The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-09-10
"InneMond Corner"

This book, like It's fOfefunnerS
from the same pen, 'Idlewild," pub
lished a decade ago, belongs to the
Crawford and Our Village kind
of literature. 1t may, indeed, be
said to form postscript to these two
classics, final record of rural Eng
land that is fast disappearing before
the steady advance of progress.
with its material advantages but also
it's impotence of tradition, romance
and sentiment. The author, Mr.
John Hulsham, regrets this change,
which nothing can stop, and which
will ultimately make his own Lone
wood Corner" in Sussex like unto
every other part of the English coun-
tryside. THE frenzy of haste and
the destruction of natural beauty,
continue at much the old rate" he
complains, but / think, with even
less protest raised than before; We
are so far poorer as a people that we
cannot even think of affordmg our
selves an hour of clear leisure or
a piece of unspoiled country larger
than deer park. The older graces
of living continue to vanish in the
natural progression; the democratic
standards of decency and civility in
converse, the sense of amenity in be-
ing have mechanically declined, very
much as it seemed probable they
would ten years ago. But the gen.
eral inundation which | sometimes
apprehended shows no sign of break
ing over us yet The blight of fiat
monotony still spreads upon our
world, beginning from the schools;
but there are energies of existence
and sources of refreshment which
did not sufficiently allow for in my
former estimate. | have come to the
cautious conclusion that in this di-
rection things may asst our time"
1t is the eternal complaint of the
observer who has passed the merid-
ian, the universal, regretful retro
spection of better, happier, less So
phisticated days The true cause of
this feeling lies. not so much in the
changes around us, however, as in
ourselves, in the gradual tagging of
our steps, in the imperceptible fixing
and narrowing of our point of view,
in the desire for peaceful stability,
for rest, which makes progress ap-
pear more needless and hurried than
it was in our younger days, or really
MI. I1dlSHdHl Vi Tic
changes around him; like most of us,
he forgets to make allowance for the
weakening of the power of adaptibil-
ity within himself that the years
bring with them. And lonely, in
Prospective rural existence narrows
our outlook sooner than does life in
the busy centers of civilization.
The book is, then, largely chron-
icle of disillusion, of regret for the
tempt passati" the good old times
of its authors own youth, though in
reality they were probably no better
than are those to Which the rising
generation of today will look back
with like regret when it shall enter
upon the youth of old age" Mr.
Hulsham has humor, however, and
interest in the problems of existence
His rustics are capitally drawn, in
the traditional manner of English lit
erature, perhaps the last types to
be added to the long gallery of such
pictures. He devotes much care to
the delineation of two maiden ladies
whose acquaintance one makes with
pleasure, to that of a bookworm,
young officer, and several others, and
has occasional descriptions of nature
are admirable He Is a literary ar
fist. The book is well worth reading
but it appeals to middle age. Youth
will very likely be impatient with
its ''prejudices. e. p. Dutton & Co.
in New York World.