CURRENT LITERATURE.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 May 1923, Page 4

CURRENT LITERATURE.

SOME ESSAYS. (Sydney Herald). Sir Charles Oman is best known as tin eminent historian. He is also making a reputation in the House n( Commons as one of the members foi Oxford University, in which capacity he is one of the few who have attempted to filliil the proper function of a university representative in Parliament. The theory of academic: representation is that the House shall have at its command a body of experts who can oiler it detached advice on cultural and educational issues. If they do not do this the raison d’etre of university representation is lost. As a rule, these gentlemen have either merged themselves entirely in party, or have remained mute. Hut Sir Charles Oman’s speeches have attracted much favourable attention, notably one in which lie took the Gov* I eminent to task over the new issue of I coinage. As a historian, he objected to it on account of its low silver content; as a man of sensibility, on account of its unheautil'nl design. Sir Charles ! Oman has yet a third title to fame as I the v.liter of occasional essays of dis- ! liiii-imii, some ol which have been puo- ! 1 ished in “The Unfortunate Colonel j Despard and Other Studies.”

The first of these essays recalls a remarkable historical parallel to the Casement affair. Sir Roger Casement and Kdw:ird Marcus Dospard were bulb Irishmen. Until had spent many vears without a break in the tropics,

a thing which seems to have a demoralising effect upon a certain type of character. Huth had been in the service of the King, and had held high official posts. Hath had acepetod honours from the King, and were netunilv in receipt of a pension Irom him when they attempted to seduce British soldiers from their allegiance. Until died oil the gallows. Dospard was a cadet of a typical Irish soldier-family, hi 1772 he obtained a commission in

a regiment stationed in .Jamaica, and remained in that colony until 1 7!>o. with an interlude of one short visit ?o Knglaud. He seems to have had ihe making of a line officer. Ho was associated with Nelson in a “forlorn hope” in Central America during the Spanish war. Many years later, at his trial. Nelson spoke in glowing terms of the courage and energy Despan! displayed on that occasion. But mi-

fortunalelv for himself, soon after his arrival in .lamnira. he wn- seconded fur special duty, which meant that he was entrusted with small independent

jolis, far from any supervising authority. and consequently never experienced the wholesome discipline ol service in a regiment. In 175.‘1 he was appointed Superintendent of Brflisli Honduras. In that colony there were two factions which were continually at variance. Tlu-sc were the original settlers and the newcomers, adventurers and free-lances who had been excelled from Spanish territory. Despart took the latter under his wing,

and instituted a regime which was intolerably arbitrary, harsh, and oppmssive. At last the colonists could stand

it no longer, and on their petition Dospard look the latter under his wing,

answer their charges. He was never coiirt-mariiallcd, hut before long he realised that he would never got another post, and henceforth he was a man with a grievance.

The mutiny at Hanlry Hay had hut recently been quelled. Those at Spit-lu.-acl ami *Jie Nine had not been forgotten. Dospard conceived the idea of stirring up disaffection in the army ami leading ;i rebellion in which the (-11 ■ i-i i i in- 11 < would be overthrown. Ills sehemo imtv teem fantaslie, lull we

mi!'' .'vii'.cuibcr ihat he was a mono maniac 'end a leegalomankie into the barn m. He set himself to orguiu'-i i, t onspiraey, and had smc success among the had characters of the regi-

men' with w Ic,in he sought to lumper. There is’ no doubt, however, that many of his nominal adherents were not revolutionaries at all, hut joined in the pilot for I lie sake of the free liquor which was provided at Ihe meet-

ings. One cl' tliorn lm'iilioiis ;m oecniir.ii when lie found at the rendezvous a dozen or so conspirators, ammij' whom were six or seven Irishmen, nil in mi advanced state of intoxication. “The discussion we had then was concerning forms of government.” Sir Charles Oman’s comment is: “lmaginat io ll ini U to picture the details ol' n debate mi high political theory between throe mutinous privates of the guards, three discontented London tradesmen, and seven Irishmen, all very drunk:’' It was to he expected that such persons would he rather indiscreet in their eitps, and the authorities got wind nl the plot, which failed igcorainiously. Despard, scoundrel though he was. had some attractive qualities. The same cannot he said of Thistlevvood, the author of the C'ato-street conspiracy. which Sir Charles Oman also describes. Thisllewood was a vulgar villain, with nothing to redeem him. Spendthrift, gambler and profligate, ho had run through several fortunes, including those of his successive wives, and thought to mend his financial condition by promoting a revolution. Hifollowers consisted partly of criirdiiahi, who were frankly out for loot, partly of fanatics who luid imbibed the doctrines of Jacobinism. His callousness and eeld-Moudediicss pass belief. Had i.is schemes prospered, the course of Knglish history must have been profoundly changed. His plan was to murder Wellington, Canning, Addington, Liverpool, C'astlercngli, and others as they sat at the Ministerial dinner party in Grosvenor-sqiiare. The revolution must certainly have failed, hut such an atrocity would probably have I een followed by a sort of “White Terror.” The Tory party would have i.ren continued in power for a generation, and vengeful measures of repression would have been taken. There would have been no Reform Rill i f 1332, and perhaps a few years later there would have been a real British revolution.

Another very interesting essay deals with the Crusades, which the author presents in a new light. .Most people think of the Crusades as an episode, ajid as being prompted by a religious motive. But Sir Charles Oman sees in them a phase of the age-old conflict between East and West, of which the first recorded manifestation i- the Persian i livasion of Greece, and the latest the Great War and its sequel in tlie Near East. In this unending struggle there has been many an ebb and flow. Once the East was established in Spain, and once there were powerful Christian States in Asia with Frankish rulers and capitals at Jerusalem, Antioch, and Edessa. Once the Crescent threatened Vienna, and once again in 1918 British soldiers drove the armies of Islam pell mell out of Palestine, and entered the Holy Places. Moreover, although the religious impulse was strong in the Crusades, it was hy no means the only one. Political and commercial considerations weighed with many of the Crusaders. Some were soldiers of fortune, cadets of the feudal houses of the West, who sought land and a career in the East. The merchants of Genoa and Venice were eager to exploit the trade of the East, and it was the greed and selfishness of these that ultimately led to the resurgence of the Crescent. Tn yet another essay Sir Chartes Oman discusses the trials and difficulties of the historian. The man in the street comes to him with such a ques-

tion as: “What was the origin of the English Parliament?” or “What was the effect of the rise of Christianity on the Homan Empire?” The inquirer is a little surprised, even aggrieved, when the historian says that he cannot tell him, that he cannot give him anv answer that is universally accepted, but can only present a series of doubts, a number of rival hypotheses, each supported by plausible arguments. This consideration moves the author to make some observation about the “popular” historian who writes histories of the sort that he who runs mayread. There is a type which the French call the “vulgarisateur,” the man who offers to make history, art, or science easily accessible to the multitude by leaving out all their problems and uncertainties. This type “appears to have reached its extreme development in the twentieth century, when literary men of all calibres seem inclined to generalise on the history of England, France, or the whole universe merely on the justification of a fluent pen. To attack such subjects with no .wide knowledge of languages, liepower or leisure to read original authorities, no foundation of detailed studies, can only result in producing ‘the second rate at second hand.’ ” Sir Charles Oman mentions no names, hut the object of his animadversions can readilv he identified.