to all those who have not yet read a single work by our author, i would counsel them to begin with the squire's daughter, and then take up—with particular care to preserve the correct sequence—the eldest son, the honour of the clintons, the old order changeth [english title, rank and riches]. these four stories deal with the family and family affairs of the clintons, and together with a separate book, the greatest of these [english title, roding rectory], belong to mr. marshall's best period, the years from 1909 to 1915. when i say the best period, i mean the most fruitful up to the present moment in 1918. he is in the prime of life, and it is to be hoped that he may yet surpass himself; but since 1915, perhaps owing to the obsession of the war, he has not done so. watermeads (1916) is a charming story, and in abington abbey (1917), and its sequel, the graftons (1918), he has introduced us to another interesting family; but neither of these books reaches the level main[29]tained by the clinton tetralogy, nor penetrates so deeply into the springs of life and conduct as his most powerful work, the greatest of these.
mr. marshall began the squire's daughter as a long "short story," starting with what is now chapter xii, food and raiment. he fell in love with his characters, as many a novelist has done, and expanded the narrative. then he wrote the eldest son, which is the best of the four books. yet it was not a success in england, and at present both the squire's daughter and the eldest son are out of print in their home country; they are, however, having a daily-increasing circulation in america, which is bound to resurrect them in great britain. for that matter most of mr. marshall's novels are more widely known and certainly more appreciated in the united states than in the land of their nativity. in the honour of the clintons, the author's intention was to "take up the old squire, see what all his generations of gentility and honour, and all his conviction that he is of superior clay, amount to when he is touched with personal disgrace." he discovered, as dickens must have discovered in writing the pickwick papers, that his[30] hero turned out rather better than he thought he would. this third book in the series was written under inspiration, completed in six weeks, and at the time came almost as near satisfying the author as it always has satisfied me. but a friend, with true english candour, said to him, "all the ingredients of the cake are there, but the cake hasn't risen." anyhow, the squire rose, whether the cake did or not.
the final novel in the clinton family, the old order changeth, shows the effect produced on both rank and riches by the great war. mr. marshall began this story with many misgivings, and it is still not one of his favourites, chiefly because "there are so many beastly people in it." but so long as i live it will hold a secure place in my heart, for this is the first work of the author's that i saw. indeed i had never heard of him until i picked up the old order changeth. i started to read it with no conception of the keen delight in store; after finishing it, i wrote to the publishers, "who on earth is archibald marshall? there is no one like him in the world. send me everything he has written." since that moment of exaltation, i have read and reread the clinton books, and each time they seem better.
[31]
to read the clinton stories is to be a welcome guest in a noble old english country house, to meet and to associate on terms of happy intimacy with delightful, well-bred, clear-minded men and women; to share the outdoor life of healthful sport, and the pleasant conversation around the open fire; to sharpen one's observation of natural scenery in summer and in winter, and in this way to make a permanent addition to one's mental resources; to learn the significance of good manners, tact, modesty, kindly consideration, purity of heart—not by wearisome precepts, but by their flower and fruit in human action. to read these books is not to dodge life, it is to have it more abundantly.
if, as bacon said, a man dies as often as he loses his friends, then he gains vitality by every additional friendship. to know the clinton family and their acquaintances is not merely to be let into the inner circle of english country life, to discover for ourselves exactly what sort of people english country folk are, to understand what family tradition and ownership of the land mean to them—it is to enlarge our own range of experience and to increase our own stock of genuine happiness, by adding to our[32] mental life true friends—and friends that are always available. for often the friends of flesh and blood cannot be reached when we need them most; perhaps they are asleep, or away on a journey; but the staunch old friends introduced to us by novelists never deny themselves. is not this a fairly good reason why, among all the novels we read, some at all events should be selected for the immanent charm of their characters? i know how uncritical it is to admire any work of art that possesses the element of cheerfulness; but suppose our reading of novels were entirely confined to the works of maxim gorki?
why should we always select acquaintances in fiction that we always avoid in real life? is it the same instinct that makes so many persons love to go slumming?
there is perhaps rather too strong a flavour of tea in these stories, but that no doubt is a legitimate part of their realism. the sacred rite of afternoon tea plays fully as big a part in english fiction as it plays in english life. tea—which would be an intolerable interruption to business or to golf among normal americans—is never superfluous to the british. among the hundreds of english novels that[33] you have read, can you recall a single instance where any character declined a cup of tea? and, in terrible crises or trivial vexations, is not the following exclamation familiar—"i am dying for my tea!" i sometimes think that if the house should be destroyed by fire at three o'clock, half-past four would find the family taking tea on the lawn. i remember, on a voyage to alaska, a vigorous old english woman who appeared on deck every day between four and five, and when she saw the circulation of the china, a look of holy rapture dawned in her eyes, and from her lips came an ecstatic cry, "ah, is there tea going?" it must be wonderful to love anything on earth so much as the english love their tea.
two months after writing the above paragraph, i received testimony which delightfully supports the view expressed. an englishman informs me, that after the big sea-fight of jutland, he had the privilege of conversing with an english blue-jacket who was perched aloft during the whole of that terrific experience. there he remained under orders, in the thick of the battle, with the bolts of death flying all about him. on being asked how he felt, the young[34] man exclaimed with a tone of regret, "well, of course, i had to miss my tea."
not since fielding's squire western has there been a more vivid english country squire than mr. marshall's squire clinton. the difference between them is the difference between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries. he is the man of the house, the head of the family, and it is not until we have read all four of the stories that we can obtain a complete view of his character. he is a living, breathing man, and we see the expression on his face, and hear the tones of his voice, which his daughters imitate so irresistibly. with all his pride and prejudice, with all his childish irritableness, he is the idol of the household. his skull is as thick as english oak, but he has a heart of gold. he is stupid, but never contemptible. and when the war with germany breaks out in 1914, he rises to a magnificent climax in the altercation with armitage brown. we hear in his torrent of angry eloquence not merely the voice of one man, but the combined voices of all the generations that have developed him.
yet while mr. marshall has made an outstanding and unforgettable figure of the fox-hunting squire, it is in the portrayal of the[35] women of the family that he shows his most delicate art. this is possibly because his skill as an artist is reinforced by profound sympathy. the squire is so obtuse that it has never dawned upon his mind that his wife is a thousand times cleverer than he, or that her daily repression has in it anything savouring of tragedy. in the third book, the honour of the clintons, intense and prolonged suffering begins to sharpen his dull sight; and the scenes between the old pair are unspeakably tender and beautiful. mr. marshall never preaches, never tries to adorn the tale by pointing a moral. but the wild escapade of the daughter in the first of these stories, and the insistence of the mother on a superior education for the twins exhibit more clearly than any letter to the times could do, what the author thinks about the difference between the position women have held in english country homes and the position they ought to have.
of all his characters, perhaps those that the reader will remember with the highest flood of happy recollection are the twins, joan and nancy. in the first novel, this wonderful pair are aged thirteen; in the second, they are fifteen; in the third, they are twenty-one. mr.[36] marshall is particularly skilful in the drawing of young girls; and after one has read ann veronica, i can think of no better antidote than these clinton books. whatever may be woman's place in the future, whatever she may drink or smoke or wear or say or do, there is one kind of girl that can never become unattractive; and the clinton twins illustrate that kind. they are healthy, modest, quick-witted, affectionate, high-spirited; when they come in laughing and glowing from a game of tennis, and take their places at the family tea-table, they bring the breath of life into the room.
in the eldest son, which of the four delightful books dealing with the clinton family, i find most delightful, there is a suggestion of the author's attitude toward humanity in the procession of candidates for governess that passes before the penetrating eyes of mrs. clinton. her love for the old starling—one of the most original of mr. marshall's creations—has not blinded mrs. clinton to the latter's incompetence for the task of training so alert a pair as the twins. of the women who present themselves for this difficult position, not one is wholly desirable; and it is plain that mrs. clinton knows in advance that this will be the case.[37] she is not looking for an ideal teacher, for such curiosities are not to be found on our planet; the main requisite is brains, and she selects finally the candidate whom many society women would immediately dismiss as impossible, the uncompromising, hard-headed, sexless miss phipps, who has about as much amenity as a steamroller. miss phipps bristles with faults; but they are the faults that spring from excess of energy, from a devotion to scholarship so exclusive that the minor graces and minor pleasures of life have received in her daily scheme even less than their due. but the twins already possess everything lacking in the composition of their teacher; what they need is not a sweet, sympathetic companion, what they need is what nearly every one needs, mental discipline, mental training, and an increase in knowledge and ideas. in this dress-parade of candidates we have a miniature parade of humanity in the large; no one is faultless; but those who have an honest mind and an honest character have something essential. and who knows but what the shrewd and deep-hearted mrs. clinton did not also see that in the association of this mirthless expert with two young incarnations of vitality and vivacity, both par[38]ties to the contract might learn something of value? miss phipps is about to discover that the country-side in winter has resources entirely unguessed at by her bookish soul; that there are many of her countrymen and country-women who find in outdoor sport a secret of health and happiness.
her bedroom was in the front of the house, and she had heard, without much heeding them, the wheels and the beat of horse-hoofs and the voices outside. now she began to be a little curious as to what was going on, and rose and drew up her blind and looked out.
the scene was quite new to her, and in spite of herself she exclaimed at it. immediately beyond the wide gravel sweep in front of the house was the grass of the park, where the whole brave show of the south meadshire hunt was collected. it is doubtful if she had ever seen a pack of hounds in her life, and she watched them as if fascinated. presently, at some signal which she had not discerned, the huntsman and the whips turned and trotted off with them, and behind them streamed all the horsemen and horsewomen, the carriages and carts, and the people on foot, until the whole scene which had been so full of life and colour was entirely empty of all human occupation, and there was only the damp grass of the park and the big bare trees under the pearly grey of the winter sky. she saw the squire ride off on his powerful horse, and admired his sturdy erect carriage, and she saw dick and virginia, side by side, humphrey, the pink of sartorial hunting perfection, mrs. clinton in her carriage, with miss dexter by her side and the[39] twins opposite to her, and for a moment wished she had accepted her invitation to make one of the party, although she did not in the least understand where they were going to, or what they were going to do when they got there. all this concourse of apparently well-to-do and completely leisured people going seriously about a business so remote from any of the interests in life that she had known struck her as entirely strange and inexplicable. she might have been in the midst of some odd rites in an unexplored land. the very look of the country in its winter dress was strange to her, for she was a lifelong londoner and the country to her only meant a place where one spent summer holidays.
