Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-04-13
WOODROW WILSON, A Character
Study. By Robert Edwards An
min New York: Dodd, Mead e. Co.


min New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.
OF now. But after a while
NE some years ahead, maybe
this book will take high
rank. both as study and as
a clear and steady point of illumina-
ton and Interpretation. Character is
hard to seize. 1t is a most elusive
thing Yet.-a certain and definite
reaction through a reasonably long
mnd exacting period-a reaction that
is unfailing in response and unvary-
ing in form to every sort of discov-
cradle stimuli, does give a fair index
to character.
AS study, Mr.. Annin's book COW
~eI the three periods of Mr.. wilson's
ysplic life--the Princeton period,
that of the governorship of New Jer-
sey, that of the presidency OF the
United States for eight years. All of
r--Se are essential to anything like a
Tair estimate. Each serves to com
plement the other two. All serve TO
support and corroborate one another.
Zach period presents its own impor-
tant externals. 1t has to, since these
provide the objective stimuli to when
the character of Mr.. Wilson responds.
The first period, therefore, projects
DR.. Wilson, developed at Princeton.
The second one deals with the New
Jersey politics of the time. The third;
with national politics, problems ana
policies Only so much of each is
given as is required to meet the pur-
pose In hand. that of studying the
character of Woodrow Wilson. Aside
from this comprehensive view OF the
demands of the situation to meet the
full purpose of the study, the author
has another fine qualification for such
Il work as this. He possesses a tar
mind. The evidence here is ceariy
evidence. Moreover, the source or II
is invariably given. There appears to
be no grain of hearsay in the study.
The evidence in, the decision seems
10 flow out from it, never from the
dictum of the author himself. There
is. moreover, a whole hearted pleas
ure, an enthusiastic appreciation OF
great qualities and noble deeds. So
often, more often than otherwise, an
investigation or serious examln n .
ton sounds like an inquisition. Not
a trace here of any other purpose
than a sincere attempt to come at
the character of distinguished pup
lie figure, a remarkable personality,
a concededly great man. 1t is as a
study alone that the book here con-
Germs us From this point of view it
stands apart. for high intelligence
bent to a special purpose, for a
method exactly calculated to meet
that purpose in a direct efficiency, for
a wholly bipartisan attitude. for
keen sympathy and broad under
standing.
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. BY Gilbert
X Chesterton. New York: George
H. Doran Company.
Were we permitted to choose one
from among all the saints to come
present, we should most certainly
name St. Francis of Assist as the one
most completely in tune with our
broadcast and most understanding
sympathies, with the best and most
hopeful of our endeavors. Gilbert
Chesterton tells the story of St
Francis to us here. A short story
designed for crowded days. Yet a
story that has kept the spirit and
the, flavor of St. Francis-tighter,
founder OF a great religious order,
his life a mirror rejecting the life
and spirit Of Christ himself. A
beautiful story. wherein mere bio
through the sympathetic interpreta-
ton of Mr.. Chesterton. One has the
conviction that this story is not the
result of a special study of the sub
tect for the sake of making the story.
Rather is it, or so 1t appears to be,
deep essentials and its wide Signfi-
canoes out of a broader and deeper
store of knowledge-source, no doubt,
of many another story of vital mean
ing. Doran is making a modern
bookshelf" On it you will find Mr..
ChestertOn's "St. Francis of Assist"
Sidney Dark's story Of the Renais-
sance is there, too. If the whole
shelf" may be judged by these two
books, ii will turn out to be a shin
ing road to knowledge that is too
often blocked and barricaded against
the general reader by dry scholarship
and cutters of detail and careless
organization, by an unfired magma
ton and graceless speech.
THE FIR AND THE PALM. BY
Elizabeth Bibesco. author of BAL
looms" etc. New York: G. P. Put
mans Sons
From an Italian boarding house to an
ancient and honorable English estate,
from poverty to wealth by way of mar
rage- Such is the ground plan of this
novel. Upon it the author builds the
series of misfitS and MISUNDERSTANDING
with which life, in such gusto. appears
TO entertain itself at the expense Of
mere men and women. Love her hus-
hand? Certainly. She should, and does
Love his wife? Passionate!y. Neverthe.
lesss fear stands in between. With her,
by virtue of the material difference be-
tween them. With him. because of the
unacceptable difference in years. So love,
Tor want of expression, backs in around
the heart of the husband. In the case
of the lady 1t goes a-wandering for
forage. That's about all AS story it
marches forward to an ending con-
sistent with this outset The social back
ground is, of course, rich and delightful
as fairy tale or a play. The really in
teresting point in the matter is the
authors intimacy with the heart of a
woman. especially when it begins to
skip a beat once a second or so at the
dawn and progress of love. Along with
this intimate knowledge there goes a
frankness of expression that will enlist
women, secretly, on all hands as wit
neSses that this author is authority on
the psychology of woman reactine TO
what is known as the love stimulus of
the other sex.
BROKEN BUTTERFLIES. BY Henry
Walsworth Kinney. author Of
The Code of Karstens" Boston:
Little, Brown & Co.
Under this appropriately pathetic
title Mr. Kinney projects the tragic
destiny of the young japanese woman
back in her native land after a child
hood and early youth spent in the
freedom of American life. There is
no escape from tragedy in this sit
uation- The age-old tradition of
Japan-the essential inferiority of
woman, her rghtful servitude to man
makes no exception in favor of this
daring and impious rebel. Instead
the force OF ten thousand years of
ward, a juggernaut of utter destruc-
ton. The story is wholly of the
present, though of a present com
nIatoly inyoiyed with ages of orieD