7 DECEMBER 1929, Page 20

The late Sir Valentine Chirol had a pen as sensitive,

of colour as of line and words : he could paint, draw, write: he never missed the spirit for the sake of the fleshly envelope : he was versatile, intuitive, objective : he was a man of great friendships and strong sympathies, yet always just : he was all that an interpreter of East to West should be. In his posthumous With Pen and Brush in Eastern Lands (Cape, 21s.) we find no subtleties, fine-drawn analogies, strained com- parisons, complicated mental involutions : everything is finished and crystal clear : there is also a more personal note than was possible in his books and articles on political questions. These sketches will delight his many admirers3 amongst whom we count ourselves.