The sun., 1919-05-04
Mr.. Leacock's Latest
BY HARRY ESTY DOUNCE.

liz SeCOHu Hdll Ol MT. stephen l4Cd-
l. cocks new collection is the part to
notice first, because it is measurably
worthy of Mr.. Leacock, who is the one
exponent We have on this continent of q
certain high and fastidious art in satire,
often parody. In England they have half
a dozen, most of whom write for Panch.
(Our tradition that Punch is dull is about
the dullest tradition we own.) The best
OF the English lot is A. A. Milne-dis-
qualifying MAX" as an author of inter
national fame.
Mr.. Stephen Leacock is delightful, as
rule. The rule holds good. The rule holds
good with his chronicle of the Galaxy
Clubs war work benefits, with his "Start-
ling effects Of the war;" on editorial and
fictional style, his Heroes and Heroines,
his sharp and wholesome sketch Of "Poli-
tics from Within" and some other things
"The Boy Who Came Back" from the
war, of course, is first rate. Every one
ought to read it.
The first hero travestied in Heroes and
Heroines is Ned, of all stirring boys
books: at was Ned, for example, who at
the critical moment at Gettysburg turned
in his saddle to Gen. Meade and said
quietly, General, the day is ours IF it
Isl answered Meade as he folded his field
glass, you alone, Ned, have saved it.
'1n the same way Ned was present at
the crossing Of the Delaware. Thus:
"'What do you see, NedY said Wash
ington, as they peered from the leading
boat into the driving snow.
"Ice,' said Ned. MY boy said the
great American General, and a tear froze
upon his face as he spoke, you have saved
us ALL
Here is Ned at Rmnymede, when King
John with his pen in hand was about TO
sign the Magma Charta.
"FOr a moment the King paused ir-
resolute, the uplifted quill in his hand,
while his crafty, furtive eyes indicated
that he might yet break his plighted faith
with the assembled barons.
"Ned laid his mailed hand upon the
parchment.
"'Sign it, he said sternly, 'or take the
consequences
"The King signed
"'Ned, said the Baron de Bohun, as
he removed his iron vizor from his bronze
face. thou hast this day saved all Eng
land"
When Ned marries in his own home
town ''it is done after this fashion:
"'But who is this who advances smil-
ing to greet him as he crosses the familiar
threshold Of the dear old housed Can
this tall, beautiful girl be Gwendoline, the
child playmate of his boyhoodP
"Well, can itf l ask it of every ex-
perienced rcader-can it, or can it not?'
Out of batch of introductions is taken
one hitting off the good old Dad in the
Way Dorm East melodrama:
'Neighbor Jephson's son, this is my lit
tie gal, as good and sweet a gal, as mind
full of her old father, as you'll find in all
New England. Neighbor Jephson's son,
she's been my all in all to me, this little
gal, since laid her mother in the ground
five Christmases ago" The speaker
is slightly overcome and leans against a
cardboard clock for strength: he RECEIVERS
and goes on-"Hope, this is Neighbor
Jephsons son, now back from the seas.
Hope, your hand. My boy, your hand.
See to his comfort, Hope, while I go and
read the Good Book a spell in the barn
yard"
But the first half of the book, faneicd
of the down and out Hohen-
zollerns TO America, an imaginary visit
10 the Bolsheviks in Berlin and an after
noon tea with the Sultan, is to be passed
over rapidly and forgivingly. The Hohen-
zollerns were as funny as they could be
without assistance, even when what they