A DRAMA OF WAR

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 86, 5 January 1935, Page 7

A DRAMA OF WAR

Vivid Account of Nurse Cavell’s Last Days

“Condemned to Death,” by Louise Thuliez (London: Methuen). To read this book is, especially for one who is British, to live again through one of the most poignant incidents of the Great War—the execution of Edith Caveli. I Nurse Caveli was under no misapprehension as to the nature of the work in which she helped, and for which she was condemned to death. She understood the hourly risk she ran and very possibly imagined the fate that might be hers should she be discovered. The Germans contended that her execution was a matter of “justice”—severe but necessary. And yet, when the news of the deliberately hurried execution became public property, a wave of horror and indignation swept over the civilised world, and to quote Mlle. Thuliez, “in England, men flocked to the colours in such numbers that the recruiting offices were almost besieged.” Louise Thuliez was tried with Edith Caveli, and with three others was also condemned to death.- Her sentence was afterwards commuted to hard labour

for life. She gives many details ol Edith Cavell’s imprisonment and trial and of the attendant circumstances uj to the night before her death. Beyond that, the veil will not be lifted, for “the only witnesses of the execu-

tion were Germans, and we shall never know whether she died from the rifle

ullets of the firing squad or from the revolver shots of the officer who commanded it.” At this distance from the time of the Great War, there exists a certain vagueness as to the exact nature of the offence for which Edith Cavell was executed. It consisted in helping Allied soldiers who had been cut off in occupied territory back to their own armies or homes as the case might be. These men, some of them wounded, were concealed in isolated buildings or in the forests, and besides being in continual danger of capture by the enemy, constituted a serious menace to the kind-hearted and patriotic villagers and others who sheltered and fed them. Louise Thuliez, professor at .Lille, threw herself ■whole-heartedly into the dangerous work of guiding the men over a certain section of country. It is surprising to find that trouble sometimes came from the men themselves, for they were often reluctant to leave their hiding places, and incredulous or careless concerning the danger of the enterprise. It is noteworthy how, in the 48 pages given to the description of prison life in Siegburg, Mlle. Thuliez manages to convey the atmosphere which has triumphantly survived the test of translation. It must be read in full to be appreciated. In a brief survey, it is useless to attempt an analysis of mental torture and physical neglect with resultant wearing down of will-power. The illustrations are of exceptional interest. They include the last por-

trait taken of Edith Caveli in her nurse’s uniform, with her devoted dog Jack in her anus.

The portraits of the author show a face which matches the character revealed in the book. Courage, strength,

pride, singleness of purpose and a certain bitter humour—all are here. A woman of action, on whom others might naturally depend as the frailerlooking Countess Jeanne de Belleville appears to do in the second portrait. The subject of “Condemned to Death” is sufficient in itself to ensure a wide reading. Mlle. Thuliez’s manner of presentation makes the book outstanding. Here will be found copies of authentic documents bearing on Nurse Cavell’s trial, also the “conversations” which led to the reprieve of the author and her companions. The translation by Marie PoettVelitchko is excellent.

MR. KIPLING’S DOG STORIES

“Collected Dog Stories,” by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by G. L. Stampa (Loudon: Macmillan.)

Of all stories about animals those that concern dogs have always held first place iu popularity, and of all the authors who have tried their hand at these tales none has done so more successfully than Mr. Kipling. He has a genius for inducing the reader to believe in and love his characters as much, as he obviously does himself, and can write of them without the undue dsiplay of sentiment that disfigures the work of many other authors iu this field. It is a pleasure to welcome this collected edition of Mr. Kipling’s stories and verses about dogs. They are all here from the first he wrote to the particularly delightful last. "Thy Servant a Dog.” Mr. Stampa’s illustrations appear on nearly every page and add an appropriate touch to a weiiproduced volume. CHARLES LAMB MEMORIAL Is it desirable for statues to be erected iu uouour of authors I An editorial in "The Times ’, recognises the force of the objection that authors, of all people, least need public memorials because they have provided their own m their wr.tings. What true honour, it asks, do Chaucer, ►Shakespeare and Mitten gain by having their statues stuck on a fountain in Purs Lane.' And has nut the eoiussut statue ur Byron hard by already begun to look ratner ridiculously out or proportion to ins merit,' The question is raised in connection with the approaching celebration of the 100th anniversary ol the death o£ Charles camo, it is proposed to commemorate him by putting nji not a statue out a bronze tnuiet with a 'bronze bust portrait iu the middle ol it and beneath it a shelter and seats. The site win ue no open place, where the traffic wouid go surging past a tnemonal ol one of the shyest ot men, but a quiet little garden, hidden behind Newgme .Street —part ot the "cloister” which shared with that other "cloister,” the Tempie, the boyhood of the “child Elia.” in the opinion of “The Times” such a memorial will be “the very thing. It will be of London, Londony, and lew. or none win see it with the cold eye of the passing stranger. iu a centenary article, E. V. Lucas has called attention to the astonishing fact, that the 1000 copies of the "Essays of Elia,” issued in 1823, more than satisfied readers during the author's lifetime, while the edition of "Last Essays,” issued in 1833, was still unsold when he died.

Yet. to-day “Elia” is in every popular series of reprints, and every compiler of an anthology, no matter what the controlling theme, looks to Lamb for a contribution. Mr. Lucas further reminds us of the peculiar influence Lamb has exerted on English literature during the past century. Had it not been for him the familiar domestic autobiographical essay, now, so prevalent, might possibly not yet exist, for it was he who perfected it. No previous English essayist dared or eared to use the first person singular as he did, and none had his gusto in the telling or his breadth of sympathy. He introduced a new kind of outlook for

authors and a new kind of writing. There also originated with Lamb a new and adventurous literary criticism.