In the _Song of the Sword and Other Verses_, Mr. HENLEY incidentally
asks, "What have I done for you, England, my England?" Since the
question is put so pointedly, my Baronite, who has been looking
through the little volume of verse, is bound to reply that, what Mr.
HENLEY has done for England is to make it as ridiculous as is possible
to a man with a limited audience. Mr. HENLEY has a pretty gift
of versification, but it is spoiled by a wearisome proneness to
smartness, and an assumption of personal superiority that occasionally
reaches the heights of the ludicrous. If 'ARRY had been at the
University, and had bent what he calls his mind upon verse-making,
some of the truculent rhyme in this book is the sort of stuff he would
have turned out. It seems at first hearing a far cry from 'ARRY to
HENLEY. But the dispassionate reader, turning over these sulphurous
leaves, will perceive deeply-rooted similarity in that narrowness of
view, and that undisturbed consciousness that it alone is right, which
distinguish the reflections, and are found in the observations, of
'ARRY when he views society from his lower standpoint.
[Illustration: "Le Sabre de mon père!"]
Messrs. HUTCHINSON & Co. have published a _Book of Wise Sayings_, by
W. A. CLOUSTON. Not that W. A. CLOUSTON said them all, or any of
them, but he selected them. One fault has the Baron to find with the
selecting collector, and that is that his references are incomplete.
He affixes the name of the author to every wise saying, but as he
does not give chapter and verse, it is impossible for the ordinary
unlearned reader to ascertain when and where the wise saying was
uttered. Perhaps this omission is wise on the part of Mr. CLOUSTON.
However, here is a happy example for the time present:--
"Safe in thy breast close lock up thy intents,
For he that knows thy purpose best prevents."--_Randolph._
Isn't that good? Isn't it "RANDOLPH" to the life? Is anyone quite
certain as to the course our RANDOLPH will take?
There are, too, quotations from "R. CHAMBERLAIN"--not from
JOSEPH--with whose works the Baron is not so conversant as he might
be. Saith R. CHAMBERLAIN:--
"A foolish man in wealth and authority is like a weak-timbered
house with a too-ponderous roof."--_R. Chamberlain._
The Baron strongly recommends the study of this volume to Mr. OSCAR
WILDE; it will save him hours of painful cogitation during the
incubation of his next play.