LITERATURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 82

LITERATURE.

"Cecilia Kirkham's Son." By Mrs Kenneth Combe. London: ,W. Bteckwood

and Sons.

(3s 6d, 2s 6d.)

This is a heart-penabrating ©fcory of the devoted self-sacrifice of a mother and tine late repentance of a son, at one time cereless, indifferent, and self-seeking. It is marvellously told in simple, convin.ung Language, every word of wihirih tells. If not autobiographical the author lias a rare instinct and amazing sympathy. There is but lititle plot, and •what th<re is is ■ entirely subservient to the characterisation. It is not what is said about people, but the people themselves that interest us. Cecilia is the widow of a man of whom it was frankly said, "Henry Kirkham had not been desirable." And she had 'h-ad 10 years in vrhich "to regret" her v marriage before he died of cholera in Lucknoiv, leaving her a widow with one child, the "son ' of the title page. Owing to her husband's criminal extravagance- the widow's means are -very small, and as Charles wisihets to be a soldier, like hie father, tbe oheese-paa-ing economies begin at onoe, and increase with the years aad his inevitable expanses. With" , the best intentions the miotber keeps her son in ignorance of their financial affaire, and, as she acknowledges later on, the fault is to a gKea<fc extent her own : — "Mothers, sameof us, are not really fear to out sons to begin with. , . Wje give, but we^ hide *ithe laot as much as- we can. Is it' their fault that they do not see hiddcai things? From the time they aiie oMldren we pick Si every stone we can from the path ey have to tread, because we like to do it, not because it is best. * We indulge our passion for giving and doing at their expense." The letter of an uncle arouses Charles Kirkham from, his pleasant dream of ease and plenty — he is never extravagant or profligaite — only careless. He hurries home, to find his mother dying of consumption, partly, if not entirely, brought -hi by "insufficient food and wiaranitih" and the mental hunger of the lonely women whose one cihdld has left ,ber. He throws every energy into the task of easing and prolonging her life, and for this mortgages his small means, co that in the end he shall be left practically penniless. The scene of the story is laid partly in India and partly in England. In India Ohairles falls in love with Helen Escourt, his general's daughter, an ideal womacn., quite unspoiled by admiration. The story tells* of* this love and of Helen's ever-strengthening affection under the tragedies of illness and of poverty. The- Indian part of the tale is complicated by the story of Captain. Wilson, iihe disguised Indian Prinoe, his deeplaid: plcll to introduce arms and ammuni- . tion into a native "State, and its discovery and frustration by Charles Kirkham. . hi spite of al] . troubles the tale has a happy ending, and it is one of the pleasantest' tihat we have read for some time.

"The Bargain." By Theodora Wilson Wilson. London : Hutahiinson and Co. I>unediin : J. • Braibhwaite and Co.

(3s 6d, 2s 6d.)

Gerard de itontford, beggared' in reputation, ruined in pocket and in health, a drunkard and a profligate, returns from India resolved to have "a last flutter," and then end his life in some way. But though only 40 he is the fatiher of a girl of 16, whom he has left for years at a ohea.p echcol. He means to see her for a few moments, and then leave her, convinced that his offended family will look afiter her when he is dead. But Ara upsets all his calculations. She insists on coming to live with him, and he is too weak to forbid it altogether. He puts off the evil day for a month, and when she goes to has lodgings she finds him dying from a terrible attack of disease brought on by drink and diasipation. An old friend of Montford's finds them out, charges himself with the care of Ara, a,nd — to satisfy the scruples of the dying man — suggests that Ara. when old enough, should marry his nephew, John Tredethy. This is the "bargain" of the title page. Ara overhears too much or too little, and conceives tha* she has been "sold." The story shows how this tifoeme works out. Tr-edethy, who is an Indian, judge, goes back to his work and leaves Ara under the charge of an old friend. The girl develops into a charming woman, always haunted by the fear of the "bargain," which she lias thoroughly misunderstood. The reader is kept in much purturbation of mind as to whether she will finally fix her affection on the young nephew or tibe guardian of mature years. There k a great deal of pleasant by-

play in tibis story, and many of the characters who played a paaA in a previous tale — "Bess of Hardeadaile" — are again introduced to the reader. Altogether it is- a readable and amusing story, and quite up to this well-known author's usual mark.

"St. Marti's Summer." By Rafael Saba-

tina. London : Hutahinson and Co. Dunedin : J. Braithwaite and Co."

(3s 6d, 2s 6d.)

In the remote French province of Dauphiny, at the time when Dauphmy was a powerful though no longer independent province, diwelt the great family of Condillac in a strong castle well protected. Like many ' similar families the Oondillaos, in their distant province,.under the lax rule of tbe Senesdial of Dauphiny , thought that whatever they did there -was no- mam who could bring <them to account. 1 The Queen Regent, Marie de Medici, was •of a different opinion, and it is in the tussle of wills between these two powers that, Mr Sabatini finds the theme of his new story. As "the name "St. Martin's Summer" would suggest, the hero is one to whom the pleasures of youth come late in life. As the Queen's emnxtssary asnd ['acting as her agent, he becomes involved I in complicated story; .tke has* to play "the part' of knight-errant ■to a distressed damsel ; to fare hard and to sleep little ; to disguise himself as a servant and> act the part of a clown ; to take insults and keep his temper, and to do many other things _ that 6eem bard to the middleaged man of any period. The narrative is a tragi-comedy of domestic life in the Middle Ages, and is full of the tramp of - armed n/en, hard knocks given and received, and the throbbing of elemental passions. The action is swift, the fighting thorough, the plots well laid, and their frustration most ingenious. The reader is carried easily along, pleased with himself and his subject, and the "•happy end' is quite in order, if the union of May and — shall we say — November can ever really be co, since after St. Martin's summer the winter generally sets in with considerable severity.

"A Lmpse of Miemory." By Agnes Littkjohn. Sydney : J. A. Packer. (Cloth ;

coloured- f ronitispieoe ; 3s 6d. )

In an accident in the south of France Stella Verne's grandifather and companion is first deprived of consciousness and then of life. She is absolutely alone with hdan and a young fellow-countryman, who comes to their help. The situation is difficult, the young man's feelings are played upon, and he marries her without much love on either side, He takes her to hie home, and ehe overhears a conversation •wMch opens her eyes. She • runs away and— leaves him without explanation. The seguel — two years later — shows Herbert Lisle in, search of his wife. " He finds her, but £he feas 4ofst her memory through an accident. He woos hear again, this time in earjiest. She recovers her memory, and all ends well. The story ie not badly told, but many of the details are highly improbable, and are unmeces-' earily contused, wlhile flic important part — "<uhe lapse of memory" — is unduly ' slurred' in its chief details. Still, it is a readable, pleasant little story, and evidently the work of >a lady of education i and refirtemeait. Pour shonter stories — "Reported! Killed," "On Ocean Wave," I "-Sadd-anath'e Legacy," "Wasted Years" j — complete the volume. These are all very readable, but we .prefer the last.

LITERARY NOTES.

— Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, a popular American novelist, has died in her native State, Maine, in her sixtieth year. She wrote "Deephaven," "Tales of New England," and many other books. t

— A new and complete edition of Alexander Smith's, poems is about' to be issued by an Edinburgh publisher. His "Life Drama," which appeared in the London Critic in 1851, was two years later published in volume form, -and. no fewer than 10,000 copies were speedily sold. ,- '• — Some of Alfred de Vigny's letters to his English friends are being published in the Mercure de France. His correspondents included Count d'Orsay, Lady Blee-' sington, Mrs Austin, and Miss Henrietta Corkran, who had already given some -of his letters in her chatty volume "Celebrities ! and V' I

—Mr Charles Hitchcock Sherili, the author of "Stained Glass Tours in France," has brought out a similar volume, "Stained Glass Tours in England." This is a book of ( guidance. It is written with much enthusiasm, and supplies the information most visitors and 6trangers desire when inspecting cathedrals and parish churches. It Is published by John Lane.

— The Earl of Rosebery haß written an interesting preface to the volume of "Recollections of a Long Life," by John Cam Hobhouse, afterwards Lord Broughton, which Mr Murray is about to publish. Hobhouse was one of the most loyal of Byron's many friends. He was a man of many interests and activities, being politician, author, traveller, and a prominent figure in society.

— The first volume of "Lives of the Hanoverian Queens of England 1 ," published by Bell and Sons, bj Alice Brayton Greenwood, contains the biographies .of Sophia Dorothea. o£ Celle axod of Caroline, of An.. bach. George I's "wife," as she is styled, not being among the CTo\rned_ Queens of England, has engaged the study of more than one writer in recent years. As to Queen Caroline, her story is much better known to the general reader. — Mrs Julia Ward Howe at 90 may well be accounted the pride and joy of literary Boston, if not of unliterary Boston (if such there be) as well. The day that saw her entrance upon the last decade of a full century brought her more than her usual number of birthday tributes and' honours, and closed with a family dinner party, at which, besides her son and daughters, a good number of grandchildren and seven great- grandchildren were present. — Max Pemberton's "The Man Who Drove the Car" is to be added to Messrs Bell's well-known Indian and Colonial Library in October. The weird experiences of Lai Britten, the chauffeur, are vividly de-

scribed. The tragic story of the mad rushi to Colchester while Britten was in the enxploy of the great Red-Poll gang of swindlers is well counterbalanced by the Inimour of the episode of Lord Crossborau#h's party in Portman square. The author has lost none of his old cunning in this "motor book."

— "Mr William Dean Howells has never surprised anybody, thrilled anybody, shocked anybody. His career and his works* alike seem devoid of inspired moments. He has never written- a bad sentence, never struck a falsa note. To great numbers of people he is eimply 'uninteresting.' " So writes Van Wyok Brooke, in the World's Work. "Nevertheless, there is ' a curious paradox in his position. The very people who would be first to call his "work mediocre are those who instinctively recognise in him a unique distinction. He is, in- fact, a verygreat and very choice artist — 'one* -of tibia chief honours of our literature,' ,■ Lowell called him. Hie light is the light of. common day. He has pictured no tiling remote, fantastic, tragic. It is only rare minds who are impressed by common things." — "M. Belgrade, director of the - Press Department, A has gathered'^ogiether specimens of every book^j«jnpElet, newspaper, magazine, review, snjjk'report published or' -printed 1 in- 'the Russian Empire during >€he yea* 1908, irom Riga to Vladivostok, from •Archangel to Sebastopol. Not one~ iß~mi6sjng,"^eay« <he Telegraph. "It gives, one an idea of* the vaacaess or the change brought about in Russian journalism by the . Press Charter of 3905, when the censorship was abolished. Last year betweon 78,000,000 and 79,000,000 volumes — not, ol course, separate works— were published, valued at £2,600,000. The number, of separate publications is a little over 24,000, of which 4000 are mera statutes and returns, 2000 are musical works, and the remainder are books in the strict sense of the term." ! —Mr Rider Haggard's new story, "Queen Sheba's Ring," to be publis-tted early next year in Messrs Bell's Indian and Cblonial Library, .wiil remind its readers of the incomparable "She." The scene is laid in Northern Central Africa, where an ancient city is possessed by a mysterious tribe, descended from Abyssinian Jews. This tribe is ruled by a woman — The Child of Kings,— whose signet is the famous ring. The story iis told by Dr Adams, who has led an expedition to. the city, partly to release ifc from a besieging horde of savages and partly ; to try and find his only eon, who is a prisoner of the besiegiog forces. The I chronicle of the adventure of this European. ' expedition amidst the remains of a powerful bygone civilisation forms a thrilling narrative. — A new vqjume in Unwin's Colonial Library is "The Pools of Silence," by Mr H. de Vere Staopoole, the author of "that beautiful Pacific romance, "The Blue Lagoon." With. "The Took of Silence""' Mr Sta«poole comple&ss a trilogy of remarkable books dealing with the tropics and the East. "The Crimson Azaleas" was the first of these, "The Blue Lagoon"' was the second, and "Tihe Book of Silence," more extraordinary than either, completes the series.' .The vivid sun*, the torrential rxioia tropical Africa, the- vast and merciless Fate that .holds the people of the Congo forests in the hollow of her great green hand, the forests themselves roaring to -the raips or fumir.g in the sun, are presented with almost blinding vividness. ' Mr Staepoole, who has' brought Japan and Polynesia to Europe with a poetical truth unexampled by any other writer except Pierre Loti, presents Central Africa in the -same way, lifting the curtain on, a natural and social drama, a tragedy filled with beauty yet tinged with terror. — The question has been frequently asked, "Who wrote the poem beginning 'In the hour of death, after this life's whim'?" the answer being that nothing is known of the author. The subject is elucidated by Agnes E. Cook, who shows that the writer was R. D. Blaokmore, author of "Lotna Doone" and other novels. She writes to- the Athenaeum as follow^: — "It is t<ue this poem was published with only the initials of the writer in the University Magazine in 1879; but I hold the MS of the poem, and I have also Blaokmore'fl letter that accompanied it. Blackmore has been so long dead, I do not feel that there can be any harm in . giving his 'etter fco the public. I subjoir an extract copy of it, also of his poem." "Teddn., Jany. sth, 1879.— My Dear Sir,— Having lately been at the funeral of a. '•■■ most dear relation; I was there 'again (in a> dream) last night, and heard the* mourners sing" the ' lines enclosed, which impressed) me so that I was able to write them without change of a word this morning. ' I l > never heard or read them before' fco my . knowledge. They do no* loolc so well on ■ paper as they sounded ; but if you like to I 'print them, here they a-re. Only please not to put my name beyond initials or send me ! money for them. — Very truly yours, R. D. . Blackmore." The poem runs thus: — Dominus illuminatio mea.

1. In the hour of death, after this life's whim-, When the heart beats low, and the eyes grow dim, And pain has exhausted every limb — The lover of the Lord shall trust in Him. 2. When the will has forgotten the* life-long aim, And the mind can only disgrace its fame, And a man is uncertain of his own name, The power of the Lord shall fill this frame. 3. When the ■ last sigh is heaved and the lust tet<r shed, And the coffin is waiting beside the bed,. _ And the widow and child forsake the dead, The angel of the Lord shall lift this head. 4. For even the purest delight may pall, X2io powei most fail, suid th-« pride zzrus£ fall, And the love of the dearest friends grow small — But the glory of the Lord is all in all. R. D. B. in memoriam M. F. G-.

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