The Bookshelf.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 22, 30 November 1910, Page 47

The Bookshelf.

By

DELTA.

£ BOOKSHELF FEUILLETON. Three New Macmillan Novels. U / [’’ MONG works of fiction announced f I by the Macmillans in their J autumn list we notice: “The Devil and the Deep Sea,” by Rhoda Broughton; “Hearts and Coronets,” by Alice Wilson Fox; and “A Snail’s Wooing,” the story of an Alpine courtship, by E. M. Sneyd-Kennersley. On October 4, also, was to be published Rudyard Kipling's new book, entitled ‘‘Rewards and Fairies,” with illustrations by Frank Craig. This latter work is to be published in various forms, at 5/, 6/, and 10/6. It is on the lines of “Puck of Book’s Hill.” A Seventeenth Century Romance. In his new novel, "An Affair of Dishonour” (Heinemann), Mr Win. de Morgan, the author of "Joseph Vance'* and ‘‘Alice for Short,” has entered an entirely new field, and, instead of dealing with suburban and lower middle-class life of Victorian times, goes back to the second half of the seventeenth century, giving us a full-blooded romance, with duels and all the chivalrous paraphernalia of the day. A Fresh Departure in Fiction. Harper's have published a new novel entitled "The Fruit of Desire.” by a novelist who has adopted for the nonce the name of Virginia Demarest, "because the new book is such a fresh departure in fiction.” It is to some extent a problem novel. Though we have gained the information that its author .has written several well known novels, we are unable, until we have read the book, which we understand has not yet reached here, even to conjecture who the author really is. It will, however, be decidedly aggravating if this should turn out to be a fresh departure in the art of advertising. Tales of the Tenements. Mr Eden Phillpotts new work, as is almost invariable with him. deals with Dartmoor life. This time we are treated t-o a description of the tenants of some ancient Dartmoor holdings, many of these holdings going back to a date earlier than Tudor times. "Highwaymen, cunning women, white witches, form, if not a joyous company in these stories, at any rate a thoroughly human one. In several—and not the least successful of these short narratives —the story is told in dialect, as though by a worthy seated in the chimney corner. With the exception of the one called "Crazywell” there is no set description of the moor at all, but one feels it none the less, its snows, its dimpsy lights, its great clear starlight, and its blinding mists; they are all incarnated as it were in the stern granite houses that by long familiarity with nature have become a part of it. The book is decidedly one of Mr Phillpotts’ best, being written with a simplicity of style, and an often painful realism native to its subject. Murray’s arc the book's publishers. At the Court of Eugenie. John Long has published, at 12/6 net, an adaptation by Bryan O'Donnell. M.A., of Frederic Lol ice's "Le Due de Morny,” which should prove caviare to lovers of Napoleonic literature. Auguste de Morny, says M. Loliee. summed up in the most characteristic fashion th? features and tendencies of his period—which was that of rhe Second Empire. Excepting the Emperor himself, he was the most •telling personality at the Imperial Court. His ancestry is not easy to trace. The grandson of one of Louis XV.’s numerous illegitimate daughters, he was the son—also with the bar sinister —of Hortense de Beauharnais, mother of Napoleon 111., and daughter of the Empress Josephine. His father. Auguste de Flauhault. was a natural son of Talleyrand, and de Morny reflected his mixed ancestry. Success being his divinity, he was opportunist to the core. His temperament was artistic, and in the art of seduction he led even the gay court of Napoleon and Eugenic. His manners were exquisite, his wit polished, his scruples few, his tastes dilettante, but on occasion he could he bold and defiant. Ee Due de Moray's Influence on French Politics. To de Morny's active agency in the coup de force of 1851, his haif-brothcr

Napoleon owed his Empire. In this connection it is interesting, as well as confirmatory proof of this statement of M. Loliee’s, to quote from Princess Caroline Murat’s “Memoirs,” where she declares “that the Due de Morny was the heart and soul of the Empire, and that his passing away in 1865 dealt the deathblow to the prosperity of the Second Empire. In politics he was clever, calmly resolute, inflexible, but with a certain charm of manner, a rare delicacy and finesse, which served to gain his ends. He was the Emperor’s most intimate adviser, and his friendship with the Empress guided her influence from the wrong direction as long as he lived.” Prior to the coup d'etat, Morny had betrayed too keen an anxiety to steer the mind of Napoleon, whom he irritated by making himself too indispensable. The coup d’etat an accomplished fact, the positions were reversed, and discovered de Morny sublimely audacious, magnificently energetic. The quarrel between the half-bro-thers arose over de Morny’s attempt to force his way into the Napoleonic lineage, which Napoleon thought most shocking and insulting to the honour of their mother The brothers discussed the situations in bitter terms, and then de Morny resigned political office, and thenceforth became the favourite of the salons, “hard-pressed by the most ch arming and seductive members.” Neither Eulogy Nor Satire. Air. O'Donnell, who has translated M. . Loliee’s vivacious chronicles, admits that he has omitted some of the Gallic salt and French mustard which garnish the original work, and which “might have caused a sauve qui pout” in the ranks of Madam Anastasia Grundy’s follower’s if retained in the English edition. But

the most cautlious expi;\rgator cannot make school-girl literature of the life of the Second Empire. Dr Morny's marriage to Princess Troubetskoi, and his prowess in love-making, is touched upon, and the book comes to a close with the pathetic picture of dr Morny h dying bed, where his father, witnessing his death, dare not, as he himself had not dared, when witnessing Talleyrand's death, disclose, even at the twelfth hour, the relationship each bore to the other. " M. Loliee attempts neither eulogy nor satire, hut a picture drawn with political ami moral accuracy—not without a few lave trimmings which he thinks do not deface the garb of the austere muse called History. He certainly contrives to bo amusing.” Christmas Books. We have received from Ward. Lo;k and Co., through Wildman and A re v. copies of “The Raft in the Bush,'' by Ethel Turner; “ Three New < hums,” by Lilian Turner; and the children's “Wonder Book,” each of them eminently suitable as gift books for the coming festive season. In the story entitled. "1 he Raft in the Bush," a lot of information aueut the indigenoUb aniln.il life of Aue-

tralia lies hidden under a lot of clever burlesque. “ Chronicles of the Court,” the second part of the book, is not a little satirical, and reminds us strongly of “ Alice in Wonderland.” After the form elvown in “ Fair Ines,” we scarcely expected Mrs. Curlewrs to go back to her earlier style. But so long as she continues to be as entertaining as in this book, her young admirers will continue to enshrine her in their hearts as queen of storytellers for youth. "Three New Chum Girls,” by Lilian Turner, recounts the fortunes of three English girls of gentle birth, who come out to Australia to retrieve their shattered fortunes. Of course the girls are charming, and the story ends with wedding bells. The story is interesting and vivacious all through, and splendidly ideal. Indeed, for freshness, spiritedness, and sheer healthiness, there are no Australian writers for youth that can compare with these talented sisters, whose names are household words and a synonym for wholesomeness. The Ward, Lock Wonder Book. If it were possible to say so truthfully, we should declare that the Ward. Lock Wonder Book for 1911 had outdistanced former issues. But though it is quite as good, we cannot say that it is better, because these "Wonder Books” for the last few years have already reached such a high stage of perfection, as to make it impossible, except at a greatly enhanced cost, to make them any better. Twelve beautiful coloured ■plates bv such artists as William R-ainev, ILL. Wright Barker, R.8.A., Fannie Moody (that inimitable painter of animal pictures), Keith Henderson, and a host of equally clever wielders of the brush, and innumerable pictures in black and white and sepia, adorn and illu«strate the text of a book that should prove an absolute mine of entertainment and delight to the lucky youngster who is fortunate enough to receive it as a Christmas gift or school prize. "A Trip

to Inky Town.” “where the books bloom like tlowerc.” has been hatched in the brain of that delightful child’s writer. Maud Kathleen Lucas, and Jessie Pope is felicitous, as usual, in "DuL-h Dolly's Courtship.” Space forbids further mention of a book that is crammed with good things from cover to cover. 'Emerson a Bore ’ “Carlyle introduced Emerson to the British public as one w!m» brought new fire from the empyre* n. But the two men in genius were leagues apart, and Carlyle at last found the new fire a bore. George Venables, calling one evening on Carlyle at Chelsea. found hini-elf received with extraordinary warmth, the reason of which Mrs. Carlyle explained ! by exclaiming: “Oh. we were afraid it was Enivr-on.'” — "Reniini-cem v* of Goldwin Smith.” Her Charm. "The charm of woman -from Eve to Cleopatra, and from Cleopatra to Miss Christabel Panklinr.-t is by many mon considered to lie in her ‘infinite variety.' She is. we are told, a “crea’urr of moo L* which mean* if I may put i‘ ungaL lan.ly that it u a toss-up whether,

when Darby returns home, he srhall find hit* .Joan in tears and tantrums or al! smiles and in a mood of melting tenderness.”—“Dreams in Dead Earnest,” by Coulson Kernahan. Jarrold. 3/6 net. REVIEWS. Rest Harrow ; A Comedy of Resolution : By Maurice Hewlitt. (London: Macmillan and Co. Auckland: Wildman anti Arey. 3/6 and 2/6.) “Rest Harrow.” we conclude, shows us the end of John Senhouse as a Hewlett protagonist, since his creator has got him safely wedded to Sancilia Percival, who, it will l>e remembered figured largely and picturesquely as Artemis in “Open Country.” a state fatal to romance for novel-making purposes. At the close of “Open Country.” Sanchia, it will a’so be remembered, had given herself illegally to that contemptible villain Nevile Ingram, of Wanless Hall. Felsboro’, and in £O doing had been ostracised by her kindred (with the exception of her father), friends and society at large. For the first few years things had gone well with Sanchia, she being so sustained and exalted by the purity of her motives and the largeness of her self-sacrifice as to have neither inclination nor leisure for introspection or retrospection. Then Xevile Ingram, as was to be expected, tired of the monotony of an existence inhabited by the same I've. ami finding that Sanchia possessed an absolute genius for directing and managing affairs germane to the material prosperity and well-being of his estate, had left Sanchia installed at Wanless a-s steward-in-.chief, and had gone abroad wiith the intention of making up for the time lost in the tame domesticities of the past years. After a year or absence the bar to his union with Sancha. viz., his wife’s existence, had been removed.

and this fact, of being immediately communicated to San.-hia had reached her from an outside source. Which fact, coupled with a year's neglect and reflection, had produced in S.imhia an aversion for Ingram, by no means dif ficult to justify. Then, precisely after a a ear and ten days' silence, came a tele gram announcing that he would arrive next day at Wanless. accompanied by a house party, whi.h included two ladies. We couid deliver ourselves at length on the sordidity of the scenes that fol low. in which Ingrain, in turn, treats Siinchia as upper servant, worldly ad viser, or cocotte; until the final scene at Wanless, where Ingram, after being soundly thrashed (thank heaven) by tin honest, admirer of hers who ha’l fathomed the purity of her motives, had di*misM‘d her with an obloquy ami an ig nomv too shameful to be read with equanimity, ami excusable only for the very sound mor.a I it conveys. After wards, as will have been divined by those who have estimate.l Sanchia at her true worth. Neviie is self-impelled to make what is commonly miscalled rest it irt ion i.e.. by making her his wife. Ami here kindred, friends ami acquaintances of ’both sexes, ami from various motive**

Interested. and durinterested, are unanibkhis in the counsel to accept Nevile’s offer. And, for the first time really sinning, Sanchia, with a view to an atonement to kindred and society, accepts Ingram'> offer. At this juncture Maurice Hewlett proves himself the artist he is. an I marries Sanchia to her natural mate. John Senhouse. Neither of these books, though cultured an.l deeply interesting. constitute pleasant reading. But they show the trend of the paganistic and the casuistical reasoning that is penneat* ing and animating the thoughts and actions of a certain section of modern society. There is more than one moral tn Mr Hewlett’s story, but we do not intend to point out more than the one which dearly shows that as society is at present constituted, the conventions may not he defied with impunity, ('-onventions that regulate the relations between the sexes. lie they ever so harsh or so abused, are the bulwarks of society, and constitute woman's chief .protection against man. In the days to come, when tlie social penalty of defying the conventions shall have been equalised between the sexes, tlte necessity for convention will have reached a vanishing point. This is at once our hope and our conviction. In the meantime, we thank Mr Hewlett for resisting the ordinarily irresistible temptation of wedding Sanchia, notwithstanding her sins, to that dastardly reprobate Nevile Ingram. We are indebted to the Messrs Macmillan for <|ur copy of ’‘Rest Harrow.’’ Jline to Six-thirty : By W. PettRidge. (London: Methuen and Co. Auckland: Wildman and Arey. 3/6 and 2/6.) ft is impossible to read “Nine to SixThirty” without thinking of Mr. H. G. Wells’ “Ann Veronica.” But there is guch a difference in atmosphere, though

the theme dealt with Js essentially the same, and the object is identical. Barbara Harrison, Mr. Port-Ridge's heroine, belongs to the same class of suburban society as did Ann Veronica: each dwelt in an uncongenial atmosphere and environment, each deserted their homes and struck out new paths for themselves, and each eventually married ami settled down to that life of humdrum domesticity thf\ had taken such pains to escape from at the oui»e‘. But with a difference.. One kept, the other sinned against, the conventions. The one was instinctively protected by men. the other's virtue was being continually assailed by men. until its frail citadel fell. Yet each <m their marriage were received with opm arms by society. Both show (dearly the many difficulties, dangers, privations and pitfalls that' lw-et the path of the girl who assumes a life of independence. “Nine to Six-Thirty” is a genuine human document, as well as an admirably detailed history of suburban life in the vicinity of the world's metropolis. If Mr. Pett-Ridgc's lx><»k has a fault, it is that it is rather too long drawn-out in places, and that it mis.es rather Luo summarily the

Hansford affair. Ellen Blades is a host in herself, and is-. alas! a rara avis in these days. Mr. Pett-Ridge shows very clearly and without any exaggeration how sheerly impossible it is for a wonan to enter into the turmoil, and practice the petty deceits of business and professional life, without some of the bloom of gentle refinement, softness, and grace of manner, and the indescribable reticence that constitutes woman’s chief charm being rubbed off. Our copy of this eminently interesting book has reached us through Messrs. Methuen and Co. The Stars for 3d.: By a Briton Beyond the Seas (Mrs. Edwin Field). (Melbourne: E. W. Cole, Book Arcade.) Thio informative little book, which we have received from Mr. E. W. Cole, of the Melbourne Book Arcade, is furnished. iu addition to its text, with a diagram which shows the path round the South Pole apparently travelled by that beautiful constellation called the Southern Cross during the twelve months of the year, and also during every twenty-four hours. Easily comprehensive directions are also given for locating the stars of greater and lesser magnitude that form the planetary and solar system of the Southern Hemisphere. The difference, too, is pointed out between stars, planets and comets, and the popular fallacy that meteors are falling stars is exposed. In stating the object of her book, the writer quotes Sir Robert Ball, Astronomer Royal, who says that “a knowledge of the principal constellations and stars of. the first magnitude should form a part of the education of every child iu the Kingdom.” This opinion, after reading this work, we cordially share, and recom-

mend this little primer to the notice of parents and teachers, as eminently calculated to inspire an interest in astronomy, which is one of the most ancient ami the most mysterious of the arts. King's Favourites: By Francis Biekley. (London: Methuen ami Co., 30, Essex-street, W.C. Price 10/6.) Mr. Birkley is highly to be congratulated on his extremely, delicate handling of a subject which, in the hands of an author of less cleanly instincts, might easily have degenerated into mere •'muckraking.’’ Seldom, indeed, and especially taking into consideration the licentiousness of the period in which Mr. Biekley has erected his stage and set his various scenes, have we come across a chronicler who. while faithfully reflecting the history of King’s favourites of both sexes, has accomplished this task without embroidering, shocking, unduly censuring, moralising or making too great a demand upon the credulity of his readers by investing his characters with virtues foreign to them, and contradicted

by historic testimony. “Nothing extenuate nor set down aught iu mMice” is the injunction Mr. Biekley has evidently adhered to in the present work, which is as accurate history as thorough and patient research could make it. and eminently interesting reading, in spite of the restraint of its style. With a view to setting some limit to the scope of the book, and partly because of the author’s preference for the earlier ages, he has confined himself to the King’s favourites of both sexes who flourished in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This limitation as to date has, of course, thinned the crowd of candidates for admission. Still, a goodly choice is left, though many a one whom romance has celebrated proves, at close quarters, to be little more than a ghost, without the substance, of history. The Fair Rosamund. for instance, dissolves to a legend of a maze and a poisoned eup, and Odette de Champdivers, who soothed the sixth Charles of France in his madness, is only a beautiful name. That more space has been devoted to the male favourities, is not to be accounted a discourtesy to the ladies, since man’s life is naturally more full of activities than woman's, and. besides, Mr. Biekley confesses, that a woman whom a King loves exercises an influence too subtle for the crude pen to analyse. Should any moral be needed by the book’s readers, it is sufficient to say that of the five frail ladies of whom this book treats, three outlived their lives and ended their days in varying degrees of misery and loneliness, and the other two died in the pains of unhallowed child-bearing: while of the men, few escaped a death of violence. Piers Gaveston is the first to make his appearance in the Biekley gallery. Piers Gaveston, favourite of our own Edward 11. was a native of Gascony. His history, as it appeared to the English nobles, may be summed up in the words of an old work of Malmesbury,

who, in writing Edward H.’s biography, sums up Goveston’s misdeeds in the following three lines: ‘’Piers Gaveston led the King astray, disturbed the land, drained the treasury, went three times into exile, and afterwards returning lost his head.” It is interesting, however, and highly commendable in Edward 11. to note that he continued to love and honour his favourite’s memory after his death, an I indeed to his life’s end. Piers Gaveston, had he not had the misfortune to’ be a king's favourite might have been a capable administrator, since -we find him during one of his exiles capably governing Ireland, and idolized by the Irish people land, and idolized by the Irish people for the very audacious personality and extravagant display that cost him his head at the hands of the English nobles. Alice Perrers, mistress of Edward Ilf. next comes into view. The infatuation of [Edwurd 111. for AJice Perrers, must always remain a mystery to historians, since the hero of Crecy took to himself this favourite after he had been happily married for forty years. The impression left upon our mind by Mr. Biekley’s pen picture, is that Kipling's “Vampire’* is

the history of Alice Perrers done int« prose. Alvaro de Luna, a favourite of the miserably weak Juan of Ca-stila, next passes in procession; contrary to the run of king’s favourites, de Lun* was beloved by the common people, whose benefactor he was. His too great love for the contemptible Juan wa« his undoing. Mr. Biekley says of him:—' “In truth a great man died on that Jun* morning of the year 1453. The enthusiastic eulogies of the “Chronicler* need not be accepted as a true estimate of Alvaro de Luna's character;! neither need the unctuous denunciations of historians of the moralising school. In comparison with the other leading men of the reign he shows well enough;, weak Juan and his weaker son, tha Aragonese princes with their constant, often apparently purposeless trickery and falsehood. Alvaro was better than these. He made war, but because war was made on him. He lied and tricked, but it was a rule of the game. He served Jttm well. For that, perhaps he deserved his fate.” Buried in a comment malefactor’s grave. kindlier hand* afterwards removed his body to the Franciscan Church in Valladolid. Afterwards it was placed in a splendid tomb in Toledo Cathedral. Juan survived him a year, and to his eternal shame found time “to write a long and highly-coloured account of his erstwhilfl favourite's misdemeanours. Exit Alvaro de Luna. Agnes Sorel, favourite of th* French Charles VII. has been bracketed with Joan of Are as saviour of France. History is somewhat divided on the precise right of Agnes Sorel to share this honour with the maid of Orleans, but it is certain that about the time the liaison between Charles and Agnes Sorel commenced, that a remarkable change took place in the character and conduct of Charles; that her influence was always for good, save in their joint personal dishonour, and that from the death of Agnes Sorel, dates the moral deterioration of Charles. This sketch is the most pathetic in the book. In his sketch of Jane Shore, Mr. Biekley has exposed "several historic fallacies relative to the life and death of this favourite of Edward IV. who, unfortunately for that lady, predeceased her. Diane de Poitiers the fifth of Mr. Biekley’s studies, is one of the most interesting, if least likable, of the maitresses en titre depicted by, him. Catherine de Medici, whose name will be execrated by posterity to the end of time, as the instigator of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, figure* humiliatingly in the pages devoted to Diane of Poitiers. We, in common with posterity, have marvelled how one of the gentler sex could have countenanced, much less have instigated such a horrible crime. We dd( not for a moment justify, but we see the effect Diane de Poitiers wicked existence and continual interference must; have had upon her character, rendering it absolutely impervious to justice, mercy, and the gentler virtues peculiar to het sex. Chapter seventh deals with th® “Minions of Henri HI. of France.” A capital sketch is given of Robert Leicester in these pages. We who have dreamed our dreams and steeped ourselves in the never to be forgotten atmosphere of the real and the fictitious Kennilworth, revelled in the thirty-six pages devoted to the favourite of the greatest of Fn<r-li-h queens. Gabriel D’Estree’s, chief favourite of Henri of Naval re. brings up the rear of the historic procession of Kings’ favourites of three centuries. We warmly and unreservedly recommend Mr Biekley’s splendidly accurate history to our readers, and to students of history in particular. We have received this book, which has been a keen pleasure to read and review, from Messrs Methuen and Co. t -