The New York herald., 1922-04-02

N IA II. so1l<i-NI< AAA-oLAL hNNNo Az
V introduction, though this IS
his first appearance as
novelist AS might be expected from
his achievement as essayist and
critic, the story has a matured ex-
cellence, both in its manner and in
Mr.. Leslie's conception Of the prob
merely as narrative fiction. it is
sometimes a little heavy footed; one
is not quite sure that Mr.. Leslie's
vocation is that of rdconteur, or
that he has much of the magic gift
that belongs to the spell of the
teller of tales" Yet it moves stead
ily in an even enough flow. Its chief
values, however, lie in its suggestive
ness as a study of great British in
stitution-Eton-an institution which
is even more characteristically Brit
ish than either Oxford or Cambridge,
or the Established Church itself.
The real hero of the book is not
Peter Darley. nor any of the other
boys who serve as subsidiary centers
of interest, but Eton. College Itself.
He gives full measure of fine analysis
of the problems of adolescence, OF
the life of the boys with their young
tragedies. hopes. crudities, impulses,
inhibitions; but il is the mass effect
of the whole that counts rather than
any separate strand of the entire
complex And therein he is highly
successful. 1t is a living institution
| that takes shape on his large canvas
too large and too steadily alive to
admit of any brief or pointed sum-
nation.
| 1t was a hugely difficult task that
he set himself. AS he admits in his
very interesting preface, the public
| school canvas is certainly limited.
There could be nothing duller than a
school novel true to life. Converse
ton is as restricted among boys as
among clerks. and by reason OF school
slang less ineligible. School
life can be totally monotonous and
the train of events devoid of plot
Breakage of rules affords perpetual
incident and expulsion the occasional
tragedy. The only conversation of
| literary interest is either priggish
or Rabelaisian. Character again is
more discernible among the masters
than boys. The boy is nodded TO
convention and lives in mild terror
of being thought quaint, talented, or
pious. The school novelist finds IL
necessary to caricature the worthy
masters and to exaggerate the un-
worthy boys. Incidents which could
only occur at intervals have to be
brought together in quick succession
on the chance of improvising plot"
Nevertheless Mr.. Leslie has avoided
most of these obvious pitfalls and Is
guilty of little distortion or over
accenting, either in dealing with the
boys or the masters. If the plot, as
plot, remains a bit artificial IL does
not at all injure the net result.
1t is an Eton entirely of the past
that he is describing twenty
years or so ago. Times have changed,
ct nos mutomur In Ills. There is
even a touch of the lduddtor tenn
poris dcti in his attitude. "The fine
old yeoman and county family
names" he says, aoutdating the
peerage. grew scarcer in the school
lists, while. unfortunately, financial
finesse and Semitic snobbery have
too often filed their placs." lie notes.
too, that "as the classics slowly fell
from their high estate the literary
promise of earlier days in the CEN
tury was stifled. Etonians like Field
ing, Shelley, Hallam, Milman. King
lake, Leslie Stephen and Swinburne
had no successors"
1t is also become true to-day that
Eton no longer rules the army,
though her sons are still strong at
Westminster. Looking backward
again Mr.. Leslie remarks that "Eton-
ians held the two houses of Parlia-
ment for their class and not for the
people. .Eton compromised in every