THE VERSATILTY OF HILDAIRE BELLOC.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1617, 7 December 1912, Page 9

THE VERSATILTY OF HILDAIRE BELLOC.

■ ' • There "are. over so many ■ Mr. . Bellocs, . declares a reviewer in an' English, paper, ; apropos of the author's new book, "This, That, and the Other." There-is a Mr. .Belloc who jests, and thoracis', a' Mr.' Belloc who moralises;.'there 'is'a contro-' v versial: and pugnacious-Mr. Belloc, "good. ■ 'at the shout of war" and/a. lover of forth-' .■ right blows; again, there- is . tlie ;'Mr.i.i Belloo who oatches and renders 'permanent. the spirit of places, , : ;dves ..you the ■very soul of a'Pyrenean valley br.'of;the. coombes and .shoulders.••of r. the'-... South ; Downs we know' the-name as ■' that of the ironist, not the 'jester,- mark well, but thei: man who 1 tells you y plain r facts soberly- enough,, only in : 'the telling' somehow gives them "a' cock- of the eyebrow,, a tilt of .the nose,-, that leaves them tremulous on the . verge of caricature. And " all these .different people' are tremendously', alive; all;'.'too;• are infprmed^.with:,-.the; breadth, of :style, -the: : . that captures, tjiem an'dUibcratcsj: them: ' only'on. conditi-on-of (bearing-th«ir:'odii,-.-.qiieror's badge: and ".Yes,before ■ • and.above-.aU things;^Mr.ißelloc;- is''"a; ■ -enlist, -whether he.is-dabbling with.-;the' . 'essay, form.as it stood. ; when'Bacon 'com- . .'piled."his chilly, (abstracts of wisdom," or ■.-/' dealing' a at one of ■ •' •' Jus innumerable enemies.'. His-new collcc-' ■ "'■'. tion is very'-representaiive of. his : ..va'riety' ; ■and also of:his : singleness.' ■■o'i»i;.'jjb;\atthe'- . ' jiKis ' "Atheismi". andiyou wilL-'thihlc-incvi'tably> .' of." niuoh. older h W ample, «W-- on>-Gai^eo^f^o'4^^^'dsf-;!ii ,> . I '.'THS-'Sp?" lfijdj?%fpretty-' ■-.andartistic a piece of. rom^y : a?':'eyeriMK' ■ J Belloc'hh.s'-written: Bpirited metESSs"'.df' th'C'late And then there ji.re such'; Durelv v 'deS(iriti-i tive paners as "The Ebro Plain" or "The Storm." But the real heart of rte book ■ lies in such , work as "The Obituary Notice,". .wliereiri;. Mr. 'Belloc . giws a ij'i, modern'. journalist's" eulogy., of Herod 7 Antipas. This-Js really exquisite fooling. delicate and subtle, till one is temnted ■- 3 to compare it favourably with the fonl- ' frisrof a French'man of. letters .the "literatnors" would'have" us set lip for an idol. The «ame praise is almo?t due to "The ; Leading. Article," .but here Mr.' ~. Belloc's task was so inuch an easier one. I Anywhere the book is go"d company, and the best course'is to read, it through.. . .