Evening star., 1921-04-24
<THE MAINTENANCE OF PEACE. BY
s. c. Vestal. New York: q. P. Put
nam'S Sons.

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history in support of its claim
And that claim is for adequate arma-
1nent as the only means Of securing both
domestic peace and world peace. Against
the disarmament doctrine of the paci-
Hst, whose only support is a vision hung
in the clouds of some vague future
when the human has reached per-
faotion. MFR. Vestal stands upon the
foundation of fact that man has him
i saK set in the past. To begin. the
auihor attacks the generally accepted
fAilacy that an adequate army mas
4nternational strife as the purpose s
demonstrates out of our own history
11hen the domestic safety and tran
qpaEity of America rested squareiy
on the existence of our mllltary
foxces He contends. with supporting
audience, that war appropriations
have in the past gone into domestic
peace rather than solely into inter,
national complications Mr.. Nestai
greatest problem of political art and
human wisdom" From this stand
point of assertion he spreads out the
history of the world. chapter by chap
ous times and conditions when peace
has been threatened and saved. anc
by what means this has been done
The author cuts horizontally through
early and modern history to show how
nations have inteGrated. how their
solidarity has been threatened. how
this has been avoided. how peace mas
been maintained. An adequate army
is invariably the answer that history
yields The book is notable one:
notable in method and in the mass of
learning with which its claim IS up
held. Moreover, it is highly inter-
esting book. One reads 1t as he reads
any other dramatic masterpiece. with
the added sense that this drama is
real and is pointed, moreover upon a
nations most vital and urgent prob
lem A book for the student and
the Intelligent reader of important
matters.
THE ART OF LETTERS. By Robert
Lynd. author of "Old and New
Masters" etc. New York: Charles
Scribners Sons.
A group of critical studies in liter
ature and in the art of making lit
erature that, happily. sets of with
Mr.. Pepys. who. as bit OF news
turns out to have been Puritan. MIR.
Lynd adds. however. that Pepys' Puri-
tanism was but a pair of creakinS
Sunday boots on the feet of pagan
By way of the DIARY" this "soliio-
Guy OF an eSOlSl, tue dulIof SNohcS
in most lifelike fashion out of by
gone day this scandalous and capti-
waiting old trimmer and faster of the
pleasures of life. Bunyan. Campion.
ed on the mantelpiece-a china figure
of insolence - regarding everything
that happened on the foor as rather
a low order of joke that could not
tons is one with Shelley as it's sub
ject. and another with Tennyson.
George Meredith. the egoist, the
OIympian. the -Irishman. comes
in for an intimate and knowing study.
OF Oscar Wilde Mr.. Lynd says: Here
is writer whom one must see
through in order to appreciate. One
must smash the idol in order to pre-
serve the god" AS wit Wilde has
first rank, but scarcely better than
stand in which he is directly against
the estimates of Wilde by Mr.. Ran
some in his interesting study OF the
apostle of estheticism. Critics. as
this writer's consideration-Mr.
Saintsbury. Mr. Gosse, our Prof Ir-
wing Babbit-either as constructive or
AZ destructive in the theory and prac-
is readable-interestins as we'll as
informing. While he deals in many
instances with writer's Of another day.
he himself is of the current order.
looking OUT INTO tne pIeSSHt. USING
the speech and gestures of the day.
As result the whole moves up into
the present in a direct and Immediate
appeal.
THINGS THAT HAVE INTERESTED
ME. BY Arnold Bennett. author
of The Old Wives Tale" etc. New
York: George H. Doran Company.
Mr.. Bennett has reached. that en-
viable place in the heart Of the pub
xrka> hi SVap hA sn~~ 1o
becomes a matter Of acute and i'm
mediate interest The book in hand
will stand. one does not doubt, as
another proof of this fact. This is a
sess 81 looR essr so5asr estles anes
thought, some inconsequential con-
tact. a touch Of politics. the snap
shot of politician, a reflection, and
ed. even. that one morning Mr. Ben
nett cleaned out his well-littered
desk and that, instead Of filing, or de-
stroying, the odds and ends to be
found there. he decided to slip them
all in between a pair Of confining
covers thereby turning another book
over into the hands Of his waiting
and devoted readers. Good reading.
too. this book. in the plain way that
Mr.. Bennett has Of saying whatever
he has to say. The book has another
value. too, since it permits the pub
lie to know what this distinguished
author thinks about when he is not
thinking at all.
EVERY POLITICIAN AND HIS
WIFE. BY Adele S. Burleson.
Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co.
This engaging novel by the wife
OF former Postmaster General Burle-
son is, broadly speaking. a bit of lit
erary realism. 1t begins with the
marriage of Addie Sweet and Daniel
Webster ketcham; 1t gets its start
by way of the jolts that shake each
at the things discovered about the
other. This is called getting ad-
juSted. The husband develops tall
enf for politics. The wife becomes
possessed of the passion Of helpful
career. So. succession Of mistakes
and attempted retrievals mark the
course of this partnership toward po-
Htical honors. At the last. much
a. II he were saying "Oh, what's the
use" the husband kisses the wife in
that she. with the best Of intentions
toward helpfuIness. has forced upon
him The book is seasoned with
hunnor, and with good humor. A
spirited sketch OF one side of every
politicians life.
OUR SOUTHERN HIGHLANDERs. By
Horace Kephart. author of Camp
ing and Woodcraft." etc. Illus
trated New York: The Macmillan
Company.
This is a record of Mr.. kephart's
own experience in living Tor three
years in a cabin Of the Carolina noun
tainS and of his explorations. as well,
from this point One has known,
vaguely. about this southern noun
tain tract wherein the people are ma
rooned to the eighteenth century