Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-02-05

l. Could there be a more perfect, n
more fitting title for book of ESSAYS ?
why, 1t is as obvious and as admirable
MS Columbus immortal solution of the
first step to the making Of an omelet for
the essay is nothing IL il Is not personal,
and what is so personal as prejudice?
This Is another glaring example of
that prevalent impertinence, a tendency
on the part Of everybody to say our
good things before we have had a chance
to cerebratc them. And in this case It
is not mere man--onc might stand
that-but a lady, and from Boston.
The sex Is becoming more and more ad
dlcted to this disconcerting practice, and
this title is far from the only instance
of this sort of thing in this book. Much
has been said in proverb and in fiction
about woman as bound to have the last
word. One could put up with that but
1t Is going bit far likewise thus to
insist on having the first word as we'll.
LNOR example here is q humble re-
L viewer who has been saying for
years: II never meet an Englishman
to whom ] take particular fancy but
what he turns out to be a Scotchman or
an 1rishman." And here comes along
lady from Boston who tells my story
:" ''io oupciioI ""y' ~ bnt hoi"h
IS never more soul satisfying than wnen
subject Is simplified by leaving out the
Irishman. English statesmen and New
York politicians please copy.) Long
residence in an I.ish city like Boston
would naturally suggest this. And then
the essayist goes on blithely to praise
Scottish tact and discretion, the like of
which, she tells us, she has never met
G c.sn uu.GIuu VI pu,iii.' pii,'' Lt ~ Sttin ~
.yo'i,'i,". go nva S.;,tad ,iSms ~ ~
tlcle oi upparei an apute I 80.
tuse LoI .hese NirtueS' II iooN' '"''
" uo' pu' 'rs IT,
ry HEP ov, ocouo1 n n nrcv;ors
a'o".'
- volume Mrs Sturgls Is very eh'er
.alhlngty granuihother IL neeueu noi
the au,hor name nor such an nNoMa'
10 dlsciose ner SEX cem,lllhity Is VIII
ten on every. page OF PERSONA, fre!u-
dices or Is 1t that personal preJu-
alces are written on every page OIL Ieln
gis lives on Beacon street. To live on
Beacon street is not exactly to hide
ones light under bushcl. Many true
Bostonians live and have lived on Bea-
con street, but does the veritable Bos--
tonlan tell you so! Boston ucaIs not
in works of supercrogation. Still again.
Mrs. Sturgis alludes more than once to
her darling Herald. Transcript Is Bos-
tonese for the newspaper; Save MO-
hammed, there Is no other prophet
And Sunday edition OF any ncwspa-
per so littering the house that an or
derly matron can never get the leisure
to go to church! Does Boston refer TO
a Sunday paper or to abstinence from
church going, whatever actual prac
tices may be? l am even more worried
in this matter of BoStonian authentic
ity by an avowcd dislike for gardens
not the dislike, but the aVowal' Dy
Mrs. Sturgis unabashed confession
that she does not say tray Tor
''trait"--let Bryn Mawr copy-and Dy
the extraordinary circumstance that she
alludes, even to mere Boishevlst, as
my gentleman friend, an un New
England plethora Of words where eltner
gentleman or friend might serVe'
each being equally lronic.
o,rrrrp .,.u o,o ,on,o ohoroc-
Ao" E' En- 'ne,e a'o so -,
IL teristics OF personal IrelualceS,