M;i\' ;,. 1 1)1 7 
LAND & WATER 
Books to Read 
By Lucian Oldershaw 
17 
IN a vnliimo of romini^icpnccs Iw tlio man wiin practicnlly 
intr.JcliUA'd the art of iiUcr\ icvving to Britisli jo'unialism 
and who held a virtual mouYijJoly of its. practice for many 
years one expects , to -find good entertainment. .One 
fmds both the expected' and-the' unexpected in Mr. Raymond 
Blathwayt's Throuoh Life anil Round Hie World {(',. Allen and 
l^nwin, los. 6d. net.). ' Th^.uiJexpected consists of the author's 
own experiences in a life of.imuch travel and variety, especially 
interesting being those connected with his brief career as a 
"pale young curate," and a short excursus into the dis- 
tinguished family history of the Blathwayts. For the 
expected, w-ell, it is what one;would expect ! Mr. Blathwayt 
tells us that he took to interviewing as the line of least resist- 
ance in journalism, but he lias not proved himself a super- 
interviewer simply because lie was the first in the field. He 
lias the pdwer of sympathy, Vr at any rate of interesting him- 
self in other people's points of view, and a talent for that kind 
of judicious flattery which beguiles a man into reveahng him- 
self. His subjects pose less than those of most interviewers, 
or perhaps it is more true to Say that they pos^^, in a more 
characteristic and distinctive way, as did H^ollygt-s sitters 
compared with those of the old-fashioned photographers. 
This is where the artist comes in. 
***** 
Mr. Blathwayt's catholicity can be clearly proved from th^s 
volume. He has paid his tribute of sketches from life to 
^lartin Tupper, theauthorof 7-"('.s/«,sand the painter of "Derby 
Day " ; he seems to have shared all the kite Victorian and 
Edwardian enthusiasms, and he is prepared to-day to admire 
the Georgian mystics and the Chelsea artists, declaring the 
while that in essentials life in London has changed very little 
in his time. 'Mr. Blathwayt is indeed above all things an 
enthusiastic collectf)r of persons. During the next few weeks 
one half of l[7)o'.s' Who will be, according to temperament, 
condoling with or congratulating the other half on not being 
in this volume, and future collectors will classify the persons of 
this epoch as being either "known" or "unknown to 
Blathwayt." 
***** 
Another writer who has made an interesting collection of 
persons, though on a less ambitious scale than Mr. Blathwayt, 
is Mr. Coulson Kernahan. His book. In Good Companv 
(John Lane, 5s. net.), is a series of desciptions of his relation- 
ships with scjven well-known men. The most considerable 
, part of the book is made up of reminiscences of visits to 
"The Pines" at Putney, indeed five of the eleven sketches are ' 
de\oted to the interesting personality of \Vatts-.Dunton, 
.with a tendency to dwell over long on some of the stale and 
-arid^cont.roversics in which li£ and Swinburne took part. Mr. 
Kernahan is generous to his friends in intention — but in result 
he often deals unintended blows at their reputations.' Thus 
his endeavour to do justice to the memory of Oscar Wilde 
chiefly succeeds in leaving on my mind the impression of an 
unmitigated cad. Perhaps the most successful bits of work 
are an account of Stephen Phillips as a reciter and h sketch 
of Edward Whymper, the famous climber. Both studies 
print a clear i)icture on the m^m )rv. 
***** 
I adijnire the ctmrage of Mr. W. L. George in writing such 
a book as The Inldliaencc of Woman (Herbert Jc^nkins, 5s. 
net.). To begin with there is the implied claim to understand 
women, a r^im which women usually resent and men usually ■ 
despise. Perha]is Mr. George's I'^minist attitude renders 
him immune in the direction from which attack is most 
to be feared, but 1 should imagine that his calm assumption 
that tliere is no s])ecial mystery about womankind would not 
be pleasing to those who still find a Sphni.\"-hke reputation of 
\alue in the duel of the sexes. Then again .Mr. (ieorg.- 
:)ascs his claim for the greater emancijiation of woman, 
not on her merits, but rather on lii'r failings, ascribing them 
lo her restrictions. Tiiis is the kind of honesty that is 
too often regarded as bad policy. Certainly tiie book may 
bring a hornets' nest about its author's eqrs" Certainly, too, 
it is- an extremely interesting." book, and among much tiiatis 
disputable contains much thaf is tr'iie. -.I' particularly coin- 
mend the last chapter to those who are studying thciabour 
problem "after the war." 
* * » * » 
Another book of sociological interest, less lively ancflCSS 
littrary than Mr. .George's^,t>ttt -perhaps more original itl ;its 
revolutionary proposals, is Dr. F. li. Hayward's Profcsfii^val- 
ism and Ori'^inality {(i. Allen and I'nwin, 6s. net.). His b«)ok 
is a forced and s'ohiewtJSr'frmtasttc^antithesis betwceH :|;hc 
" profesiiional " and tlu' " living " man. leading u|>--4o- 
somo proposals for the elimination of the former and the en- 
couragement of the latter type, which as far as 1 can judge 
from the examples given in the text, has hitherto only occurred 
in those rare instances of such men as by common consent are 
men of genius. Whether the operation of a P>()ard of Culture 
with power to suppress such illiteracy in humour, as " Its 
snow use," and a more extens'veuscof museums and picture 
galleries and the issuing of books of proa and cons on all im- 
portant topics like Roman Catholicism and the rest of it 
would tend to turn us into a nation of geniuses, and whether 
it would be au' advantage if this were the result, are questions' 
open to doiibt. There is no doubt, however, that Mr. Hayward 
is very much in earnest in jireaching his gospel of the " living 
man," and also that many stimulating ideas and suggestions 
can be derived from his book even bv those who do not agree 
with his main conteRtions.'' 
Even if its subject-matter were of less topical importance, .. 
considerable interest wonld attach to The Gron'th of a i 
Legend, by Fernand van Langenhove (Putnam, 5s. net), 
for it is a model t)f the method to be applied in such investiga- 
tion. Its subject-matter is the (ierman stories of Francs- 
tireurs and atrocities in Belgium, which were used as an ' 
excuse for the massacres and wanton destruction that. followed 
the invasion of that unhap])v country. The author was 
scientific secretary of the Solva\' Institute of Sociology of ^, 
Brussels, ami he has been able to nail these (ierman lies 
(which the, Ivaiser perpetuated in a famous message to 
President Wilson) to the counter of jjosterity by making 
use of evidence supplied by the enemy themselves. It so 
liappened that many of the stories implicated Belgian priests, 
whereat the Catholics of (Germany took alarm and the 
Catholic society. Pax, started to make enquiries which 
proved in every case that the stories circulated about atrocities 
committed by the Belgians were without foundation. How 
they were circuIato>d, how they grew and the use that was 
made of them form an interesting excursus on the theme 
Fama-vire^ acijiiifi/ eun'io. Mor6over, the book does away 
once and for all with anv possible palliation of the conduct 
of the liosche in Belgium. 
. — '^^\y' 
If aii\' Cii"! sliould giye 
I ';> li-.i\i' lo flv. 
These present deaths we live 
Antl safely die-^- 
In tliosei lost lives we lived ere \vc were born— 
What man but would not hiugh the excuse to scorn ? 
Those who read Rudyard Kipling's latest book, A Diversify 
of Creahires (Ma^cmiUan, fis.) will feel keenly thetruth of these 
lines. More than any recent publication it brings homo to 
us that wc are not what we were. Tlie murder of the hostile 
airmen in Mankelton's park, an incident in which figures 
I.augiiton O. Zigler, well-known to readers of " Traffics and 
Discoveries" as The Captive, the "rag" of two young 
subalterns aided and abetted by Stalky ; still more the 
gigantic jest of " The Village that Voted the Earth was 
Flat," altliough they amuse and enthrall, leave a sense of 
mireality and strangeness so that we stare 
" At the far show 
Of unbelievable years and shapes that flit, 
i In our own likeness, on the edge of.it," 
We have outgrown those light-hearted irresponsible times, 
real -and vivid though they seemed while we lived through 
them. With a sense of relief we turn to the story of Mary 
Postgate, and smile to think how wildly impossible it w'ould 
have seemed three years ago. Wc do not admire Mary ; 
shq repels, but we earn understand. " Swcj>t and Garnished " 
with its sinister resemblance to the author's most beautiful 
acliievf-merit, " They," carries conviction too and prepares 
us for the monotonous throb of the " Hymn of Hate " with 
which the b'ook closes.' 
I Some of the stories, however, although written in pre-wai^ 
days, stand the stern test of circumstances. Among these 
^may be reckcmed " I'Yiendly Brook," " My Son's Wife,." and 
! " Regulus " The hrst two are tales of Sussex, breathing the 
■atmi)spherc of that fair county as no others have done since 
,"" Pyck of Pook's Hill," and "Rewards and Fairies." The 
last is a school episode iii which Stalky and Co. appear once 
m(>f^'. But we cannot separate ourselves from life as we 
' know it now, and the wq.rds that ring in our ears as we lay 
'I'XYii the book are the refrain of the heart-breaking dirge 
,wl^t;h foltows" The Honours of War " : " Who shall return 
-iisonr children? - . ' . . 
