The San Francisco call., 1899-10-29
BY Prof. III. B. Lathrop,
Stanford University.

n "Stslky & Co." Rudyard Kipling's
new book Of stories, appear many Of
the fine qualities which we have
learned to expect in Rudyard Kip
ling's work; energy, ingenuity. in
CisiveHess. swiftness, brlliance. The
fook affords another example of the COM
,Neteness with which Mr.. Kipling has
entered into the subject with which he
deals, or rather Of the completeness win
which It hes entered into him. His mind
seems. as k We're. to be saturated with
the life ne pcrtrays. so that everything
IS done With an unconscious right
ness and appropriateness TO III,
circumstances Not only is It thu
case tho; the dialect sounds abso
lutely I'm character, that the action fit.
the surroundings. but the unconscious
prefu3ie5s the habits of thought.
the Itle touches of association
casually. as II they were a part OF
the authors mind. In brief, Stalky &
Co. has the "who!eness Of texture" the
higher consistency, which IS the mark Of
the truly creative imagination. in what
ever material il works The material in
this case IS the life in an English school
whore boys are fitted for the military col
leeas, and for entering on the Indian
civil service. The heroes are three boys
instead Of Soldiers Three. with a chief
hero, "Stalky," IN place of Mulvaney.
They are extraordinary, not to say alb
norma! youths, quite too artificialIy sue
Ces1ul in the jokes on the masters and
others which constitute the plots of the
little tales. The book is an amusing one.
and would be read with unsuspecting en-
Joyment If Mr.. Kipling would only leave
his readers alone with the idea that 1t
IS meant for fun. No rational man need
worry himself about Kiplings limitations
and imperfections unless he must. He is
good in his way; why concern ourselves
with his exaggerations his hardness, his
lack OF delicacy and tenderness? We can
ind In others what he lacks, as we can
find IL him what others lack. We need
not take him as an apostle.
But Mr. KipGng insists on being an
apostle. He begins his tales Of schoolbOys
with a solemn moralizing poem; he ends
with q story III which one of the charaC-
tors plays heroic part on the Afghan
borders, employing against the Pathans
stratagem of which he had made use at
school against the master The moral IS
obvious. BY heroic Irregularities and up
standing against superior authority at
school boys are made into Mr. Kipling's
highest type Of herOes-offiCers in Afghan
vars, Mt. hipiing breaches. he avows
into the minutest creyiceS of his narra-
tiNes Now, If man sets up TO preach
he must expect TO be criticized as a
preacher. And If it IS through works Of
fiction that ne tries TO teach a moral les
son the whole spirit and tendency Of his
writing must be carefully scrutinized-the
more rgldly the more effective his writ
inE may be.
What then, IS the philosophy of life
which Mr.. kipling puts forward? Its fun
camentaI principle is the glorifcation of
action which produces tangible results
Its models Of human perfection are men
who do definite, palpable things-sailors.
engineers, above all soldiers. The man
Of thought the student as such appears
IN MI hlpilng's work only to be sCOrned.
At school he is pale, high-brOwed, in
effective; in the business Of life he is
contemptuously put aside by the man Of
action, or is secretly envous of him Mr.
kpling has no laurelS for the man of ideas
or for the scholar as such; for the phiIoso.
pher, the antiquarian, the historian the
scientist. Less contemplate are news
paper reporters, noVelists and poets Of
action who are at least attached to the
army Of dOers, though only as campbell
lowers; But the only real heroes are the
men VINO perform tangible, calCulable, def
mite aChieVements-if with a good deal
OF physical activity so much the better
Mr. Kipliugs ethics are as naive a those
OF IN old Morse or AnglO-SaXon poet. His
glorihCation Of achievement, Of physical
activity, Of strife; his scorn of Contempla-
n noJnlng from the same things in priml-
tive writer's, who sing of the sea and Of
battle, and who pray not 70 have "a bed
death, priests death, cows death"
This faith in action for its own sake Is
associated closely with the pecuIiaritfes
Of Kipling's style. which make it somehow
Kiplng's style is more than normally
sharp in its definiteness. it is exaggerated
It shows an Indifference to the means
used for effect provided the effect is
gained; It is slangy, it is often grotesQue
Very clear and simple ideas are gained
BY. suppressing all notifications and Imi-
tauons, by having one point Of view, by
seeing only one side Of a question or one
thing at a time The neglect Of ali
phases Of an idea or impression except
that at the moment essential is the source
Of Kiping's whole-hearted force. but it
implies a limitation OF mind and a habit
Of eNaggeratiOn- It is plain that a man
IN love with action will find such a style
congeniel. Modification, Limitation. bal
ancing between a little more or a little
less, produces hesitation; II may some
times produce an unrcadiness to act at
all The style which tries to follow the
exact truth, to limit, to suggest associa-
tions, to shadow forth ideas not easily
to be apprehended. has g certain rela-
tionship 10 the typical scholars frequent