OUR LITERAEY CORNER.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14842, 6 December 1913, Page 9

OUR LITERAEY CORNER.

VILLAGE LIFE IN J Mr ; V- ENGLAND. ;EEAL AND IMAGINARY. te:- ■.■■"■.'(Rom "The Spectator," London.) I: & view of Mr Lloyd George's mar-I^;'"-•-jDons picture of village life, ac set V farth" at Bedford, it may not be naP rofitable to cons l der viU age I eeople ac they actually are, and to oonV: Inpfc tie real with the imaginary. £ We may hear, with monotonous rer - fteration, of the wicked landlord who j ealfi«e forth from his feudal castle to enjoy 'the sport of evicting his miser- & ehle i tenants from hovels unfit for PVy fcvansui habitation, but of the landlords $ whose tenants take matters into their ■'^ "own hands, and altogether ignore the -'"■■ aeoeesity of paying rent, we seldom ;' bear, unless we are intimately acquaintVed with these "lords of the soil," who ';»■•■• too Soften pride themselves on a retifv eenee that sometimes verges on mvv (jft«al»t€nesß. £■.;:' ; An old woman (known to the present t: writer from his childhood) gradually |r ggTO up the habit of paving rent for y ier cottage, at last even declining to ■: grre the shilling a year quit rent that o'-': was diffidently asked of her. Then ;?' came the time when another year's free /tenancy would make the house and ?1;; genknher own, so the squire enterod : into » conspiracy with his brother, the v«£v mult of which was that the latter gave the old woman a shilling on condition jfe./thit 'it was forthwith handed over as ''^■■■.■:' teat -: The expedient succeeded, and j t\.*-*ilie cottage was saved to the estate, ]■ which was by no means a large one. Bnt more trying to the landlord than i# these people, who themselves turn their r- ; cottages into almshouses, are those who |.- i t ;> vfjrefuse.: to'allow them to be repaired. no doubt sounds impossible, but it true. ■ ' •.■' is an instance. An old couple for .many years next'door to the iwieait.* writer. _. The man was a carpaster, and held in much- respect by. )%&, laii neighbours. He was in great re- :^: v ;-ijuest at funerals, .for besides being a capital hand at a coffin, he was also iv^;tn; accomplished carver." "I was boun' ■y|; ? ";io beto Varrner Moss's vuneral to help £•£..thjjiyam'ly with the dinner company, |05CforI;dp allus carve the ham," he once. ||;Vijjare as a good reason for not finishing. of work on the appointed day. ?§O. ■^βi old man kept the cottage in euch p; as ho thought fit, and though ho S; : "":;-.wae an - excellent' and conscientious l^;workman, his ideas of , keeping a build* in good condition did not always Hljoancide- with.those of;the owner. Onoe *i|< : jwhen jfche workvdf* outside painting had become urgent the landlord had to' be '%&*s&& insistent in his persuasions to in- % ■:rtyduce..the old man to begin the job. hell last a bit longer, don't 'cc $: ■" I 6". »or,"- he repeated several times. : : ifV Up to a certain point it. is satisfac--5 tory to have dealings with a tenant ?f J*° neT er "makes work" for himself, $■. , but if thie honest.conduct is : carried to ?&'■. extremes tiles fall off and wood rots. %> ■; ,Timej*ent on, and.theiild man be- : v< came feeble. -' The mere suggestion that "another icarpentep-shoaJd-'undertake^the ,^{ v v»ork that was now .beyond- his strength p£ WMed*Km r: ■ such - distress: all 0V, thought of repairs ;.was given * ud till fe<§|fter/his deaths r T:^.: :-y t -?K* V*vpjpJJut then another difficulty'arose. His flatly, refused.to allow a wofk|gmn' to do anything, about "her" house |§;orgarden;" fJai-ge wer? a good 'usbing M-f&ifaadrl can't abear to hear'another psjinattca-worken about >t' plaece/' /'she p|lowered when: the, owner (but nbt^by ! the. master) suggested- that fes*^ 00 * might with advantage be -re-; Ipljaled..; But she would not listen, ;and fe4?dared ; fiercely that she f woold: drive' who came "to meddle wi' fesH»mrput'things iii a fair caddie'; ,, :- 80, WsrSsgVp*.<>t putting in that,proverbial U1 time," which, helps., to'; keep IS*it;Ss»]l /« r ; of 1 a .^moderate B^Mpm, na « to. bo given i.the' S#a»g<wa^.seeing his property} disihteghis eyes, could, only hope Sfe^Sffifcitbe '■:■ old■.; .'woman 'would not suffer of " the damp and jMcay, brought about by her "'When, she'died the found to ,be in a terrible ; ? v • The :{ downstair rooms were inbut the ceiling .of one of the was' supnorted on the top of Mf|«^iipoit.'.bedstead,/while.that of anto depend for its mainfino Tallboy'Cubinet. |^;^lP|jß ! .i:curiou3 -fattitude of mind with ; hpuses-and repairs is not unof England, at old .woman,, also well known. g||i|Wihe; present;, writer, gave this emgygwurikio 'answer/to:the. suggestion that m ovec into another cottage as the one she was thea only .fit to be IMipedldownfand , ; rebuilt.. "Zur," 'cc P«fJfePßU'.thicky'.house down about mc a one for now- ways, hbusen, and here I dp IpttlP^Wt■ the ; ; lmd : be pleased to take -^?.eventually allowed the in -a.measure repaired, that she should ? «k«a'lo leave it, "even for one H;S§SlvpThethouse ; was too large for i||Spa^*oman , s iieeds, and she only of it. One day the squire fe»Sy iw J=that'.he-was.trying"" to make -for- the comfort, of an a lifelong inhabitant /who had outKved his .children, and suggested that |SM?S?py t h?lf of the woman's cottage shut off from the ste and - that = the come to it. "What.be I 'on't have: nought :ilS|i»*»j thick owd man. Why, if a '* would be aU over f £ : : sSvSpJaftt he Arerr , a-courten of I." |i;f^Ss«S§™ c went on, working herself up |r .;* pitch of indignation that the ! ' a P i , ** scheme in despair. iS«.-2Sag.eU man had to.find a lodging 6 ' f«r from all his old e:; tear of squires oppressing &&a**^*l '"is well to - rewembei; by the old inhabil*tS c^^ v ' lla S e i and sometimes by them. - the last year an1 * h * B ' be «n added to the un-' W* *SHS?S an y of oppressors, and" the finds £Imself torn from P^|p^^^ m ? obscuritT to roundMf with which If??!^^^!" 8 -Poorest patients. The p£ 3 3&kvSiT ! ' :,,& young ■ lions,: who than intelligence, is represented as a man lliSSfs'S?; with apprehension lest his: «SS^ f ldu U »ot t» allowed to wife, and bowed down 'oisti^*sHS° eaL : of which the docsubtle craft imposed upon. \ that-such -.things are li- :^^SS? '^^ous■•that they do not H^i^fi!^ te!?tian ' tut as long as tnese' ••■#•'■ n»de to pose as crea- | ill **** Wood the real troubles <* - • lebourerfs Hfe will passed over. The long j or those whose business : *^ er animals (a shepherd, i^aS^^V 0 ?'- <an never cay that his |:|%fssl»^ w <»k is finished) and the damp

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED MATTER^

NOTES ON BOOKS AND AUTHORS*

oold of the English climate (to give but two instances), though ever-present and distressing realities, cannot be turned SifOP 1 ?"** account as cajTsocalled class hatreds, even if th^Taro Pi added ra-avelv ;t t' j Then he -night ft h L*° { l g &l L^,^ 11 * W™ off rejoicing. y<>U fiDd tWS "Ay, £sat it bo, zur," Mark answered cheerfully, pushing hack his goggles so as to enjoy a B comfortablo enat. He was a etnking-looking man, broad and strong, and wonderfully up! right, in spite of his seventy-two yearsT "But no harder than. I find it to get my bills paid." ' "Oh, I've got he at home, zur," said Mark, with a smile. (This, by the way is no unusual remark and it is exfc^*?^* 0 B* o am P'° satisfaction.) Jlut, then, I be a poor man, and 'cc on S,. za y no moTe about it, will 'cc, zur?' , - *■ ''They tell mc you earn good wages; and then there are the pensions, Mark." ' "Ah, don't 'cc ro for to believe what they do zay. - "Tidn't no more n'a shillun a day what I do earn. There be the pensions, sure enough/ , he went on, but the missus she do have hern and mine too. When I draed it first— come'two year ago, so 'twas—l said, This here be given for a good objec',' and I took he to the missus, and have done ever since, and she do find un main handy for the house and the little bito , rent. So when. Ido want half-a-pint I earns, un," he concluded, in. a glow of; self-satisfaction. "And you don't find a shilling a day too much'tor that, I suppose," said the doctor. . "Well, come to think of it, I don't know as I do," and Mark chuckled contentedly. "It does I good, look 'cc," he went on, drawing himself to his full height, and preparing to swing- his hammer with all his strength. "So the drink is paid for, even if mending your missus's broken arm is said the doctor, more to himselF than,to Mark. - The latter lowered Bis hammer and then said insinuatingly, "There be a little matter of six ehillim for catchen moles in your garden, you d' mind, don't 'cc zur?" TheY quaint incongruity of; this "contra ■ account," setting mole trays in return for, the mending 'of"■ an old woman's broken bone, "• was such that the doctor could only laugh and walk on, reflecting on the power of wheedling that'is so strong a characteristic of the WesV- Country man. " ' How will the dead hand of the State treat these poor people,-, who have grown to; look upon squire, arid doctor as their own peculiar, property, ready to help and ■ advise them in all ;;the changes and. chances of daily>-life?; Will .the bureaucrats uroye to be/like Ganning'e who, ! wKen the "Needy Knife-grinder" for ; whose, imaginaty sorrows he says; that 15' drops ofvpompassion tremble yon my eyolids," ;turned out tor be. other ithan his .pre-conceived ideal" of. a working man,: Wbrnfully refused α-humble request for sixpence P, . "I give th«e Siipenoe! I will see tltee darrm'd •. .■firSt-f.-r-.--.->: : .V. .•!'■■;. •■..' ■ • ■. ' ' "Wretdt! ■whoisj no sense of •wionge can icraeo >■ .: to ",, ' -■'-.• 1 Sordid, unloelin p,. reprobate,' d<x?reded, \ ■■■•' . .- Sifiiritleee ontcaetl' , . (Kick's tlie . Knife-grindeir,' o'Wirturne (his Wheel,' and "exit" in »' tnuisport of republican : enthusitism aad uhiveraal philanthropy.)!