BOOKS AND AUTHORS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3118, 23 June 1917, Page 13

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

(By Liber.)

BOOKS OF THE DAY ;

'cue Horroi's of the Gerriian Prisons. President Wilson's message to Russia •laid down the principle that there should we no indemnities save for "actual wrongs." ' Amongst those "actual Trrongs" tunst surely bo. included the fiendish treatment of British' prisoners or the Huns. Much has appeared from time to time in the English Press upon this subject, but it has remained for ■a Mr. Henry C. Mahoney to bring forward, in his "Sixteen Months in .Four German Prisons" (Sampson, Low and Co.; por George. Robertson and Co.) a formal, ■ detailed, and positively damning, -"indictment of this particular phase of "Hun barbarity. When the war broke ■out, Mr. Mahoney, who is a professional was on his way -to Warsaw on business. Ho tried to reach Russia.. failed, and made a second attempt to <ruit Hnri land, bnt'was arrested on his ■trar to Holland. Chnrged with iwinj a spy, he -was tried before ju. secret courtmartial at Wesel with twenty-two 'other tinfortunates. Ho was luclcy enough to escape being shot, which was - the fate of twenty out of the twenty-three prisoners, but was not. however, definitely .p.crtuitted, beinc sent to -the Sennelaacar wison camn, nnd thonce "nftenrnrtls ' transferred to Klengeluntzandßnhleben. Trom RuUeben he wag finally allowed to return to England, as an invalid Jionfombafcant. Sixteen months did the unfortunate man spend in the four prisons. Bisteeii months of.almost unadulterated misery, both physical and mental. Senuelaager was the worst of the four prison •camps, a veritable hell upon eartli, where Tuled a. Prussian despot, Major bach, whose very name must ever be held in loathing by men of British birth. The BositiveLy demoniacal ingenuity of tins particular "blonde beast," in devisine ispecial annoyances, , discomforts; and aownright" cruelties .for ' infliction Tipdn ■he unfortunate prisoners under liis charge, is almost beyond belief, but Mr. jHahoney has made a sworn statement under the Statutory Declaration Act that .everything in his book is absolutely fa'ue. ■'home of the things set forth in tliis took are .positively revolting and productive of actual -physical nausea. Even the Chinese could scarcely teach the.Fiend of Sannelaager anything in tho way of studied and merciless torture. The man. too, was so utterly contemptible, us to accompany his,actual cruelties by exln\ lutions of petty spite and meanness of which only a German mind could lie Capable. Not content with starving tiie ■prisoners; with driving them out in the middle of the night into an open field •during one of the most violent storms ever known in tho district, with tying men up to posts for ten and twelve hours .at a time aa punishment for some such trivial offence us making a ioko u, Oerman soldier, lie would acluell.v invito tho women of the , town to come and jeer at the unhappy creatures under. Ins charge. He had a special hatred- ior some poor devils of Grimsbv ■trawlers, captured by the "heroes" of tho German High Seas Fleet. The tvrant ot bennelaaß«r refused to believe tliat +2 ordinary fishermen. Without the slightest proof and without any. inouiry.le dubbed them jilahoney says: • "Hβ decided to mark these unfortunate Hardened sea salts in a' distinsuishin;; manner which was peculiarly.nis own. thereby lendermg them conspicuous and possible of instant recognition, while in vT l ? ffi u £an c f cape M °S ."nan. submitted, to- the ind'i"aity of having one-half of his head shaved clean,'one-half of his'. , moustache ' re■aoved, or.one-Jialf of.h.is-beard.cufc awav ■ . loe men branded in this manner -meK S j j spectacle, and one which 'afforded Major Bach endless amuseEaent!

Mr. Mahoney's book throws many interesting sidelights on the German character, the condition of the German people during flie war, and their ignorance of ■ great happenings at the front, and particularly of the persistence with which Jjreat Britain is painted by the authorities as having brought about the wnr, and being the cole cause of (ho country's present state. The illustrations, from (•-ketches by the author, enhance the feeling of horror (hat Englishmen should nave been subjected to such cruelties and epitefiil indignities. The book should bo widely read and its lessons pondered over, ■especially by foolish people of the liainjay llacdonald type, who preach file 'Don't humiliate Germany" doctrine. No reader of Mr. Mahonev'e book can doubt the justice of the Allies exacting 'indemnities for what President. "Wilson has called "actual wrongs." (Price 7s. Gd.)

Pierre Loti on the War. It is u very different writer that .wesneet iu, the pages of "War," by Pierre loti (T.- Werner Laurie), Jo the highlyimaginative, romantic, and not a little «ensuou3 Loti of "Madame Chrysantheme," "Lo Roman d'un Spahi," and 'Taatome d'Orient." The latter-day Loti is a, grim realist, a. realist who invest 3 his picture* of war with a mordant satire, and, with a burning eloquence, denounces the wrongs the Hun has.inflicted upon his suffering country. He writes on a great variety of subjects connected with tho war, on tho wrongs of Belgium, the folly ol his old friends the Turks, the disgusting destruction' of ancient buildings, ecclesia-stical Bnd civil, by the Huns, the gallantry of Iho poilus, tho courage of the wounded, the liever-csasing patience and kindness of the nurses, and Inst, not least, on the unspeakably hideous cruelty and wickedness of the enemy, from tho Kaiser down to the private soldier. He devotes several pages to character sketches of tho AllHighest and the Crown Prince, and apiues to tho conclusion that tho former is road, and with him the German nation. "The nation (ho says) must indeed, bo German in character i still to Buffer itself to be led onwards to its downfall by an unbalanced lnnaiic responsible for siich blundeTS. They nro led onwards fo downfall and butchery. And is lliero never i>, limit to the sheepish submission of a people who, at this very moment, are suffering themselves to be slaughtered like mero cattlo in attacks directed with lmbecilo fury by a microcephalous youth, equally devoid of intelligence and soul."

The book, in its original Ifrcncii form, is entitled, I may remark,. "La Hyene Enrageo" ("The TSlad Hyena"). In M. Loti's pages tho Hun is exposed not only, as a mad'hrona but as a ferocious liuinan tiger, which must be mercilessly destroyed in the interests of civilisation and humanity. 31. Loti is as severe in his remarks on "Tho Red Tox of the Balkans" as he is on the Kaiser. Ho says: "But recently it would have- seemed an 'impossible task to find an oven more abominable monster than tlio Kaiser and tho Crown Prince. Nevertheless, the wagor has been made and ivon! This .Coburg has been found/ And to think that in his time ho aroused the enthusiasm of the majority of our .women of France. About tho year 1913, when 1 alone was beginning to nail him to the .pillory, they were exaltinp his name, (ind flaunting his colours. 'Taladin of the Cross"—as such he -was popularly known among us. Oh, a sincere paladin lio was, to bq sure, steepsd in Masses, after the fashion of Louis XIV, yet ono fine morning secretly forcing apostasy upon, his son. Moreover, we know that to-dayo. for our entertainment h is making preparations for a second conversion to the Catholic faith, which ho recently renounced for political reasons. He, too, has a Gorgon's head, and hfs face, ]ike the Kaisers, ie marked with, the stigmata of knavery and crime. In private life the man has nroyfld himself a cowardly assassin, committing hfi murders from a Gafe distance, for he prudenHy crossed tho border whenever his executioner had 'word to do , by his orders. Ami then, as soon as any particular headsman threatened to compromise Him, he , would take effective sreps to. oripala him (Jealtza, Stambsuioft,

Ijive u »w» b pipe he can smoke, Give a man a bool he can read;. 'And his home is bright with a calm delight Though the room he poor indeed, : '\ ■ ~. ' —James Thomson.

etc.) . . . After.his first foul net or treasou against Serbia, his former ally, whom lio toot in tho rear without any declaration of war, ho endeavoured, it will be remembered, to throw upon his Ministers the bkine of a crime which wasthreatening to turn out badly, without warning, he deals another treacherous blow to the same race of heroes, already overwhelmed by immense hordes of barbarians, like a highwayman, who, under the pretence of helping, comes from behind to give the finishing stroko to lunii already,at grips with a band of robbers.-..." J[. Loti ends upon a note of intense and indignant scorn for tho neutral nations, who still hold back from catering the fraj-, but are "designated after us as sacrifices to the Kaiser's unsatiable, ogreish appetite." His closing sentence runs as follows:—"Everywhere let the toscin clang, a full .peal, ringing from end to end of tiio earth, let the supreme alarm ring out, and let the drums of all tho armies roll the charge: Down with the German 'Beast.'" Loti's style presents many difficulties to a translator, but in this instance the English version, by Marjorie Laurie, is a most successful effort. 'J'he book would, however, be all the better for a detailed list of contents. (N.Z. price, 3s. lid.). "Imperial Germany." iii i>autiii!'j,/i,ui t mis issued ;ui Euj;Jlajl tnWISKU.uji in I'l'ilice YOU DUdlMi c nun- j.iiiiuua »a<\>k, "jiinwriiu liemiaijy.-' UllUUgll sctClUl V-..UVIIU, uiit! >uu> i.J*.v.j uuicucccu. iiaily uusc year vuu uiuiior kuiiiAi u. ruviaeu vhMiuU, I'e-ivuung lutio liew vlialJCcTs oil iminuiisiii ami uie ;u----utuuu w uio aocuii uciiiuituid. lui-sars. uu&i'il lia\o uo»' puuuoiitu a UiiiiiiaUun ui tuu rewsixi \»<jfii, mo ntnv yaooiigw ucinj; iumcau'd by uracKuis. i'rmce vuu Jjuioivci uitKiuucuun u> me new tuition is also {,'ivcii; auu Ar. J. vv. ±leaui<iw uuuu'iuuiCii a lemrviiy «nd illuminating ."ivoruivoid.-' luc author has nuver been a L'uauvimst cxueuiisi of mo iiernhardi u'uu lieveutlow lypc, anci it id iiuui'Oa'iuig 10 rcail a, wwii by u Ueriu«u in which, (even in tue {ideational matter since, me vnv) lucre is practically none of that ecneolcss yol-uins at iiUgluiul and everything Eiiglia'ii which we havo become accustomed .10 expect iiom Teuton publicists. i\cvertheiess, Uio natural (..aa »e now know it to be) dishonesty i>l the liermaii is constantly cropping up. it is pitiiin to see a man of vuii biiipw'ti ability repeating the now all-too-iainiliar caicii cms about a peaceful nation naviug been loix-ed iiui war by cunning and wicked enemies, 'by this time not uvcii thu lianisay Macdoualds' and Philip buowtlens can be taken in by such specious <md dishonest rubbish, 'J'he i'riucts is characteristically, typically Hernial! when, in liis "Conclusion," ho calmly advances the argument tbal "dogniatio adherence -to ]irinciplcs is mischievone." Xo one will ever accuse tho I'ri-uco's fellow-coiMilryuioi: of "adlicrenco to principles"—not, at leant, the principles 01 Truth, Justice, and Liberty. The iwoK is, however, an.'historical document in its way, «nd this now and enlarged edition should End a place in every public Mid private library. (Kcviow copy through Messrs. S. and \V. Mackay. N.K. price, Vs. .Gd.)

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK The Coming of tho World-Teaclifer. •"J'lie Coming of tlie World-Teacher, and Death, War, and Evolution" (George Allen and Unwin, Ltd.) is the title of a volume of extracts from lectures and writings by such well-known theosophists as P.. W. Leadbeater, lire. Annie Besant, and others, most of the articles or essays having been taken from tho publications of tho "Vesanta. Press," Madras, or various theosophist magazines. At (lie end of the volume is printed a. "Declaration of Principles" of the Order of tho Star in tho East, which was bounded, it is slated, "to bring together those who believe in tho near comine, of a great spiritual Teacher for the helping ot tho world." The book naturally makes primary appeal to readers who hold tho TbeoFophic faith, but it. contains ranch that will be of interest to all who aro concerned with the spiritual side of the war and its after effect upon religious ■thought,. (I'rico 3s. 6d.)

The Rhymes of a Red Cross Man. Perhaps Mio most generally popular book of war verse yet published—and the war has boon singularly prolific in poetry —is Mr. .Robert W. Service's "Rhymes of a. lied Cross Man" (T. Fiehcr "Unwind Tho book, of which Messrs. Whitconibo and Tombs send me a, copy, was the subject of a colnmn review in -this journal some months ago. ■ It is unnecessary for mo to say more to;day than to recommend all who do not know M.r. Service's stirring, nud'in place? pathetic, verses to »o forthwith «nd purchase a copy. Forthe one ballad alone, "Tho Man From ithaba*ca," this collection of the "C'ana. diau Kipling's" verse is well worth buying. (Price fe 6(1.). Stray Leaves. - "Tho Australasian," usually so accurate, has fallen into a curious blunder. Referring to "The Street of Jnk," a re-cently-published -volume of journalistic experiences by Mr. H. Simons, it says that Mr. Philip Gibbs called FleelStreet "The Street of Adventure," and Mr. Complon Mackenzie, "Sinister Street." As a. matter of fart Mr. Mackenzie s now famous story had nothing whatever to do wit.li Fleet f-trnn.l a-nd London journalism, indeed ) question whether the famous thoroughfare'in-which London ioiirnalisin centres is even mentioned in the novel. it. appears that tho grandmother of Sir t'ieorge lipid, tho famous Australian politician, and at one lime High Commissioner lor the Commonwealth, was a , lady (Jfliiii lionald. daughter ol' Laud of Beuiials in Ayrshire), coiipcrninswhom Burns wrote, the following verses: "There's ane they ca , .lean, I'll warrant vo've seen, A bonnio a. lass or as braw, man; But for souse and good taste she 11 vie wi the best, \nd a conduct that beautifies a man. "The charms o' the min, the. langer they shinn, Tho more admiration they draw, man, While peaches and cherries, and rceesand, lilies „ They fade and wither awa, man. To "the "Times Literary Supplement" (•Vpril 13) ill , . Thomas Succomue contributes ;i long iin'il interesting appreciation of the lute Edward Thomas, ono of tho many young English literary men who havo given their liv«:s in their country s scrvico in Hie war. A Welshman, by birth, Thmiiiis has written as entertain-, iiHy ttbinil. liisnativn land as did l.{orrow in" his "Wild Wales." Thero was not it littlo of the Boirovian, character m Thomas, who was a creat -pedestrian, and who wrote delightful books in which tonography was happoy blended with 1 character "sketches which tho author of "J/avengro" mighl. not have ben ashamed to big". Thomas wrote several interesting monographs on .lell'reys. Pater, Borrow, and Maeterlinck, amonxst others. He lived a retired lifo in a little Haniushire village, doinfr a lot of literary work and'never perhaps succeeding iu a worldly sense. His-literary enthusiasms were Jeffreys, Borrow, Burroughs (the American naturalist), and Hudson (of Green Mansions" fiuno). He had a great weaVness for Cplibetfs "Tf.uraTi.ides, and that oiuiint old writer, Sir I homas Browne. Personally he appears to havo been a modest and very lovable man. -

SOME RECENT FICTION Tho Hillman. That well-nraetised novelist, Mr E. Phillips Oppeuhcim. eschews, in his la* est slory, "The Hillman" (Methuen ? ' Co.). tho ultra-teiisational interest novels generally provide, and giv A , ." admirers a study of London ,£~ . u > 9 paientlj in pre-war times). n lr /]~ero be

ins; «, young country ccntloman who., previous to his liieDtiuEr, on his uative north-country moors, a lovely and -talented London actress, has been infected by a heruiil-liko and sternly nurilau brother with a mild form of inisoguy. Of this he is, however, speedily and offectuullv cured by tho lovely Louiso iUaurel. 'J'he actress' 'returns his love, but will not leave tho stace, which the. countryman ■abominates, inothor disturbing factor iB tho lady's curious friendship with a French prince of evil reputation, of whom rumour accuses I-ouise of beinc the mistress. It would be unfair to reveal the working out of jMr. Oujienheini's ingenious plot, but suffice it to say that tho country gentleman finally routs his rival and marries his cruelly slandered lady love. Society ami theatrical life in London provide, a sufficient interesting background for the main story.

The Old Blood. "The Old Blood," by Frederick Palmer (author of "The Last Shot." mid a well-known American war correspondent), is an excellent story, which deals ■with tho adventures in France of a young American who has both English and French relations, and who finds himself, when the war breaks out. an inmate of a. French chateau situated on Hie edge of the war zone. His two French cousins, one a selfish beauty, the other, reserved, comparatively unattractive, but a clever artist and a woman of great strength of character, play prominent parts in the initintion and development of Phil Sanford's decision to join the French Army. The actual war episodes are brief, but effectively presented, but tho main interest of the story centres round the figure of the loiip; misunderstood, but eventually triumphantly happy artist girl who is a most original and lovable a character. -A very pleasant and most readable story Wolui Murray, per Whitcoinbo ;. m l -tombs).

Reviews of several other novels are. held