LAND AND WATER. 
October 2, 1915. 
Bvngay, in many ways the best of its author's works, Mr. 
Wells has passed (o belief in extremely individualistic de- 
velopment. Benham U ridiculous because he attempted 'too 
much, and the author peeins to symjjalhise with the man 
•Itemptiug to grasp all and spoiling the part that was his. 
As for Beuham's own claim to ari.stocracy, it is fully 
justified in the .'•eene in which he confronts his faithless wife 
and her paramour — the best scene in the book. In the earlier 
parts, however, and notably in the description of Prothero, a 
very human and not unattractive character, the fibre of the 
book is essentially plebeian, the general outlook is the 
reverse of aristocratic. This is not due to the quality of the 
characters, but it (,< the quality of the work, which is that 
of a genius, but not of an aristocrat. 
Two of Mr. Wells's novels, Tot>o-Bu>ujaii and The 
New Machiuvetli, and especially the first-named, must be 
placed before this book in con.sidering the works of a writer 
who at least cannot be ignored, since he ranks among the 
most brilliant thinkers of to-day and is possibly the most 
daring iconocla.st among writers. This book is both brilliant 
and daring; the latter quality, in fact, is too much in 
evidence, for, bearing in mind the inevitable limitations of 
humanity, the magnificence of Benham's research is over- 
shadowed by its impracticability, and thereby is Benham 
rendered ridiculous. -But it is a book to read. < . * 
" Of Human Bondage." By \V. Somerset Maugham. (Heioemann.) 6s. 
Mr. Maugham, as a popular playwright, has necessarily 
learnt the art of compression. As a novelist he has now fallen 
in with the fashion of writing a book infinitely long, in which 
the hero is first seen as an infant in arms, is sent to a pre- 
i)aratory school and to a public school, and after various 
ligher studies is then let loose in the school of tlie world. 
M. Holland's Jean Christo'phe has become the model for 
novels of this sort. But whereas there were thousands of 
pages in M. Rolland's book, there are only 648 in Mr. Maug- 
ham's. But he certainly has the knack of keeping his story 
"on the move" with that sort of facility which has been 
rare since Alexandre Dumas ceased to write and charm. 
Philip Carey, with his club-foot and his sensitive disposition, 
Is already interesting when he is getting into trouble with 
other boys at a cathedral school. He is becoming rather too 
much of a problem when, a little later in life, he is studying 
art, and law, and medicine, seeking a self-sufficient man's 
life for him.self, and frustrating this healthy ambition by a 
tiresome habit of " taking up with " vulgar little girls whom 
he insists on loving to distraction. The last of these is too 
much for him. Socially she is a drawback. But he wants 
her, needs her, can be satisfied, as he thinks, by her; so he 
decides to abandon his career and marry her. And here 
we have those joybells which Mr. Maugham, in his most 
popular work, has taught us, irresistibly, to appreciate. 
*' .\tiUa and the Huns." By Edward Hutton. (Constable and Co.) 6s. 
net. 
In this brief sketch of a phase in the decline of the 
Roman Empire the author finds parallels with the present 
war, though not for one minute does he admit that civilisa- 
tion of to-day shows signs of decline; it is rather that the 
methods of the Huns and those of the Prussians are so similar, 
but in some cases the parallels seem rather strained, as if the 
author had had to search for them. Apart from this the 
work, though brief, is concise and authoritative. Jornandes, 
Ammianus, Marcellinus, and others are laid under contribu- 
tion in order to define the state of the Hunnish agglomera- 
tion, the conditions of Byzantium, of the western Roman 
Empire, and of Gaul. The best chapter of the book is that 
describing the battle of the Catalaunian plain, when the 
might of Attila was broken. 
"Germany," says the author, "will perish by her 
' Kultur ' as certainly as the Huns did by their heathenism. 
A special excursion on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa 
F6 Railway system has been organised to enable people 
interested in fanning to tour California this autumn. The 
pisit will take in the Grand Canyon, Southern California, 
and the San Joaquin Valley, in addition to the two big 
World's Fairs at San Francisco and San Diego. Those who 
take advantage of this opportunity will leave Chicago on 
the 14t.h inst. and reach San Francisco on the 29th, and 
may return by any direct route not later than December 31. 
.Visitors will be taken away from the railroads in motor- 
cars, where an opportunity will be afforded to visit hun- 
dreds of farms, orchards, and homes in the Golden State. 
The party will bo under the personal guidance of the 
General Colonisation Agent; particulars will be willingly 
■upphed by Mr. D. H. Drakeford, 60, Haymarket, S W 
Indeed, in action they are identical and rest upon the sama 
hopeles.-!nes3." In the material sense Germany will fail as 
Attila failed, by reason of the vigour and superiority of a 
civilisation based on better conceptions of moral laws and 
on a truer understanding of individual rights and values. 
Throughout the book opinions are expressed that raise 
contentious" in the reader's mind. It is, however, a very 
interesting summary of an important phase of history. 
" Barnavaux." By Pierre Mille. (John Lane.) 3s. 6d. 
It has been said that Pierre Mille's work is like that of 
Kipling; but, except that the ideal old soldier in one army 
is very like the ideal old soldier in another army, there is no 
truth in the statement. Baruavaux is like Mulvaney— he is 
Mulvaney, with the addition of that touch of conceit com- 
patible with the character of a very brave Frenchman but 
not permissible in any British character. 
For the rest, here is Madagascar pictured as none otlier 
has succeeded in picturing it. Here are sketclies of rollick- 
ing humour and of the grimmest tragedy— " The China- 
men " is the most powerful and impressive of any. Here, 
too, is true pathos, and great knowledge of various kinds of 
man. A book that, having read, one will not easily forget. 
"Christian Derrick." By Beatrice Stott. (Chatto and Windus.) 6s. 
The first half of this book, devoted as it is to the forma- 
tion of the character of Christian— or Kit— Derrick, from 
childhood to adolescence, must be counted as a distinct 
literary achievement. It tells of the making of a misan- 
thrope, and the finely limned portraits of figures in the 
sordid home, which set Kit permanently against women and 
against all but his art, remain in the reader's memory even 
after the end of the book has been read. 
For the second half is not nearly equal to the first; Kit 
in the making is alive and real, but Kit the painter, mis- 
interpreting his friend's wife, is wooden and unreal, as is 
the woman of the story. Had the level of the earlier chapters 
been maintained, this would have been a great book; as it 
is, it is an unsatisfactory though distinctly arresting and 
unusual story. 
" A Tall Ship." By " Bartimsus." (Cassell and Co.) Is. net. 
One finds, in " BartimjEUs' " stories, not so much of the 
reek of salt water as of the keenness and way of getting 
things done that is characteristic of British naval officers and 
men. Not that the salt water smell is absent; there is plenty 
of it in " The Day " and in " Crab Pots," the first and on^ 
of the best stories in tlie book. 
Where all are good, thougli, it is difficult to make dis- 
tinctions. Humour, pathos, and even tragedy, and a photo- 
graphic reproduction of naval realities, combine to make thi.s 
second volume of " Bartiniaeus' " short stories a worthy 
successor to "Naval Occasions." 
In a little sixpenny booklet, attractively produced an<l 
published by New Irdavd, of 13, Fleet Street, Dublin, 
Mrs. Victor Rickard has told the magnificent story of the 
Munsters at Etreux, Festubert, and Rue de Bois, and the 
manner of the telling is worthy of the story. The booklet, 
which is entitled simply The Story of the Munsters, is 
classic in its brevity, and, since none can fail to be impressed 
by the .story the writer has to tell, is to be commended to all 
to whom the deeds of our Army are of any account. 
The nineteenth century 
AND AFTER. 
ocTOBJin. 
The 'Ligeance of the Kin«': a Study of Nationality and Naturalization 
B.V Sir FmNCH I'ioodtt (lale Cki'f Judice of Hung Komi) 
The Third War Budget. ii.v H. J. .lENsrixas. 
More Leaves from a Field Note-Book. By Profe^or .r. H. Morqa.\ (late 
Home OSu-e Commissioner iiilh the British ETjieditimiari/ Force) 
National Service : 
(1) The National Register and After. By Sir Clewest Kinloch- 
COOKB, M.l'. 
(2) Compulsory Service as a Principle of the Constitution. Bv Sir 
Hi:n-ry Bi-.\kk, (;.(:, M. (J. 
Resolute Russia. By Robkrt Machriy. 
2r 'R® Providing of Work for Refugees. By JiDiiH SKLLERi. 
The Vatican and the War : 
(1) The Pope and the German Atrocities. By tlie Right Rev. 
M<)ii--ii;iior Canoii MoYKS, I).l). 
(2) The Pope, Orthodoxy, and the Allies. Bv R. B. C. SHKBin.VJr. 
Wordsworth on the Revolution. By Prutessor A. V. DicET. 
Iho Poetry of Gabrieie d'Annunzio. By Arxixdel del Rfe. 
Our Unseen Enemies and Allies. By A P Sinsett 
The Concert of Europe : A Plain Moral for To-day. By J. A. R. Marriott. 
Military Aspects of a Frontier. By Colonel Sir TuoMAS HoiDiOH, 
K.C.W.G.. K C'.l.i;. 
Public Economy and National Education. By the Rt. Rev. Bishop Frodshasc. 
Ideals of Life and Educatio.i German and English. By Edmond G. A. 
llOLMK.s {late Chief Inspector of Elementary Hchoolsfor Enqtand). 
Mr. Lloyd George and the War. By Sydnet Brooks. 
Tvondon : SpottisHoocle & Co., Ltd., ,'i New-ati-pot Square. 
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