Evening star., 1937-08-21
By Warp.Carter Roberts.
ORDEAL IN ENGLAND. BY Philip
Gibbs. Garden City: Doubleday

craftsmanship Sir Philip acknowledges
past errors; we have not been abso-
lutely perfect and, of course, we should
have been, says he, very honestly.
With equally decorouS sanguineneSs he
confesSes that the state of the world,
ss it relates to England, is not as en-
couraging as he could wish; obviously
he is not going to hold back thing
from any reader. And finally, with
simple decorousness, he takes his stand
on the old British spirit and let's it
so at that. Nice Sir Philip! Nice Sir
Fhilip-Wlth his aSCetic profile and
his serious, friendly straightforward
eyes How pleasant to know that he
Is standing fast in a world where
there is virtually nothing left on
which to take a stand In spite of all
temptations to belong to other ma
tons he assuredly does remain an
Fnglishman. And, as this is no slight
feat of balance in this 1887, one must
admire him. albeit with a distinctly
tronlc kind of liking.
Well, he looks the scene over and
he finds that England has been lis
tening to false prophets. Some of them
have approached her insidiouSly from
her left hand, others have crept up
nefariouSly on her right. Standing,
as ever. in the middle of the road, poor
Britannia has gotten a bit confused
by the contradictory counSelS poured
into her ears, and is uncertain about
what We may call, no doubt, Things
In General. Should she ally herself
with RooShian Communists? Perish
the thought-but Ehen, her old ally,
France, has done Just that, and shall
Channel? Shall she ally herself with
ciiCtatorShipS? Not willingly. certainly.
But what, if you please, is left on
the continent of Europe? Britannia
gets a headache and, like most of us,
when we are at a disadvantage, feels
peevlsh. Sir Philip. that chlvalrous
knight, steps between her and a pos
slblv m0Cklng world. and attempts
to fill the interim until the lady of
his heart shall feel, and also look,
little better.
WHAT does he say? He says that
England is not to be Judged only
by that monStrous ant heap called
London or by the ia blold press which
panders to the lowest common de-
nominator of mob psychology. There
is still the English countryside. where
life goes on traditionally in old farm
steads and small villages. There are
the cathedral cities where time stands
still, and where there is tranquility
Of mind In the old market towns the
young farmers who come in with their
sheep and cattle belong to Hardys
England, and their minds follow the
same furroWs. Their blood is the
same Their character has not been
changed much by modern fretfulneSs
and nerves. The young craftsmen and
laborers who ride away from their
work on push bikes or motor bikes
are, I find. exactly like the lads who
Joined up in 1914. when some of them
thought 1t was going to be good fun
not knowing the grlsly humor they
would find
The Shopkeeping mass in England,
In every little town and village as
far as I know them. are cheerful
and very sWeet-mannered. Whatever
the pesSlmistS and the critics Of Ea2-
llsh life may say, l am certain that
our folk have a teadinesS, an in
Capabilitv of passion and aatred.
goOd-natured tolerance, kindly
courtesy, a sense of hunor and
moral tradition which keeps us free
from the political turmoil ana the
ferocious vendettas which make such
hell in many European countries. AL
foreigners think so when they come
to visit us. l am sure they are right
We don't know our own luck in being
free to think, to speak, to live with
out fear of spies, inquisitors and
murder gangs. We don't know our
own luck in having a national mind
which keeps very steadily to the mid
die of the road" Bravo Sir Philip!
But having made this courageous at
frmatlon, Britannia's champion notes
with strict truthfulneSs that tul-
Grant national mind is not going to
help a great deal against gas attacks
nor prevent the action of those
pressures which force nations to 90
to war against all good judgment or
desire. Now is the time, he saws sor-
rowfully, when his country has need
for strong and brilliant leadership.
And this he does not find in any
party. He then observes that Under
the present parliamentary system new
leaders get little chance to come
forward, and suggests that The French
group system would work better tor
Brltannia's present needs.
As TO past errors, he feels that
one Of the worst ones was the
refusal of Hitler's offer to reioin the
League of Nations on a basis of
absolute equality of status. Acceptance
OF this offer would have checked the
ornaments race and conciliated Ger
many. Now it has to go into the
catalogue Of lost opportunities. The
blame for that, however, can be shared
with France
part in the efforts of civilized nations
to prevent Italy from taking over
Ethiopia, he says that she could do
nothing without the united support
of all the great powers. And this
support was not forthcoming-"F France
rated he remarks Germany was
out of it. The United States was
out Of it. Further action in regard to
sanctions would have meant straight
fight between this country and Italy.
How could that be called Collective
Security?" Well, there is reason in
that
Sir Philip follows journalistic meth
ods in his new book He includes
interviews with leading statesmen and
others-Winston Churchill, Lord Allan
of HurtWood. Lord Davies, leftists,
rlghtists, students, soldiers, and sew
ersl varieties of The Man In The
Street. He finds leftists to the left
snd rlghtists to the right, but con-
ALI