LIBER'S NOTE BOOK

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 264, 27 July 1918, Page 11

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK

Tho English Constitution, in a recently-published book, which bears the title, "Tort, Crime, and Policy m Jlediaeval .Britain/' Jlr. J. W. Jend-. wino collects the results of liis research work iii lofjul loro iu year books, court lolls, charters, etc. iio gives a good lllustratiou ot tho 1oo?g wavs oi' t)iinkin ir and ayeakirtg 011 jiolitical sublets iu his remark? on tho Constitution': The Constitution is not, as tome readers ot constitutional history may iiuagino it jo be, a, solid, cumbrous piece of tevonteonui century furniture, ot which somo past kms has broken oil' a !?j, pud an. other the handle ot a department. It is ii lliiid conccption of tho powers Mid suf c . guards nicessary tor good' government-, varying as circumstances put pressure on any part ot it. If anyone tells you Hint the l.ing is not in reality üble to do soii.e act, which in theory is done by him, because it would be contrary to the Constitution (and you will ollcn hear this kind of thing),' let lum tell you what Constitution In- means. Ist it tho Constitution as it ixi.-tcd when Oeorgo I ceased to sit with his Cabinet liecauso ho had so httlo knowledgo ot tlw English .anguago? Or when George II an- ( ;l! ,? ra ' u " £t for coniniissions loi JI.P.s to lnlluenco votes in the House of Commons: "No, I won't that. T will order my army as I think (it; as for jour scoundrels ju the House oi Commons you may do as you please" (flemy's Memoirs ).' Or when the powers of tho American President wore modelled on those or King George IU? th(! Constitution before or after Catholic Emancipation, or tli» Union or tho Repeal of the Union with Ireland ?L -nt on ? ]W,S r o! 1832 w 186? - fceforo Uio mtioduction of the closure, of tho closure by compartments, of the Kangaroo Closure, before or after the passing of tho Parliament Act? Mr. Jendwino's conclusion is not devoid of sound common sense. ]t is that ' s only one safeguard i.l tho Conpiitution or ot namely "au eternal vigilnneo as the price of liberty, and as Ihe corollarv of eternal vigilauco a generous appreciation by tha people of! the difficulties fain! by'their rulers." Stray Leaves. That excellent book of Mrs. Humphrey England's Effovt," which wis written with tho primary object of inluencmg the then neutral American public opinion in favour of the Allies, is now in its tenth edition. A Japanese version has now appeared. A\lio first employed that no'v quite common phrase, "impossible people"? According to tho ".New Oiford .Dictionary tho expression was iirst used bv Besant and itieo in their novel, "Tno Golden iJutlorily" (1870). But u cornspoudout of the ''Times Literary Siiopio"lent' points out that Dickens, writing to John Torsler oh his experiences as stage manager of an aniateur performance at iUoutivxl, alluded to his "urging impracticable Indies and impossiblo' gentlemen on lo tlio verv coiilinc-s of insanity." An English translation of Maurice Maetu-linuk's j.la.v, "Tho Aliraelo of Saint Anthony, published in tho original I renth ten years ago, has been issued by Methuens, It has little of the mystical 'favour of ".Us Avengles" or of "Llv Jlort de Tmbtgillw," but is described as a little experiment in satire with a sweetening note of tenderness.

TV hat prove. (lie "edition delinitivo' ol Grays ''Poems*'—''did ever a poet go down to posterity wich so Blender ;v sihruit' } as Diokcus onec wiid of the author uf Iho {aiiious "Elegy'"'—has boon published bv the Oxford Universiiy J > ross at the modest price (English) ol* hiili'-a-eiwn.- Collins's poems are incuu.ctl in the same volume, which is edited i>y lir. Austen J dine Poole. Gcorgo Moore is simrilv bringing out a volume ol "Avowals/' in which ho revises & good .ninny of the literary verdicts ho passed in Hint memorable volume, "Tlvj Confessions ol' a Youug Man." .lie is 'also publishing a mnv rendering of the well-icnovvu "Daphne and Chloe" of Longus, with the original illustrations by Proudhon.