The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-28
THE RAGGED MESSENGER.

THE RAGGED MESSENGER"
 By W. B. Maxwell. The Bobbs Merrill
 Co.,. Publishers. Indianapolis.
 Somewhere along the great 3Oo-mile battle front in the western war theatre of Europe William Babington Maxwell. the famous English novelist, whose lat est book, "The Ragged Messenger" is attracting so much attention in literary circles, is serving his country in the ca- paeity of a first lieutenant in his majes- tvs army. Recognized as the wielder of one of the most powerful pens in the literary world today, he has chosen to give up his profession (to sacrifice his future, perhaps-who knows?) to ply the sword in behalf of the allies.
 Unlike Shaw, Chesterton and Barrie, he has not seen fit to remain at home, ridfculing his countrymen for their neg feet of their duty in these days of strife, or exhorting them to action.
 He has joined the brave. He has gone into the very heart of the conflict as previously he has gone to the very heart of the conflict as previously he has gone to the very heart of life in his writing. The fearlessness which he possessed as a writer he has proved to be part and parcel of him as a man.
 Interesting it is to know that shortly before he departed for the continent of
 
 while en route. he wrote a brief mote explaining the purpose of the Ragged Messeuger. Following on the heels of 1'The Devils Garden" which made Mir. Maxwell in . America when published about a year ago. and for months the most discussed novel of two continents. The Ragged Messenger is destined to make a deep impression For, rising clear and bold above the tumult and strife. the suffering and anguish of an era of war, she has created figure in the image of the Great Master. The mad Messiah, they called him. in the squalid section of London to which he came preaching his gospel of love and truth and equality. As a book, The Ragged Messenger is, in it's way, reminiscent of The Servant in the House and The Passing of the Third Floor Back The stsry se5s ia 1olo%s' wnaen Mr. Mas explains the
 This book is an attempt to display the contrast between wealth and poverty under the conditions of civilization at this late time of day. It is nearly two thousand years since the Great Teacher startled the world by His doctrine of absolute equality but although commonly we of the western hemisphere accept that doctrine as a fundamental truth. we are either willing or forced to see it abrogated in every hour of our lives. To most of us there comes no cnance OI putLlnS lnIO Drdcllce, aL any rate, III a visible manner the faith that we hold To few of us on very small scala the chance comes, and I think it is not too much to say that we generally miss it. So far as the story of The Ragged Messenger is concerned, it is the im- agined record of a man who is so tested -on the very largest scale-and who stands the test, living and dying true to his most cherished ideas.
 This particular character is of course ar enthusiast-a fanatic-perhaps not quite all there but in his acts and in his sayings he is intended to set forth the very highest ideals, and to prove the efficacy as the readiest means of reaching, what I believe the philoso- phers term that mostA desirable of all things, eternal peace
 Tn writing the book I did not myself feel that John Morton was really mad although the sketch of his character may impress some critics as a study of mono mania. He breaches self-sacrifice, al most self-immolation; but that is not proof of madness He is of opinion that we might quite possibly return to the early Christian methods of thought and manner of life: but that again, if an insane notion, is one shared by a thodox religious point of view his aber- ration consists in the belief that the Divine incarnation. far from being a single and completed phenomenon, was in the nature of a recurrent manifesto tion: that the marvellous message at the beginning of the Christian era was not