390 



LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1898. 



the Upper Nile and Niger." " Africa in the Nine- 

 teenth Century " was an excellent summary of 

 events in the Dark Continent, by Edgar Sanderson, 

 and " Rhodesia and its Government " came from 

 II. C. Thomson, the author of "The Chitral Cam- 

 paign" and "The Outgoing Turk." Rev. Colin 

 Rae published "Malabcteh; or. Notes from My 

 Diary on the Boer Campaigns of 1894 against the 

 Chief Malaboch of Blaauwberg, District Zoutpans- 

 burg, S. A. R.," with a synopsis of the Johannes- 

 burg crisis of 1896, having been chaplain at the 

 time to the Malaboch forces ; Brevet Lieut-Col. E. 

 A. II. Aldersou wont " With the Mounted Infantry 

 and the Mashonaland Field Force, 1896," and J. 

 Chalmers described "Fighting the Matabele." 

 Vol. I of " I in | >o rial Africa," by Major A. F. 

 Mockler- Ferryman, was given to " British West 

 Africa," and Demetrius C. Boulgertold the story of 

 " The Congo State." " British Rule and Modern 

 Politics," an historical study by Hon. A. S. G. Can- 

 ning, the author of "The Divided Irish" and 

 History in Fact and Fiction," may as well be 

 mentioned here as anywhere. From H. E. Eger- 

 ton we had " A History of British Colonial Policy." 

 and Rev. W. P. Greswell traced the " Growth and 

 Administration of the British Colonies, 1837-1897." 

 An "Essay on Western Civilization in its Economic 

 Aspects (Ancient Times)," by William Cunning- 

 ham, D. D., appeared in the " Cambridge Historical 

 Series," and was an able and interesting attempt to 

 throw light on the most obscure side of ancient 

 history ; Prof. Samuel Dill wrote on " Roman 

 Society in the Last Century of the Western Em- 

 pire," and W. H. Bullock Hall found traces of 

 " The Romans on the Riviera and the Rhone." 

 " The Invasion of Egypt in A. D. 1249 by Louis IX 

 of France," and " A History of the Contemporary 

 Sultans of Egypt " came from Rev. E. J. Davis ; 

 " The Franks from Their Origin as a Confederacy 

 to the Establishment of the Kingdom of France 

 and the German Empire" was contributed by 

 Lewis Sergeant to the "Story of the Nations 

 Series," in which it was followed by "Modern 

 France, 1789-1895," by Andre Lebon. The two 

 volumes devoted by J. E. C. Bodley to "France," 

 in reality a work of political philosophy, covered 

 respecti\ r ely "The Revolution and Modern France" 

 ana " The Parliamentary Svstem." " The Union 

 of Italy, 1815-1895," by W. J". Stillman (Concordia), 

 the author of " The Cretan Insurrection of 1866 " 

 and " Herzegovina and the Late Uprising," be- 

 longed to the " Cambridge Historical Series," edited 

 generally by Prof. G. W. Prothero, another issue of 

 which was " Spain, Its Greatness and Decay, 1479- 

 1788," by Major M. Hume, which had an introduc- 

 tion by E. Armstrong. "Russia's Sea Power, Past 

 .and Present ; or. The Rise of the Russian Navy," 

 was by Col. Sir George Sydenham Clarke, the 

 author of "Fortifications," and "All the World's 

 Fighting Ships" were passed in review by Freder- 

 ick T. Jane. " The Romance of the House of 

 Savoy " was related by Alethea Wiel in two charm- 

 ing volumes, and " Scenes in the Thirty Days' War 

 between Greece and Turkey," described by Henry 

 W. Nevinson, were illustrated with photographs. 

 " The Romance of Regiment," by J. R. Hutchinson, 

 told the story of the giant grenadiers of Potsdam, 

 1713-1740. "Monumental Remains of the Dutch 

 East India Company in the Presidency of Madras" 

 were described in a volume of " Reports of the 

 Archaeological Survey of India," bv Alexander 

 Rea, superintendent of the survey. From Justin 

 Huntly McCarthy came "A Short History of the 

 United States." " French and English," bv Evelyn 

 Everett Green, was a story of the struggle in Amer- 

 ica, and a " History of the Dominion of Canada," 

 by W. Parr Greswell, was published under the 



auspices of the Royal Colonial Institution. Mrs. 

 Frederick Boas was the author of an " English 

 History for Children." " Life in an Old English 

 Town : A History of Coventry," by M. Dormer 

 Harris, belonged to the "Social England Series," 

 edited by Kenelm D. Cotes ; " Brentford ; Literary 

 and Historical Sketches," came from Frederick 

 Turner, and " Chronicles and Stories of old Bing- 

 ley " from Harry Speight. " The Beginnings of 

 English Christianity were traced by Prof. W. E. 

 Collins for the " Churchman's Library " ; " The De- 

 cian Persecution " was the theme of the " Hulsean 

 Prize Essay " for 1896, by John A. F. Gregg ; " Eng- 

 land and the Reformation, A. D. 1485-1603," by G. 

 W. Powers, belonged to the " Oxford Manuals of 

 English History " ; Henry Gee wrote on " The Eliz- 

 abethan Clergy and the Settlement of Religion, 1558- 

 1564." Canon Overton contributed " The Church in 

 England " to the " National Churches Series," and 

 " The Anglican Revival " to the " Victorian Era 

 Series " ; " The History of the Walloon and Hugue- 

 not Church at Canterbury " was written by Francis 

 W. Cross, and "The Celtic Church in Ireland" 

 came from Dr. Heron of Belfast. "The Empire 

 and the Papacy, 918-1273," was from the pen of 

 Prof. Lout. "The Bishop of Lindisfarne, Hex- 

 ham, Chesterle Street, and Durham, A. . 635- 

 1020," was an introduction to the ecclesiastical 

 history of Northumbria, by Rev. George Miles, and 

 " The English Black Monks of St. Benedict," by 

 Rev. Ethelred L. Taunton, gave a sketch of their 

 history from the coming of St. Augustine to the 

 present day, in two volumes. " A History of Rug- 

 by School " was written for the series of " English 

 Public Schools," by W. H. D. Rouse ; " Annals of 

 Eton College " came from Wasey Sterry, and " Har- 

 row School," edited by Edmund W. Howson and 

 George Townsend Warner, had an introduction by 

 Earl Spencer. "Cambridge and Its Colleges," by 

 A. H. Thompson, was a companion volume to " Ox- 

 ford and Its Colleges," by J. Wells, and was illus- 

 trated, like that volume, by Edmund H. New. 



Poetry. Of the 290 new books of poetry pub- 

 lished in 1898 it is impossible to say much. 'Vol. I 

 of " The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges " really 

 introduced that poet of the few to the English pub- 

 lic, containing as it did many poems never before 

 publicly printed. The quality of his verse, however, 

 showed him more likely to gain and retain the affec- 

 tion of the minority than the applause of the multi- 

 tude. " Poems " of Stephen Phillips contained his 

 "Christ in Hades," "Marpessa." and several new 

 poems which have never been previously printed : 

 from John Davidson came " The Last Ballad, and 

 Other Poems," as well as a play in four acts entitled 

 " Godfrida," while Maurice Hewlett, who last year 

 sent forth " Songs and Meditations," was represented 

 by " Pan and the Young Shepherd," a pastoral in 

 two acts, which received the highest praise for 

 " creative power, the vital principle, clean sight, and 

 an imagination both gay and robust." The noet- 

 laureate published but one volume, "Lamia's Win- 

 ter Quarters," not all of which is poetry even in 

 form, the verse being scattered incidentally amid 

 the record of a family party's sojourn in a Tuscan 

 villa. " The Collected Poems of William Watson " 

 was the misleading title of a selection made by the 

 poet from his printed work in verse. " Odes in 

 Contribution to the Song of French History," by 

 George Meredith, while " possessing splendid beauty 

 in the intervals of lucidity," was about as exaspcr- 

 atingly intricate as that author has ever contrived 

 to render his productions in prose or poetry. Ernest 

 Rhys gave us " Welsh Ballads, and Other Poems," 

 full of Welsh scholarship. "Minuscula" was the 

 title of lyrics of nature, art, and love, by F. W. 

 Bourdillon, and " The Wind in the Trees " was a 



