BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 181, 2 May 1925, Page 21

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

By

LIBER.

Give a man a pipe he can smoke, Give a man a book he can reads And his home is bright with a calm delight Though the room be poor indeed. —JAMBS thomsom

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

SOME RELIGIOUS WORKS “The Pope.”

M. Jean Carrere, author of "The Pope” (Hutcliinson anti Co., per Whitconibe and Tombs), has been the correspondent of the famous Parasian dailv, “Le Temps,” at Rome for many years. Possessing an intimate acquaintance with Roman affairs, and having made a special study of the Papacy, both on its historical and purely modern side, he may be regarded as peculiarly qualified to write -a book dealing with that subject. M. Carrere, whose book has been translated by Mr. Arthur Chambers, is, it is stated, a personata grata at the Vatican, but displays in his work a fine independence of attitude. His survey of the relations of Italy to the Vatican of later years and his evident earnest belief that the Pope is destined to play an even more forceful part in all movements, political and otherwise, which make for international amity and the stability of civilisation, are ’set forth very lucidly in a book the value of which is increased bv the author’s fine sense of historical values.—(N.Z. price, 21s. 6d.) The Hickson Mission.

In his volume "Heal the Sick” (Methuen and Co.), Mr. James Moore Hickson. who is so well known in New Zealand bv reason of h\s service in the ministry of healing, gives an interesting account of the healing missions he has conducted in countries so widely apart and so diverse in the character of their peonle as America, China and Japan, India, Palestine and Egypt,. Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, as well as in the British Isles. Mr. Hickson, who has been connected with this special work for over twenty-four years, deals not only with the practical side thereof, but also srives very helpful teaching on the religious aspect.of such healing service. The volume includes a large number of testimonials as to the value of the author’s work from clergymen of various denotnnmtious and- private persons, and some of these disclose quite wopderfvj results . alleged to have arisen out of his. healing, service A lenuthv fescrintion is given, inter alia, of Mr pickson’s mission to New Zealand.—(N.Z. price, 10s.)

Memoirs of a Positivist. Air. Malcolm Quin’s book on Positivism, “Memoirs'of a Positivist” (Allen Unwin), should be welcomed as an interesting contril.wition to the literature of a -subject which has engaged the intention of many earnest minds. - Hie author was for many years head ot the Positivist movement in the North of England, -and founded at Newcastle a Church of Humanity, in which he expounded the theories of that, section of the English Comtists, which, in opposition to the group headed by the late Dr. Frederic Harrison, was under the controlling influence of Dr. Congreve who mav be said to have been the founder of English Positivism. Eventually master and followers, or,costudents, differed very materially, and

after a while Mr. Quin's adoption or adaptation of various Catholic usages caused a complete split. In his long and interesting book Mr. Quin . gives an account of his various experiences and divagations in religious and ethical thoughts, also writing on the seculaiism so prevalent in the last centuii, and giving his experiences as a j-’ 08 . 1 " tivist worshipper in the Roman < athonc Chutch. As an account of English developments of Comtism the volume is of considerable interest and value. (N.Z. piice, 13s. 6d.) EarlV Church History.

The third volume of Monsignor Louis Duchesne’s monumental work, “The Early History of the Christian Church, from its Foundations to the end of the Fifth Century,” translated by Claude Jenkins, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, King’s College, London, is to hand from the 'publisher, Mr.. J°^ u Murray (per Whitcombe and lombs). The decay of the Empire, the. advent, teaching, and influence of Origen and are* described in the earlier chaptets, the narrative'next dealing with the story of Theophilus, the death of John ami the attitude of Jerome, and being continued, by chapters devoted respectively to Alaric, Pelagius, and Pope Zoz.inius, the controversies with St. Augustine, with Atticus and Cyril, the tragedy of Nestorius, and the Council of Chalcedon. In the concluding sections the author deals at length with the rise of the Monophysite Part), with Christianity’s progress in regions outside the Empire, ’the work closing with a general review of the Roman Church in the fifth century. An excellent index affords means of rapid reference to the contents of the volume. (N.Z. price, 155.) A Nestorian Monument.

“My Nestorian Adventure in China” (Hutchinson and Co., per Ferguson and Osborne) sets forth a story of the highly romantic experiences which befell the author, a Dane by birth, an agent of the American Tobacco Company, and an ex-diplomat and journalist, in his journev to the remote Chinese city of Sian Fu. Here he succeeded in having cut by a 'Chinese stonemason an exact replica of one of the world’s. greatest monuments, the Nestorian Chingchiaopei, or Luminous Stone, upon which is recorded “the wondrous tale of the first mission to China that ever made converts to the Church of Christ, arriving, as it did, in A.D. 635 overland from West Asia, from Ta Tsin, probably meaning Syria.” After severe personal trials the < uthor succeeded in transporting his i eplica safely to New York, lecturing in many. American cities upon his find, and building upon the history of the original an interesting theory- as to Christianity in tlie East. The financial and other obstacles which the author encountered are described in some detail, and besides being an account of a curious by-path in religious history, the book is possessed of a considerable archaeological value. Many excellent illustrations. (N.Z. price 225.).

“Christ Triumphant.” Under the heading “Christ Triumphant” (G. P. Putnam’s Sons) Miss A. Maude Royden, the well known English lady preacher, collects a number of essays and articles in which the author powerfully .pleads for a wider recognition of “the fact of suffering and that, as Christ was crucified “we ourselves must, in some sepse or other, take up our cross if we would follow Him.” The final chapter, “The Meaning of the Cross in the Twentieth Century,” is ait eloquently worded appeal for greater self sacrifice, in the individual and the nation, and the imbuing of the State and the people with a truly Christian spirit. (N.Z. price, 65.). "Israel Before Christ.” "Israel Before Christ,” by A. W. F. Blunt, B.D. (Oxford University Press, per Humphrey Milford), gives an interesting account, valuable to all students of religious and general history, of the social and religious development of a people as exhibited in the Old Testament. Dr. Blunt traces Jewish history from the Abraham to Joshua period, to the settlement of Israel in Canaan, and describes the period of the monarchy, and later, the exile, discussing in his final chapters, “The Returned Jews,” “The Priestly’State,” “Hellenism,” and “Religious tendencies in Judaism.” The illustrations arc numerous and all that could be desired. (N.Z. price, 10s.). LIBER’S NOTE BOOK I Some Delightful Essays. Mr. Robert Lynd’s previous collections of essays must have gained him many admiring readers in this country, and his latest volume, “The Peal of Bells” (Methuen and Co.), should be equally popular. - 'Mr. Lynd, who discourses so agreeably on a great variety of subjects, has a specially attractive style. At his best, Mr. E. V. Lucas is perhaps his superior in this genre of literary craftsmanship, but, also at his best, Mr. Lynd can be claimed as a writer of equal facility of expression and vrace of style to the clever author of “Over. Bemerton’s” and other “entertainments.” and of so many pleasant essays which have appeared fronrtime to time. Mr. Lynd has a singular knack of being able to, interest you in what is, bv its title, seemingly a 'not very promising subject. The .fertility of his, mind in the way of shreXvd observation, the facility with which he can endow with interest each and every topic he discusses, are here fully displayed. He could, we believe, indite you quite a lively and most diverting essay on a broomstick. Whether he be discoursing on street preachers, on patent medicines, on the experiences of a voter, on Christmas, presents, on change, on worry, on being cruel, on his experiences of hotels, or of a journnv fr> Scotland, he is ever most genially allusive find avreeablv discursive. A more enjoyable “dipping” book than a new Lvnd could not be imagined. His “Farewell to Tobacco,” which inevitably suggests memories of Charles Lamb, is a specially entertaining essay. (N.Z. price, Bs.) A Fiddle Dealer’s Reminiscences. A ' quite out of the wav book, specially’ appealing to violinists and the

musical public, but in which the general reader should find much entertainment, is Mr. David Laurie’s “Reminiscences of a Fiddle Dealer” (Werner, Laurie, Ltd.). In an interesting introduction by Miss Elsie M. Lang, we are told that the author, a Scot, was at one time an oil merchant in Glasgow, but took so much interest in his hobby of fiddle, hunting and dealing that he gave up his original commercial pursuit, becoming widely known both as a musician and as a dealer in volins, and eventually dying in Brussels in the later ’nineties. Mr. Laurie, _who at one time owned the famous “King' Joseph Guareerius del Gesu,” and later the vet more famous “Alard Stradivatiu's,” here gives his. reminiscences of his long and busy life, of his acquisition of various famous instruments, his transactions with .great collectors and players of the violin, and tells of his musical and business experience generally. Among the violins owned by him at one time or another was one upon which King George the Fourth learned to play. Another was one upon which the great Paganini performed, and a third, which was his favourite “Strad,” belonged to Lady Halle, so well known before marriage as Mme. Norman Neruda. Many interesting anecdotes of De Beriot, Joachim, Sivori, Lady Halle, M. Carrodus and other great musicians. (N.Z. price 10s. 6d.). “Rejuvenation.”

In "Rejuvenation” (George Allen and Unwin) Dr. Norman Haire summarises in language comprehensible to the educated layman as well as to the medical practitioner the work done by the pioneers who aim at producing improvement in “the mental, physical and sexual health by one or more methods of surgical stimulation of the patient’s glands.” Dr. Haire first reviews and analyses the experiments made upon animals, by Steinach, Voronoff, Horsk, lin'd Sand, and then deals in detail and at some length with the operations made upon human beings in vasoligature and testicular transplantation by a number of European surgeons, who have specialised in this work. The author maintains, it is claimed, a critical attitude, weighing the evidence for and against the claims put forward by the protagonists of this treatment, and expresses “a moderate and balanced opinion.” The widespread interest taken in the rejuvenation theory makes the appearance of Dr. Haire’s work of some considerable importance. (N.Z. price, 10s.) Some Galsworthy Essays.

To his tastefully produced pocket edition of Dlr. John Galsworthy’s works, Dlr. William Heinemann has now added a volume of essays, entitled “Abracadabra and Other Stories.” The essays deal with a variety of subjects, the author displaying in places an ironic humour which is perhaps a trifle acidulous. Selfish wealth, indolence, indifference to burning problems of the day, cruelty to animals under the guise ■ of so called sport, are all the objects of some vigorous comment. “Ultima Thule” is a strikingly pathetic study of 'an old musician’s love for birds,' 1 homeless cats and other animals, and there is a compelling force about the singularly convincing character sketch “The Competitor.” Some may prefer Dlr. Galsworthy in less designedly satirical and militant mood, but the virility of the studies and stories is undeniable. (N.Z. price, 75.)

SOME RECENT FICTION A Posthumous “Conrad.” . < The practice of printing anything and everything by a popular author who passes away is not always commendable, but there is such excellent writing in “Talcs of Hearsay,” by the late Joseph Conrad (T. Fisher. Unwin) that the volume should be widely welcomed) The four stories comprised in the collection vary greatly in subject, but in all there is conclusive proof that Conrad was a master of the art 1 of fiction, and speci allv successful in the short story. The Anglo-Polish novelist is here, perhaps, at his strongest and best, in the singularly dramatic story, “The -Warrior’s Soul,” a “hearsay tale” of 1812, that year when Napoleon invaded Russia and had to witness the dramatic horrorladen retreat of his army from Moscow. As a Pole by birth, Conrad was intensely patriotic, and both in this story and in “Prince Roman,” the scene of which is laid in his native country, he writes with fiery but well-restrained indignation upon "the" terrible wrongs inflicted on the land of his birth. The local colour of the tale is impressively picturesque. In “The Tale” and ,in “The Black Mate” we are given examples of Conrad’s art as practised at the commencement, and almost at the close, of his distinguished literary career. In the former he is intensely impressive in his awe-inspiring picture of a fog-bound ship on a rocky coast in war time, and of the discover}- of a foreign vessel laden with munitions for the enemy, and of its terrible fate. In curious contrast is “The Black Mate,” written away back in the author’s career when yet Almayer’s “Folly” and “The Outcast of the Islands” had not been published. The motif is slight enough in its way, but responsible for a gentlv irpnic humour which is eminently effective. In a way, it recalls some of Air. W. W. Jacobs’s farcical stories, but Conrad is’ever original in his craftsmanship, and “The Black Mate” is-possessed of a quality ol dry humour which is quite his own, Mr. R. R. Cunninghame"Graham contributes an appreciative introduction, in which he emphasises and eulogises that “vein of great urbanity and knowledge of the world”-. in which the four stories, containing, as he says, the first and the la’est of Conrad’s writings, are so rieh. A Sicilian Story. : Giovanni Verga, tfie author of the “Mastro Don Gesualdo” (Jonathan Cape, per Whitcombe and Tombs), was a Sicilian by Ipirth who, at the time of his death, some three years ago, had come to be recognised as being in the foremost rank of Italian novelists. His storv of Sicilian life—in the earlier part of the last century—is pqrhaps over- - crowded with characters to be altogether to the average English taste in fiction, but Verga’s description of the rise to worldly wealth of.the industrious, energetic, and ambitious peasant contractor and agriculturist, Gesualdo, his failures, disappointments and sorrows, though hampered in its action by a surplusage of detail, has many purple patches and carries with it a pervading and convincing air of truth. Verga, whose novel has been translated (into vigorous and excellent English) by Mr. D. H. Lawrence, is perhaps at his best in the Balzac-like fidelity of his sketches of the minor figures in the sftiry. He is assuredly a foreign novelist whose work deserves’ to be better known by English readers. Some interesting new fiction comefrom Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. (per Messrs. Fermison and Osborne). Space limitations prevent aught save briefest mention. “The Untravelled World,” by Eldon Ward, has n well-knit, wellhandled plot, in which the trials of a voting married mall who, making what lie consid-rs an ideal match, has to encounter the enmitv of a dangerous woman who sadly scandalises the young wife.