Evening star., 1926-10-24

Christ. Shocked? Why be
shocked Why not be glad
i instead at meeting here one
who reflects. dimly maybe
but who reflects nevertheless. the Man
that so long ago embodied the beauty
Of life, who lived In love and fellow.
ship and kindliness with all, with man
and beast. with growing heid and
shining earth? doubt Il love and
understanding and plain Kindness
were ever more needed than they ars
now and we've been long time
two thousand years. in fact-striving
toward this end. Maybe It'll Go us
Eood maybe It'll help some. TO see a
man Of that pattern living right down
among his fellowman. Probably you
are thinking that Mr.. Walpo'e can't
do IT, that it is too much for any man
to accomplish. Wei. he isn't claiming
to do it. 1t is possible that this sug.
gestion is Of my own making. But
here It is and I'm glad that ii is here.
for me at any rate.
Polchester. that provincial village
of Glebeshire. is the familiar setting
for another OF the Walpo,e stories.
This time it is not the great cathedral
itself acting as hero Of the tale, as 1t
did in THE Cathedral" Here the old
church Is an influence. potent and
ever present, but 4 Ia nothing more.
The townspeople themselves play OFF
against Ha armer .rohn. the young
Swede come to polchester to teach gym
nastics. physical culture. or whatever
It is called over there. With these two
elements acting IA chief characters,
the village folks End Harmer John.
the whole story is pitched at lower
kew than was THE Cathedral" In
deed. this Is a very human story. The
sudden popularity Of the lusty young
newcomer, the delight of the people in
him and his work. and then the equal
" sudden reversal to hatred and per-
secution-all this is just as human as
we are, YOU see. 4 simple story. too.
Nothing could he less Of problem
or mystery than Harmer John, who
taught his lessons and went about
talking to every one in such friend
liness that men and women and boys
and dogs and everything liked the
fellow With reserve. II he had only
let we'll enough alone. But Harmer
John couldn't do that. X he had only
stopped when he had got Just about
the whole place all keyed up over
having fine and beautiful bodies every.
thing would have bee1 WELL But. no.
He 1lust needs begin about having a
beautiful town, about getting rid OF
that CHA sl,,m down by the water
and about other things that no new
conner. no foreigner" should meddle
in. And the tide Of favor began to
turn in an opposite direction. At it's
height this became the literal drama
of petty human rrne'tt-SOsSlp. neg
lect disfavor. hdrawal 0f pupils.
averted faces. n4s;H irventions. :As
actual AS life. this dra ma. Not over.
drawn. hut drawn instead right 10 the
line of truth about the excited and
maSSed cruelty OF perfectly nice PEE"
rle But tIarmer John couldn't stop
II he would He was in The grip of an
idea-an idea Of beauty and human
fellowship, combination that would
make the world a paradise If it got
into prime teamwork. 4 big. hulking,
unsophistlcated man. or boy nothing
much but that. Enough to break your
heart. though. And Hugh Walpoie
doesn't overdo him. If he did Your
heart would stay whole. No. just
enough of the boys happiness under
the towns favor, just enough Of his
beWilderment over the turn of the
tide against him. just enough of every
thing to make YOU ache Tor him. in
cidentally to ache for the folks against
him. too. And then-well, there is
q bit Of mystery at the last. or some
thing that becomes a mystery in the
minds of a few, and this something
again suggests the crucited one on
1000 years ago. Hugh Walpole is
truly great In this story, in the max
ing of this man. in his warm and af-
fectionate portrayal Of Polchester OBJ
Niously go dear 10 HIM. IN his mastery
SeizureSf the people Of the little town
oh, TINS is Il SraSt story, and don I
you believe anything else about Al.
Al any rate. not I'll. toG read ii and
make your own judgment. Harmer
John will go with you. mark my word.
he will go with NnI long and long
after the book is read
THE BEST LETTERS or THOMAS
JEFFERSON. Selected and Edited
by j. G. de Roulhae Hamilton
Boston: Houghton Mifilin Co.
TT is "A fact. beyond question, that
- the fathers Cf our country have
been written stone dead by succeeding
hardes of ambitious authors. Each
fresh troop with scissors in hand pro
ceeds to cut and reassemble and re-
hash that which has already been
done by its predecessors. Under such
heroic measures the fathers them.
selves have steadily given up of their
substance. till. today, they are no
more than Vapors and gases, more
dilute even than the atmosphere
through which we pass unconscious
of it's material. Take. for example.
Jefferson. Ask the most eloquent
Jeffersonian Democrat alive. what Il
is all about. just what it was that
made Jefferson the political idol or his
heart, the righteous savior of The
people. the hope OF the future. A
fatuous defeated look is the answer.
And SO II is with all of the early build
ers of this country. Everybody talks
too much and thinks too little. And
under such treatment the old patriots
have gone stone dead. SO. 10 give one
glimpse at least of the living Jefferson
this writer has collected letters writ
ten by the great Democrat himself
upon important subjects tina; in his
dav were the crucial points OF con-
Germ. Here is jefferson himself. talk
ing by letter to Washington and
Madison to Adams ana Livingston.
to another and another. Here he Is
talking about the Federal ConStitu-
tion. about religion. about letters
Here he is talking about his quarrel
with John Adams and their recon.
citation. Talking about all sorts of
momentous things that at that time
so greatly disturbed the minds of
these nation builders. Here is the
real jefferson. that Is as real man
as does get into any correspondence.
certainly much more Of man than
we can hope to get nowadays through
the endless dilutions that Writers are
even yet making of him. The book
provides an all.around actual con-
tact with a man whom nobody knows.
bnt with whom everybody claims the
greatest intimacy. An admirable pur-
pose controls this excellent study.
1EEEL,P R,. Inert lay Mock