Probably there is a great
deal of slangy and unrefined Anglo-Indian society; and, no doubt, to
sketch it in its true colours is not beyond the province of art. At
worst it is redeemed, in part, by its constancy in the presence of
various perils--from disease, and from "the bullet flying down the
pass." Mr. Kipling may not be, and very probably is not, a reader
of "Gyp"; but "The Gadsbys," especially, reads like the work of an
Anglo-Indian disciple, trammelled by certain English conventions.
The more Pharisaic realists--those of the strictest sect--would
probably welcome Mr. Kipling as a younger brother, so far as "Under
the Deodars" and "The Gadsbys" are concerned, if he were not
occasionally witty and even flippant, as well as realistic. But,
very fortunately, he has not confined his observation to the
leisures and pleasures of Simla; he has looked out also on war and
on sport, on the life of all native tribes and castes; and has even
glanced across the borders of "The Undiscovered Country."
Among Mr. Kipling's discoveries of new kinds of characters, probably
the most popular is his invention of the British soldier in India.
He avers that he "loves that very strong man, Thomas Atkins"; but
his affection has not blinded him to the faults of the beloved. Mr.
Atkins drinks too much, is too careless a gallant in love, has been
educated either too much or too little, and has other faults, partly
due, apparently, to recent military organisation, partly to the
feverish and unsettled state of the civilised world.
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