A SPECTATOR 'S NOTEBOOK
THERE is no man living who can fill the place in English life held for so many years by Sir Michael Sadler. Sadler was English without being insular and original without being eccentric. He had indeed the sensitive curiosity and civilised eagerness of the great figures of the English Renascence ; like these earlier Humanists, he combined deep knowledge and love of the arts with an equally deep passion. for the improvement of education. He knew more than most Englishmen about contemporary European schools of painting and sculpture, but his interest in artistic experi- ments never led him into pseudo-aristocratic fallacies about art as the private possession of a few self-conscious coteries. Similarly, his expert knowledge of the educational machinery of many countries did not make him into a bureaucrat or weaken his belief that teaching is an art. For those who had the privilege of know- ing him, Sadler's vitality was a perpetual fountain of delight. There was a time when I saw him often over a long-drawn and tiresome controversy in which we were engaged on the same side. During these months I went many times into his room in a fit of temper or depression ; five minutes' talk with him would change my view of things.
It is always a relief when you find that someone else has sent to the Press the very letter you were on the point of writing. There is even more satisfaction in finding that The Times and the Manchester Guardian agree on a subject about which your own conscience is troubled. I noticed this harmony of the Great Lights a day or two ago when each of the two journals called attention to the importance of preserving the most distinctive features of the English countryside. One of these ,features is, or was, the old coastguard paths. My intended letter was on this subject. I observed in 1938 that the path along one of the finest pieces of coastline in Southern England—the cliff path between Cadgwith and The Lizard—had been diverted and railed off at one point. The diversion inland was not very deep, but it would allow a row of bungalows to be set between the path and the sea. In 1942 this diversion had been extended ; it now runs parallel with the sea for about 30o yards. No doubt the purpose is harmless and the local authorities have given their consent. Nevertheless, local societies in Cornwall might well keep a watch over this kind of thing.
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I have been reading or re-reading a number of books on the Treaty of Versailles. It is amusing to collate Stannard Baker's book on Wilson and the peace settlement with Mr. Lloyd George's The Truth Abqut the Peace Treaties. Mr. Lloyd George wins easily on points, but Stannard Baker is not a difficult opponent to dodge, and my general conclusion is that all statesmen wishing to write their memoirs would do well to begin by reading Sorel's .destructive analysis of Talleyrand's Memoirs. If Talleyrand could not get away with it, other people had better take care. One passage in Lord Riddell's Diary of the Peace Conference and After describes an interview with Vernon Hartshorn, at that time President of the South Wales Miners' Federation. Hartshorn said that the miners were bent on nationalisation and that it was a religion with them. A Scottish colonel who had commanded a miners' regiment during the war also described his men's belief
in nationalisation as a religion. Lord Riddell's comment was: "14 is difficult to argue about a religion." The date of this. passage was October, 1919.
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My fellow-passengers in a night train to the West of England last week included a private soldier, a Norwegian seaman and a " Wren." All three had travelled from Scotland. The soldier had come from Oban ; the " Wren " had begun her journey by boat, and had been in trains for hours and hours, though, with the curious ability of young women, like cats, to keep themselves tidy anywhere, she gave one the impression that she had just left a beauty parlour instead of hurrying, tealess and supperless, from Euston to Paddington about 9.30 p.m. The " Wren " and the soldier talked of Scotland. They said that distances in Scotland seemed much longer than in England, and I remembered that this is commonly true of mountainous countries, even with the railway tunnels, and that it always seems many more miles from Vallorbe to Brigue than from Paris to the Swiss frontier. Then they talked in a most interesting way about the speaking of English. The soldier said that the best English was spoken in Inverness. As a listener, I felt inclined to tell them how pleasant it was to hear their own speech, and how like it was in tone and rhythm to the " up and down " tones of the Norwegian sailor. If the B.B.C. would send a search party to Inverness (though not, the Lord help us, to Edinburgh or Glasgow) we might get rid of the _gentleman who talks about " Cap-ewer " and that other gentleman who gives us the news about the European " wo-errr," and even of the third gentleman (perhaps he is a sub-editor) who leaves out so many adverbs.
I hope it is not discourteous to say that for my own curiosity I keep a list.of those M.P.s whom I have ploughed in an elementary examination at Oxford., I also keep a list of those to •whom I have given respectable Honours. This is a shorter list, and the list of ploughs has increased during the lifetime of the present Parlia- ment. Perhaps I fail to spot winners, or there may be something wrong with the Oxford examination system. Anyhow, I begin to understand why Parliament has given a ready reception to pro- posals which would tend to set aside the principle of entry into the Government Service by competitive examination.
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What (if anything) do the rich read? I happened to be attend- ing a meeting a day or two ago in one of the most expensive hotels in London. I took care to have my lunch somewhere else, and I arrived with five minutes to spare. Out of habit I went to the hotel bookstall. An inspection-of this bookstall enlarged my know- ledge of authors, but I did not rate highly the level of their works. I have seen much better selections on the bookstalls_ of provincial railway stations in France. One of the books which I did not see in the hotel was Professor Laski's latest work. If I were a rich man I think I should read Professor Laski's book with some care. Rich men in the Middle Ages were wise enough to pay con- siderable- practical attention to the views of clerks about the Day of Judgement. They may have been misled about the Day of Judgement, but in this world they remained rich men.
- NUMA POMPILIUS.
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