Evening star., 1923-08-18
The Library Table
BY THE BOOkLOVER

Recently at the University OF ZEN
nessee 1t was Prof. James Harvey
Robinson's "The Mind in the Making"
that precipitated the crisis that led
to the dismissal of several professors.
1t appears that one of the professors
was giving a course in genetic psy-
chology. In order that the members
of his class might all read i'The Mind
in the Making" he asked the univer-
sity cooperative book store to obtain
a supply for sale to students. When
the books arrived the head of the de-
partment directed that they be re-
turned to the publishers. When the
professor concerned protested he was
dismissed. as were several other
teachers who sympathized with him.
DarWins "Origin of Species" and 9TH
er more modern books on evolution
entered into the case, but the ques-
tion of recommending the Robinson
book to students appears to have
been the crucial point.
What manner of book is this Rob-
inson's "The Mind in the Making"
that it should be a rock of offense?
To begin with, it is thought-pro-
voking book, a mind opener. In this
book, whose subtitle is THE Rela-
tion Of Intelligence to Social Reform.
the author pleads for the application
to the science of man of the same
mental viewpoint as obtains in the
natural sciences, the critical open
minded attitude" To this end he
says that eve should proceed to the
thorough reconstruction of our mind,
with a view to understanding actual
human conduct and organization.
Instead of making our philosophy
first and in its light trying to justify
the facts. we should reverse the proc
esq, as did those who began the great
work in experimental science. We
must first face the facts and out or
them find a new philosophy. Our
minds need to be brought up TO date.
Most of our thinking, he says, is not
really reasoning. but consists in hnc-
ing arguments for going on believing
as we already do What we need is
"creative thought" For. says he,
this kind of meditation beEets
knowledge, and knowledge is really
creative. inasmuch as il makes things
look different from what they seemed
reconstruction" Although the author
recommends no specific reform eX-
cept the liberation of the intelligence
and the transforming power of "crea-
tive thought" which he sees as the
only hope for the future" it is APP
parent that those who stand for the
sacredness of things as they are"
have found the book a dangerous
one Published about two years ago.
it becomes increasingly popular. The
authorities in control of the 1nINcr-
sity of Tennessee cannot by the
means adopted prevent it's being read
by their own students and by an ever
increasing public. In fact, their at
tempted suppression of the book Will
only serve to increase the demand for
build a dam that Will keep out the
ideas contained in it and similar
books.
William Lyon Phelps has prepared
for the August forum a list of the
fifteen finest novels. explains his
choice and has arranged them chrono-
logically. They are Robinson Cru
soc" by Defoe; "Gulliver's Travels"
by Swift; "Clarissa," by Richardson;
Tom Jones'" by Fielding: 'Eugenie
Grandet." by Balzac; Three Mus
keteers." including its sequels,
Twenty Years After" and The
Ticomte de Bragelonne." by. Dumas:
David Copperfield," by Dickens: The
Scarlet Letter." by Hawthorne: Henry
Esmond," by Thackeray; Madame
Bovary," by Flauhert: Fathers and
Children" by Turgenev; Les Miscr-
ablcs." by Hugo: Anna Karinina," by
Tolstoi; The Brothers KaramazoY."
hI. !
Finn" by Mark Twain.
X = = x
Fifty years ago. May %, 1873. oc-
CURED the death of AlleSandro Man
zoni, the author of the first modern
italian novel and one of the patriots
of the risorgimento, or national:zation
period OF italy. His great romance,
II Promessi Sposi" (The Betrothed).
for which he drew his inspiration
from Sir Walter SCott'S Waverley
novels, appeared in 1870 and is prob
ably more widely known than any
other italian book except the Divine
Comedy" 1t has gone through over
900 editions in Italian. 25 in French.
&c in German, and IS in English
l.
Manzoni never profited q cent; all the
profits were paid to artists and en-
gravers who illustrated the book.
The scene of the story is Milan under
the harsh Spanish rule of the sew
enteenth century, but all phases of
italian life of the period are surveyed.
Like Goethe's wilhelm Meister" il Is
a document of the times. Wars.
plague, famine, the position of the
lower classes, with whom ManZoni
lad great sympathy, political and
church intrigues all have place in
the romance. In his portrayal of the
Spanish tyranny of the seventeenth
century, Manzoni intended his coun-
trymen to see the Austrian tyranny of
the nineteenth century and thus in
directly to teach by historical example
a lesson of patriotism. In his first
edition Manzoni used the spoken Ian
guage of Lombardy, with many Pied
mont Iocalisms. but he afterward re-
wrote the novel in Tuscan and so
fixed the standard rof literary Italian,
Manzoni has, therefore. a threefold
place in Italian literature. as creator
of the novel, as standardizer of the
language and as patriot.
x x X x
Readers of Dorothy Richardson's
long series of naturalistic idea novels,
concerned very much with the
thoughts and a little with the life Of
the not very interesting Miriam Hen
derson, may be pleased, and may not,
with the appearance of the seventh
novel in the series. "Revolving
Lights" The series began with
Pointed Roofs" in which Miriam is
governess in German boarding
school for girls; the present novel
finds her where the last, Deadlock" >"
left her. in Il Bloomsbury boarding
house and earning her living by work
in consulting rooms in Wimpole
strnot She is nnw enraped To q Rus