I WOMAN’S SUFFRAGE A LOST CAUSE? S THE NEW AGE, THURSDAYSEPTEMBER 2, 1909 A WEEKLY REVIEW OF POLITICS, LITERATURE AND ART No. 782] [New Series Vol. V. No. 19] THURSDAY, 2, 1909 ONE PENNY SEPT. CONTENTS. NOTES OF THE WEEK CARNEGIE HOME AT AND HEALTHAT SCHOOL ... ... ABROAD ... ... ... ... ... 344 By Francis Grierson ... 345 THE MIDDLE CLASSES. By F. Z. ... ... 346 Is WOMAN’S SUFFRAGE LOSTCAUSE ? By W. L. George 347 A THE MISSIONARY. By Richmond Haigh ... ... 345 OP SOCIALISM .AND LABOUR EXCHANGES UNEMPLOYMENT AND Souvenirs T. Good BAYREUTH.--II. ... ... ... ASSURANCE. ... ... ... ..* ... ... ... ... By PAGE ... 341 343 343 BOOKS AND PERSONS. Jacob Tonson ... By REVIEWS Seven Short : Plays Among the Danes ... ... ... The Decay o Rome ... f ... ... ... Mesmerism and Christian Science ... ... ... DRAMAThe : Last of the Censors. By N. C . ... *.* MUSIC : Elgar, Reger, and Promenades. the By Herbert Hughes ... ... ... ... ... .*. CORRESPONDENCE : MauriceBrowne, C. H. Norman, J. F. Burton, C. L. Money, Joseph Clayton ... ... ... ... ... ... .a. ... ... ... ... =nu- 351 351 352 352 353 350 353 354 SPECIAL NOTICE. All communications for the Editor should be sent to 38, Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane, E.C. London.. ADVERTISEMENTS : The latest time for receiving dressed A U BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS should be .o t the Manager, I2-14 Red Lion Court, Fleet St., ad- advertisements i s first post Monday for the same week’s issue. SUBSCRIPTION RATES for England and Abroad : Three months 1s. 9d. Six months 3s. 3d. Twelve months 6s. 6d. All remittances should be made payable to THE NEW ACE PRESS,LTD., and sent to 12-14, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. NOTES OF THE WEEK. of Lord Rosebery’s antiBudget. speech, the rumour of a dissolution in January is “premature at any rate.” The country never knows what be the may in minds of ministers,orwhether anythingparticular is there at all.Variouswonderful plans are said to be brewing ; but we have never known a Cabinet half so subtle as either its apologists or critics..Theprobability is that,likeanyhumancoma few days mittee, the Cabinet invents its explanations after the event ; and, plainly, the event of the moment is thedouble-barrelled‘meetingatBirmingham,when We Mr. Asquith will be followedMr. by Balfour. expectthatMr.Asquith will make a trialtrip of his mew Zeppelin programme of reforms ; and if it should prove airtight after Mr., Balfour’s attempts to puncture it, the Cabinet may decide to risk a general election on it. That, of course, is- only our guess. Really, however, we cannot conceive why a Cabinet with still three years to run and the flowing tide with it should want to dissolve a t all ; unless it be that the tide is too fast ! For ourselves a general election always promises something. hundred One and fifty Labour Socialist and place ; and candidates.are to stand whenever it takes that will give u s plenty to do. latest threatened resurrection is, however, least the well-timed of all. Generally he is a most discriminating and dramatic revenant ; but a s a defender of the Dukes at thevery moment of theirdescentintobathoshis task of liftingthem to thesublime will proveimpossible, and cover with may him’ -their mantle. Lord Rosebery’s life-error has been his profession of Liberalwas than a sentimental affectaism. I t never more tion, due in part to Gladstone’s personality ; but he has never had the courage to. admit his error and frankly to change party. his Consequentlyhe has been both unhappy in politics and a nuisancetobothsides. His anti-Budget speech, if it should be delivered, might be off the mercifully used asanexcuseforpushinghim Liberal League, of which he is a president. H e would be thankful for someone to make up his mind for him. LIKE the announcement * * * In politicsphrase the is everything. Lloyd Mr. George’s proposals for the expenditure of the Development having magniloquently Fund been named the colonisation -of England,variouspersonsandpapers is done : in the End are now assuming that the thing a s well as in theBeginningwastheWord. Weare ourselves inclined to regardtheFund as both useful w i l l haveto be draggedand andpromising ; butit . As outlined Lloyd by Mr. pushed by elephants. George on Thursday the first objects of the Fund are roads, agriculture, forestry, and communications. These are unimpeachable, and certainly on the way to colonisation ; but we must not be satisfied with merely looking towards Jerusalem. The planting of a hundred acres or so with trees will not pass with us a s Afforestation ; nor w i l l the.creation of a motorroad to Brighton satisfy us thatRoadsare from London being attended Properly to. administered, Fund the andtheProgrammemayeasily become thetenyears f scheme of public works which is part o the Minority Report’s recommendations. * * * * *’ * Butler tells u s o a parrot that would only allow its f mistress to read aloud o n condition that she introduced its name from time to time. Lord Rosebery appears to us not unlike that bird. He cannot bear to be in politics ; buthecanstill less endure to beout of them. His name must at least be mentioned now and then if only to assure him that he is not dead and buried,, His Theannouncement by Mr.Asquith on Thursday of the conclusions of the Imperial Conference on Defence is the first recorded event in the history of the Imperial Commonwealth proper. While disposed the on whole of such a standardisingand towelcometheprospect unifying of the Commonwealths under the Flag, we are not without regret that such an instrument of peace has not been forged internationalIy. sense In one the present arrangement is more Conservative than Liberal, 342 THE NEW AGE SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 andcertainly owes moretoUnionistthanto Liberal statesmen. The direct policy of Liberalism was and should remained have international rather than hperial ; in which event we might have had by this time a Federation of Great Powers all over the world sworn to uphold defined standards of civilisation. As itis,thepresentinstrument is purelyBritish,and as such inevitably something of a challenge and provocation totheother,nations. Also itsstandards will be our virtuesandallour vices. Unless British,withall internationalism, therefore, extends its influence, we shall bedoomed to a comparativelyrestricted field of development ; the Empire will be merely a very large by prejudices islandwith all itsinhabitantsinsulated from the rest ,of the world. * * * Surely t h e time is ripe for the invigoration, O shall R we say re-invigoration, of the old Socialist International. The Socialist movement in England is suffering a fromsevere depression, and we imagine is not flourishing much from the all reports it that anywhere else. Thecausesarehardto discover, but one of them is certainlythecomparativenarrowness with which eachnationhasenvisageditsown social problem, Outside a few sagacious leaders, very few Socialists in England are alive to the strict bearing on their problems own of the doings of Socialists and in the immediatepracLabouristsabroad.Engrossed tical politics of our own country, we fail to realise that potent factors even in these their have explanation abroad, where indeed we must learn to lookforthem like statesmen. The International Committee that meets at intervals of six months. is much too slack in its work. We doubt if mostSocialistseven.know o f its existence. Yet the public ignorance of recent events in Spain and in Sweden is a disgrace even to so dilatory a body. Its membersshouldhavesuppliedthe Press o the world f with n e w daily. W e cannot have an international influence withoutaninternational intelligence ; andforthedirection of that we look to the International Committee. *** stinctively we realise that the work is of such a characit isdepraved terthateitherthenaturethatchooses to begin with o r becomes depraved in the process. The conflict of evidence, forexample, between theSuffragettes and the wardresses was for the public no conflict at all. Mr. HerbertGladstonenaturallysideswithhis own, but him apart, everybody with any experience instantly assumed that the Suffragettes were telling the truth. And everybody, of course, right. was The at Wormwood evidence, again, of thetwoprisoners Scrubbs who been have sentenced to additional imprisonment for ,assaulting warders is on the face of it morecredible thanthe evidence of thewarders.One prisoner,Woolley,alleged that when amanhadonce been reported for indiscipline the warders got a downer on him, which lasted to the hour of his release. W e believe it. Infact, we can believe almostanything of these administrations of the prison system, Mr. Herbert Gladstone included. * Y * W e did not have the pleasure of seeing Mr. Bernard Shaw’s new play, “ Blanco Posnet,” produced in Dublin under the fierce light that, .beats upon everything Mr. Shaw does. But we take it that Mr. Yeats’s-prophecy that everybody present -would, when the play was over, rub his eyes in wonder at the action of the Censor was completely justified. I t would appear, indeed, as if the Censor had a particular objection to Mr. Shaw, including “ Blanco any play Mr. Shaw‘happened to admire. Posnet,” to judge from the notices, is about as religious a play as a Salvation Army Captain could wish : it is (again we rely upon notices) a n account in a dramatic formofhow Mr. Shaw foundJesus.EventheBritish public, weimagine, would notobject to that. But Mr. Redford objected all the same. It is precisely this appearance of personal bias that will, if anything will, abolish the Censorship. If Mr. Redford had played the part of omniscience and censored right and left, always taking care to keep his motives unintelligible, he might still be a figure of power. But his humanity has betrayed him : his office will die of his exposure. * * * It has always been understood that the Regulations of 1818, which Indians may deported by be without chargeortrial,contained a clausemaking arevision of the sentence imperative every six months. Lord Morley certainly gave us to understand that on July 1st of this year the sentences on the nine deported Indians would be reconsidered ; and we as certainly hoped that they would be reconsidered favourably to the prisoners. The new Under-Secretary, however, in reply to . a question from Mr. O’Grady, first denied that the revision was imperative in the 1818 Act, and then had the impertinence read Clause, to the from which it was manifest that was he completely wrong. Anything morebarefaced in the way of self-contradiction we do not remember to haveread in Parliamentaryannals. Regulation III distinctly lays down that the report on that the prisoner shall be submitted in order the sentence may be reconsidered. The Master of Elibank’s plea thatthereport related simply to the prisoner’s I f inflammahealth in prison was simply contemptible. toryEnglishpapers a r e t o becensored in’India, we shoulddecidedlyinclude the report of the new UnderSecretary’s-speech. Any Indian who mayreadit runs the risk of becoming dangerously inflamed. But not without having first afforded us some amusement as well as instruction by means of the Committee has, now sitting on subject. the Mr. A. B. Walkley perhaps,playedthesubtlestpart i n the comedy. H e professed to it think of the smallest concern that “ Monna Vanna ” should be forbidden even for a single it amount to much,he performance in England.Does asked, that the public should miss an evening’s aesthetic gratification ? The “ Nation ” is ponderously indignant : and regards his with M r . Walkley for his persiflage thesis a s a “ whole-hearted blasphemy against the power of beauty. in life.” But that we find even worse nonsense than Mr. Walkley’s. The “Times ” dramatic criticis obviously poking a little fun a t the British public. What, he asks, does anybody care about a work of art? greater The the work the less the care. And who save artists are the better for an evening’s aesthetic gratification? An art for spiritual delight is impossible for the mass of people whose lives are in, violent contrast with it. And the’ few whose lives are not inartistic are A s the’ Yorkshire probablylivingonsweatedlabour. at theHague : “Art be blowed, councillorremarked give us summat to ate.” * * + * * * W e put it to any decently-minded person whether the occupation of warder or wardress in a prison is not one of the most dagrading forms o earning a living. Inf By. the way,. it was a strange coincidence that the to issue of .the “Nation ” containingtheadmonition Mr. Walkley was illustrated by a page advertisement of a well-known soap. The verses in praise of thestuff were by the Sir lateTheodore Martin, K.C. B., K.C.V.O., LL.D., J.P.,and the accompanyingdrawing was by Mr. Walter Crane. The.demandforart be almost confined in England to a few seems to commercial firms, SEPTEMBER 2,1909 THE NEW AGE ~~~- 343 Carnegie at Home and Abroad. MR. CARNEGIE a practical joker is little to our taste. as Sorrowfully we admit ourselves are but the degenerate of offspring of a people that did once stomach the kind fun when Hector can crow over the body of the sIain flesh.” Mr. Patroclus : “ the fowls of the air shall eat thy Carnegie belongs to that ruder age when you not only knocked your enemy down but enjoyed dancing on his prostratebodyandrevilingthecorpse.NotthatMr. Carnegie does not betray some signs of belonging to a morehumane age. Forinstance,though he doesnot disdain to make the speeches himself, he employs others to do the fighting. He does not knock the enemy down himself. For that he pays the sheriff, the soldiers, and A t Pittsburg,notforthefirsttime theconstabulary. miners in its brief history,the ill-paid, downtrodden have revolted against slavery. their These wretched o being“foreignf peopleareunderthedisadvantage ers.” Readers of Mr.UptonSinclair’s “ Jungle ” will understand how these “foreigners ” are imported into Pittsburg, where conditions like the are those of s . A strikehasbeengoingon o Chicago, more only so ruthlessly for several weeks, and the men have been handled by the constabulary-in one paper we read that a fling these are mainly Irish and are rejoiced to have at the “foreigners ’’-that the strikers, like the hippopotamus inthe Zoo, havedefendedthemselves ; the women, are we told, being especially bitter. Strange women these, who will not tolerate starvation, cruelty, and oppression. Having provoked the intensest resentment, authorities the have, of course, imported the military. “Privateresidenceshave been. searched for firearms and groups of persons are notpermitted in the streets.The-authoritiesaredeterminedtoputdown thelawlessnessandviolencewhichhavemarkedthe of strike€orthepastthreeweeks,andtodaydozens arrestshave‘beenmade of thosebelievedtoberingleaders and inciters to violence.” We underThese phrases deceive no one in Europe. stand perfectly well that Mr. Carnegie and his partners have provoked war in Pittsburg, and are rich enough tobuyupthemilitaryandthePress.They will suppress the strike by the slaughter and imprisonment of those who are seeking amelioration some of their wretched existence. Mr. Carnegie having got others to do the fighting for him can afford to have his little joke. In the midst of hisownwarheissues a pamphlet,“Armamentsand their Results.” pamphletissued The is through the Peace Society. (Perhaps this on occasion the Pease Society be appropriate).writes might more He : “Armies and Navies exist and increase solely under the plea that these are the best and indeed the only means of ensuring Peace.’’ Carnegie Mr. points that out soldiers not do. conduce to peace. indeed And he should know, for at Pittsburg we read : “The Governor has been called upon for more troops.” Mr. Carnegie will know whether more troops make for peace. InhispamphletMr.Carnegieproceedsto is the view that “Armaments pointouthowincorrect arethecheap defence of nations.” He argues that it is a very costly defence ; America, for instance,. paying £97,000,000 W e wonderhowmuch of this is spent forthedefence of Mr.Carnegieandhislike.“Armamentsandtruefriendshipareincompatible,”hetells us, W e hope the working classes of this country and of America will remember dictum Mr. this when Carnegieagainposes as theirfriend. We understand Mr. Carnegie perfectly well when he putsdown a strike in Pittsburgbyimportingarmed forces, but we -could not relish this joke of issuing, at the moment, same a brochure in favour of Peace. Thereisjust a possibility thatMr.Carnegiedislikes war between the nations because the soldiery would be then employed upon otherthanhisprivateends.He may fear that they cannot be in Havanna ‘and in Pittsburg at the same time. “All humanexperienceproves that men unarmed are less likely to quarrel than men to armed ”-writes Mr.Carnegie-unless,heomitted say,youarerichenoughtobuybotharmsandthe men. For ourselves, we agree with Mr. Upton Sinclair in this week’s “ Clarion,” “that the Socialists should formally ratify treaties and covenants, pledging themselves . . topreventthiscrime [of war]frombeingcommitted.” W e a r e opposedtowar,whether in Europe o r in Pittsburg, whether promoted Carnegie by or byKaiser. .. Health at School. TUCKyour .tuppenny By in. order of the Board of Education.Andone of the wisest orderseverissued by Board. the Could but our we see schoolmasters at leapand schoolma’ams, our boys and girls playing frog throughout the day, with occasional diversions in to the song and dance,we should behailingtheway take millennium. The scholarly and lads lassies who no joy in violent recreation will be saved by the proviso of the Board that all lessons in physical exercise must be thoroughly enjoyed by children. the This is the recognition of o u r dualnature, of thecontrol of the is lacking in thedrilland body the by mind which day. We shall deplore not the gymnastics cf the blunders that havebeencommittedbeforearrivingat the sensible syllabus that is about to be issued by the inevitable thatexperiments Board of Education.Itis we must pay for these experimust be made and that mentsinadaptingourlivestonewandever-shifting w e hold bythe a prioriand conditions.Inphilosophy of introspectivemethods,butinthepracticalconduct life we find no way other than that of trying all things, The preface t the memorandum settles the principles o of physicaldrillandgymnastic of thepresentforms puts rest whole tribe of muscle training ; it to the is notforthe trainingcharlatans.“Physicaltraining gymnasts, to but promote and purpose of training encourage by such training the health and development o the body.” f We have seen the arm-muscles so overdeveloped in these physical schools astobreakthe bones of thearm.Worse still, musculartraining of thiskindhasbeenpurchased at the cost of lowered general vitality and lessened resistance to disease. T h e syllabus points out that for young children the naturalfreemovements of thebodywhichsupply all that is requiredaretobeencouraged. We hopethat of allour thisposition will bedriven,intotheheads teachers in elementaryschools.Ahealthy,happychild never walks, is never silent unless absorbed in his work or play. The child jumps, runs, skips when on sent an errand.Thesenaturalmovementsareabhorred by many teachers and parents ; they are thwarted at every instant. “Tommy, quiet. sit Don’t Jane, run, walk quietly.” These are the commands we hear again and again in our class rooms. syllabus The recommends that for infants, “The exercises should be quick rather than slow, free rather constrained, and than large massive rather than fine. Accuracy o r precision o f movementhardlybe is to expected.” Little formal exercisesshouldbewantedfor normal childrenunder seven if the teachers be encouraged to carry out these principles. is equallyimportantthatthe Forolderchildrenit is the dulness of the usual exercises be abolishcd. This universalcomplaint made againsttheSwedishsystem of drill. The syllabus recommends skipping and dancing exercises, based upon the sound doctrines that the.exercisesshould be thoroughlyenjoyedandthat “occasionalshortandviolentefforts,eventobreathlessness, are made by all healthy children in play, They form an important factor in physical development, and 344 THE NEW A G E SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 for such healthy children a n occasional 1 5 or 2 0 seconds of hardrunning or skipping i s entirelygood.”That whi whichnow thrives as dancing in many of schools is thedreariest of performances. An inanepointingand pirouetting, without even our The charm that shines, the grace that I n Gigue, Gavotte, and Minuets. glows Many the of old European dances folk which are COreferred t o in the syllabus supply requisite the ordinations o f the muscleswhich has by man expressed notonlyhismeanstolivebuthisfeelingfor beauty and joy in life. Dancing is for the great mass of people theearliestandthemostreadilyavailable art,and0ne in whichallcanshare ; thefeelingfor beauty is quite intimately associated a with proper sense of balance and support. These folk dances have been introduced by Dr. Gulick into the schools’ of New York, with what SUCCESS we may judge when he tells. us that “you wouldsee a class of fifth-yeargirlsgiving the Russian Comarenskia with such spirit and abandon as to arouse the enthusiasm of their parents, many of whom arcRussianswhohaddancedthatsamedance when were they younger.” We may to hopeenjoy Fling, the Irish the Lilt, English Harthe Highland vesters with our children in our London schools. Whilst the Board of Education is bravely grappling with our modern problems, attempting make to life saner, healthier, more and beautiful, the W a r Office pursuesits policy cf Prussianisingour l a n d Boys of sixteenyears of a g e a r e to beencouraged in military drill and training ; they are to be suppliedwiththirty rounds o freeammuniton. f W e areontheroadto the ideal preached by “St. the James’ Gazette ”: “The country is, as yet, very far from our own ideal of compulsory service all for able-bodied boys between the ages of twelve and eighteen.” Truly an idyllic prospect, which a few years more of Mr. Haldane may tend to bringverynear. If Boy Scoutsarebringing about this prospect we must, harmless as we have hithertothoughtthisfun,beonourguard. W e look to- our teachers to spike. the guns the big of War Office by dance and song, and joyous exercise. Labour Exchanges and Unemployment Insurance. THAT well-ordered schemeofinsuranceagainstuna avoidable idlencss, coupled with a well-managed scheme of labourexchanges, would rid unempIoymentofits worsthorrorsandmostdemoralisinginfluencesthere canbe no doubt ; but,unfortunately,thedualscheme of the Government, as at present laid down, is anything but well-ordered. The insurance part of the scheme, to be a success, must be universal, compulsory, and simple: ; and the labour bureaux part, to be successful, .. must_ be run conjointly and concurrently with the insube rancepart.Labourexchangesandinsurancemust put in operation on one andthesame day. To start, as theGovernment propose to start, the exchanges at insurance will be a least a year in advance o f the blunder almost, if notquite, big enough to wreckthe whole scheme. is toolate. So f a r a s Let u s face the facts before it increasing the available amount of employment is concerned(apartfromtheemployment of a few officials) These forthcoming labour exchanges will be useless. exchanges cannot, arc intended provide and not to, work. They are intended to stop, or reduce, the weary and dispiriting trudges workshop workshop from to which now curse our unemployed, and they are intended to be a n integralpart of a larger scheme fordealing with the evils of unemployment. The mainspring of this larger scheme is to be insurance. Very well, then, why, in the name of everything that is reasonable and s a w , why notstart these twoessentialparts of the machinery-exchanges insurance--together and ? Exchanges without insurance and aliment will be mustard without beef. If the exigenciesthe of national exchequer will not permit of the establishment the of insurance fund next year, then for goodness sake do not let US have the farce of exchanges next year Let the exchanges be hung up untiltheycanbeaccompanied by insurance. Labour exchanges in this. country, unless they are to be a failure--unless they are to be boycotted by all the best of our workmen and ignored by both the best and That the worst of our employers-mustbeattractive. is the cardinal to first pointremember. These exchanges must be abletooffer a good workman something more tangible the than shadowy privilege of answering a score of questions,registeringhisname, andthenwaitingfor some employertoturn up. Exchangeswhichcanguaranteeneitherworknor relief will be viewed by all thebest of theworkers as no improvement the upon existing distress registries. I unhesitatinglydeclare, from practicalknowledge,that if these exchanges are started without insurance all the best of theunemployed will shunthem,andcontinue toseekwork in the old way.There will benothing substantialtoinduce good workmentoregister. Men will, as at present, hang about the gates of the industrial establishments in the hope of seeing employers, or foremen with whom are they acquainted. And if the menignoretheexchangestheemployers will do the same-there will be no inducement to send or telephone to the exchange for hands who may be strangers when there are plenty of well-known and tried men asking for employment a tt h eg a t e s of the works. scheme The will fall to pieces. Labour exchanges can be made of real value t o the victims of industrialfluctuations,but, as a n indispensable condition of success, they must be attractive and notrepellant. And to beattractivetheymust be the placeswhere a n unemployedmancanreceive his outof-work aliment from the unemployment insurance fund. Let the exchanges, from the day of their inception, be insurance offices a s well as labourbureaux,andthen the bonâ fide workmen will use them-indeed, they will have to register in order to get their aliment. The contention that labour exchanges can be made a success in this country without insurance because they are successful in Germany not does hold good. authorities Our have face fact we already to the that have had a scheme of distress work registrieswhichallthebest of o u r workershavetreatedwithcontempt.Ournew exchanges must be run on quite novel lines-they must be able offer to something substantial from very the beginning-or they will be ignoredbybothworkmen employers. If w e arenottohave,fromthefirst day of the operation of thegeneralscheme,universal unemployment insurance, we then need not trouble about labour exchanges, far they will be useless. T. Goon. A Deliciousandnourishing milk and cereal food for general use NEAVE'S HEALTH (Manufactured by the Proprietors of NEAVE’S DIET 8and n ts. s FOOD FOR INFANTS) Especially valuable for Dyspeptics, Convalscents Invalids and the Aged, etc., account of its digestibility and strengthening properties. Delicate and growing children should have this nourishing and healthgiving daily diet for breakfast. I on n S o l d i ~ ’ t i A sample will be sent on receipt of two penny stamps-mentioning this Publication. JOSIAH R. NEAVE & CO., Fordingbridge, Hants. SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 THE NEW A3 4E G5 end acting his was all could that be wished for. Fräulein Mailhac made her debut as Kundry, and Herr Plank enacted Klingsor, the magician. When the curtain parted on the second act Klingsor was discovered onhismagictower,makingreadyto invokethespirit of Kundry. Herr Plank was undoubtedly the fattest man that had ever walked the boards, a n d a s be moved about, wrapped in a black velvet robe cut somewhat i n the shape of a woman's dress, and tied about the waist with a broad sash, and on his head a whiteturban with streamers,the effect canbetterbe imaginedthandescribed.Reallyheseemedtoofatto sing ; the audience wondered how he would take a deep breath. boards The creaked under weight, his and when a t l a s t a deep, sonorous basso rang through the a scene of auditorium people preparedthemselvesfor unparalleled weirdness. In the final scene of the second act, where Kundry, now a beautiful woman, tempts Parsifal, superb the acting of Van Dyck added lustre the to efforts of Fraülein Mailhac. Thereisnothinginthewholerange of Wagnerianmusic more exacting-thanthescore of this scene. T h e strain the on vocal organs is never relaxed, and every gesture movement and is fraught with meanings that must be developed to the fullest in order to bring out the poetic and mystic intention of Kundryrushestothefarthestend of the stageand calls fol- help the highest notes must be taken with faultlessprecisionand delivered with theutmostdramatic vehemence. Ever;; art singer the possesses is called into play. scene The is long, but full of a c t i o na n d towards the last an indescribable feeling of approaching calamity possession takes o the f audience. Klingsor appears in answertoKundry's call for help ; but no stranger in the audience is prepared for the scene that follows. Parsifal a t this moment breaks magic the as a flash, before the power of darkness, quick and mind can realise how it is donc, the big black form of Klingsor,withthe solid groundonwhich he stands, sinksinto,theearth. I t seemed as if theverybulk of Klingsor made his fall more swift and terrible, while a t the same time there was an element of tragic humour mingled with his disappearance. Plank Herr stood like a huge statue, solid, motionless, his alone face expressing awe and wonder at the thought of his failing was the time first so fat and pompous a magic. It "demon had seen circumstances been under so impressive and serious. The mise-en-scène the religious and supernatural element, these are the secrets of the great enthusiasm manifested by certain persons for “ Parsifal." Take awaythesethingsandthework would fall flat. We areborne along withParsifalandGurnemanzfrom a vast and realistic forest to mountain gorge and rugged peak. The whole stage is in motion. Without knowing everything how glides into new forms. Distant chimes heard, out are and of all a Gothic temple light from dome in appears. A mystic streams the solemnsplendour,2nd as it illuminesthe Holy Supper theKnights of theGrailenterandtaketheirseats. Far away from the summit comes the echo of seraphic voices ; the Grail is taken the from golden shrine, Amfortasraises the cup,whenitglistenswithflashes is covered again, the of celestiallight.ThentheGrail blinding light disappears, and the knights drink of the wine prepared for the sacred ceremony. Thesceneagainchanges.Klingsorisstanding on the ramparts of his magic tower, defying the powers of light, invoking the nameless woman--Herodias in mother existence, Kundry here From the darkness below purple light gleams in fitful flashes, and at last, after a powerful invocation, the woman Kundry arises, slowly, awfully, from the bluish depths, enveloped in a cloud ,of mystery. A terrible cry electrifies audithe ence.Kundry,once more under t!:? spell of Klingsor, groansandlanguishes under the new burden imposed by her master. The scene between the two evil powers increasesinpassionandfrenzy,and at lastKlingsor mountsthe to top of the ramparts sounds and a trumpet. Kundry disappears, and the magic climax begins, “ Souvenirs of Bayreuth. By Francis Grierson. II. the place of metaphysical dreaming, Wagner carries, audience his with The him. colossal proportions of his climaxes attain to heights never equalled by any oth\er composer. When there is no room for abstruseness his inspiration does precisely right in right the thing the place. Whenever his musical ideas are assisted by passion and developed by a procsss of clear and rapid action heaviness givesplacetoprecision. Vehemence, power,sublimity, brace nerves, the stimulate mind, the force intellect and sentiment along on waves of harmony that sweep chord every of the soul with indescribable emotions. second The act of "Parsifal " and the second act of "Tannhauser “ arehappyexamplesof Wagner'sbestwork,whilethetwofirstacts of the same music-dramas containstrikingspecimens of the great composer at his worst. Of all men of genius he is the most uneven, the most irregular. distance The which separates, perfect his inspirations from his ordinary moods is like that which separates the condor from the sparrow. His imagination seldom takes a middle course, and right in the face of the most artistic, the most finished musical form the ear is. smittenwithcruditiesthatshockthesense o f harmony good and taste. many In scenes it would appear that Wagner is purposely coarse and banal, as witness Tannhauser's song to Venus the in second scene of the act.would first It be difficult to find anything so vulgar in thewhole range of opera,not omitting opera-bouffe itself. T h e impression produced is that of the ear-splitting braggadocio of the half tipsy studentmakingapoorattempt at improvisation.In thisotherwisebeautifulsceneWagnercouldnot, or would create proper not, the melody in the proper place ; but I prefer to think that he could not, for the simple reason that it is so much easier to be commonplace than inspirational. It is evident the that composer of “Tannhauser a n d Parsifal lacked what Haydn said made Mozart so sure and solid : good taste. That proportion and unity which characterise the works of Beethoven and Mozart are wanting in the works of Wagner. Strictly speaking, certain pages of hismusic can be rendered with greater satisfaction in the concert room, detached from the obscurity and shortcomings of thecontext,foritcannotbedeniedthatthemusical and poetic illusions are painfully often dispelled by dramatictediousnessandtheadjuncts of experimental oddsand ,ends. W a g n e r was bornwithinnateorigin a i t yb u th e forced hisnaturaltalentintochannels where his genius became clogged by a desire to be still more original. He tried to do too much. All through “Parsifal," for instance, and especially in the '(Grail " scene, one discovers a searching after somethingnew,aponderousandstudiousefforttodepict emotions in a more profoundly impassioned mood than had ,ever been done by another. But the effect falls far short of theintention.Thechoralpart of thisscene, sung byinvisiblechoirs, is no better or worse than a score 'of familiar hymns known in thousands of churches of different denominations throughout Christedom, andwhichonehasknownsince childhood. Strikingly like a certain Methodist hymn is the chorus of one of these stems,, while the general impression produced on theaudience is. that of High Mass in someCatholic church on a fête day, when the sacred robes are more costly and imposing than usual and the ensemble more picturesque. But it must be confessed that the “Grail scene has much less movementand is less interestingthantheservice of the mass. One wishes thatAmfortaswouldcometotheend of his tedious lamentations, just as in "Tristan and Isolde “ one longs forthedeath of the hero afterhearinghimreadthe airwithgroansandpassionateappealsforforty-five minutes. ; In some respects Van Dyck was an ideal Parsifal his voice was rich and strong, and from beginning to “ “ “ “ ON every occasion where action takes I the author. The interest increases step by step. As 346 THE NEW AGE SEPTEMBER a, 1909 others who persist in doing too much, he sucThe weird light grows fainter ; the whole tower, with cumbed tothe temptation to indulge in patchwork. a great ship, disKlingsor the magician,moveslike There are entire scenes in “Parsifal ” that are made up appearing in the purple depths below and beyond. But of musicalspots, analogous to a picturecomposed of while this is taking place, and before the audience has splashes of purple, green, pink, yellow, and black, of enchanttime to realise its full meaning,agarden sometimesthecoloursharmonising,sometimesclashmentisloomingupall about the vacant space caused ing, just as it may happen. Certainly it is easier to do of the castle. Immense palms by the disappearance this kind of work than it is to modify, blend, and unite region of appear in of place pillars ; a marvellous in a perfect ensemble of tone and colour. ; the Elysian flowers opens before the astonished gaze Wagner’s genius is differently interpreted by a score fields of temptation have been planned by Klingsor for of contradictory schools. The artistic idea which he fairy the destruction of Parsifal ; and here, in this laboured to perfectis torninto a thousand fragments gardien, maidensappear, in theformof flowers,who by thepretentions of soi-disantsymbolists and metafrom theheights above. Sudinduce him to descend of Balzac and physical dreamers, just astheworks denly a soft voice is heard from an arbour at one side. Browning have been twisted to fit the vagaries of the Itisthat of Kundry, now turnedintoayoungand wildest Meanings utopists. which Wagner never beautiful woman. Thebranches move apartandshe dreamed of are held up as the true interpretations ; the is seen reclining on a couch of roses. Parsifal, a t first most absurd definitions are sown broadcast, to be again bewitched by thecharms of Kundry, .now repelsher caughtup in otherlands, until the real spirit of his Klingsor again appears the on with violence ; then work is shrouded in a chaos of contradictions and conramparts beyond, and his legions rush to the rescue of ceits. But in spite of all, the performances a t Bayreuth Kundry, who,beside herself withdespair,crouches in are given as thecomposer intended. I t isonly in the thelastagonies of defeat.Klingsorlaunches a dart open air that the pretender and the fanatic make a disat Parsifal, but the latter catches itinhis hand, and, play. Once in the theatre, they are crushed under the raisingit in triumph,makesthesign of theCross in splendour of the mise-en-scène andsuppressed in the the The air. Arabian walls crumble, flower-girls the I common obscurity. fall tothegroundandwither,the stage is adesert. Everything is shrivelled todust, while Kundryhears Parsifal’s voice shouting from the summit of the ruins : “Thou knowest where we shall meet again ! ” In the last act Kundry again assumes another form. A Parable and a Policy. Divine love fills her soul, and in silence and submission she attends to the wants of Parsifal. The music is soft THERE was once a special consisting train, of an and melodious ; one is moved by the simplicity of the engine one and mach. latter The was divided into persons on the stage, who look and act more than they six compartments ; fourfirst-class to hold sixpassensing. The scenechangesandtheTemple of the Grail gers each, one second-class to hold eight, one and is seen once more ; and here the miracle of the healing of Amfortas’ wound takes place. Celestial light dethird-class to hold ten.Nowtherewerefour first-class of praise are heard from scendsfromabove,hymns passengers, one in each compartment, the second-class a white dove slowly descends and invisible choirs, compartmentwas full, andthereweresixteenthirdhovers over the head of Parsifal. class passengers in thethird-classcompartment. Thecurtain falls, the light is turned and on, the The first-class passengers what said an excellently spectators begin to realise that they are sitting in the managed railway it was, and how well the public were Bayreuth Theatre. strange The expression of their catered for and their comfort studied ; the second-class faces tells of the almost painful reaction that is taking place in, returningfromthe mediaeval tothe modern passengers said “ Oof ! ” The weather was simply world. Everyone slowly rises, and in silence leaves broiling, so the exclamation was almost justifiable. The the theatre. third-class sweated and said “ D-! ” That, of But it is impossible, even for a genius, to deceive the o u r s e , was really blasphemous. Itis badenough if criticwhoisfreedfromillusions of sight, sentimenthird-dass passengers sweat, but to say D-! tality, superstition. and The criticwho is acquainted Still, all would have gone on well but there happened with the art of Mozart and the harmony of Beethoven, to come along two more passengers, one a second-class theartistwhoappreciatesItaliansuavityandFrench a thirdclass. were They both very big, and one precision, is never for a moment carried away by the powerful men. The third-class one tried toget into vague, uncertain, unequal orchestration of “ Parsifal.” the third-class compartment, but it could hold no more, In a single act as many a s a dozen motives strive to so hejumpedinto the second-class compartmentinto make an impression on the listener ; there is a constant which the second-class passengerhadjust previously war between the violins andthe flutes, between the got. high, notes shrill of the wind instruments the and o At theoutsetbothonlyasked very politely t be melodioustones of violas ; passages which should be o theotherpassengers f allowed tostand,butsome s u n g ina low keyfrequentlyrise half anoctavetoo began to object. Theytalkedabout peoplewiththirdhigh ; in eight times out of ten the effect produced is of a superior class tickets intruding carriages into not what was intended. class. They did notuse the expression “second-class,’’ The most original and effective music in “ Parsifal ” of but always “superior.” said They made also use is the chorus of flower-girls. Here the motive and the word “select ” very often. They declared that the movement are happily combined in a charming flow of station-master ought to turn out the two new passenlucid and limpid thought. The idea is developed by gers, especially the third-class one, and put him in the artisticmethods a t oncebrilliantand effective. In this thirdclasscompartment.They vowed thatthe railway scene Wagner shows himself oncemore the composer management was becoming simply disgraceful. of “Tannhauser ” and. “ Lohengrin ”; but the impresAt last the third-cIass passenger spoke. (He was a s’on of beauty and harmonious unity is soon effaced by very big man, evidently a navvy in his Sunday clothes). thedominanttones of the old meaningless,fatiguing “ ’Ere I am,” said he, “and ’ere I stay ! If any on yer motives which swell up here and there like fugitive airs want ter chuck me art, do it ! ” heard in delirious dreams, or bits of melodies rememThatsetthe second-classpassenger off. “ I’ve paid bered afterthechaos of a musical nightmare. It is marvellous what meanings some people make themso second-class fare, and I don’tmeantotravelthird, selves believe they see in these motives ! I t is true the there ! ” and he squashed down between a thin man and various, motives testify tothestrength of Wagner’s a fat woman. a power that runs wild, like a n imagination,butitis Then alittleman in thecomer, who had hitherto unbrokenMexicanmustang, heedless of the bridle of He wore a tweed-hat and a pink keptsilence,spoke. art. Wagner found himself a t the end of hiscreative ! ” he said, “may I make Liberty silk tie. “Gentlemen power, but hisvanity would not let him rest on the a suggestion? W e can’t turn our third-class friend here glory attained in his earlier works. Like hundreds of out, he could lick the lot of us With one hand tied Socialism and the Middle Classes. SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 THE NEW AGE Woman’s By THE 347 behind him ; thesame holds true of ourbig secondclass fellow passenger ; but we can all be comfortable if you will follow my advice. Therearefour first-class us compartments with only onepassengereach.Let ,put two of those passengers into a compartment. That will give u s two empty compartments, holding six each. Thereareeight of us with second-class tickets, and our big friend here makes nine. Let us put five in one .compartmentandfour with ourotherbig friend-he onlyholds a third-classticket, it is true, but thenhe is very big-into the other first-class compartment. Then eight o the sixteen passengers now in the thirdf class compartment can get in here and eight stay where they are.The first-class people will not be hurt,for theyonlypaid for a seat apiece, and they will have three seats apiece. Half the third-class passengers will be benefited,forthey will travelsecond-class, and the other half will be in comfort in the third-class compartment, where there will then be seats for all and two to spare, and-we shall first-class travel ! These two gentlemen are very big ”-and he smiled atthe two new-comers-“and if they only askthe first-class passengers todoas.werequest I amsure they will express themselves a s delighted to oblige us. If the o two gentlemen I ,mention do not care t do the speaking I shall be delighted to represent the case to the stationmaster and our first-class brethren if these two. gentlef men will only stand in front o me and the rest of you behind me. Come, ladies andgentlemen,whatdo you say?Who will join in a n application tothestationmaster? ” “ W h a t ! ” cried the fat woman. “Join myself to intruding third-class passengers against the ladies and gentlemen Who travel first-class ! I’d have you know, sir, that my landlady always travels first-class, and once, when herhusbandwasstandingfortheCounty Council, shecame in andtook a cup of tea with me when she called for the rent ! ” “ W h a t ! ” cried the thinman. “ w h e n my three uncles and their twelve children, my cousins, and their children all die, I shall probably get their money and be able to travelfirst-class myself ! Yoursentiments,sir, are disgraceful, and quite Socialistic! ” “He talks dam common sense ! ” said the big second-class passenger. “Comeon, old chap ! ”-to the navvy-“ and you, too, hop+’-my-thumb ! ”-to the small oratorwiththeLiberty pink silk tie-“ We’ll travel first-class, at any rate ! ” “So’ll w ! ” cried all theotherpassengers e except the fat woman and the thin man, and out they got. woman. “Stop ! Stop ! ” “Stop ! ” cried thefat cried thethinman. “ W h a t shall we do? ” cried the fat woman. ‘‘What: shall we do? ” cried the thin man. “Come with us, of course ! ” saidthebig secondclass passenger. fat woman. “Never ! ” cried “Never ! ” criedthe the thin man. “Then stay behind and be d--d to you,” answered the big second-class passenger savagely. “ But then those horrid thirdclass people will come in here ! ” cried the fat woman. “ Horrid third-class ! ” squeaked the thin man. “ Now look here, my fat and thin friends,” said the big passenger, “you’ve got to choose one way or the be comfortother. You must either come with us and able at the expense of the first-class people ; or you can stay where you are and wait till you’re swamped by the third-class folk coming in. You’renotstrongenough to hold the door against the third-class ; you are strong enough to compel the first-class to make room for you. !” Now then, boys, line up The big second-class man was quite taking the lead, and the small orator in the Liberty pinktie looked as though he did not quite know whether to be pleased or annoyed. “But supposethestation-masterandthe first-class passengers object? ” cried the fat woman. “Yes, suppose they object? ” cried the thin man. The big second-class passenger buttoned his coat and turned up his cuffs ; the Navvy spat on his hands J. z. Cause ? (Member o the Men’s League f Suffrage--A Lost George. for Women’s Suffrage.) W.L. women will get the vote, and yet the Cause, as a Cause, is lost. This an is apparent paradox, it but n o w appears that the connection between the agitation and its ultimate success has become so slight that the agitation might be allowed to lapse without good or evil of the vote. results as regardstheobtention The demand for the suffrage has been something more than a nine days’ wonder, but it has had its day ; the obstinate demand by a minority of women, backed by thesympathy of a largenumber, activelyopposed and almost nullified by a smallernumber,isdeadened by the apathy of mostBritish women. In spite of the vigorous propaganda of the various suffrage societies, notmore than I adult woman in 2 0 takes any interest whatever in theobtention of the vote. Opposition on the part of the men is diminishing, and therein too lies a danger : we are becoming so well agreed that women’s suffrage is desirable and just that our enthusiasm on its behalf is fast becomingcomparablewiththekeenness with which we demand food and raiment for those who need it. The Suffrage societies have withdrawn their demand from the arena of party, and this in many ways is a fatal move. If Great Britain were governed by coalitions all might be well, butthere is no room at present for a Woman’s Suffrage candidate, as Mr.BertrandRussell knows to his cost. The Social and Political Union, too, are well aware of the weakness of the appeal they make to the electorate ; if I am wrong in this why have they not devoted £700 to £800 out of the large sums which they receive to a Parliamentary contest? doubt No they know too well that they would be riding a for fall, and remember the early defeats of the Social DemocraticFederation a t Council Elections atHampstead and Battersea. And 2 0 years have elapsed and the Federation is still unimportant. Of the Women’s Freedom League and the National Union we need notsay much more. The firstreflects ; the thelustre of Mrs. Despard,itsbrilliantcaptain second sways drawing-rooms draws and towards its slumbrousbosomthosewhose ears have been grated upon by its more outspoken fellows. Their propaganda educates, but their dynamic force is nil. Will anyone pretend any that election has been decided by thepro-Suffragevote?Manyperhaps,but who will prove it? And can this be shownuntilmany candidates have been run, and it be demonstrated that they hold, if not a majority, at any rate the balance, of power ? The attack upon the Liberal Party has been the cardinalerror of the Suffragists. I saythis,notbecause I am a Liberal, for I amalso a Men’s Leaguer,but becauseit is of noavail to beanti-Liberalunless you openly deare pro-Tory. So long astheSuffragists clare that they are against any party who refuses them the vote, so long will theyremain of no importance. Theyshouldneverhave joined in elections until they DELICIOUS COFFEE i REDWHITE & For Breakfast & after Dlnner. BLUE 348 THE NEW AGÈ SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 were strong enough to decide them : let them give the blow before the word. TheSuffragistsshouldhavedevotedthemselvesto propaganda, taking no part in elections. Itispossible that they might in course of time have become strong enough,becausetheywouldnothaveoffendedparty susceptibilities.ThentheycouldhaveofferedtheSuffragevote to thehighestbidder of thetwoparties, driven a bargain such as that which takes place from time to timebetween‘Labour,theIrish,theNonconformists, the Catholics, etc., and the party in power. To-daytheSuffragerout. is complete. They have alienated a largesectionoftheLiberalPartywithout gaining Tories. the They have gained Socialists the (n’en déplaise B Bax), the but Socialists not are in power, and there is nothing to show that they will hold even the balance of power for many a long year. They have gained from Mr. Asquith a promise that the Suff r a g e will be included in his Reform Bill, but when will will therebe a ReformBill?EitherthisGovernment dissolve after the acceptance or rejection of the Budget by the Lords, or it will stay in power, if possible, and defer the Reform Bill until 1910o r 1911. In the former alternative, if the Liberals win, the Reform Bill and the Suffrage Bill with it are-put off to 1916,i.e, the political Greek Calends ; if they lose and the Tories get in, there is nothing to show that the latter will enfranchisethe women. on other If, the hand, Liberals the stay in power and present a Reform Bill in 1910 o r 1911, the likely that Lords will reject it, anditisexceedingly by that time the country will be ready for a change, instaltheToriesinpowerandpostponetheSuffrage questionsine die. And theirony of thesituation will be that the Suffragists must logically work against the party whose Reform Bill enfranchises them. Lastly, then, is the question of the advertisement of the cause: Many adherents. been by have lost stone throwing, the use of thewhip,assaultsonthepolice, the breaking up of meetings,etc.PersonallyIbelieve that many more adherents have thus been gained than lost, but the damage to the cause lies in the fact that the agitation became has commonplace. newsThe papers now devote half a column to a Suffrageriot wheretheyoncedevotedthree.Thepublicseemsto have been sated, and, like a voluptuary, it needs a new and more vivid sensation every day ; the murder of half a dozen Cabinet ministers, the blowing up o St. Paul’s, f f o r at Ieast the Carrie Nationalising o the offices of the Anti-Suffrage League, steps are which might prove How muchfurtherwouldthe useful.. Butwhatthen? Cause have got? To put fear into governments is a n excellent thing, forgovernments seldom go further they than are kicked, but they have to be kicked, and the Suffragists lost, are mainly assaulting thin air. Thus the Cause is though woman’s suffrage come It is lost as was the Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Bill, which, passing through appalling difficulties fornearlyfortyyears,haslately comeintobeing.TheWoman’sEnfranchisement Bill will bepassed as wastheDeceasedWife’sSister’s at no Bill, and in thesameway,fornoreasonand particular time,, when some mysterious evoltionary law has been long enough at work to allow its being passed. Many laws come into being because certain persons can buy their acceptance at the price of so many votes : the Suffrage Bill is not one of them, for its consequences are electoral, while its motive force is not. Until, therefore, there isa party in the country which canbidforthe Bill there will beno Bill, unlessthe of the Suffragists will remit themselves into the hands blindforce.thatmouldsourpoliticaldestinies.That or some force wiIl pass the Bill this year, next year, day, but quite apart from the Suffragist efforts, in spite of themperhaps,when.theappointedtimehas come and when the women have understood a little better the elementary psychology of the whom males they alternately bully and cajole. The Missionary. HE lived some twelve miles from where I was stationed, and on the occasion of calling for his post had invited me t o visit him. Newas a tall, well-built man of a kindly,somewhatcareworncountenance,clean-shaven,. to his shoulders, and but hair with almost falling broad, sloping forehead ; he was a man to arrest attention, and I immediately congratulated myself on having such a neighbour. Plainly he was a scholar, and I -was soon convinced that he was also fairly well posted on most matters of interest, literary, political, or scientific, dating up to only a month back. I was happy to accept his invitation, especially as he lived in a part of the district which I had not visited. My camp was at the base of the highest peak of the Ndongobo Mountains, and I had often cast longing eyes at the rugged range which, guarded at every few miles. by towering sentinels of 1,000feet of sparsely-wooded, loosely-knit, blue-grey rock, kept eternal watch over the lesser hills and broken country about. Every peak and as for ravine its had native or storysuperstition, the had its hundreds of years tribe fought most desperate battles in these hills. From time immemorial also this had been the-training ground of the tribe. At intervals of a few years all the native boys of a right age are taken by the wise men and warriors into those mountains. For the three coldest months of the winter are they kept ‘there, naked as they were born. At night the reflection o hug-e f fires be above can seen their resting places, and the chanting of their songs strikes after weirdly on the car. Many things are they taught therites of circumcisionhavebeenperformed.Very, veryfewwhitemenknow of thesethings,andthese few are strangely silent. Acting together, they are also trained t o run down the mountain buck. Trapping and f snaring and the art o the knobkerrie and assegai are not neglected. Woe to the woman or girl who should of their camping places in the happen one upon be mountain.Sheisneverseenagain.Shouldthere whitesintheneighbourhoodtheyarewarnednot to move in certain parts, and he is unwise who gives no heed to this.They go to theschool as boys of small account, but are known as men when they emerge and o are entitled t a voice at the council. The Missionary lived on the other side o the range f on the bottom slope, almostimmediatelyoppositemy camp,anditbeingextremelyroughtravelling I had good horseandwalkover.On decided tosparemy the appointed morning, long before sunrise, my servant a donkey for came to say that a boy had arrived with me. Theselittleanimalscouldmanipulatetherugged ; but, paths much easier and more safely than horses slinging a smallwaterbottleovermyshoulderand grasping a stout thornwood stick, I told the youngster to mount donkey lead way. the and the What a glorious walk that was! The footpath took the hill at once, winding about,. rising steeply, dodging round a patch huge boulders, then running straightly across o lovely green ; again f dipping .through a thickly wooded kloof, toriseabruptly on the other side. W e were well intothé hill whenthesun rose. ,Chubby little brown rock rabbits were here and there, peeping shyly at us, and birds were filling the kloofs with song. Such moments are rare, and one could but pause and delight of it all. The air very yield gladly to the it seemed charged with life and beauty, and one drank ingreedily.Thesteeppath,whenagainwebreasted our The the hill, seemed to me to fly under feet. a gooddealbelowthe highestpointwetouchedwas a view of country to a distance of peak,butcovered perhapssixty miles. I hadheard o a spring a t this f to find the crossing, and on reaching it was delighted water and pure cold. We had tiffin here, after and I resting a bit and studying the surrounding country told the boy to lead on and more quickly. We reached the bottom in about an hour and a half. I knew that as we wewereclosetotheMissionary’shouse,but of prickly were moving through a very heavy growth pears nothing could be seen ahead. The path led down to a tiny stream, and we had hardly crossed this when SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 THE NEW AGE 349 we came on a string, of five girls ,withcalabashes of water on their heads making, in single file, along the same path.. .My guide called out, and the girls immeAs diatelystopped and stood to the side of the path. wegotuptothem Iwasastonishedtofindthat the girl in the middle was white. S h e w a s barefooted and herhairhung. in pIaitsdownher back. The native a dress. She girls had ,only skins on, but she wore had her large gourd, of water poised a s beautifully on her head as anytothemannerborn,andhad been I stridingalong with thesamefreeswinginggrace. guessed from lier countenance- that she was a daughter of the missionary, but as' she greeted me in the same native tongue .as did t h eothers I simply returned their on. . W e reached the housein a greetingandpassed few minutes, and found the Missionary looking out for driving the us.. Hewas much- surprised to find me donkey along with the boy on it, but that was. SOON explained and we went inside. I was introduced to 'the lady of. the house, a gentle little woman, and a ,wellgrown boy of about sixteen years of age. I found the boy could speaknothingbutthenativelanguage. A fewminutesafterwards the girl I had seen carrying f water came in with a tray o milk and biscuits, and was introduced as the daughter of the house. She dropped a little curtsey and said she was my servant, again in the native tongue. To complete the introductions necessary the Missionary went out for a moment, and returned carrying on one arm a fat, chubby little native boy child of about five years of age, andleading by the f The black hand a curly-hairedlittle son o hisown. picaninai was introduced (andshookhands with the It same freedom a s did theother)asanexperiment. appeared that the two children were born on the same day,' and the Missionary had induced the black mother to give him her son after weaning to bring up with his own boy. Theywere to sleep in the same. bed, eat fromthesamepotsatthesame time,.and to have exactlythesameprivileges in theirbringingupand training. The good man's idea was of course perfectly plain andsurely of considerable psychological value. child,withcenturies o f Here was a purebrednative savage and barbarous ancestors leading right up to his father, placed in conjunction with and reared in exactly f the same way as a white child o cultured parents and the most civilised ancestry. How will they compare a t the ages of five, ten, fifteen, and manhood? The Missionary had been almost more thanhonest on his part, and apparently his wife and children were acting in a good loyal spirit. If one child had a toy present the other .had one equally as good ; where a spanking was considered necessary it was administered in -either with case impartiality. Their clothing was I was.able to observe,they were thesame,and,as equal gusto when sent off to bed. The kissed with boys were now five years of age, and the result of the Missionary's observation was that from the age of three to the present the native child had shown, apparently, greater intelligence thanthe white. He was quicker 'to grasp a situation, and to act in it. H e had a better memorY In school marks was ahead he far o the f .golden-haired, blue-eyed boy; The Missionary had made copious notes of progress and camparison from their infancy, and it was only in entries made the last two-months that a slight change had been noticed in 'favour of his own son. The white boy was showing a requiring 'application and conw e ebit better i n m a t t e r s sistency. Although they were mischievous two little could be observed, -of very sportsmen and, as far as similar temperament, where same small matter had not 'been quite lucidly explained itwas noticed that, not having grasped it in his quick way in the first instance, the black boy would very dismiss soon the subject, whereas the other would seem to be not quite satisfied, andperhaps alittle later would ask aquestionwith reference to it. The Missionary andhisgentlewifehadarrived at this spot eighteen years back. The house, which was a large, well thatchedgreen brick building, and the little church -close byof the orthodox style with its little cross standing up from above the front door, as ,also the various out-houses, had all been built; withsome rough native aid, by the reverend man. Thecanvas f ceilings and all the adornments o church and dwelling f were the work o his wife. Until within the last three or four years white men hadveryrarelybeenseen in that part, and even now the big boy andgirl in the house looked at one with some nervousness and a great deal of curiosity. There were some eighteen to twenty reed and mud native dwellings close to the house which of I rightly guessed belonged to the principal members the church. The good man and his wife, in talking f over the results o their tremendous sacrifice and hard work of all these years, expressed themselves as happy in the number of their converts and church members, there but, questioning everything keenly. as I was, f seemed to be a note rather wanting in. fullness o tone about here, and in a more personal conversation, when strolling with the old gentleman through his lands, it discovered itself. Henamedone native teacher who Christian convert, and he he believed to be a true counted some half dozen women to be relied upon, but knew that every other member of his congregation would fall at the simplest .genuine test; They remained Many. small tribal differences had heathen at heart. been fought out during his long residence among them, o entering into f and he had had unique opportunities the native mind and character. One man, and perhaps six women ! Making the most of all the comfort which this Iearnedman could be acceptedfromsuchresults, and Greek scholar knew (he did not, in so many words, say so) that he and his gentle, earnest wife had wasted of far greater concern, their lives, and, was what f probably been o grave ill-service to their children. Had heremained at home and 'worked amongst hisown f slum brethren he knew-.thathe would havebeen o great service, while here he confessed that all his work and teaching had scarcely influenced the life of the tribe one iota. In every case of sickness they .came to him because they were treated and got medicine for .nothing. It was really for love; but he. knew by the returns they made, if he required any work done, for instance, that it was absolutely unappreciated. Their ownnative doctors had to, be paid. The Missionary had probably neverunless it was to his wife-allowed his inmost thoughts and feelings to rise to the surface as they did on this occasion. He spoke quietly and sometimes so feelingly that,although intensely interested,was I almost relieved for his sake when we were recalled to the house. I found on meeting them again that the big boy and girl were receiving an excellenteducationfromtheir parents, and that, although they only easily spoke the native tongue, they could read and write two European languages. Beforeretiring Iplayed a game of chess with this youngsterofsixteen,and received such a beating as effectually totakeallthe conceit out of me in that RICHMOND HAIGH. direction. BABY VERSES, On thetop of an old. brickwall,moss-grown, Sat a gnome, like ,the wall, all redandbrownA beautifulbeast-silkand gauze, spic and span, And down on the wall. he sat, quite like a man, Till his long leg bent at its velvet knee. H wore one wing where a tail might be, e A wide silk wing he could spread for a screen ih Any time he might not w s tobe seen. A mushroom she wore forher Sunday hat, And she carefully perched on the high pew-seat. She balanced her hat with marvellous skill On the very top of her topknot curl. Oh, kind. when the chapel let out again., She sheltered her sisters out of the rain. And she wouldn't laugh at the funniest jest 'Case her hat should fall and be second-best. 350 THE NEW AGE SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 Books and Persons. (AN OCCASIONAL CAUSERIE.) White Prophet.” The one faint glimmer in the gloom of its silliness is Gilbert Chesterton’s book on Bernard Shaw, which certainly contains about Shaw some true and passably profound things that have not been said I regret hook. this The author, as a before. Yet New York paper once picturesquely said of myself, “is interesting without persuading u s that has he quite strucktwelve ! ” I regretallbooksaboutcontempoat theheight of their powers. And if rarieswhoare such books are to be produced I prefer them to he writof press-cutten. tedious by scribblers collectors and tings, as indeedtheyusuallyare. I resenttheirbeing so good as t o compel me to read them. I find a certain latest o Gilbert f lack of dignity in this gesture originality power and Chesterton’s. A man of his ought my in opinion be to better occupied in than writing a whole book about a fellow-performerinthe have all was arena of letters. He could said that useful, or evendeathless,inthelimits of a n article. I shouldhaveimaginedthattheappearance of a real printed bound and monograph upon, genius the and achievements of Mr. Tom Browne (R.I.) had rendered o f foreverimpossiblyridiculousthisexegeticalhabit explaining live men to their publics. I have been comforted to thinkthatChesterton’sbookonShawcontains fewer errors of fact than his book on Browning. I have also been,comforted by theperusal of a n exquisite essay on “ Chesterton upon Shaw ” which the other adorned “Manchester day the Guardian.” We never get such essays in London newspapers. Here is to serve as a n illustration of the anextractfromit, sort of thing that I reckon pretty good : “Mr. Shaw’s is o n e of the cyclonic kind of talents charge that as anexpresstraintearsthrough throughtheirtime smallstations,and if yourmindbeonly a piece of straw or an empty paper bag, or 1s not pulled in Same else, it leaves all and other direction something by follows theexpressuntiltheexpressdrops it a little f further on.” Hasty, o course ; but fine journalism. *** THEseason is now silly, doubtless so knocked by’ “ T h e haspersuaded its readers to discusswhetherHamlet is surely the was fat or thin. But the “Matin,” which most infamous popular daily in Europe, has lighted on a good notion, which is capable of vast extensions and which the “ Daily Mail ” would certainly have utilised of it first. T h e hadbeen it clever enough think to ‘‘ Matin ” imagined the idea of writing to Adelina Patti tothefollowing effect : ( ‘ D e a r M a d a m , - I s i t a fact American paid twenty has you thousand that a rich pounds down foryourthroatafter you aredead? ” Prompt came indignant the reply from Craig-y-Nos, of theBaronessCederström, inditedbythesecretary that the rumour was “one of those rumours which do not repose never reposed any and have on kind of foundation.” net The result was some sixty lines of high-class-silly COPY forthe Matin,”speciallytelegraphedfrom London. T h e possibilities of thisgenial ideaareclearlyimmense.Forexample,Mr.Blumenfeld, the pure-bred John Bull who edits “Daily the of homeandcountry, Express ” in thehighinterests Northmight to writeLord Northcliffe : ‘“Dearest cliffe,--Is it a fact that you have sold to Mr. Moberly to compose Bell for twenty thousand pounds the right ‘ Times ? The rumour is your obituary notice for the afoot, and should be stopped if it is not true.” “ “ JACOB TONSON. L ENGLISH REVIEW This essay, I need scarce inform the omniscient, was signed “C. E.M.” It could have had no other initials. Gradually I a m building, in London, the reputation of Mr. C. E. Montague as the most brilliant journalist in is anotherstonepatientlylaid thesekingdoms.Here inthe edifice. I think I ought to state that I have never seen or heard Mr. C. E. Montague. I couldnot even swear that he spells his name with an “e.” And I wish to point o u t plainly that I do not compare him A slightlypreposterousperson,who eviwithMilton. dently cannot tolerate praising the of other people, to this journal, among and, other wrote recently for having affirmed another that chidings, .me chid I do know, was greater than journalist,whomindeed Milton. Thehorridaccusationwas of course a mere hard, cheerful untruth, and not the sole untruth in the to give no him shadow of person’s letter. Wishing excusefor a newlapseintoiniquity, I solemnlysay that I do compare not Mr. C. E. Montague with Milton. * * * Monthly. SEPTEMBER. 2s. 6d.. I. MAX BEERBOHM Study of the Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, M.P. 2. Modern Poetry C. F. KEARY JOHNLAZARUS RUPERT BROOKE 3. H. M. TOMLINSON A Shipping Parish 4. HENRY JAMES Mora Montravers 5. BERNARD CAPES Fouquier Tinville 6. J. E. MALLOCH Cheap Lodgings 7. OSWALDCRAWFURD,C.M.G. A Law in Literary Expression 8. J. SATURIN Mother g. FORD MADOX HUEFFER A Call. II, 16. T H E MONTH : Editorial The Two Shilling Novel I I , J. A. HOBSON South Africa as an Imperial Asset 12. R. B. CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM Spain’s Future is in Spain 13. W. T GOODE . Madrid To-day 14. M. E. ROBINSON Youth in Teachers 15. JOSEPH WICKSTEAD William James’s “ Pluralism 1 . EDWARD GARNETT Doughty’s Poems 6 “ Subscription : From September to December 10s. For One Year, 30s. CHAPMAN & HALL, LTD., HeuriettaStreet, London, W.C. The sillyseason, at any rate in England, has been as Parliament still markedbynonewfeatures.And sits itssymptomshavebeenperhaps less outrageous It is true that “Daily the Mail,” with than usual. that strong editorial commonsense which guides it, has chosentheveryperiodwhen its coIumns a r e heavily to run not one silly charged with politics and aviation, season subject, but two-the second one being its own There moments are failure as a publisher of books. whentheingenuity of CarmeliteHousetricklesthin, and one is apt to fancy that one’s “Daily Mail ” might be lessamateurishlymessyunderthedirection of Sir FrederickBanbury,PrinceEdward of Wales, or Mrs. Humphry Ward. Matters, however, not are much better in Prance. For example, the Paris “Figaro ” Give you 50 per cent. better quality Tobacco than any other firm. The ‘*NEW AGE “ CIGARETTES are hand-made f o pure rm Tobacco, narrowest possible lap, non-nicotine, non-infurhas, and sold at a democratic price. A Box of 100 “NEW AGE “ CIGARETTES, Turkish Higher quality at hi her price. Write to-day for Price list. You will be satisfied. DR. CECIL CLEMENTS Eye and Throat Specialist, of LIncoln, writes:“ I like your Cigtrettes very much indeed. I like the Idea of befog freshly made with each order Hundreds of other testimonials of a similar kind. Postal Orders and Cheques crossed ‘‘ Farrow’s Bank, Ltd., Our only Address L. LYONS & SONS, 79, CEPHAS STREET, LONDON SOCIALIST CIGARETTE MAKERS or Virginia 2/6 post free. Exceptional Value SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 THE NEW AGE By Lady Gregory. (Maunsel. 3s. 6d 351 REVIEWS. Seven Short Plays. net.) To judge these seven playlets apart from their natural setting were as difficult as to judge a fragment of old tapestrybutfaintlyindicatingthe wonderfulmaterial anddesign of the whole. Theyrightly belong to the Irish National Theatre Society Plays, and are the clever a taste work of one of a group of modern poets with for the sociological epic, united to symbolise the soul of Ireland. This these playwrights accomplish in a series of beautiful psychological pictures which collectively reindipresent the evolution of thenationalspiritand You vidually throwlight upon its many-sidedaspect. begin with the “Shadowy Waters ” of Mr. Yeats-to whom this book is dedicated-in which you are shown thebirth of thatspirit in rich poetical surroundings centuries Then ago. you watchpass it in the dim f background o events evolving during seven and a half blunder and stupidity. gross centuries of criminal Then in Mr. Yeats’ “ Kathleen ni Houlihan ” you see it emerge burdened Christian-like with its accumulated f to Mr. Synge’s heritage o wrongs. So you pass “Playboy of the Western World,” wherein you seeit seeminglycrushed, distorted, and made abject beyond recognition by oppressionandelimination.Finally, in LadyGregory’splays,youwatchitemergeagain. In her delightful peasant characters, with their spontaneity, poetry,light-heartedhumour, and theiredifyinginsularity, you seem to be at the re-birth of thenational spirit, and are conscious of a new Ireland-Ireland in the future. There littlechoose is very to between these plays. Theyare equal in truthandcharm, in sympathy and simplicity. Whoever has seen them acted will read his favourite one ; whoever has not seen them acted will read them all. “ Chesterton on Shaw !” “ Pelion on Ossa !” I “Set an epigrammatist to catch an epigrammatist** GEORGE BERNARD SHAW BY G. K. CHESTERTON. H MUST be a dull dog e I Among the Danes, net.) By F. M. Butlin. (Methuen. 7s. 6d. Daily Telegraph : “ who cannot enjoy it.” This present volume is not a very favourable specimen of travel book. The author, it is true, has givenus a three-fold view of Denmark, and we see something of the Denmark that helped to breed England, of the cooperative Denmark, dairy and of the Denmark of Hamlet and Hans Andersen.Mrs. Butlin has narrated bits of its legendary origin and historical interest, referloss of red to its economic development its since at itsartistic possibilities. But Schleswig,andhinted her work is marred by superficiality and slovenliness in style. Thus the history consists mainly of extracts, and such universal matters as the co-operative agricultural movement, the educational experiment, the and remarkable activities .of the Danish Heath Society are toucheduponchit-chattily.Holberg’s pays(for plays) is probably a misprint,butthepicture(meaning portrait) of Drackenberg is sheer carelessness. W ea r e almostleft to discoverAndersen’spoetic Denmark in Miss Ellen Wilkinson’s illustrations, which have an interesting quality. 5s. net, NOW READY. 5s. net. I INTRODUCTION-“Most people either say that they agree with Bernard Shaw or that they do understand not him. I am the only person who understands him, and I do not agree him.” with AccidentalInjuries to Workmen. By H. Norman Barnett and C. E. Shaw. (Rebman. 7s. 6d. net.) The authors of this book have compiled a very valuable list of accidental injuries coming under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, proceeding proper in anatomical order from bone to muscle, thence to organs of specialsense,thence to internal organs, and finally to theNervousSystem. The whole is rounded off by a lucid legalintroduction by Mr. T. J. Campbell, and appendices legislation of andindustrialdiseases,The bookis, as the authors point out, two years late, and this, we may add, in more sensesthan one. It shows us indeed a measurepassed to protectpractically all employees, but it gives us no indication of how this Act is now being defeated by employers compelling the worker pay to for accidents. Unfortunately, the too, Act is very weak in respect to the definition of accident, A and itsaid is to encourage serious malingering. book that aims tointerpret it as it stands and. furnishes a clue to the nature of every case it ought to include, although of immense service to the doctor must remain “ A fascinating study.” -G. B.S. in The Nation. JOHN LANE PUBLISHER THE BODLEY HEAD but a curiosity te the layman. 352 (Methuen. 7s. 6d. net.) THE NEW AGE SEPTEMBER 2 , 1909 The Decay o the Church of Rome. By J. McCabe. f Mr. McCabe’s, object in this book is to trace what he calls the decay of theChurch of RomeintheLatin, English, and Germanic worlds This he attempts to do with honesty, shrewdness, and insight. But we feel he does not altogether succeed.spite In of his antiCatholic bias his honesty is too much for him. If it is as stated in his thesis, that “the Mr.McCabe’sview, Church of Rome is rapidly decaying,” it is strange he should be at such pains to persuade us it is not decaying at all, but simply losing ground through meddling withmattersthatdonotconcernit.But the fact is Mr. McCabe cannot get away from his Self. He has been in the Church, and no man knows better than he that the whole trouble o the Roman Church is due, as f he points out (12)to its meddling unskilfully with politics. The fortunes (of the Catholic Church have always to tended to fluctuate (16), and this has been largely due its political mistakes. The beginning of the “decline ” in France in 1870 was due, as Mr. McCabedoubtless knows, but does not say, to the Pope making Bismarck a son of theChurch ; whileGambetta’santi-Catholic out-burst ( 2 0 ) wascausedbytheattempt of Rome to reinstate the House of Bourbon. To s u m . up,inMr. McCabe’swords : "They (theclergy)haveoften,in spite o their better judgment, obeyed implicitly every f order from the. Vatican.” Hence our contention is that the present position of the ‘Church of Rome is simply an expression of a positionintowhich its politicalambitions and conservatism have forced it, and that as soon as it recognises this, ceases to meddle with politics, and comes line the into with movement to democratise Christianity, it will again take rank as a spiritual force. Mr. McCabe’s honesty causes him “to shrink from forecasts.” So he leaves’ Rome where whole “its management o theLatinraces,devoid f of anylarge statesmanship,” has landed it. “His verse remains undeniably strong majestic. and . . . Perhaps it is too much to saythathewas gropingtowards a higherfaith.”SurelyLucretius at least might arouse some enthusiasm in these days. when has so widespread. his doctrine of evolution become Caesar becomes a writer of blue-books ; Horace receives praise on account of his sanity ; “he yet pierces to the universalheart.” He pierces to no heart at all, and a countrythathadanycareforitsyouthwouldburn Horace and send any translator to the gallows. An Atheist at Church. 4d. ) By George Standring. (Forder. We would rather this call book of light-hearted sketches Standringtonian than as actually the work of a secularist conscience. It contains so many touches that are Mr. Standring’s own, and not a few that the- secua confession o f larist would disown. instance For being impressedevenbytheaesthetic magnificence of the Catholic Church (2) is not at all typical. of the outand-out secularist, who usually shrinks horror-stricken fromtheChurchandallitspompsandvanities.But it is the sort of thing we expect from Mr. Standring. It is his honest conviction, and he would not tell a lie upon any, much less upon this solemn occasion. Moreover, it is good for him to feel this aesthetic force of the CatholicChurch,foritenables him’ to givevalueby contrast to his entertaining account of his travels from of Romanism to EthicalCulture,takingotherforms publicworshipontheway. A reallygoodinvestment. The Book of Job. Vol: I, i to xiv. By David Davies. (Simpkin. 5s. Those who have seen Blake’s picture of Satan pouring the plague of boils o n Job will have realised that, on the whole, theprophetdidnot have a soft time. Still, are there many less cheerful things his than “Philosophy of Sorrow.” Indeed, the “Book of Job ” is a great imaginative work, the greatest picture ever recomposed the for sake of humanity. Coleridge garded it as an Arab poem of immense beauty; it inspired Goethe’s “ F a u s t ” ; it Victor was Hugo’s Special Offer. A Bargain. Mesmerism Christian and Science. Podmore (Methuen. 10s. 6d. net.) By Frank Whatever may be Mr. Podmore’s capacity as a compiler, capacity in other directions cannot be ascribed to him. All thisis proved in the volume before us. He conscientiously traces the course of Animal Magnetism from Mesmer, detailing-as Binet and Férè have done -the growth of the curative virtues of magnetism and itsentry upon a scientificcareer as Hypnotismunder Charcot. he Here warns us that Hypnotism, rising from the material morass into which Mesmer had flung it, encounters soul straightway the and adopts two forms. It takes rank as an orthodox agency o pracf tical therapeutic utility and as a doubtful system of religion.Thisreligioustendencyhecondemns as the begetter of “theshadowybrood of latter-daymysticisms-Spiritualism, Theosophy, New the Thought, and Christian Science. is nonsense, This sad though not worse than his foolish statement that “the Church of Christ, Scientist, represents word the last of mysticism.” To classifymereMesmerism,weirdWill as misWorship, sane Seership and Soul together chievous mysticism clearly proves Mr. that Podmore doesnotknowwhatmysticismis.Ourownopinion is thathehasneverstudiedeithermedicalhypnotism or the new psycho-therapeutic methods by which it is claimed energising and faith will-power can assist Nature’shealingpowersorthe renewed searchafter Reality.Tillheshowssomesigns of havingdone so we must refuse to acceptsuch a work as the present conception alike of Medical except as a humorous -.Magnetism and Mysterium Magnum. THENEW AGE PRESS, having secured the right to sell MEMOIRS of a REVOLUTIONIST, By Prince KROPOTKIN. 468 pp., Cloth bound (published at 6/-), offersnew uncut copies to New Age Readers for 2/- each. By post 2/3. NOTE.-The number of copies to be sold at this low price is strictly limited. This book is well known over all the world. It is of thrilling interest from first page bo last. Every Socialist should have a copy. To be Purchased only from14, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London, THE N E W AGE PRESS, E.C. ST. JAMES’S HALL, GREAT PORTLAND STREET, W. Four Lectures by G. W.FOOTE. SHAKESPEARE‘S PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE IN SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 7.30 P M., “ THE MASTER’S MIND. Discussion I n v i t e d at all meetings. Reserved Seats, 1s. Balcony, 6d. Remainder of Hall Free. HAMLET.” The Literary History (Unwin. 12s. 6d. net.) of Rome. By J. Wight Duff. PICTURE~FRAMING (WHOLESALE RETAIL), & This, is what we suppose would be called a scholarly production. It is useful as a. book of reference if you of Romanauthors,butwe are.seekinggood.texts should not advise the use of this book as a n introduction to Roman Literature. I t makes everything so very dull,the.criticism ‘is so veryplacidanduninspiring. Lucretius, for instance, is treated with chilling courtesy. Maximum fTaste, o Minimum o Cost. f Strongly Recommended by Mr. Palmer of The New Age. + J, EDGE, l55, HlGH HOLBORN, LONDON, W.C. SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 THE NEW A G E 353 favourite reading-. We agree, therefore, Mr. with Davies that i t deserves to be rescued from neglect, and we welcome exhaustive his book of reference. But somehowwecannevergetmuchinformation o u t of biblical commentaries, and the present is no exception, for it leaves us puzzling over that imaginative prologue wheretheDevilappears as a sort of dramaticpublic prosecutor. DRAMA. The Last of the Censors. THIS must prove a true prophecy, for assuredly no man will befoundself-sacrificingenoughtoaccepta post as Mr. Redford’s successor. There are moments when one blushes for the Government-for instance this solemn affair of the Censorship, a lengthy inquiry the into obvious. discourtesy The withwhichpoorMr. Redford hasbeentreatedreally passes all limits of decency. Being offered a sufficiently remunerative post, he naturallyaccepted it, surely under the impression that he would sitcomfortablyundertheprotection of the Lord Chamberlain’s wand. He felt himself perfectly capable to undertake the task of examining plays, for hadhe not beeninandout of the office duringMr. Piggott’slifetime? He was “ a personalfriend of his predecessor, and had often been in correspondence with the office.” Moreover, as further qualifications, he possesses a wifewhocan’makerunningtranslations fromtheGermanandthat“dram.atic.insightwithout which he could not understand the plays.” Picture this dear couple conscientiously poring over usually tedious occasionally and indecorous manuscripts. By theway, will Mr.Redford’scollaborateur also be harassed in the witness. box? The situation is pathetic tu a n almost tearful degree. And yet through it all Mr. Redford remains a gentleman in his scarcely complainingresponses.WhenLordNewtonasks “if he does not feel hardly used to be made the subject of attackbytheauthors? ” he gently replies, “ I am a little aggrieved sometimes.” ! Even Harcourt Mr. asks, “Is One’s blood boils itnotproposed to calltheLordChamberlain? ” But no, it is not, and there lies the shameful injustice and discourtesy of the case. Apparently unfortunate this English gentleman has been pitchforked into a position of unexpectedandundesiredpublicity,althoughhe is not the responsible person. DisgracefultooarethechargeswhichMr.Redford has been forced to repudiate ; but, thank God, he knew how to vindicate himself. Mr. Law: “There was an interval of eightornine yearsbetweensuchandsuchplays.Inthattimeyour mind, I suppose, had developed? ” Mr. Redford (with wounded dignity) : “ If you speak of my individual m i n d it probably was always the same.” AgaintheCensorwasapparentlyexpectedtovoice his opinion in public concerning most the dubious when Mr.Law themes. He did turnforonemoment spoke of the veto on “ Monna Vanna ” : “ Upon what principle or precedent, Mr. Redford, did you refuse the play of ‘ Monna Vanna ’ ? ” “Thatplayhasbeen so extensively discussed that it seems almost unnecessary to answer, but still if you wish it--” “ I certainly like the should general know to principle.” “Upontheprinciple of theimmorality of theplot, Of course I could go into the details, but it would be a longbusiness.Icould tell YOU thewholeplot.” “ Thank you ; I have read the ‘play with very great pleasure. ” (Wearily) : “ O h , Ididn’tmean to sayyouhadn’t.” “DO you consider general the plot of the play immoral ? “ (Modestly) : “The plot of a woman entering--? Yes, the whole plot o the play, to my mind, is--improper.” f Mr. Redford’s delicacy sorely was tried in the attempted discussion about “ The Breaking-Point,” by Mr.Garnett. H e had justbegun to openout,too, in a friendly way ; he was inclined to make the committee a present of his personal opinion, a gift they appeared to desire more than most things. Mr. Law : “The fact that ‘ The Breaking-Point ’ was not publicly performed destroyed value the of the author’s property, did it not? ” “ T h a t is really a question I have nothing to do with, but there was no property in it, if you ask me.” ButtheCommitteeseemedtowishfor a moreintimate discussion of the play. The Censor very properly floored any such intention. “You knowtheonescenethatwasobjected to. I cannot possibly mention it here ! ” And so throughout the tactless cross-examination this admirableCensor of oursconducted himself withthe discretion which must surely attend him at alltimes. TheCensor,too,hasalwaysbeenobliging if only approachedin a becomingfashionandbypersons of sufficient weight and position-a fact for which he has scarcely received sufficient credit. As he remarks : “Plays can always be reconsidered, and frequently heis willing to reconsider them if ‘ slight modifications ’ a r e introduced. ” There several are instances, two at least, of this accommodatingattitude,whichhavenot so farcome beforetheCommittee.In ’87 a translation of Octave Feuillet’s“Julie ” wassubmitted to theCensor.Julie dies of heartshock in the end when her husband discovers that she has committed adultery (between Acts I and 11). Naturally Censor the found this all disquieting, but, being in a particularly amiable mood he if Julie, effected a compromise. T h e playshouldpass at the end of Act II, said : “Thank heaven, I have only sinned in intention.” would have She still todie of remorse for the deed at the end of Act III, but after allthatisnottheCensor’sbusiness. In 1900a play called “Freedom in Fetters,” by. Sir Sydney Olivier, Governor of Jamaica, submitted was and refused. Indeed, the name alone is enough to suggest unorthodoxy any to gentleman without further perusal. It smacks of something wild and paradoxical. However,whentheidenticalplaywassent in again under a new title, “ Beatrice Maxwell,” no further difficulties presented themselves, and it was licensed. One waits anxiously for the issue of the investigation. May Mr. Redford be permitted to retire gracefully into private life before his tormentors have chivied him into a grave. premature N. C. Recent Music. Elgar, Reger, and the Promenades. ONLYonce a yeardoesseriousmusicbecomenearly popular. Those people who can afford to pay a shilling for an evening’s entertainment may hear the best music in theworldperformedby a first-classorchestra.But they hearuncomfortably. must it They smoke, may but for a shilling they must stand packed close together like thecrowd at a bigtestmatch. It happens,too, that these concerts (I refer to the Promenade Concerts ADVERTISEMENT: NEPTUNE PENS 354 THE NEW AGE SEPTEMBER 2, - 1909 ~ . classicism-a fashionable vice. The “ merrytheme ” of the Queen’s Hall Orchestra) are given during part of was an ordinary little tune, taken from some eighteenth the hottest season of the year, so that if it should be a century opera ; and it was in its working-out that Reger particularly warm evening the impossibility of “ promeshowed so much of the Brahms influence. But his nading ” and the discomfort of standing are rendered masterwas more successful connecting variain his doubly inconvenient by the close proximity of perspiring tions,andcouldalwayskeepthethememoreor less enthusiasts. We areaccustomed to congratulateourprominentlybeforeyou.(Brahmswas a bore,buthe selves on these annual occasions upon the fact that the wasanartist all the same). Reger, in his for lust “taste ” of the London public is improving steadily, and contrapuntal eccentricities, often too obliterates the that it isonly a question of timewhenourscullerytheme, and the form therefore loses much of its usual maid will devour the analytical notes on the Domestic is interest. The final movement, an elaborate fugue, Symphonywiththesamerelishwithwhichshenow far and away the best thing in the composition ; it is swallows Horner’s Mr. penny stories. Nonsense, of a s masterly as anything old Bach himself everwrote. course ; people have only wanted the opportunity more Reger,after all, worksbest in harness. Give him a frequently offered of hearing decent music at a reasonprescribed form (in this instance he had a ready-made able price to prove that they will accept it and make it tune for his fugue), some strict rules to obey, and he “pay.” our But capitalist musicians care take that lieder he is compels yourhighestadmiration.Inhis popularity shall mean nothing below the uncomfortable oftencharming,evenexquisite,forhe is dilating on shilling. They care extract take to as much as five somebody else‘s motto ; but turn him adrift in search shillings for the best seats at these “popular ” nights. of ideasandheimmediately loses power. So far, I do I do not think it unreasonable to hope that we shall one not see that Reger has brought any new beauty into day have promenade concerts all the year round with a music. If anything, he has brought a new pomposity. maximum charge of, say, sixpencefor a seat. During HERBERT HUGHES. these warm evenings the Queen’s Hall is packed, and so is the Lyric Theatre, where Moody-Manners the season of opera in English is still proceeding. A fortnight ago Sir Edward Elgar’s symphony was For the opinions expressed by correspondents, the Editor does not performedforthe first time at thePromenades. This hold himself responsible. latestwork of ourEnglishcomposerisonethat you Correspondence intended for Publication should be addressed to the Editor and written on one side of the Paper only, have to hear a dozentimesbeforeyoucangrasp it. SPECIAL NOTICE.-Correspondents are requested to be brief I have not yet heard it a dozen times, and so my feelings Many letters weekly are omitted O N account of their length. are still in a transitory stage. Off-hand I might say it appearssomewhatprolixandlong-winded,but as a A CASE IN INDIA. To THE EDITOR “THENEW AGE.” OF piece of workmanship it isprobablythefinestthing In your issue of last week Mr. C. H. Norman brings perhaps is English, these islands ever have known. it And the most serious charge which it is possible to bring against an absolutely English through all (whatever may that unnamed Lieutenant-Governor of India-that he connived at mean ; I cannot define the term myself, but it seems to the premature execution o an f Indian sentenced unjustly to be something between being diatonic in music and episdeath,toanticipateacertain reprieve from the Viceroy. Unless a charge of that kind is fully substantiated, it condemns the copalian in politics.) Of course, modern English music accuserthe to unequivocal loathing contempt and of every naturallyderivesmorefromGermanthan.anyother Englishman whose sense of honour is not rotting in the putrid Continental school, and the best summing-up of Elgar’s slough of gangrenous provincialism or rancid insincerity. While “ Dream of Gerontius ” I haveheardwasthatof, I Mr. Norman’s views onDenshawaiandDhingraincidentsare my own, his attitude towards Rhodes and on other subjects believe, Mr. George Moore, described who as it whichhe haswrittenaboutinyourcolumns seems to me no “ Catholic Wagner.”Thissymphony,however, comless dishonest contemptible, than and therefore, a s a wholeposedtenyearslater,isdecidedlylesssensuousand hearted Socialist who desires that Socialism should have no more virile than that work and less obviously derivative. truckwithwhatiscontemptibleanddishonest,andasaman who h a s some first-hand knowledge of India,its peoples, its In manner it sometimes suggests the work of Hubert ways of thought, and its Lieutenant-Governors, I hope that Mr. Parry, with this difference, that where Parry is emphatic Norman will see his way eithertosubstantiatethecharge he Elgar is excited. Parry, again, would rather be dull has brought, which reflects on every member of a service whose than vulgar ; Elgar is frequentlydull,buthe is quite single-hearted devotion to duty-and on this point I am perhaps better qualified to speak than Mr. Norman-is as unquesoftenvulgar-that jolly vulgarity you meet in Tschaitionable as their intelligence is hypothetical, and so convict me kowskyand in theballads of Mr. Rudyard Kipling. by analogy of gross lack of understanding in those other cases Vulgarity only creeps in occasionally in this symphony, where I find himunworthy of the respect of straight-thinking however ; you do not feel annoyed at these moments for men, or, if he cannot substantiate the charge, withdraw it and you know it is better the man should be himself in this himself unreservedly and finally fromtheSocialist movement, and leave i to those whose methods t and motives, whatever very personal than way play the classic game o f may be thought of their abilities, are clean. Pretend. There is this quality of candour about nearly all o Elgar’s music that prevents f i t being so consist* * * MAURICEBROWNE. ently dull as the ebullitions of his academical seniors. Mr. Norman writes :to bestrongly inW h e n a newcomposerissaid To THE EDITOR U T NEW AGE.’: OF ~~ fluenced by Brahms I generally avoid hearing him. All The impudent letter of a person named Maurice Browne, which you have kindly communicated to me, and obtained my the daily critics, I think agreed that in his “Variations permission toprint, would remainunansweredby me were it and Fugue upon a Merry Theme” Max Reger derived notthatsuchindividuals, if their letters not are published, muchfromBrahms.Reger,however,hasthereputa’conceive that it is because their atrocious abuse has some justtion of being savagely modern, and people flock to hear fication in fact. Before stating the circumstances, allow me to quote the exact any new work of his performedforthefirsttime. ‘At words I used so that I may, in the last paragraph of this letter, the Promenades the floor of the Queen’s Hall was thoroughly expose Mr. Maurice Browne’s malignant perversions. packed to hear the first performance of these “Varia“Take oneinstance in India. A murdererhad been sentenced tions.”Idon’tknow who was edified by it. I didn’t to death. M e appealed to the Lieutenant-Governor, th0 and appeal was. disallowed. H e thenappealedtothe Viceroy. The find the worksavagelymodernexcept in its pose of CORRESPONDENCE. Cadbury’s Cocoa is unequalled for nourishment, purity, and strength. An invaluable food ; a delicious and healthful drink. Cadbury’s is essentially the purest Cocoa ; made amid the purest surroundings in England’s Garden Factory at Bournville. SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 THE NEW AGE 355 You may imagine, Sir, howpleased I was to come across Viceroy grantedhisappeal,andremittedthedeath sentence. this confirmation of my favourite idea, that whatever ‘fake ” The sentence had been carried out by the Special orders of the has been used in politics in the past will be sure to be dished Lieutenant-Governor when he knew the man had appealed to the up again, and also the probable explanation, advanced long ago Viceroy, and on a day before which it would be impossible for by the Dean, of the catastrophe your contemporary, the Comet the Viceroy’s decision to be known. Every attempttoinvestio Carmelite Street, is so eloquently(and, of coursedisinterf gate details the of this incident failed; the has and whole estedly) deploring just now. JNO. F. BURTON. blunder has been hushed up.” Here is the record in the House of Commons “Debates.” On the 14th June, 1906, Sir H. Cottonasked : “ I beg to ask the ANTI-VIVISECTION. Secretary o StateforIndia f whether hisattentionhas been drawn to the fact that in a recent case in ‘which a capital senTO THE EDITOROF “THE NEW AGE.” tence had been passed, a prisoner prayed to Lieutenantthe Are Crile’s avowed cruelties “experimental Research into Governor of Eastern Bengal and Assam for mercy, or,asan Surgical Shock ”-cutting,tearing,burningthe skin ; cutting memorial to the alternative, for the transmission of his andcrushingmuscles ; crushingthejoints;crushing,tearing, Governor-General in Council ; that Lieutenant-Governor the cutting and burning the tongue; pouring boiling water within rejected the rayer, and forwarded the memorial to the Governor; removing vital organs ; burning crushand the abdomen General in Council, but ordered the man’sexecution : that .the ing the paws ; tearing and crushing the nerves? Governor-General telegraphed staying execution, too the but Are such experiments as described by Dr. Bigelow (Harvard late,asthemanhadalready been executed ; and-whetherhe Professor of Surgery)onone of manyhorsesbrokenwithage will make .enquiries the into facts of this case.” Mr. Morley and disease, resulting from lifelong devotion to man’s service : replied : “ I fin? it difficult to believe thatthefactsareas “ H e was bound upon the floor, his skin scored with knives ,like stated in the question, but if they they are amount an to a gridiron,hiseyesandearscutout,histeethtornout,his enormity.”On 12th July Mr. Brightinquired : “ I beg to ask arteries bare, laid his nerves exposed, pinched, severed, his the Secretary of State India for whether he has received a hoofs pared down tothe quick,. and every conceivable -and report from India of the circumstances connected with the execufiendish torture inflicted on him while he groaned and gaspedtionof. a native who hadappealed totheGovernor-General; this agony protractedbycarefullypreservinglifeunder these andwhatactionheintendstotakewith respect tothe official continued hellish torments from early morning until afternoon who isresponsibleforthis execution.” Mr. Morley made a Aretheunspeakableatrocities of Alfort, thepitiless devillong statement giving the official explanation of this serious ments of a Montegezza or a BurdonSanderson ; a Klein who incident, winding up hisanswer by saying : “ I regrettosay whatever the for declared publicly that “hehad no regard thatin my view these proceedings fallshort of thehighand ; a Brown-Sequard, whose sufferings of hiswrithingvictims” exact standard of official duty that the Indian Civil Service has sickeningdeeds, suchasopeningthevertebralcanal, or, still for so manygenerations so notablymaintained.”Onthe 17th of the worse, the spinal column, lay the to bare substance : “ I beg toask July, SirHenryCottonreturnedtotheattack marrow “ would make a devil shrink? the Secretary of S a t e for India whether he is in a position to Are these, and a thousand like them, practised as they a r e give anyexplanation of thecircumstancesunderwhich Udoya daily in the laboratories of Europe and America, to be scoffingly f in Bengal and Assam, was hanged Patni, o Sylhet, Eastern suffering dismissed as on a par with “ the faint and uncertain under orders the of the Lieutenant-Governor, although his of a sick rabbit ” ? Lieutenantprayer for mercy had been transmitted by the One very awful is factnoticeable in. every single utterance Governor totheGovernor-GeneralinCouncil,andtheorders VIZ., the universal total of vivisectors and apologists, their of theGovernor-General,granting a reprieve, arrivedafterthe absence of pity from their lips or pens. execution had taken place; whether and he“ can what state Your correspondent speaks of the Socialist, researcher as action he has taken, or proposes to take, inthematter.” Mr. “marching onward to victory,’’ and of “entering ‘into his kin Morley replied : “ I have nothing to add to the very full statedom.” God send us no such victory-God send no us I am in communication ment which I made on Thursday last. kingdom ! Whatcould profit victoriesand kingdom so gained with the Government of India ; it is theiraffair.ratherthan if they cost-the soul? CHARLES L. MONEY. has dropped, so faras I have been mine.” Therethematter * * * abletotraceit. As in case the of Mr. Rhodes, I say the documents overwhelmingly establish fairness the of my com- i T H E SECULARIST MOVEMENT. ments. To THE EDITOROF “ T H E NEW AGE.” Mr. Maurice Browne has alleged that I charged “ a n unnamed Mr. George Standring, in his interesting reminiscences of the Lieutenant-Governor-that he connived at the premature execuSecularist Movement, mentionstheold “ National Reformer,” tion of anIndian sentenced unjustly to death, to anticipate a with itsprogramme of “Atheism,Republicanism,andMalthucertain reprieve fromthe Viceroy.” That allegationis a desianism.”Certainprofaneandirreverentmindstranslatedthis liberateand wicked misrepresentation of theplainestEnglish. as “NO God, no king, and as few people as possible.” I believe I described the man concerned “as a murderer.” I did not use a clergymanwas responsible for the interpretation, but cannot any words capable of bearing.themeaning. of “connived,”or JOSEPHCLAYTON. name. his recall “sentencedunjustlytodeath?or “ a certainreprievefromthe Viceroy.” In dealing with agross blunder of the Indian Executive and theLieutenant-Governor, I .was pointingout how monstrously unfair was the repression of the governed for agitating against a Government capable of executive errors of this kind. C. H. NORMAN [This is not the first time that our contributor, Mr. Norman, has been put to the trouble of rehearsing facts quite as accessible to his criticsto as himself. Before venturingfuture in to challenge Mr.. Norman i n such a tone as that adopted by Mr. Maurice Browne, we trustthat our correspondentswillthemselves enquire into the facts of the case, and only when they fail to find confirmation of Mr. Norman’s statements proceed to questionhis references further. While w e are far from endorsing ail the views held by our contributor we are certain that for hisfactsthere is always ample evidence.-ED. NA.] * * * such * * * THE A contemporary of yours professes to be in a quandary as to the reasonwhya certainliterary ware ithasrecentlyissued, withgreatexpectation o success (including, of course,profit), f of which is not unconnected our with German the subject cousins, has fallen deaduponthetown,like a badly-inflated balloon sentupinaninauspicious moment. I t is a favourite thought of mine, Sir, I know not whether original or acquired from multifarious reading, that the pageant of history is like a kaleidoscope, in which, as you know,’’the pieces are always the to time. Now i n same,. the only pattern varies time from reading Dean Swift’s strange critique upon a supposed discourse on “The Art of Political Lying ” I came across acute this paragraphtheotherday. “Concerning the species o miracuf lous, or terrifying, lies which may. be used by politicians, he (the critic) gives several rules ; one o which is that terrible objects f should not be too frequently shown to the people, lest they grow familiar. He says, it is absolutely necessary that the people of England should be frighted with the French King and tho Pretender once a year ; but that the bears should be chained up again till time that twelvemonth. The want of observing this so necessary precept, in bringing the out raw-head and bloodybone, upon every trifling occasion, has produced great indifferencein the vulgar o late.” f To FIT THE EDITOROF “THE NEW AGE.” OF GERMANIA AND AFTER. 356 THE NEW AGE- SEPTEMBER 2, 1909 NEW PUBLICATIONS issuedby the New Age Press,,Ltd. LITERARY TASTE: HOW TO FORM IT. With detailed instructions for collecting a complete Library of English Literature. By ARNOLD BENNETT. Crown 8vo. Beautifully bound, with Celtic design in red and brown. Price 2s. net, by post 2s.3d. “ In this work Mr. Arnold Bennett assumes nothing. He begins at the beginning and frankly faces those difficulties, such asthenatural humandistaste for classics and the widespread objection to reading poetry, which have hitherto been ignored by all literary handbooks. In offering detailed counsel towards the formation of taste, he does not prescribe a course of study, such as readers would be likely to pursue only if they were archangels. He seeks rather to suggest and directsuch quiet efforts as the average man who cares forbooks has at times an inclination to make.Above all, his intention is to be practical. The volume includes very precise instructions with all necessary information for collecting a complete library of English literature at the lowest possible cost.” By BEATRICE TINA. Demy 8vo. Stout Wrapper is. net, by post 1s. id. CONTENTs-Declaratory-TheTwo Curses-The Three Sisters-The Plight of the Unfit MotherThe Harlot-Love, Children and Civilisation: also a reprint from the N.A. of the much discussed article “ Woman as State Creditor,” with ’’ Answers to Correspondence” on the same WOMAN’S WORST ENEMY:WOMAN. THE N E W AGE PRESS, 12-14, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, E C .. THE PEOPLE’S DRINK : By CECIL CHESTERTON. defends it against criticism. A Consumer’s View of the Drink Problem, Crown 8vo. Wrapper, W. net. By post; 31/2d. 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