Wishaw w:ll thank me for calling "The Yellow Satchel" (Routledge and' Sons, 3s 6d) a boys' book, 'but it is just that tmd nothing more, though very good _qf its class. The rigorous suppression of the feminine Interest -will appeal to youths as moat commendable. Ib exists, but it is never, allowed to interfere ■with matters of such importance .as the outwittmg and eventual shooting of a (piratical captain and mate, the escape from a desert island, and the discovery of the priceless jewels' and] masses : of gold coin, that had been artfully hidden by a disreputable old sea-dog, -who, -with his cryptograms and the rest of it, made it most difficult for an enterprising trio jjf youths to find theplace of concealment. The main part of vm story comes from the contents of a satchel worn by an eccentric old gentleman who in his youth had passed through many blood-curd-ling experiences while taking part in the treasure hunt, and who knew the exact position of the hiding-place. This person bequeaths his secret to the hero, together with a large sum of money, after, meeting him accidentally, so that it becomes a comparatively simple undertaking, pleasantly spiced by adventure, to go and fetch away as much of the 'bullion as could be conveniently carried; but, though the remainder may be enough to make its finder a millionaire, the chances of getting it are so slender in the absence of exact information that it will probably 'be just as profitable to stay at home and search for the golden sovereigns now being buried by the enterprising proprietors of " Tit-Bite." Mx M. P. Shiels's "Unto the Third Generation" (Chatfco, 6s) should,, in these times of " tight " (money, claim attention, since it concprns a trifling amount oi fifteen millir.ns whHch Colonel Denman, a sort of Indian nabob of a century ago, "pileu up" (hte murdered 15,000 natives in order to accomplish this feat), and thtn deposited it in one of a labyrinth of vaults He hides the key, and it is not found till the colonel's body had long been " mouldering in the grave." The sensational events recorded by the author all arise from a desire to obtain possession, of this key. The shape of the. key indicates the number of the vault containing the treasure, and this fact having b<?«n ascertained by those remarkable practitioners in intrigue and crime, th« Hagens, they pursue their, object of obtaining the hoard with great determination, aided by poison, automatic pistols and devices for wrecking trains. The ambition of this remarkable household was "to become governors of the world by working the scions of the family up and up to the principal thrones of Europe, eventually bj means of a system of marriages and intrigue tempered by assassination." Obviously, a matter of fifteen millions would materially assist in the development of their schemes. How they fare in working out their plots, ■whether they succeed in capturing the treasure or not, and on what thrones they contrive to seat themselves, are matters which must be left, to those who are curious on the subject to determine for themselves. • Mr Robert Machray has paid little regard to probabilities in his "Mystery of Lincoln's Inn" (Chatto and Windus, 6s). He set out to tell an exciting story, and it must be freely admitted he has succeeded in producing a novel which those who are tired of problems and are willing to take anything and everything for granted will find very entertaining. The villain is a lawyer who has a wife in Stepney, and loves her and his crippled child passionately. So he has a key to one of the gates of Lincoln's Inn, and frequently disguises himself as a working man, lets himself out, "and slips away to his humble home. He has a great desire to accumulate wealth, and he does so to the tune of half a million, at the expense of the clients of the firm' in which he is junior partner. The senior partner, who has never suspected him, tells him that one of- these clients, to whom they are responsible for some tew hundreds of thousands of pounds, is coming home from Canada, and means to inspect his securities. The junior thereupon confesses to his defalcations, but says that he has lo^t all the money. Really it has been conveyed to " James Russell," the name he bears in Stepney, and converted into bank-notes and bonds payable to bearer. The junior partner goes for a holiday unexpectedly and the client does not arrive. Inquiries are made, and it is found that on the night before the junior partner's departuEa ho left a Holborn Hotel and never came back. A reward is offered, tout no trace of him is found. Then a letter arrives from a remote village in Italy, stating that the junior has died there of cholera, and been duly buried. His rooms are broken open, and in them is found the body of the client, with every appearance of having been dead since the night of their owner's leaving London. At the inquest, two doctors swear most solemnly that death | was due to natural causes. * This is but a small portion of the story, -which is exciting to the last page, and comes to a happy ending.