The Quiet Corner
THE QUIET CORNER / counsel thee, shut not thy heart nor thy library.—C. Lamb. Dr. Angelicus was laughing audibly as he read. "What's so funny now?" demanded Britannicus, a trifle crossly, for...
...he asked...
...If, however, you are obstinate and make it a matter of pride to persevere continuously until you have gone to bed, do not hesitate to go on thinking...
...How many of your readers have ever heard a sermon on the subject...
...demanded Britannicus, a trifle crossly, for the Doctor's mirth kept him from concentrating on his writing...
...The people who write letters to the editors are usually careful readers of the newspapers, and genuinely interested in matters of public interest," said Britannicus...
...I shall be fair and only take a few sentences from each letter...
...The Royal Commission on the Feeble-Minded after careful calculation, estimated the number of mentally deficient people in this country at 140,000 and the number of insane at 130,000...
...After experimenting to the age of eighty-two, I venture to intimate my conclusions upon this grave subject...
...However, it has been my lot to be associated with him in so many enterprises that I am conscious of a certain physical pain in writing this letter...
...But an estimable man like Canon Brown can always be mentioned as an exception...
...I will read extracts from a few of these letters and let you judge for yourself, from the topics discussed, the average mentality of the writers...
...I thought we had exhausted the mirth in those venerable pages last week...
...Well," said Britannicus, resignedly, putting aside the unfinished sheet of paper he had been typing, "I suppose I must listen...
...In jumping, I take off from the left foot as most do, and we did a good deal of jumping from tussoch to tussoch...
...Aristocracy has its special failings, of course, but it also has its special virtues, and we may well remember that the British empire was built up in the days when aristocracy flourished and it was then that it could be said of England— 'To plant her standards far and wide Expending wisdom, knowledge, worth, She sees the warriors die with pride Who make her mistress of the earth.' " 'Lately you have inserted several letters about the zoo...
...In age, moreover, we are aided by the condition that, the vigor of sensations being then diminished, a larger portion of our total nervous energy becomes available for the introspective scheme I suggest...
...Oh, very well," sighed Britannicus, and the Doctor began: " 'To the Editor of The Spectator...
...It seems to be assumed that one turns to the right when one loses direction...
...May I inform you, if no one else has already done so, that the poem is neither seventeenth century nor is it original...
...The Librarian...
...I note that you have awarded one of your prizes for a sundial inscription to Mrs...
...But I do think that the elimination of the bookmaker would have as great an effect on the social welfare of the community as the state legislation for dealing with the hours of alcoholic consumption...
...Sir: I have been laid up by sickness, otherwise I should have sent this letter earlier...
...I do not think any of us were lefthanded...
...You say that the poem has about it much of a seventeenthcentury cadence...
...Little were not so anxious to condemn without investigation and more prone to realize that osteopathy merits an important place in general therapeutics, he would accomplish something of real national importance...
...I agree that all present-day poets should be subjected to a sanity test...
...I'll tell you what I'll do," suggested the Doctor, looking over the pages of communications...
...Surely a perusal of these will prove to my critic that I have some right to claim that at any rate a few of my poems deserve the larger publicity which I ask for them...
...The Spectator," chuckled Angelicus...
...exclaimed Britannicus...
...Brown for her original poem...
...Has anyone tried whether a pair of milkfed goats can be really happy exclusively stall-fed...
...As such they are entitled to your respect, even though you may not agree with them...
...It will put you to sleep quicker than counting sheep going through a gate...
...The class of English country gentlemen is a class which no foreign prince or potentate has any conception of...
...In 1877 I started with three or four others to walk from Watendlath to Armbotha, Thirlmere, in a dense mist...
...At the beginning of my book are printed the opinions of eminent critics upon my work...
...Your critic, in reviewing my book, accuses me of almost unparalleled egotism because I have frankly stated that a few representative poems of mine should find their place in every anthology that claims to typify the poets of today...
...One sees few people nowadays on the streets affected by an over-indulgence in whiskey...
...What are you so carefully destroying...
...It was written by a cousin of my father's, the late Canon Jones, the well-known hymn writer...
...Mogridge and one or two other correspondents for this information.] " 'Literature is, as you have stated, in a decadent stage, and the reading of youth should be closely supervised lest its morals be impaired...
...A letter to an editor," replied Britannicus thoughtfully...
...By consulting a compass we found we had turned more to the left than to the right...
...We thank Mr...
...What is it that has so amused you...
...What—again...
...At Tromso, for example, practically every industry, including whiskey distilling, has closed down...
...If Dr...
...The Letters to the Editor," replied Angelicus...
...However, I see that 'More-Than-Once-Bitten' writes of Visiting the Widows in your issue of January 9—'All those interested in the preservation of the East Sussex coastline have, however, seen the peril of the charm of the district.' But the meanderings of a man full of years and full of sentiment are not appropriate either to these days or this season, and so I must close.' The last writer signs himself: 'Yours in grief and shame, Fabian Colenutt.' " Angelicus looked up to see Britannicus slowly tearing his half-finished typewritten sheet to pieces...
...My dear Britannicus, there is a new Spectator every week...
Vol. 3 • March 1926 • No. 17
