LAND AND WATER 
January 20, 1916. 
and tnc petty unrest and activity of human hatred and 
destructiveness. , j fu^* th^ 
At one time there was an idea abroad that the 
artist was the stormy petrel of humanity ; that he tclt 
instinctively the coming storm before its approach was 
reahscd by the rest of mankind, and that all the revolt 
against conventions which found its loudest expressions 
in the Futurist Exhibitions (the Futurist often being 
only a man who was 
trying to revive all 
that was best in the 
Primitive and to be 
finished with Artili- 
ciality), was merely a 
symptom of the politi- 
cal and social cata 
clysm which has now 
engulfed Europe. It 
is more than doubtful 
whether this idea can 
hold water, especially 
when we remember 
the particular school 
was but a small one, 
but what it does prove 
is that before the war 
there was a strong 
movement in existence 
for greater sincerity in 
life. Nor wts it only 
confined to art circles. 
The war naturally has 
ijuickened this move- 
ment and imparted to 
it intense vitahty. 
None the less, conven- 
tionality and insincerity 
REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 
M. Atkinson 
•• Me-nolrs of M. Thiers, 1870.1873.'' Translated by F. 
{George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. J 
These Memoirs of M. Thiers, covering tne penod l.om 
September 1870, when the great French ^tatesiuan started 
on hTrtour o^f he European capitals on behal of Prance 
until May 24th, 1873, when he resigned the I^resKlency of the 
l^l..Jafler'his^ifeat in the ^^^/^^t:^^. 
tune moment. In read- 
ing them through one 
often finds it hard to 
realise that forty-five 
years have elapsed be- 
tween then and now, 
so naturally do present 
events appear as the 
corollary of the happen- 
ings of those days. 
How many people are 
aware that but. for the 
firmness of M. Thiers 
Belfort would have been 
a German town. On 
this point he was adam- 
ant, and finally France 
had to choose between 
the humiUation of the 
German triumphal march 
through Paris or the 
cession of Belfort. She 
unhesitatingly cliose the 
former. Very different 
might have been the 
story of this war had 
she, to escape the tem- 
porary degradation, let 
go her permanent hold 
on Belfort. 
THE FLIGHT FROM BELGIUM. 
By 2nd Liculenant W. Lee Haokey. 
We strongly recommend a perusal of this book to all 
who take an interest in the political complicities which he 
behind and follow on a great war. History repeats itself with 
surprising exactitude in this respect. 
By Moore Ritchie. (Longmans Green 
the Field.' 
28. 6d. net. 
With Botha 
and Co.) -- 
Little has been written on the campaigns in South Africa, 
"' — - "o--- , talent among men wno are lu^u- Little has been written on tae Ltuupug..:, "'■:;: ""■7- 
there is ^{^3^^"^^"'!^°; duty to Their country, and have ^j^ich rank among the most notable successes of the war .for 
fully discharging their duty to tn y ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^ .^1 ^^^1^^^^ ^U3t ^ bestowed on this book. 
aSS'^lar^^e L^^h a;;! palette to go forth 
and defend the right. 
Pnhlished in aid of the BelgkiT Red Cross and other 
Bel/an c larfti s, Bekian Art in Exile (Colour Publishing 
Co 5 net) is on; of the most sumptuously produced volume 
thai the war has called forth, and is one which will appeal to all 
lovers ofTrl Nearly a hundred Belgian artists and sculptors 
are represented in the volume ; many of these men are m 
England at the 
present time, others 
are prisoners in Ger- 
many, and vet others 
are with the Belgian 
army. The best of 
Belgian art is repre- 
sented, and the col- 
lection is sufficiently 
complete to give even 
an amateur a com- 
prehensive idea of the 
range of colour and 
form in the work of 
Belgian painters and 
sculptors. Apart 
from the aims which 
the book is intended 
to further, it is a work 
of permanent interest 
from the artistic point 
of view, while literary 
SSand Mau&aeterlinck add to its national value 
An echo of Rupert Brooke's work is to be found in The 
Volunl^er and other Poem., by Herbert Asquith (Sidgwnck 
and Jackson, is. net). This is specially notable in The 
^~"" ■"Ind'thoTe.'who come this way in days hereafter. 
Will know that here a boy for England fell. 
The rest o" the poems are characterised by a similar note. 
It is good verse of the Oxford order. 
this reason a special welcome must be bestowed on this book. 
Mr Moore Ritchie was a member of General Botha s Body- 
guard, and took part both in the suppression of the rebellion 
and in the conquest of Damaraland. , 
The author makes no attempt to go into strategical ques- 
tions or political problems ; he gives us a vivid picture of the 
hardships which the troops had to endure, and endured wilhngly^ 
under General Botha, whom theyidohsed. He never spared 
himself or them, and their marches across the desert will rank 
liigh as a military 
achievement. This 
book is the more in- 
teresting in that it is 
copiously illustrated 
with photographs. 
.\nd when the 
lighting was over 
and the victory won, 
kindliness was shown 
to the conquered 
Germans. " The con- 
duct of the South 
.\frican troops," writes 
Mr. Ritchie, " should 
assuredly be noted. 
The very confidence 
of these German 
townspeople that they 
had nothing to fear 
from the hated troops 
CHiNON CASTLE. of the British Union 
By L.nce-Corpor.1 M.lcolm CHborne. of South Africa WaS 
eloauent The thing stood out, a piece of bitterest irony in 
connect on with a people whose kindred across the seas were 
mrking civilisation shudder at their atrocities afloat and 
^hore General Botha's forces had crossed a desert th rough 
;tch it was the open boast of the enemy that it was strewn 
with mines and with every well Pl"^""':'^- . ^^^^ t"^ ! 
defenceless citi7,en of Windhuk or Karibib the wor,e for it 
aaer the occupation? Not one. It was magnanimous 
ft was magnificent. But I wonder if the chivalrous Teuton 
would caU it war I " We also wonder. 
700 
