VIEWS AND REVIEWS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1978, 7 February 1914, Page 9

VIEWS AND REVIEWS.

Stead Returned? ' A little .book which' should appeal very.:-strongly, to' all; who are interested in spiritualism,;and in what aro : known as psychic phenomena, is entitled "Has 'W. ;T.' Stead. Returned? , ,A Symposium" (London, 1 L.: N. Fowler and Co.; per Whitcombo and Tombs),. The editor, Mr.' James Coatcs, Ph.D., tF.A.S., has carefully collected arid edited for publication the testimonies of a number of prominent spiritualists and "trusted psychics" in various parte of tho world to the effect that not only have they received messages from the late Mr. Stead, but that he has "manifested" or appoared in more or. less bodily form to them, ■ The testimonies are of a most detailed character,- and clearly • represent an undoubted faith /in the alleged fact that,Mr.'Stead is in'frequent communication with persons on this earth. Not only does Mr. Stead do this, but. it is claimed that the psychic photographs of the famous journalist, reproductions of which are given in the book, are unquestionably/genuine. Tho editor's wife, Mrs. Cortes, seems to have been a specially-favoured "control," and personal testimony, by "seven and fourteen, sane and' level-headed persons to Mr. Stead's "etherealisatipns" and 'direct voice', to this lady" are given, for the. edification of doubting readers. Miss Estelle. W. '■ Stead ; contributes a short preface to, what, to believers in spiritnalism,, must prove a publication or• quite' thrilling- interest. . As to. the big army of "sceptics"—well, I really can't imagine what they will think, and ICwofild upon, what they may say. . The illustrations include several, portraits'/and/"psychic photegraphs." '■'• /'■ ■' '.'■ ' ': ]. '.-iniphael.Flew. I ''"!' ~,,'•-■ •■'',7' ; English papers by: last mail chronicle tlie death of EditlyEmm'a' Cooper/-who, in .collaboration.'with- her aunt,, lliss Bradley, was -knoyvn' 'inV/.the literary world as-"Michael Field." ■ "Michael Field'' -was long supposed;to be' a'-man. Brov/ning was specially.enthusiastic over , tho lyrieal.note which was ; struck in- the poetic drama, "Callirrhbe,".-published im 1884, and specially-commended the'following lines: —.'-..-'. ... . '.-':> •.T dance "and dance! Another faun.v A black one, dances, on'the lawn., — Ho moves with me, and when I lift:My heels his feet directly, shift. ~ I'can't'oiit-dancc him, though'l try; - ' He'dance's nimbler-than I.' I toss my head, 'and so does he; ' What tricks he dares to play on me!' I touch the ivy'in ray hair; Ivy has he, and finger there. The spiteful thing to mock me so. . I-will out-dance him! Ho! ho! ho! . ' In these lines the "Athenaeum" (De-, comber 20) see3|thatreaction from 'the 1 Tehriysonian/'inood which.has at length .won applause in '.'The Book of Georgian ..Poetry/'•:..Most 'of;" Michael, Field's" poems-we're published by the Vale; Press and'other private:presses..lent '-judges -of poetry have held "Michael -Field's"' poetry in very -high estecm;,,,;notably .'tho 'late Lionel ■ Jphnson, who contributed along appreciation of'.-Mus''Cfldj)er!s^;;dramaavc;'to , U;Mile/8;f8 "Poets of\the / Century." .Most' of "Michael, Field , s"'dramas;are cohcenietl, ' notable, no.dtfub'^aTe ! ' c CafflrfKae""antl "jFair Rosamond." I have quoted the lyric of which Browning thought:., so highly. My own favourite is ','A Summer. Wind":-.:' , "'..'.. 0 Witfd, thou hast thy kingdom in'the trees, .'■ > And all thy royalties ' ' Sweep through the land to-day. ■ ' It is mid-June, , . And thou, with all thy instruments in tune, - Thine orchestra Of heaving fields and heavy' swinging fir, Strikest a lay • - . . . That doth rehearse ,: ■' ~ ." Her ancient.freedom to the universe. All other sound in cave Eepeats. its law. ' The- bird is mute; the sea Sucks up jjs waves; from rain . Thebnrthened clouds refrain Tolisten to thee in thy leafery. '.. ■ 'Thou unconfined, -,-' Lavishi large, soothing, refluent summer i : J-,, wind. The "Tom Brown". Originals. . Although I already possess two editions of-Tom Hughes's "Tom Brown's School D-iys," one a shilling pocket edition, tho other, published by Macmillan, an edition'specially illustrated by that clever-artist in black and white,, Mr. E. J. Sullivan, I should like" very much, if not to buy, at least: to look through, the pages of an.entirely new edition of the famous story which has just been published by Sidgwick and Jackson. A special feature of this edition is, I read, a long psefaco by Lotd; Kilbracken, in wliich ;much interesting and hitherto unpublished information is given as'te Hughes's purpose in-writing the book, as to the comments thereon, of pharles KinMloy (who read the proofs), and of, Bean Stanley and last, not least, as te the originals, real or supposed, of some, of the principal characters. ■* Charles Kingsley was, it appears, most enthusiastic in his praise. .'■'lt will be a vory. great hit//, writes the author of "Westward Ho" te Macmillans. "It is tho only book of its kind, r should have been proud te have written that book/word for word •a3 it stands." .Dean Stanley renia'rk'ed: "It is an absolute reyeiation to me, opens up a wc'rld of which, though so hear nie, I was absolutely' ignorant." It ha 3 ofton been thought that Stanley was the original of the Arthur of Ihe story, but Mrs. Hughes demolished this' theory; by pointing out that "Stanley left Rugby soon after my husband went as quite a- small boy, and they did not know each other until after 'Tom Brown' was written. , Tom Brown himso'.f.was mainly, but not entirely, a portrait of-Tom Hughes. His eldor -brother, George, wo are now told, enters largely inte the. corrposition. The famous .'fight between Tom Brown and "Slogger" Williams was founded on a real occurrence, the two combatants being Augustus Orlebar (tho Rev. Augustus Qrlebar, vicar of Wellington; Bedford, for fifty-four years, who'.died September 30, 1912); and the Rev. Bulkeley Owen Jones, Chancellor of tho Didceso of St. Asaph, and for fifty years Warden of Ruthin, North Wales, whose death, in his_ ninetieth year, was reported in tho cables a week or two ago. Tho two backers in the fight were Tom Hughes and J. G. Holdway. Lord Kilbracken states that "Orlebar fainted and couldMiot" come up to time, and Jones, who was much more punish-, ed,. wa3 so disfigured that Dr. Arnold did not know him. ■ Arnold stepped the fight; and both combatants, when they had recovered, had to repeat two hundred lines of Virgil. to him for breaking tho rules. Both also became and remained firm friends. They never met after leaving Rugby unti' the unveiling of a statue at Rugby to Tom Hughes. Ixird Kilbracken p< ints out that "Slogeer Williams" was only Orlebar "in "his fighting character,' and not' in moral respects." All old Rugboians, ahd.thert arenot a few in. tho Dominion; should ho interested in this new edition of what may fairly bo considered an English classic. ■ Tlie English price is 10s. 6d. There are many illustrations of 'tho old school and its surroundings..

Will Ogllvio on "Tho Flying Scotchman. •.'.■■• "Tho Scotsman" is, as a rule, in its daily issue, a soterely prosaic journal, and.to find a poem 'in:its columns (December IS)-came to me the other day aa quite a. surprise. But pleasure conquered astonishment when I found that-tho poem, entitled' "Tho v ■ Flying Scotchman," was signed by an old favourite of mine, Mr. Will H. Ogilvie, of "Bulletin" and "Fair Girls and Gray Horses" fame. That Mr. Ogilvie, can gracefully interpret tho poetry of- motion and the charm of place may be seen by tho last four stanzas, which I take the liberty of quoting:— . A- moment's pause at Grantham, as ■ a : bird might pause a-win?, Then forward to the fields again., a throbbing, living thing. O'er Midland fen and meadow, o'er Yorkshire down and dale, Till through the mist the Minster towers ■ rise splendid from'tho vale. Once more the brakes are lifted, and on ,:by. Durham's, spires,-' . . He answers, as a horse to spur, his banlc- ,'-■ ed and burdened fires. Till'through the gritty coal dust tin .. high-set house-roofs, shine,' And swift and dark beneath us rolls down the ravished Tyne. •■ 1 Clean fields again, bent toilers that poise • 'their hoes and wait To watch the Flying Scotchman picking ■ up his sixty gait, ' Then Cheviot shields the Lowlands with his warden majesty, ■ - And.over Holy Island "comes a broath of ; open sea.Where here a castle glimmers, or there a coastal, tow ii. ' The whistle warns'a crossing,' or screams a signal down, I Till seagulls by/the Border Bridge stoop to our slowing' speed, , And dip a- silver wing to us to wave us ' home to' Tweed., .':..'' /It is clear that in leaving Australia for hjs native land, Mr. Ogilvio has lost none of his -old .'capacity for writing swinging,' stirring .verse.. But: I must quarrel, with.the last lino .of the first stanza: quoted,' for. York- Minster:does not tower over a' vale, but a" plain. "Dizzy" as, "Slangwhanger." : Ererypno.who is.buying the late Mr Moiieypenny's .monumental "Life of Lord B.eaconsfield"—the third ; volume should be out very soon—should make a note of■a rew hook,' also published by John' Murray,' entitled "Whigs and W'higgism/' This is a collection of Disraeli's political' writings. 'Like his famous successor,in-the.Tory leadership, | Lord Salisbury, who as. a young man was, a frequent 'contributor to the "Saturday Reriew," t "Dizzy", dabbled npta little in..journalism during ' his earlier-career.- Mr., Hutcheon, the editor of the-new .volume, gives a series of extracts from a series of leading articles which tho author.. of. "Vivian Grey" .wrote for the "Moping /Post.". From these.' oiioi can gather some -idea of the .bludgcon-swihging ability of the future 'statesman. Of Lord' Denmau, who had been'made Common, Sergeant, Disraeli says "ho. niight just as-well-have been made Jack Ketch." ' Another legal celebrity, Lord $ampbell, is described as/'this base-born. Scotchman," "this booing, fawning, jobbing progehv of haggis and ' cock-a-leekie." There is quite a smack -of "The latanswoll Gazette," of the stylo affected-bv the redoubtable Messrs. Pott and: Slurk, in a passage relating, : to "the miserable Lord Melbourne,"-the journalist declaring that "the annals of political' profligacy' dp not contain an'instance of inoro bare-faced apos'tacy than is exibited by the career of this unhappy leader' of the Whigs." Another sentence'reads.: —•"Joseph Hume's caligraphy reminds ono'o'fa chandler's sho'p/Wd hisiott'er's' resemble a. buttorrhan's bill." Tho ar-. tiqles' .were secured, for'tho. : . "Morning Lynclh.Ursti'i who jrecog--nised,,'riii--pisraeli,-'."the ease'r daredevil ,of a. .master-controversialist," whilst ';DisTaeli, on his side, exhibited his grati;tudo' by declaring that Lyridhurst 'ouijht to ."be 'Hfor-the third tinie'Keeper'of that- Great Seal which he has -.- guarded with .so \much' wisdom and so-.- much honour." Clearly, .Disraeli* well understood the "game" of-party journalism, but it is to his credit that even thoughho did most venomously attack his'political enemies,, and cover his. political friends with fulsome flattery, at least he did it gratis. For the "Morning Post" articles he received 1:0 : payment, although: at that period ofv'his. life, as those who read the first volume of tho biography will remember, "Dizzy" was' often in sore straits for ready money. Liber's Note Book. •:: To Correspondents.—Waverley (signature beyond me!): Thanks very much tor;cdippmgs. Two of the novels already reviewed in The DoiiiNioK. Articles on Lytton and Nicol's boob will appear shortly. Pleased to' know your friends find Literary Column useful.—. "Biblon": Will deal with your queries next week. '■ " ' . ' , s ■ ' * * * The price of that old-establisho'd literary journal "The Athenaeum" is to be rajsed from threepence to sixpence, ','Tho Athenaeum" 'reviews are often rather too ponderous in 'stvle, but'.this much may always be said of them, that they.bear'no trace of the malignant influence of the advertising department. Which is more than can be said of the reviews in many i other English papers. The most useful feature in 1 "The Athenaeum" .novra'days, is the weekly list of "all books published during the previous, week,- with: short, , "peniruican" reviews' of those of any importance/ Tho feature was, of course, copied from the 'Times" Literary-Supplement, but it is nonb the less very well done in the older literary journal. '• ' ">-».'•'. Macmillans have just published a new edition (ss. net) of :"Tlie Shorter Poems of Frederick Tennyson." Frc'dorick, who . was ' '■ Alfred Tennyson's ■' eldest brother, was a; somewhat eccentrio friend, by the wav. of the brilliantly-sifted., but equallv eccentric 1 Edward FitzGerald, of Omar Khayyam fame. "."It is because, there are so few F. Tennysans in the world." wrote I'ltxGerald. "that I do not like to be wholly out.of hearing of the one I know. Tsce;so' many little natures that I needs must draw tothe large." . '. " » •• ', o ' ' Stanley Paul and .Co., a very enterprising; firm of publishers, announce .thereissue-in a much' cheaper form than .that, of the original .edition, of some quite important"biographies.. The scries is to be called "The Essex Library," the first volumes-being Bafael Sabatini's much-discussed "Life of Cesa.ro Borgia," in w,hich so much new light is thrown upon that, famous figure of the Italian Renaissance period, and J A. T. Lloyd's admirable hook on the Biipsjan novelist Feodor Dostoveffsky. whoso ; "Crime and Punishment," .in. Mrs. Garnett's translation, published by H'einemanns, has enjoyed so much popularity with 'English and American readors. , ' ' In.'his Tecently-pnhlishsd "Memories of Charles Dickens," Mr". Percy Fitz.-. Gerald claims tliat tho original of Mrs. Jellaby, in "Bleak H0u38," was Harriet Ma.rtinoau. Mr. Fitzgerald appears to think ho has made quite an important Diokensian discovery, but unless I am mistaken tho late Mr. Kitton, in a magazine article, published some years ago, entitled "Some Diokens Originals," clearly identified Mis-s Martinean as having been Mrs. Jollaby's original. In "Bar, Bat, and Bit/' a volume of "recollections and experiences," by Sir E. G'haitdos Leigh, K.C., I find a Thackeray story which-1 do not recollect reading before. Writing of tho notabilities with whom, as a young man, ho foro"gathcred at Evans's famous , supper rooms in Covent Gardens which Thaekerav made famous in "The Xowconies"

—the building is how occupied by tho National Sporting Club—Sir . Edward Leigh writes:— One night I found Thackeray alono at a table when upcamo a mostobsequious gentleman, who rubbed his hands together and addressed Thackeray with the most fulsome compliments. When ho passed on I' said to Thackeray, "Pray tell ms who is that?" Hia answor Was, "Ho calls himself an artist, but ho paints as much in butter as in oils." e # » . In tho new "Wsverley" edition (why "Waverley"?) of Dickens's novels, tht>' chief feature is a scries of new ilhjstra-. ; tions by the well-known humorous artist, Mr. Charles Pears. Anlintroduction to each novel is provided by some ■ more or less popular writer of to-day. ; Certain of theso introductions, such as : that bv Mr. Hall Caine to "David Copperficld," and that by tho Baroness Orczy to "Little D'orxit." do not appeal to me, but I should like to read whatMr. Chesterton has-to say about- - 'A. f Christmas Carol." and Mr. Bernard Shaw' 3 prefaco.to "Hard.Times" is sure to be characteristically impudent -and readable. - - , / » ■ -a- y ■ : . I have'always a kindly -welcome for Chambers's Journal with its yellow cover,' 60 , familiar to mo in.my youth, but the January, issue brought mo a special pleasuro"in that.it contains tho opening chapters of a new serial: by Mr. Lan Hay, the author of those dekghtful stories- "The Bight Stuff," 'A Man's Man," and "Pip." Mr.' Hay, whose full name -s Mr. Lan Hay Keith, was- at one'time a master at Fettes College, but has nowj I beliove, permanently relinquished pedagogy for a literary ■career.. Hi 3 new story, "A Knight, on Wheels,", makes an Excellent start. Shilling editions of Mr. Hays earlier novels ate now> I believe procurable. Those who like really wholesome interesting fiction, with a strikingly .humorous 'touch,/should; if they do Hot already know this-novelist's work, make acquaintance with it-as soon as possible. Mr.' Hay's ' earlier;, stories .appeared in'Blackwood's Magazine, but ,m Cliambers's. Journal the novelist should reach a wider-circle tham"Mhga. o 0 « !d toT6 provided for him. ■ ~ ; ' Manv of us who have found pleasure in. the'-iate-Pierre do Oattfeyiam-s novels, nctably "Bve;'Viotpriaiis," "On- the Branch," and that clever study f "Ehe* lish 'life, "The'-Unknown Isle/ have supposed that the author was a,comparatively young lady who took an aq-. tivo -part in the comedy of fashionable'life.- As "a," matter .of fact, Pierre de Coulevain, whe, in real life, was Mile. Fabre, was a little* white-haired old lady of dry and angular'features, who' was well over seventy when she died, comparatively -unknown, at a .Lausanne' hotel in October last. For many years she had"; acted as- governess in great families.- English-and American, Russian and Italian, .and- it was from this that she gained the knowledge she put to such brilliant use in her stories. * » 9 , I Anatole France, who was made so much of on his recent visit to London, has a new story, "Lcs Anges/ on, the stocks.- An' English translation of that ■ fine story, of the Revolutionary period, ■ "Les Dioux ont Soif," has recently boon published 'by John Lane. It is. better to read Anatole Fraiico-in tho original ■French 'if you .can, • but' the translations in Lane's, series are not ill-done,: although the fine flavour of the author's greatest gift, his irony, is' sometimes . a little evaporated in the English j version. '* - * *'■ n I.T •, II ." Hall-Caine's eheap.vand as "Liber" .considers' it, -very nasty 'melodrama in j hovel form, "Tho Woman Thon Gavcst ■Me,".,..is selling, I read, like "hot 'cakes/'t'.olt'.rs/gqod/oii.the other hatid, to hear that Compton'JirKenzie's. novel,/ "Sinister Street/', in which there is i such a fino psychologidßl interest, is! rapidly rising in favour/'-as the'-tan-: ; doubted merit .of' the -stoty -gaiita- wider recojn.itioh:'' Mr. Benson's pleasant•! Story of artistic life, plus Jome very' agreeable lo,ve-inaki)ig/''Tho.r;iey Weir," is. also a great 1 l success. Mrs. _ Wharton's'telling satire on the American di-. vorce laws/'"The Customof the Country/' is very, popular-with tho more thoughtful) class of readers. * * 6 ' , Tlie concluding volume, to be entitled "Vale/.' of Mr. Georgo 'Moore's triology of reminiscences jof' his life iu London, Ireland, and elsewhere, was to be published by.'Heinemaiins last mouth, It is understood that the author deals even more frankly with shmd of his contemporaries'than in even the first two volumes of the series, the general title of which is "Hail and Farewell." Moore is almost as amazingly and amusingly impertinent as that other clever irishman, "G. 8.5.," and what Yeats and other members of the irew Celtic Renaissance school of poets, playwrights, and literary prophets, tMught of certain passages inHhe first volume. "Are," would, if put into print, make interesting reading.