The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-12-01

of an English parish, knowing, as he
tells us, that the sun is only one of
q, OOO, 900 stars in the milky way, and the
milky way itself is only a pin-point in
the endless universe" He has to pirate
of the creation Of Adam and his rib
on this pokey little planet"-a dilemma
which the English censor found, prop
erly or improperly, to be blasphemous.
Since this dilemma spoiled his days, the
ex-vicar went to live in poverty in
whitechapel and thought he would en-
ploy himself in founding the next re-
ligion.
The next religion" he assures us,
will be larger than Christianity, not
smaller, not easier" but for the rest We
do not find him in the course of Mr..
Zangwilrs play very explicit He talks
like this to his wife or child. or to the
two retainers who follow him patiently
throughout the twelve years that the
play covers. Mr.. Zangwin's idea of rem
dering these speeches acceptable in the
theater is to serve them up with plenty
of what must be regarded. as comic
relief.
For example. after one Of them (his
wife, says. You establish the next re-
ligion? You can't even pack your bag.
and proceeds to withdraw from it one
sock. her crochet patterns, and Willy
tin trumpet. 1t should be mentioned
that the founder of the next religion
suffers from failing eyesight. For an
other example, when Willy repeats the
Lords Prayer on the stage very poig-
nantly. he finishes, by eating banana
Mr. Zangwills idea OF how to write
play with satisfaction to all parties may
be seen in his first caricaturing an Eng
Iish. bishop beyond recognition and then
making amends by giving him wife
who is a perfect old dear. At the end
We do not know whether Mr.. Zangwin
has been meaning TO be serious about
his Rev. Stephen frame or has been
gliding at him.
For the end does not come until the
next religion, taken up and populariZed
by a millionaire manufacturer of eN-
plosives, is clearly shown to have taken
upon himself all the bad qualities Of the
existing religion. II does not come until
Willy, in the running for the reversioH
of the high priesthood in succession to
his father. is hit on the head by ham
mer of the same blacksmith who laid
out his faithful old retainer twelve
years ago.
Mr.. HZangwiIl cannot bring himself to
lower his curtain until he has brought
on a large number of choristers to rem
der generous extracts from the Englsh
Church litany, which we began by think
ing that he wanted us 10 despise Mr..
Zangwill as a dramatist is excessive
THE ART TREASURES OF WASHINGTON: By
Helen W. Henderson. Of the PennsylTania Aead-
! cmy uf Fine Arts PrOfusely illustrated. l. q.
Page Co., Boston. Price, 8.
The author, well known through her
work in connection with the Fellow
ship" Of the Pennsylvania Academy OF
Fine Arts and noted art connoisseuse
and critic, in this book has undertaken
to cover the seriously conceived works
OF art in this, our Capital City, with
special reference to its galleries, its
museum, and its public statues. Private
galleries, of which there are several of
note, are ignored by Miss Henderson
who seems to think that there is an
cverproduction here Of the mediocre and
even the ''banal"
For this the author blames political
schemers." This is what she charges:
Congress has so systematically IA
vored the obvious and the futile, has ex-
pended such absurd sums for the acqui-
sition of worthless material, and has
been so niggardly in its provision for
official portraits, that appreciation of an
occasional masterpiece has been lost
sight of in the ridicule of failures and
mistakes. The Capitol and the city parks
naturally have been the chief victims"
cannot altogether subscribe to this
sweeping indictment In all new and
growing cities, especially IL such a city
be great national capital. II takes time
and intelligent work to separate the
chaif from the wheat, and by the time