Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-05
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the B0okloUeT


and the growth Of the other human
minds with which one comes into con-
tact" With this sentence John Cowper
Powys begins his chapter on Culture
and Human Relations" in his book,
"The Meaning of Culture" Digested,
the sentence means that 1t is hard to
get along with other people. The
chapter Is In essence O balancing OF
the relative values Of solitariness and
human association in the life of cul-
tured man. 1t is possible, Mr.. Powys
believes, to remain solitary in the midst
of association. I'm ones contact with
the human beings that surround one 1t
Is barbarous to reveal every secret emo
ton that they eXcite-it will only be
after long spiritual training that we &C
quire the art of feeling towards them
as we wish to feel; but our culture Is
gravely at fault II we cannot habitually
reassure them. We know well enough
| how wounding to our own pride certain
brusque rebuffs and certain insensitive
blunderings are; and 1t reveals US as
| lacking in the very rudiments OF culture
| If we cannot at least speak and act
with courtesy and consideration" Mr..
| Powys' conception of culture has about
| it a suggestion Of something akin 10
| insincerity, vet not as crude as In
! sincerity. He says: What indeed Is
| culture If not an elaborate substitute
for that spontaneous outpouring OF love
for all beings, whether human or sub
/ human, which so many OF the mystlcs
and saints and artists seem to receive
as a gift from Nature? Such a spon-
| taneous flow of love cannot be acquired
by taking thought: but something cor
responding to it can be acquired If GER
| tain almost ritualistic movements OF
consciousness are deliberately repeated
! again and again. What we must assume
as our starting point, so as to keep our
| cultural doctrine well within the reach
of all, is a natural temperament rather
| below than above the average degree
of intelligence" Mr.. Powys Is an
optimist, to believe that a temperament
below the average in Intelligence would
be able consistently to assume the vir-
tue. of sympathy II 1t has 1t not.
! X 4 X
In his chapter. Culture and
culture It is something as follows:
l. Culture must have an instructive
communion with the hypothetical first
cause. 2. Culture demands happiness,
and il happiness is impossible it makes
a mental gesture Of happiness" 3.
"The morality of culture implies a
laissez faire attitude toward others
other people are not to be meddled
with" 4. Culture must have the two
virtues of imaginative compassion and
self-controlled courtesy. 5. Culture
should follow Goethe's doctrine, Live
in the whole. in the good. in the beau
tiful' 6. Culture must, above all,
recognize and preserve goodness. z.
Culture must be tolerant Of all things
except cruelty. g. Culture is aloof
from the industrial hubbub" OF the
world. 9. Culture needs for its secret
life music painting, sculpture, and
above all, literature. 10. Culture needs
solitude and independence. In the dis
cussion of this creed, Mr.. Powys evolves
many philosophic maxims. mo tricky
sophistication, no paradoxical aesthetic
theorizing can spoil our simple, direct
recognition of the good" The one
grand commandment of culture Is
Thou shalt not be cruel On al
other points what true culture does
is to suspend its judgment, retain it
self-control. govern its own actions ac-
cording to its secret cult of silent happi
ness and its secret hostility to noisy
violent pleasures and leave other people
alone" What the cultured person fin
ally comes to assume is that-short o.
hideous physical pain or the loss OF TIT
only one he really loves-hiS mind car
do anything he decides it shall DO
There must be certain works OF art II
every intelligent persons life, in whose
presence he has had the luck to sur
render himself where the hour and TIT
place cohered, which must remain for
ever in his mind as symbols of his deep
est wrestling with destiny" "Happ!
are those persons whose outward deSt1n.
leaves them at least one solitary, indie.
pendent room to retire to at night.
Public opinion-led by affected rhe
toricans-is always seeking to encour'
age the latest fashions and obsession'
in thought. religion and taste. Aga1ns
all this, culture stands firm, GROUNDING
itself upon the eternal elements o.
nature and human nature"
* X
Australia is becoming more familia
to us through fiction. Henry Hande
Richardson shows Australian life il
numerous coast and bush towns, In tn
depth of bush itself, on ranches, as wei
as in the cities. in her trilogy, 9TH
Fortunes of Richard Mahoney." "Th
Way Home" and Ultima Thule" Il
"Coonardoo" Katherine Susa IN
Prichard has written story OF cattle
station in the ranching country OF Yves
Australia Coonardoo is a native tribes
woman who is taken in charge by Mrs
Bessie Todd, owner of Wytaliba Rancf
1t would have been better for her ]
she had been left in her native environ
ment, for the ways of the civilized ar
her undoing. The atmosphere OF tn
book is its greatest value. We feel tn
terrible dryness of the Western Austria
liam plains during drought and Sc
the suffering of the cattle mad the ma
tives. We see the dancing medicin
men and hear the aboriginal native
singing their wild songs.
X y X X
AS Summer approaches and Euro
pean trips are being planned. it Is help
full to recall the various $50 Your
Going" books Of Clara Laughlin. The
are as convenient and readable guild
books as one could find. 80 Your
Going to Germany and Austria" to b
published shortly, will be the result o
5000 miles of motoring done by Mis-
Laughlin. $50 You're Going to France
includes tours through Normandy, Brit
tany, Burgundy, Touraine, the Pyrenee:
the Chateaux, old Provence and II
Carcassonne. so You're Going t
Italy" treats fully all the principe
cities of Italy and has sections on tn
; Italian lakes and the italian Riviers
so You're Going to England" omit
none of the English cathedrals Of not'
none of the beauty spots such as tn
Lake Region, Devon and Cornwall. IS
You're Going to Paris and so Your
Going to Rome" are exhaustive guide
to everything of historical and artist
interest in the two great capitals an
their environs.
X y X X
A painting by the great Florentin
master, Botticelli, lost for centuries an
rediscovered only year ago, has con,
to this country and entered the per
at Harvard University. 1t Is portal
; of a thorn-crowned Christ, done in tn
artists late manner, when he was work
ing under the inspiration Of Savonaroll