Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-14
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the Bookiopey

- JS-~~ ~%Scs @~1"AAS LAY was DuDllSElCCl.
q book which must have been completed
before his death, 50 high Is its quality.
So much cannot be said for another
posthumous book. recently published
ireland: the Rock Whence was
Hewn." This seems to show rather
plainly the work of the notebook
searcher. Nevertheless, 1t is interesting
because. though very scrappy, it shows
DOM Byrnes intense love and ideali-
Zation OF ireland, his poetic, unprac-
tlcal thought and his charming, fanciful
style. The foreword is by the Right
Hon. T. P. OConnor, who humorously
contrasts his own practical outlook on
ireland with the romantic outlook of
Donn Byrne. Personally, am afraid
am little too much of a realist and
nave seen too much in political contro-
versy Of the dark as we'll as the good
side Of Ireland for Dom Byrne's pic
lures OF that country to make the same
appeal 10 me as to those who know 1t
less from the inside. The land bathed
in poetry and universal good will was
not quite the Ireland that was brought
nome to unexpectedly by the bitter
controversy in its politics, in which un-
willingly had to take part-and
could not accept as a complete picture
OF ireland this land of wandering and
popular bards and romantic love- How
ever, there It was. Mr.. DOM Byrne had
FOUND his public" Contrast with this
Dom Byrnes own idealism: 1--WE are
poor country as TO money, but we have
purple heather and mountains golden
with gorse. and rivers. great-bosomed
ana friendly, where men NAV dream
And the sea Is kind to us. Our fields
are green as the prophets banner. We
90 not, thank God, as people, hesitate
when the heart calls one way and the
head another. A nation that Is ever
prosperous, always wise, seems to me a
nation forsaken by its angels. One can
see its inhabitants. They are tall and
thin, with bodies cold as a fish's. They
nave long heads and foreheads like a
woman's bare knee. They are dressed
in black. Their eyes are not merry.
Their dynasty OF monarchS, for they will
have sound, reasonable monarchs, are
called Mareph the Wise, Riga the Opu-
lent, Harno the Pious, Ming the Far
sighted. They are the people who al
ways do the right thing. They will go
to power and glory everlasting. Where,
also, they can 60. each stout man
knoweth."
In these notes on Ireland Dom Byrne
A"Chc AObLlkAJ NdIIOuS phI u 1kCs
land, many of them known and loved
by American travellers che hates the
word tourists" and the people repre-
sented by IT. there. On Lough Erdergne
Is st. Patrick's Purgatory, which is still
resort OF pious pilgrims. At Bally-
shannon, a typical village on the west
coast, you may be fortunate enough
to see the salmon, lying packed like
sardines, awaiting the opportune mo-
ment to spring up the falls of Assaroe,
springing 16 feet in the air against the
foaming, roaring water" In Donegal
there is tangle Of small lakes and
huge granite boulders, and "he who
loses his way in that desert by night is
the cost luckless Of beings" The great
round tower at Antrim is the largest
in Ireland, and Tough Neagh, nearby, is
the largest lake in the British Isles. At
Larne, the harbor OF Belfast, begins the
chain OF the nine glens Of Antrim
Glenarm, 0lencloy. Glenariff, Glen Bal
leymon, Glenaan, Glencorp, Glendun,
Glenshesk and Glentow. The Giants
Causeway, in Antrim. the home Of Dom
Byrne's childhood, he calls more curl
GUS than beautiful" It's greatest beauty
is In a gale, when the tessellated ter
races are assaulted by a cavalry Of
foam" He Is interested in the noted
golf links at Portrush, not as a prac-
titioner of the game, but for q Puckish
I'VE rather like seeing
ScotSmen walking in from the eight
zenith green, white faced, broken men,"
He deplores the fallen state Of Dublin,
which all who have visited 1t in recent
years have noted with q sadness akin
to his own. Riot and civil commotion
and the act Of the Kings enemies and
of the Kings men have given the
III A~A IT, IL
nifty" The Glens of wicklow are among
the most beautiful of Irelands scenic
places, where mountain lakes and ruins
of very old churches are found in the
widest glens. The mountains Of Ire
land are in the north and in the south;
Central ireland Is a plain. The SOUTH
ern mountains inclose the lovely Lakes
of Killarney and the Gap Of Dunloe,
through which brawls the River Loe. At
the entrance to the lakes are the ruins
of Muckross Abbey, fine Norman alb
hey, near which Tennyson wrote part
of 1.-THE Princess"
In his clever preface to "The Book
plates and Marks OF Rockwell Kent,
with Preface by the Artist. Eighty
plates" Rockwell Kent says: Admitting
all that may be said for bookplates as
an ingenious way to forestall the borrow
er's carelessness or thief's intention and
against bookplates as Of no use what
ever toward that end, for them as
proud and pretty way Of marking books
and against them as so great nul-
sance that few people ever paste them
in; admitting that the trouble OF them
outweighs their questionable
we still may venture to pro-
nounce, with no uncertainty, that book
plates, labels, letterheadS, seals, PEN
nants and whatever may be made TO
or to ones self q motto, crest or per-
sonal device, may influence and deter
mine the course of civilization and the
destiny of nations and of men,"
The title. paul Revere's Own story.
An Account Of His Ride as Told IN q
Letter to a Friend, Together With q
Brief Sketch of His Versatile Career"
speaks for itself Harriet e. O'Brien is
the compiler Of this interesting mate
rial in q limited edition. Paul Revere's
letter is facsimile copy Of one written
to DR.. Jeremy Belknap and is here re-
produced for the first time. The origi-
nal letter is in the possession of the
Historical Society, found
ed by DR.. Belknap. In the volume is
also included Longfellow's poem, which
is compared with the letter to test the
poets accuracy.
X + *
Dream of the Red Chamber" by
Tsao Hsueh-C Chin and Kao Ngoh, is a
largely photographed novel, whose
chief author lived in the middle of the
century. It has been trans
lated and adapted from the Chinese by
Chi-Chen Wang, who belongs to the
Far East department Of the Metropoli-
tan Museum. It gives q realistic pic
ture of Chinese life in q large family.
There Is o matriarch in the family, no
less autocratic than @. B. Storms
"Matriarch." She chooses two brides
for her beloved grandson, Pao-Yu, to
consider. He prefers and loves Black
Jade, but she dies of tuberculosis, and
Precious Virtue Is presented to him In