New-York tribune., 1920-07-26
Looks Gobns Had
Books u<yw.5z BY s,ou.

"But if the reader, because the Anda-
lusans are slothful, truthless, but
moderately honest, vain, concludes that
they are an unattractive people he will
grossly err" writes Somerset Vaughan
lin "The Land Of the Blessed Virgin
'(Knopf). His reasoning" Mr. Maugh- |
am continues, ''that moral qualities
make pleasant companions is quite
false; on the contrary, it is rigid
principles and unbending character,
strength of will and decided sense of
right and wrong which make inter
course difficult. A sensitive conscience
is no addition to the amenities of the
dinner table. But when a man is will
ing to counter a deadly sin with
shrug of the shoulders, when between
white and black he can discover no in
supportable contrast, the probabilities
are that he will at least humor your
whims and respect your prejudices.
And so it is that the Andalusians make
very agreeable acquaintances. They are
free and amiable in their conversation
and will always say the thing that
pleases rather than the brutal thing
that is. They miss no opportunity tc
make compliments, which they do so
we'll that at the moment you are as
sured these hattering remarks come
from the bottom Of their hearts. Very
reasonably, they cannot understand
why you should be dsagreeable to a
man merely because you rob him; to
injury, unless their minds are clouded
with passion, they have not the bad
taste to add insult. Compare with
these manners the British abhorrence
of polite and complimentary speeches.
especially if they happen to be true.
The Englishman may hold you in the
highest estimation, but wild horses
will not drag from him an acknowledge
ment of the fact; whereby humanism
and the general stock of self-esteem
are notably diminished"
We were talking to our friend O'Doul
about politics and he was calm enough
until somebody announced himself "a
violent radical"
Il can stand for socialism, little
of it anyway said O'Doul fiercely, "but
it's this communism that makes me
mad. I'm not going to stand for any
form of government under which a man
can come up to me and say, 'O'Doul,
there are too many men just like you
in New York. You go out and live in
Columbus"
Alice Browns "The Wind Between
the Worlds" (Macmillan) is not up to
her stan ard, but she has been hugely
successful in the creation of the most
likabe and lively old lady whom we
have met in fiction these MANY months.
BY old, we hasten to add. we mean he
tween sixtyfve and seventy.
There is also a shrewd comment on
the effectiveness Of the sniff. After
Susanne had left the ROOM" writes
Alice Brown, MADAM Brooke, who was
always careful to preserve the decent
reticences between the family and be
low stairs forbore to sniff until the
maid had got we'll outside the door;
then she did it with somewhat dimin-
ished effect, owing to the delay. This
ishe realized. sniff, she knew. had
to be served up hot"
"The constant striving for effect and
the tedious effort to present each sub
ject from distorted angle" writes
Marlinspike, "are getting to be positive
Affections among journalists who OBJ
trude themselves on our notice BY their
special columns and their featured ac-
counts Of everything from books to
conventions. 1t seems to be a reaction