There is certainly no better mosphere in which to try to recapture the Merrie England of three or four centuries ago, than the sleek and well groomed rusticity of Haslemere, where the: weather always seems to be mellow and] tranquil, where everyone appears comfortably off, and where there servant problem. Mr. Dolmetsch is something of a genius and more than something of an. enthusiast. He is an unsurpassed authority on old musical instru. ments, of which he has a wonderful collection, and, we believe, makes very good models of them. Whether his family altogether shares delight in these exhibitions, one may be irreverent enough to doubt. But they are certainly very good Two years..ago the of the sons played quite brilliantly on the harpsichord. It was an inter-sting experiment, but one was }compelted to feel that it was only that, and that 17th century music is much better worth hearing on modern instruments, By to-day picture Mr. Dolmetsch has extend-his researches into the spirit of the past and one would like to sce the result in real life. But these experiments seem to involve a fundamental misconception. The spirit of Merrie England is not a thing of the past but of all time, expressing itself as easily in the dress and habits of to-day as in those of 300 years ago. Just now it fancies dinner jackets and short frocks and to tear about the country in two-seater cars and motor cycles. A little restless may be, bhut just as sound at heart as in the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth, which in fact were defaced by brutalities from which our modern youths and maidens would turn with righteous disgust.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.