Current Literature
A PENSIONER'S GARDEN. By Lord Darling. (Hodder and Stoughton. 10s. 6d.)" Crescit in orbe doles ; or, to speak English, the dole augments daily . . . . " that is an example of the humour that runs through Lord Darling's fanciful and satiric pages. Even his American bootlegger introduces a Latin tag : " Not even wood whiskey, Sir, can be guaranteed harmless—I know, for I have supplied it. Experlo crede." Lawyers, it is probable, will enjoy this book more than laymen. ' The Serjeant's Tale " and Justina's First Brief " lose their point when approached by the un- initiate. Lord Darling's jests at the expense of Bolshevists, the medical profession, and the Hudson Memorial are more easily comprehended, though he is always in danger of losing sight of his quarry in pursuing minor verbal quips. In his stories, indeed, he is like a dramatist with a brilliant ,o'ift for dialogue but no power of inventing a plot. Paragraph after paragraph is admirably phrased, learned and witty'—but un- directed. The result is puzzlement rather than illumination. " Expectans Expeetavi," for instance, is a story which begins with the death of a mediaeval lady in childbirth, continues with a bird being eaten by a weasel, and ends with a Socialistic high-church vicar whose Aubusson carpet is spoiled by an envious " comrade " in maintenance of his ancient right of turbary. The Connexions between these events, whether we view them as symbols or as history, remain, as Lord Darling himself might say, introuvable. Far pleasanter it is to read him on " Constable's Country," or in verse on " Langham Mill " or " The Pensioner's Garden," where he is guided by warm feeling instead of by will-o'-the-wispish cleverness.
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