Philip Guedalla, brilliant journalist and ironist, in his essays, _A Gallery_, under caption of “Mandalay,” says “much in little” about the “remoteness and antiquity” of Kipling; he finds him so “antiquated” that the “Dinosaurus” might give him “points in modernity.” Despite such witty extravagances, however, the critic admits that Kipling “has sharpened the English language to a knife-edge and with it has cut brilliant patterns on the surface of our prose literature.”[64] In both his prose and poetry he has “sharpened the English language to a knife-edge.” His verses may seem “antiquated” to the reader whose exclusive tastes welcome only “new poetry” and sneer at “lilting rhymes” and conventional meters. To broader minds, however, there is appreciation of the vibrant messages of spiritual courage, the bold and graphic excerpts from real life, in both the verse and the fiction of Kipling at his best. One of the honors that came to this writer recently was an invitation to give the Rectorial Address at St. Andrews University, in 1923. This has been published in book form as _Independence_, similar in format to that of Barrie’s address, on a kindred occasion, entitled _Courage_. Mr. Kipling urges here the fundamental duty of developing one’s individuality: “After all,” he says, “yourself is the only person you can by no possibility get away from in this life, and maybe, in another. It is worth a little pains and money to do good to him.”[65] His idealism is not that of mere sentiment, much less of sentimentality. It is the idealism of work, of action, of responsibility. It is the idealism even in the midst of misjudgments, of carrying “The White Man’s Burden,” of training youth towards clean, productive manhood. One grants that some of his writings, both prose and verse, might be eliminated from collections and memory, with an increase in his literary rank. He is uneven and was prone, in his earlier days, to mistake coarseness for vigor, yet he has been able to make his readers both _listen_ and _see_. Perhaps he has not maintained the almost unanimous favoritism among college youths that he had two decades ago--there have been competitors with “college stories” of rank realism--but it may be questioned if any author of our day is more often quoted among both educated and unlettered adults. Mr. Kipling has never been tempted to lower his standards for commercial ends; with fearless truth, he has spoken messages of uprightness and service. “A Song of the English” is national, perhaps imperialistic, but it has, like scores of his other stanzas, a catholic message to Christian nations everywhere: Keep ye the Law--be swift in all obedience-- Clear the land of evil, drive the road and bridge the ford. Make ye sure to each his own That he reap where he hath sown; By the peace among our peoples let men know we serve the Lord![66] FOOTNOTES: [55] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in Literature, 1907.