The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1902-02-01
Disiuusion

inement and Of justice, indications Of
the-man To be. day nearer maturity
with each setting sun. In Stalky and
co. the hero, who is Rudyard Kipling
hates and is hated by all the rest of
the school including pupils and masters
and excepting only three other boys.
Tom Brown at Rugby is a boy among
boys playing cricket and proud of the
name of the school of which he is a
pupil. Stalky and his mates introduce
decayed animals into adjacent dormi-
tories, spend their leisure out of
bounds, smoking and despising the
other boys who play cricket and are
fond of athletics.
Mr.. Kipling's recent poem called
The Islanders" is written from ex-
actly the same point of view. Although
he has not himself been fighting and
has no intention of joining the army.
he calls the Englishmen who stay at
home instead of enlisting for the South
African service, ''muddled OATS and
''fianneled fools" At last Englishmen
themselves realize the essential brutal
ity and egotism of the author they
have fiattered to the top of his bent
When Kipling was a boy at school he
WAS convinced that his schoolmates
did not like him because they were
''muddled OATS, who could not appre-
ciate his superior points. 1t is not
Eal,r hot ha
of his countrymen will have any other
effect upon him now. His last story,
Kim" is seedy. 1t has no plot, no
character analysis, no psychological
postmortem. 1t is deadly dull and has
sold only on Kipling's reputation.
Story-buyers like a plot and prefer
that a book should be interesting.
Readers who profess to be interested
only in soul tragedies and comedies do
not insist upon a plot, but they do wish
to see the wheels go round. And the
really literary people must have a
strong seasoning of psychology. There
is nothing any of these people like in
kim and they want their money
back Disillusion affected Americans
first. The English rage is late but it
was sure 30 come. However, the dis
affection in England and America will
not affect the sale of any new book he
may write nearly so much as the in
anity of kim and the brutality of
'-StaIky and Co" After this when the
young man writes a book the publish
ers will not offer him a price on it
sight unseen" And the public will
not buy it, as they have heretofore,
without waiting for the verdict of the
book reviewers That is what book
reviewer is for: To save a man from
buying an Improbable book And
hereafter the much maligned book-re-
viewer will stand between Kipling and
his public.
The Islanders has not yet been
printed in this country. What we
know OF il at this date January 2D
is obtained from cable dispatches. and
they lack fuIlness. Mr.. Kipling advo-
Gates CONSUMPTION, a system which the
Anglo Saxon and the American tenn
permanent abhors. He taunts the Eng
lish with getting their fighting men
from Ireland. Australia and Canada.
We Wanted your fathomless power and
We Haunted your iron pride
Ere We fawned on the younger nations
for the men who could shoot and ride,
Then We returned to your trinkets; then
We contented your souls
With the fiannelled fools at the wicket
and the muddled OATS at the goals.
Given to strong delusion. wholly believ-
ing lie,
Ye saw that the land lay fenceIess and