12 JANUARY 1924, Page 22

OLD MAN'S BEARD. By J. B. Morton. (Philip Allan. 5s.)

Mr. Morton has humour and gusto, and writes very plea- santly of his real or imaginary adventures on the roads in England or in Italy and Switzerland. It is a pity, however, that in writing these little essays he should apparently have taken Mr. Belloc as a model and followed his manner so closely. Regarded as a kind of pastiche of Mr. Belloc's lighter manner, this little book must be accounted a success, but as a volume of original essays it lacks something essential—namely, an original manner of its own.