FRANK T.BULLEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2735, 15 August 1906, Page 47

FRANK T. BULLEN.

SOME FACTS AND AN APPRECIATION.

! Bt Fhank Mokton. Frank T. Bullen is a friend of mine, f don't thiuk, however, 'that that fact in irself is sufficient to prevent me from appreciating him without prejudice. Years i ago, when I read "The Cruise of the-" C*chalot," I was immensely impressed with I the mail's work, the strength and the • modesty of it, the keen artistic simplicity, ihe evident sincerity, the broad human ' sympathy, the quite unusual certainty of i touch. Tears after, when I met the man, j I understood. Here, for once (this thing- > being in no sense invariable), the style is the man. He describes the sea so admir- ', ably because the spirit of the sea has ; shaped and informed his spirit. He "writes , of seamen with such noble and infallible ' sympathy because he loves seamen and understands them, because he is a seaman still himself. I love bis work especially for its picturesque directness, for its in- ■ tensity and vigour, for its virility and grip i I know nothing of an; lessons he may be f supposed to teach, and dou'i want to j know anything: art ce*6es to be aft wheni ever it becomes didactic, and it is as an J artist th«t I am considering Button now. ; ! I can't help it. and X don't attempt | apology. - "Wliatever ' there v in me of the I slightest decent value is on the artistic | side, and I love ' the breed. My meaning: ■ here may not be' •immediately apparent, • but Bullen 'would 'batch it at a gj«&cx». [People often attribute' the popularity of • Bullen's books to the fact that they are true to life. That is not the real reason. In btuobvoks and magazines and reepectable records you oaft get masses of undeniable facts about the sen. Bulleu's books are .popular, not because they present such facts accurately, but because they > present them aptly and beautifully. He ha 3 that rare quality the critics vaguely classify as "atmosphere-." He is go skilful and sincere in his art that he lifts cold approval and esteem into something higher and better — a something occasionally heightened by a catch in the throat. He has learned that one cannot present a true sea picture by any merely photographic process, nor by any crude impressionism. His pictures are not frozen facsimiles, but harmonies that live and glow. These are the things that differentiate the artiet from the craftsman. The conscience of the artist is beautiful and inspiring; the conscientiousness of the craftsman may upon, occasion become pestilently monotonous. Z go right out of my province to remark that Frank T. Bullen is not what ia gene- ! rally called a religious man so much aa [ a man with a religion. I have found him j tractable, tolerant, comradely. He doe« not spoil a hand-clasp by dragging in a homily. Be does not suppose or pretend • that his loyalty to certain opinions on great matters makes him the natural superior of I other humble worker? in letters, the lost ! sheep. He's the sort of man the outsider could cheerfully go on holiday with. Perhaps that also is due to hi« intimacy with the sea. Once let a man get the throb of the great waves in his blood and, though he may be' a great villain, he can never b» a great prig. Bullen is assuredly no villain; and I would not insult him by the mere suggestion that he could be the other thing. So, as I said just now, this is an appreciation from the pagan standpoint. What I like in the man, apart from his art, is the fact that he is a brother scribe of whom no man of us needeth to be ashamed. He is one of the right sort. That is why he is coming back to Dunedin to lecture on Saturday night of this week. The work Mr Alec. Falconer is doing at th« Sailors' Rest is in the truest sense religious, being in the truest sense human* and brotherly. If any nation owes more to its seamen than other nations, that nation is the English. If there is one class of workers that the English people habitually neglect and belittle more than another, it is the seafaring class. Ashore, wo have our industrial legislation, our eigbthour movement, our hospitals, schools, theatres, churches, libraries, and manifold democratic and philanthropic institutions. Saltwater Jack has practically no part or lot in any of those things. We owe bin* infinitely much, and give him practically nothing. We make of him a helot and a scapegoat ; and when the poor chap seeks the only recreations that are generally, accessible to him. ashore, we talk of his horrid immorality and degradation. We . batter his body and pulverise his soul, and then abuse him because he is not especially beautiful or fine. We treat him like a dog, and expect him to behave like a vestal. The condition of the average seaman of the deep seas remains a flagrant disgrace to civilisation, and civilisation can in no degree with decency dodge its responsibiliy in the matter. If democracy means anything, it means that ev^ry man i* ha brother's keeper. If Christianity means anything, it mean« that every man is pledged In love and honesty to do his duty to every brother of all the race of men. To Saltwater Jack few men indeed do brotherly duty. Search where you will, you will seldom find him admitted to decent houses. The would proclaims him outcast, and the Church in this i regard has picked no special quarrel with the world. The seaman comes ashore, salt-dried and generally wretched, lilce a. hunted animal. If he dares disrespect to his officers aboard, our courts punish him with such severity as would cause a revolution, were it attempted in regard to any other calling. If he conies within reach of a church he is given a hack seat and a side-glance, with on occasion possibly a > bun. I think he deserves more than that ' — more delicacy of handling, a more patient attempt to comprehend and encourage him. Men like Frank T. Bullen and Alec. Falconer hold tho same opinion, and it is in order that Mr Falconer may be helped to work more vigorously according to his own ideas that Mr Bullen returns to lecture on Saturday. The fact is that Mi- Falconer, as a resiilt of long experience in work among seamen, has scant faith in the efficacy of conversion on an empty fetomach. I hop* 1 that if put reverently. What I mean to convey is> that Mv Falconer honestly admits that he does not care to talk to a hungry man about his soul until ho has done something for his body. That is a perfectly reasonable feeling, and as a result of it*Mr Falconer has had a good deal of anxiety and pain in connection with his life-work. He has often lacked the means of feeding the hungry. even after he has reachrd the limits of hit I ncisonal resources. Mr Bulleu's lecture is

given with the object of initiating a fund which Mr Falconer is to use entirely at Ins own discretion in this primary Christian work of ministering to the stranded seaman in the most necessary way. As a lecturer Mr Bullen needs no commendation of mine. lam content to suggest that this is a lecture all lovers of humanity —especially those who systematise their humanity in the faith they profess and pro■pagate—should attend. Certainly, all who have any real idea of the hardship and friendlessness of the- average seaman's life, ashore and afloat, will attend. j