Welsh Journals

The Adolescent," by J. W. Slaughter. London George Allen & Unwin. Pp. 100. 2s. 6d. Dr. Stanley Hall's massive work on Adolescence was perhaps the first book which attempted to throw light ou a problem now generally recog- nised as of vital importance. Dr. Slaughter's book owes much to Stanley Hall though as Professor Findlay remarks in his introduction, the author "stands on his own feet." The chief value of the work is the stress which the author lays on the importance of growth-the child's mind grows in terms of itself-and not in terms of disciplinary exercises a valuable though oft forgotten truth. Much of what Dr. Slaughter writes on the education of boys and girls during adolescence is of interest at present when for the first time continued education for adolescents is to be organised. But in matters such as these we must be careful not to dogmatise. Youth stirs and breaks its fetters despite all education; our duty is to see that it has the fullest opportunities for growth. The book will well repay careful reading. Motley and other Poems," by Walter de la Mare. Constable & Co., Ltd., London. Pp. 75. 3s. 6d. Mr. de la Mare has the most delicate ear and the most individual sense for words of all our younger poets. With just a little added power he might rise to real greatness. As it is, with all his charm and all his subtlety, his art does not seem to grow, as one hoped that it would do. The present volume has many exquisite lines, many delicious fancies, and a few short poems of complete beauty. On the whole however it leaves one with a feeling of disappointment. The following short lyric, entitled Moonlight," could hardly be improved The far moon maketh lovers wise In her pale beauty trembling down, Lending curved cheeks, dark lips, dark eyes, A strangeness not their own. And, though they shut their lids to kiss, In starless darkness peace to win, Even on that secret world from this Her twilight enters in. The longer poems hardly ever reach this standard. Almost always they begin with a subtlety of cadence and a charm of feeling which en- chants the mind, but the magic often seems too slender to support the whole and dies away before the last line is reached. But this may be hyper-critical. Such gifts as Mr. de la Mare owns are rare, and one should be thankful for them. Perhaps the horror of these present times overpowers his frail and gracious muse. In the spring time of peace she may reach her full stature. "A Short History of France," by Mary Duclaux (A. Mary F. Robinson). London T. Fisher Unwin. Pp.349. 10s. 6d. Readers of previous works of Madame Duclaux will welcome this addition to her list of achievements. There could scarcely be a more opportune moment for the publication of a popular History of France, and the epithet popular is applied to her work with its etymological force and in no depreciatory sense. For at the present time there exists a large and growing class of cultivated people, who have the intelligence if not the inclination, to study French history, and who hitherto (though they would not care to confess it) have relied on picture plays, novels, or melodramas as sources of information. As Madame Duclaux points out in an interesting foreword, it is for this class of cultivated and ignorant men and women that she deliberately writes, and not for schoolboys and historians. She is admirably fitted for the task. British by descent and endowed with an intimate and sympathetic knowledge of French life and literature she possesses qualifications which few, if any, could rival. Her history begins with the landing of Julius Caesar, and ends with the fall and exile of Napoleon. The story is told in a smoothly flowing style, with no breach in the continuity of interest, and with a conscious effort to hide no factor of importance and give no unfair judgment. Every page is S.H.W. C.T. rich in human interest, and one often comes across the fruits of ripe ex- perience in such acute observations as A nation cannot lose by Act of Parliament the mental habit of many centuries." The book is delightful. Professional historians may find a few tempting targets for their little darts of criticism, yet they would be more profitably employed in trying to learn the secret of the author's charm. The general reader, however, simply enjoys himself, and owes too much to Madame Duclaux to be hypercritical. F.J.M. BOOKS RECEIVED "Wales in the Seventeenth Century," by the Rev. J. C. Morrice, M.A., Vicar of Bangor. Bangor: Jarvis & Foster. 10s. 6d. Pp. xx.-356. Reward and Other Poems," by Leonard Burdett. Chorley The Universal Publishing Co. 8d. Pp. ii.-27. "War Letters of a Public Schoolboy," by Paul Jones. London Cassell. 6s. Pp. 280. "The Government of the British Empire," by Edward Jenks, B.C.L. London: John Murray. 6s. Pp. 403. "The New Industrial Outlook," by Lucy Fryer Moorland, B.A. London Headley Brothers. Is. 6d. Pp. 59. "Cosmic Law in Ancient Thought," by T. W. Rhys Davids. London: Humphrey Milford. Is. Pp. 11. Outlines of Local Government," by John J. Clarke, F.S.S. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons. Is. Pp. 83. "The Great European Treaties of the 19th Century." Edited by Sir Augustus Oakes. C.B. and R. B. Mowart, M.A. Oxford Clarendon Press. Sonnets and Poems," by Eleanor Farjoen. Oxford Blackwell. 3s. Pp. 50. "The Necessity of Poetry," by Robert Bridges, Poet Laureate. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 2s. Pp. 48. Cyril Scott, Composer, Poet and Philosopher," by A. Eaglefield Hull, Mus. Doc. (Oxon). London Kegan Paul. 3s. 6d. Pp.196. An Englishman Talks it out with an Irishman," by A. R. Orage. With a Preface by John Eglinton. London T. Fisher Unwin. 6d. Pp. 31. "The Case for Devolution." Extracts from Speeches collected by Viscount Hythe, D.C.L. London P. S. King & Son. Pp. 118. 'Slawer Dydd," by W. Llewelyn Williams, K.C.. M.P. Llanelly: James Davies & Co,, South Wales Press. 2s. 6d. Pp. 99. "Handbook of Elocution," by Ed. Minshall. London: John Murray. Is.6d. Pp.46. "The Human Needs of Labour," by B. Seebohm Rowntree. London T. Nelson & Sons. 3s. 6d. Pp. 168. "Tidal Lands," by A. E. Carey & F. W. Oliver. London: J. M. Dent & Son. Is. Pp. 84. CATARRH, HEAD NOISES, ■" cas''y CUTe& in a few days by the new "FRENCH ORLENE." Scores of wonderful cures re- ported. 'COMPLETELY CURED" Age 76 Mr Thomas Winslade, of Borden, Hants, writes: "I am delighted I tried the new for the head noises, I am pleased to tell you, ARE GONE, and I can hear as well aa ever I could in my life. I think it wonderful, as I am seventy-six years old, and the people here are surprised to think I can hear so well again at my age." Many other equally good reports. Try one box to-day, which can be forwarded to any address upon the receipt of money order for 2/9. THERE IS NOTHING BETTER AT ANY PRICE. Address, "OBLENE" Co., Railway Orescent, West Croydon, Surrey, England.