NOVELS.
RODDLES.t
UNEQUAL in execution and hampered by a plot which involves gaps of two, three, and ton years in the narra- tive, Roddles is none the less a remarkable and stimu- lating book. Viewed merely as a romance of " the- ladder of learning "—of the possibilities which our educa- * Christ Church, Oxford : an Anthology in Prose and Verse. Seleoted ky Arthur ]insult, U.A. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 163s. net.] f RoclAlles. By B. Puul Nountau, London: John Murray.
tional system affords to poor boys of working their way up from primary to secondary schools, and thence to the universities—the story serves a useful purpose. Indeed, the word " romance " needs qualification, for it is the romance of real life. The progress of the two sons of a jobbing tailor from poverty to eminence and fortune can be paral- leled in the history of our own times and by the personal know- ledge of most of us, and actuality is lent to the present recital by Mr. Neuman's intimate practical association with some of the most fruitful agencies for assisting the sons of poor parents to plant their feet on the upward path. It is open to doubt,. however, whether actual biography is not a better means of driving home the force of example than fiction. The industrious apprentice is worthy of all com- mendation, but it is hard to invest him with the same amount of attractiveness as his idle, or erratic, or unsuccess- ful competitor. The difficulty is enhanced in the present instance by the fact that there are two industrious appren- tices, and since their rise to the top of their respective trees at the earliest possible age is necessitated by the plot, the record of their uninterrupted successes—academic and pro- fessional—inevitably savours of monotony, and can only be achieved by an almost inhuman concentration ontheir studies. The industry and determination of Jim and Dick Roddles are admirable, but neither df them inspires affection. It is only in relation to their disreputable but indomitable father that they become interesting, partly as illustrating the laws of heredity, but chiefly as influencing and reacting on the strange complex of strength and weakness which makes up the character of the central figure. To put it in another way, the book can be regarded either as a novel with a purpose or as a study of character, and it is in the second aspect that its appeal is by far the more effective.
Roddles p6re is a jobbing tailor, an excellent workman with a considerable gift for debate—which he exercises at a work- ing man's Institute—strong secularist opinions, and a weakness for drink. Starting with a scanty stock of natural affections, still further reduced by the desertion of his wife, ho combines a truculent cynicism with a curious sense of obligation. He hes little love for his boys, and lashes them with his strap as well as his tongue, but at the same time he stints himself to provide them with good food and clothing and schooling. Recoguizing their ability while they are still children, he snaps out their careers according to a scheme of his own :—
"'My brains,' said Mr. Roddles, and began to interprcst his fatherly duties in a morn liberal manner. As he marked their rapid progress at school and tested it at home, be evolved his great plan by which they were to be kept apart, proceeding on parallel but independent lines, but never interfering with each other."
So Jim. goes to the Arran Street School and Dick to St. -Gabriel's. They both win scholarships, and ultimately Dick becomes in succession Wrangler, Fellow of his college, doctor, and F.R.S., while Jim from solicitor's clerk works his way up to the Bench. In the early stages of their progress their father sees them occasionally and helps them to the limit of his resources, but the higher they rise the -greater is the estrangement. This is partly due to deliberate policy on old Roddles's part, to his logical re- -cognition of the fact that they must detach themselves from the squalid surroundings of their youth, but largely to his cantankerousness and irritability. His pride in their suc- cess is tempered by jealousy: they are what he might have been but for his "blasted luck." While they were still at school lie had tried to keep up with their studies, but soon found himself hopelessly outdistanced, and the consciousness of his failure added to his humiliation. He had dinned the gospel of' opportunism into their ears so long as they lived with ham, and when they acted on his advice and made themselves at home in the society of well-born and well-bred people he resented their advances as patronage and spurned their offers of financial assistance as an insult to his inde- pendence. So he goes on, living his old life, confounded by the amazing saecess of his scheme, and with no other outlet for his energies than the debates at the Institute. But even this solace is at last denied him, for he loses touch with the younger men, is deposed from his official position, and quits the place in disgust. His only friend is his lodger, an old Isw-writer called Pitcher, who shares his " weakness," but differs from him in everything else—a gentle, courteous creature on whom Roadies vents his spleen and humour until, at the very nadir of `'his fortunes, he is forced to revise his 'judgment. The revelation of Pitcher's goodness melts his frozen heart and forms a prelude to his transference from the ranks of infidelity to those of the Salvation Army. Conversions need discreet handling, but Roadies is an extremist, and the Salvation lass who resolves his 'doubt is as strong a character as Roddles himself. Meantime the sons have drifted far away from their father, but their uninterrupted progress to prosperity has not brought Omit happiness. The doctor, a self- protective opportunist, has married an amiable worldly wife ; the judge has - missed his chance of a happy marriage. They have distanced their competitors and realized their ambitions without finding true contentment, and we leave them, after listening to an address of their father, half-convinced that, after all, he has found the one thing needful. There are some artificialities in the story, and the intervals between the Acts impair its cohesion, but no one can rise from reading it without gratitude to the author or respect for his ideals:
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