The New York herald., 1921-02-20


Why not give some other race a chance?
What's the matter with the persons that lived
along with Boadicea, that should prevent
them from coming back, or even the higher
class Of your American Indians? Why should
the noble red man be left out, or merely
get look in now and then as control?
Looking for New Developments
From SpirituaIfstic Revival
In this general spritualistic revival we
may look for some developments, a new re-
eion, who knows? And while il endures
The mystic writer's have their day. Algernon
Blackwood is an example There is about
him, as in most of the writer's disting uished
by this appellation something of the second
rate; but in his beginnings he gave certain
promises. That was when he was willing
to follow his fancies a poet does. BY max
ing a cult of reincarnation Blackwood grew
duller and duller
Compare his early work, The Centaur
with some of his later volumes IL has q
form that charms almost with the old Greek
magic; vague but enhancing atmosphere
pervades the book in which if nothing
Christian appears, there is still a vague ap-
peal or approach to a belief I'm the unknown
powers The absence of Christianity does
not harm it, for the lack is filed with pagan
ISM which is the next best thing. ANY book
which gives us appreciation of those
o
and preserved the pagan poems while deny
ing the pagan tenets, built their churches
like Greek temples, but exiled the Greek
gods-any such book is likely to be delightful
The Centaur was.
Now take The Wave a story of rein
carnation of those deadly Egyptians
with the first pages 1 fairly swooned from
sense, an appalling sense, OF boredom"
How human comparisons limp, To see
the hurlV but not l1ncraCefu1 firiirq with "a
book on the knee, to study the expressive
smiling face, to listen TO the mild voice talk
ing about any subject made one wonder how
Chesterton ever came to be likened to John
as faithful James has painted him. II
is impossible to conceive of a roar from the
living author. He could never rend his fell
lows in the great Cham way And, perhaps
in his own day girth and massiveness were
not to be attributed solely TO Johnson.
Yet there are other 1ikenesses besides size.
In the universally of their reading the mod
ern and the eighteenth century authors re
semble each other. 1t would be difficult 70
suggest a subject surely not one on lit
erary topic. that Chesterton could not talk
endlessly about. This was a Johnsonian
trait
In the present instance this graceful volu-
bility proved embarrassing; there were so
many topics which it was desirable 70
draw out the English writer's opinions, but
the funess of his treatment of those he did
touch on kept the others from a hearing
There can be no mind more agile than Ches-
t'rton's IN the "uptake" of an idea. One
suggested by a syllable meant paragraph
or page; idea that took sentence to
express called forth a chapter of exquisite
talk In interviewing Chesterton the safe
course is to suppress any but the leading
subjects And when these are literary in
their nature the interviewer is lost If he
would like to turn to politics. Literature
is this mans life; he is u bookman first
and always
Following my public appearances as
purveyor Of commonplaces, there has been
a pleasant flow Of letters i'm which the lee
turer has been treated to some flattery en-
couragement and now and then couple OF
words of admonition. / have emerged from
the trial with better grace than / would
haye believed possible, but / fear that dis
appointment has been the lot of some Of my
listeners who eXpected-heaven knows why
but I dont-somethng rousing or romantic
in the lecturers appearance. Perhaps that
word disappointment hardly states their
frame of mind and they have minimized their
feeling out Of politeness.