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"THE GRAND SANHEDRIM " A Paper for reading at Royal Arch Chapters , & c . BY OBLTON COOPEE , M . E . Z . 483 , H . 1928 , Price thirteen pence , post free from BRO . ALFRED H . COOPER , PUBLISHER , 19 COLEMAN STREET , LONDON , E . G ., or from " Freemason ' s Chronicle Office , " New Barnet .

Books Of The Day.

Books of the Day .

Books , Music , & c . Intended for review , should be addressed to the Editor of the Freemason ' s Chronicle , at Fleet Works , New Barnet . « — : o : — The Jew and other Stories . By Ivan Turgenev . Translated from the Russian by Constance Garnett ( 3 s net ) . —William Heinemann . TUBGEJSEV is a leading light in the school of thought ; he stands beside George Eliot and Flaubert . Such , at least , is the opinion of Mr . George Moore , and we will not quarrel with his appraisal of the great Russian

novelist . Both in method and result he is said to be less exclusively Russian than Dostoieffsky or Tolstoi ; but this doctrine is , we believe , regarded as rank heresy in some quarters . This volume is the fifteenth ana last of the excellent English translation of the novels of Ivan Turgenev issued by Messrs . Heinemann . It contains four short stories and a strange fragment entitled " Enough . " To begin at the end , we may express the opinion that the title of this fragment is a misnomer , for we certainly wish that " Enough " were very much longer .

Its excellencies , however , are of a kind which will doubtless repel many readers , —they are hardly calculated to please critics of the gentler sex who happen , as Mr . Labouchere once said , to possess " more prejudices and less principles . " "The Jew" and "An Unhappy Girl , " will be more generally appreciated . The former , a very able and efficient " tour de force , " is in no way peculiar as tho work of a Russian ; it has no characteristics of form or treatment indigenous to Eastern Europe . Had we met with it for the first

time in an English Magazine we should certainly not have detected the hand of a continental writer . But the reverse is true of "An Unhappy Girl . " This powerful story , so shrewdly conceived , so ably worked out , is eminently continental in character . Such a work may be said to set forth the principles laid down in the Laoooon of Lessing by borrowing them from the province of Art and applying them to prose fiction . Moreover , " An Unhappy Girl " recalls in many ways the pliancy , the easy strength of the greater novelists of Prance . Many passages have the flavour of Balzac in his " Histoire des

Treize " ; of Bmile bouvestre in " Un Philosophe sous les Toits " ; of Dumas , when he is stern and reflective beyond his wont , as here and there in " Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge . " Turgenev thoroughly masters the arts of compression . From the materials suggested by these short stories many writers of our own country would have spun an interminable rigmarole which we should not care to read through either for criticism or for pleasure . Not the least merit of Turgenev is his exquisite literary finish ; but this can only be appreciated by those conversant with the Russian language . The study of Russian does not accord with everybody's tastes .

The Grammar of Science . By Karl Pearson , M . A ., P . R . S . Second edition , revised and enlarged , with 33 figures in the text ( 7 s 6 d net ) . —Adam and Charles Black . WHEN , a few years back , the first edition of this work appeared , Mr . St . George Mivart animadverted upon it strongly in the pages of the " Fortnightly Review . " He urged that Professor Pearson , by his treatment of the grammar of science , had clearly shown that he had undertaken an impossible task . We

read Mr . Mivart's article on " Denominational Science " carefully at the time , but must say that we do not see eye to eye with him in this matter . So far ias we can presume to understand the subject , or rather subjects , discussed in this volume , we side with Prof . Pearson . By adopting the method set forth in the Grammar of Science he has shown incontestably how supremely inadequate are the language and logic of the street 'for the exposition of science . Further , we think he has produced a work which should act as an

efficacious corrective to the whims and crotchets of any and every sect of pseudo-scientists . For , alas I there are sects in science as in theology ; the scientific sectarian has , we admit , been taught the precepts of dogmatism by the theologian ; but he usually does his best to better his instruction . Such disciples will learn , if open to conviction , that their respective masters are by no means infallible , and will have to ( admit , with Prof . Pearson , that even the teachings of Hume , or Spencer , or Wallace , or Comte are to be received

" cum grano salis . " We greatly question whether the candid reader will find any serious bone of contention in this work ; the chapters on " The facts of Science , " on "Life , " and on "The Classification of the Sciences , " are perhaps the most entirely satisfactory . Prof . Tyndal would probably have objected to some of the remarks on "Spontaneous Generation " ; but we can

readily believe that Prof . Pearson can be trusted to reply to his critics . His work is in many senses masterly ; but we miss the well-nigh inimitable lucidity of Huxley in , say , his " Problems of the Deep Sea " and " Sense and the sensiferous organs . " We are however too grateful for so able an exposition to quarrel with its author because he does not use somebody else ' s pen .

Thou shalt not — . By Stanton Moricb ( 3 s 6 d ) . —C . Arthur Pearson , Limited . THIS is a powerful story . We regret to add that it is somewhat objectionable . To state its characteristics in a few words is difficult ; but we may say that we find here a little of George Moore , a little of Grant Allen , a little of Zola , and something of Ouida , and of Paul de Kock . Unfortunately , this volume has reminded us of the dark , rather than the bright side of these

authors . We say this in no captious mood . When such painful subjects , so repulsive in every detail , are introduced in a fiction intended for general reading we think the parents amongst us should know what manner of book is bound within the covers of " Thou shalt not — . " It is quite desirable that our grown sons should read this book , and take its unpleasant truths , its very

obvious lessons , and its scathing denunciations of certain conventionalities , very deeply to heart : but we certainly do not wish to see it handed about indiscriminately amongst our daughters of tender years . That school of criticism which would concur in Johnson ' s dictum that Matthew Prior is a " ladies poet" might laugh our scruples to the wind . Many men , many minds . Having uttered this protest we should be ; grossly unjust if we omitted to

Books Of The Day.

acknowledge the skill with which the more prominent characters in this book are drawn . The very best is , beyond all question , Miss Skittles . We do not recall a single passage regarding her which is full of description for mere description ' s sake ; yet Miss Skittles , a really charming young woman , albeit of the "half-world , " is p laced before us in a series of singularly vivid pictures

which show the artist as a veritable master of his craft . Kate and Frances are both well drawn , and are skilfully used to bring about the final denouement ; but the men—there is only one " gentleman " in the book—do not strike us as being so ably delineated . This writer , by careful exercise of good taste , should give us some sound work presently .

Highways and Byways in Yorkshire . By Arthur H . Norway . With illustrations by Joseph Pennell and Hugh Thomson ( 6 s ) . —Maomillan and Co ., Limited . THE series of volumes to which this work belongs , so well written , so cleverly illustrated , is one of the very best of the many ventures of its kind now in course of publication . Mr . Norway has traversed the highways and byways of Yorkshire to some purpose . He has a good eye for scenery , and a

strong love for the folk-lore and traditions which have gathered around so many of his favourite haunts . He has , too , excellent judgment in the selection and treatment of . material . When Mr . Norway published his charming work on the " Highways and Byways of Devon and Cornwall " there was a rare unanimity of opinion amongst the critics as to the merits of

his prose . Certainly the book before us must satisfy the most fastidious taste . We do not know whether Mr . Norway is a disciple of tho late Mr . Ruskin , but we dare affirm that , consciously or unconsciously , he has penned many a paragraph of sedulously elaborated description which bears a strong resemblance to some passages in " Modern Painters . " In chapter V . we read :

" There is a sharp whistle in the wind this morning , and the sea is breaking heavily round the harbour walls . From time to time a surge heavier than the rest sends a cloud of brown spray flying over the wharves and quays where the fishing crates are stored , and as I watch , a drift of flaky foam torn from the crests of the grey breakers whips past the red roofs of the old town and is driven slowly by the wind across the green slopes to the Castle crag . "

This is Ruskin , if we know anything about the matter at all . Somehow —the why and the wherefore elude our explanation—there is an enthusiasm in this book which is very contagious . We caught it rather badly , half-way through its pages , and found ourselves longing for a holiday , a bike , fine weather , and Yorkshire . Dwellers north of the Humber will welcome this volume warmly ; but Mr . Norway has told us much which is of interest to many who know Yorkshire only on the map .

A CHEAP reprint of Mr . Fitzpatrick ' s " Transvaal from Within " has been issued by Mr . W . Heinemann . The Book has been revised and a new Introduction added by the Author . This Introduction further elucidates not only the original aspirations of the Boers to extend their Republics and predominance , but shows how down to the present day this has been their settled policy and ambition . A new coloured map has been prepared with a view to demonstrate Mr . Fitzpatrick's argument .

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