LITERARY CHAT

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 May 1901, Page 639

LITERARY CHAT

By "The Sage."

Messrs. Upton and Co. have forwarded me two additions to Macmillan and Co.'s Colonial Library. The first is .a most fascinating aud powerfully- written romance by Maurice Hewlett, the author of Forest Lovers. It is entitled The Life and Death of 'Richard Yea-and-Nay. In the exordium the Abbot Milo, in his discourse about leopards, uses these pertinent words : — " I knew the man, my dear master and a great king, who brought the leopards into the shield of England, more proper to do it than his father, being more the thing he signified. Of him, therefore, torn by two natures cast in two moulds, sport of two fates : the hymned and reviled, the loved and loathed, spendthrift and a miser king and a beggar, the bond and the free, god and man ; of King Richard Yea-and-Nay, so made, so called, and by that unmade." It is of such a man that the author has elected to write, and in the most graphic manner he gives a constant succession of vivid word pictui'es which hold the reader enhanced from the first page to the last. The glorious Jehane "of the Fair Girdle," " fronted like Juno, shaped like Hebe, and like Demeter in stature," " a fine straight maid, golden and delicate with strangely shaded eyes " is

a fitting heroine of this attractive romance. 0! her the author writes : — " God had given her a magnificent body, but Richard made it glow. Grod had made her soul a fair

room, bat his love had filled it, with light, decked it with flowers and such artful furniture. He, in fact, had given her grace to deal queenly with herself." in his loves, perhaps, this " most glorious prince in the world " proves the aptness of the nickname the most clearly. Madame Alois is the French princess, " a .slinking thin girl, with the tragic face of the fool in a comedy set in black hair," whom King Henry, the old lion, wished his son Richard to marry. It is of ' her that Richard exclaims : " Jesus, will he put me to a block of ice?" At another period of the story Sancho, King of Navarre, who " feared England greatly — the horrible old Brindled Lion and Richard, offspring of the Lion and the Pard, the leopard who made more songs and fought more quarrels out than any Christian prince " — conceived the idea of offering his child Berengere, called by trobadors "Frozen Heart," to bo thawed iv the sun of Richard as his bride, well dowered with broad lands and 60,000 marks iv gold. It is not the purpose of this review to disclose the plot, but rather let me conclude by advising my readers to get the book, and read for themselves this en tliral ling romance wherein the characters are so vividly drawn that they seem to live and breathe, and one can almost imagine oneself dwelling in the days of tournaments, of the glorious armies of the Cross, of fierce struggles and

conquests. With all his faults, the reader cannot fail to close the book with kindly feelings for Richard Yea-and-Nay, and the deepest sympathy for Jehane, of the Fair Girdle.

correspondence one has read on the subject in the dailies, In the Banks of the G.I.V. is a book which will be read with pleasure ; personally, I did not skip a line of it.

The second addition to Macmillan's Colonial Library is a decided contrast. In the Banks of the G.I.V. is, as the subtitle explains, " A Narrative and Diary of Personal Experiences with the 0.1.V Battery (Honorable Artillery Company) in South Africa," by Driver Erskine Childers, clerk in the House of Commons. The diary form of narration does not as a rule appeal to the I'eader ; it is apt to be monotonous, but the fact that this was written day by day during the war on board the troopship, in camp, and on the field of action, where, as the writer explains, the driver has plonty of spare time to write up his diary while minding his horses after leaving the gun. The book is brightly written, and deals principally with the author's experiences as a driver, for, as he remarks, the battle is " as usual unintelligible to the humble unit." He' describes graphicaly the crowded troopship, the tiresome delays before getting into action, his sensations when under fire, " I suppose it arises from the nature of my work, but I feel no animosity to anyone. Infantry, no doubt, get the lust of battle, but I don't experience anything like it, though gunners tell me they do, which is natural." Of BadenPowell he writes : " I was chiefly struck by his walk, which had a sort of boyish devil-may-care swing in it, while in dress he looked like an ordinary trooper." He has nothing but praise of the Boers' treatment of their prisoner. He refers to De Wet as " what an eel of a man !" and early in the book surmises that his capture will be very shortly accomplished, as they have him well hemmed in. He gets a veldt sore on his foot, and has hospital experiences to relate. Of his return with his troop he writes : "Physically and mentally, I, like many others, have found this short excursion into strict , military life of enormous value." Notwithstanding the vast amount of

From Mr. John D. Ritchie, secretary of the Department of Agriculture, I have received Leaflets for Gardeners and Fruitgrowers, Nos. 40 and 41. The value of these productions cannot be easily overestimated in a country where there has, in the past, been some danger of a highly important industry being neglected. With our soil, climate, and opportunities, New Zealand certainly ought to be the foremost fruitgrowing country in the world. Tinned and preserved fruits, aud various sorts of wines, ought to form a very considerable item in our exports. Anything that tends to bring about this desirable consummation is highly to be commended. Leaflet No, 40 is a comprehensive article on " Orchard Work," by J. 0. Blackmore and S. I. Fitch, written " in response to numerous requests for information, with a view to assist those who may contemplate fruit-growing, and who may not have much practical acquaintance with the subject, rather than for the experienced orchardist." Much reliable information is given under the following headings : — Selection of Site, Choice of Locality, Soils Suitable for Fruit Trees, Drainage, Subsoiling, Preparation of Land for Planting, Choice of Varieties, Fruit Tree Stocks, Planting, Pruning, Grafting, Mulching, Manuring, Irrigation, Thinning, Packing, etc., etc. Some illustrations of an excellent mode of pruning prevent the reader from misunderstanding the directions given. Leaflet No. 41 is by the same authorities, but it deals in a somewhat similar manner with the apple alone, and enters morj fully into its insect and fungus pests. At the end a useful list is given of the various varieties of dessert and cooking apples, also of those most suitable for export. I strongly recommend all intending fruit farmers to apply to the Department at Wellington for these leaflets.

The March number of the Atom Quarterly ; a magazine written and illustrated by the girls of New Zealand, and edited by Miss Dora E. Moor, of Auckland, has just come to hand. The conditions which limit the contributors to this interesting periodical are three: that they shall be girls, that they shall be single, and that they shall be subscribers. The number under review is brightly written, neatly printed on excellent paper, and well illustrated, and shows distinct promise of a favourable future for some, at least, of the girls of New Zealand in the paths of literature and art, and the editor is to be sincerely congratulated on her enterprise in giving them this excellent inceutive to literary and ai'tistic advancement. A Grlimpse at Central Otago, an Interview with a Plague Bacillus, Bereavement, a prize essay on the Individual Responsibilities of Women, Pleasure and Duty, Presence of Mind, New Zealand Bush Scenery, Bashfulness, and A Retrospect, are amongst the subjects daintily treated by the fair contributors, while a reproduction of the late Mr. Mackechnie, and some neatly-executed pen and ink sketches, form the illustrations.

Higher Evolution, then proceeding to treat on Re-Incarnation from several points of view, as a Basis of Logical Religion, as a Scriptural Question, in regard to Church Dogma, and as a Social Question. The work will |prove of interest, evon to those who do not agree with the author's viows. * The Commonwealth dictatorial has a favourable notice of "Alien's" latest book, Ihe Devil's Half- Acre, of which I did not receive a copy in time to review in this issue, although I hear it is on the way. It was the work she completed just before putting Another Woman's Territory on the stocks, and already offers have been made her for its dramatization in America — if, indeed, negotiations have not already been concluded. When first arranging with her for a serial for the New Zealand Illustrated Maoazin% The DeviVs Half- Acre was the ono proposed, but the talented authoress gave it as her opinion that its successor, Another Woman's 'Territory, would be a still better work, and more suitable for a serial for the periodical in question.

A pamphlet, entitled Me- Incarnation : The Universal Religion of the Twentieth Century, comes to me from the author, Mr. Alexander Joyce, of Ghristclmrch. It is published by Messi's. Willis and Aiken, of that city. In it the author sets very clearly and concisely before the reader his " thoughts upon the puzzling Problem of Human Conditions, and propounds what appears to him a solution of the great difficulties pertaining to it." He sets forth " a statement of Rational Religion, which, if duly considered, vviil be found to reconcile many contradictions which exist under present currently accepted religious teaching," — a desirable consummation, truly — and which is also of the nature of a " three-fold cord, Faith, Science, and Social Progress." The author deals with the subject lucidly, taking first — Man's

Referring to the ever-increasing difficulties which besot the young aspirants to literary fame in securing a publisher for their first books, I make the following extract from a private letter: " Only those who have tried it know the difficulty of placing a book — it is impossible to do so unless it reachos just the standard demanded. Where fifty, or even twenty, years ago work made a name, it is not even considered now. In the seven years I have been reader to Hutchinson thousands of MSS., really good, have been rejected because not good enough. The publishers will not risk anything. They make themselves certain beforehand that a book will pay them (whether it does tho author or not) before they publish. There is not the faintest sentiment about the matter, no wish to encourage new authors."