Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-14
THE LIBRARY TABLE

In Kills and the Sea" Hilaire Belloc,
trenchant, satirical critic and historian,
always with definite Sympathies and
point of view, took a vacation and went
| rambling The book is not new one,
but it Is q good one to read at this
time of year. With a friend Mr.. Belloc
did most of his rambling, over the hills
and along coasts. A friend for such ad-
ventures as he describes must be of the
right sort, not Just an estimable fellow,
but incompatible. In opening his first
essay Mr.. Belloc delicately Satirizes
himself while he suggests the qualities
of his friend. He says: There were
| once two men. They were men Of might
and breeding. They were young, they
were intolerant, they were hale.
They loved each other like brothers, vet
they quarrelled like Socialists. They
loved each other because they had in
common the bond of mankind; they
quarrelled because they differed upon
| nearly all other things. The one was
of the faith. the other most certainly
was not. The one sang loudly, the
other sweetly. The one was stronger,
the other more cunning. The
one was indifferent to danger, the other
| forced himself at 1t. The one could
write verse, the other was quite in
| capable thereof. The one could read
| and quote Theocritus. the other read
and quoted himself alone. The high
| gods had given to one judgment, to the
| other valour; but to both that measure
of misfortune which Is their gift to
| those whom they cherish. From this
last proceeded in them both a great
knowledge of truth and defense of it,
| to the tedium of their friends; a devo-
| ton to the beauty of women and Of
n nIIfgnnknp nf
tain things and men, and, alas!
| permanent sadness also"
X
These two friends put out into the
| uncertain North Sea in a little boat
| only IS feet long a boat which had
bad disposition. Every part Of her had
some disability and she did everything
wrong She was possessed by spirit of
Erebus. So the first essay is called
1.-THE North Sea-" and the author of it
might easily never have written 1t, for
| 1.-The god called Aeolus, that blows from
| the northeast of the world (you may see
him on old maps-it is pity they don't
put him on the modern), said to his
| friends: L see little boat 1t is long
since sank one; and all together they
gave chase, like Imperialists. to destroy
what was infinitely weak" Another
voyage in the little boat was more
peaceful, when he started out one morn
ing from South Goodwin Lghtship,
tired of drifting about in the ebb, and
put his boat out to sea. In light and
steady breeze he sailed all morning, and
about 2 O'Clock, as he drank his wine
and ate his bread and meat at the
tiller, he saw, through thick haze OF
heat. Griz-neZ, a huge ghost,
right up against and above me; and
wondered, for 1 had crossed the Cham
mel. now for the first time, and knew
now what it felt like to see new land"
The glamour of the Channel and how
much more glamourous 1t Is when
crossed in a small boat than in large
steamer, give the theme for the essay,
The Channel"
A delightful group of the essays tell
of experiences in the Pyrenees: ON
'Mailles,'" THE Pyrenean Hive" The
Wing of Dalua," THE Inn OF the
Margeride," THE Cerdagne," "Carcas-
some" "Roncesvalles," THE Canigou."
How an attempt to cross the Pyrenees
was thwarted is told in THE Wing
of Dalua." The two friends wished t.
visit the valleys of Andorra, because
at was secretly known to them that
in this place there were no pictures,
and that no one had praised its people,
and. further, that no saint had ever
troubled it." They determined to go
by no travelled path, but TO marcn
straight across the main range ana
thus to descend upon Andorra. But
the spirits of the mountain Businesses
were outraged at their insolence and
threw a spell upon them which de-
stroyed their sense of direction, so that
they apparently went about In circle
and. after several days and nights OF
bewildered wandering and growing TER
ror, found themselves back in France,
coming down into the very dale where
they had begun their ascent. me
general contour of the Pyrenees is well
described. "All the high valleys OF
mountains go in steps, but those OF the
Pyrenees in a manner more regular
even than those of the Sierra Nevada
out in California, which the Pyrenees
SO greatly resemble. For the steps
here are nearly always three in num-
Der between the plain and the main
chain, and each is entered by a regu-
lar gate of rock. So it is in the valley
of the Ariege, and so 1t is in that. Of
the Aston, and SO it is in every other
valley until you get to the far emf,
where live the cleanly but incompre-
hensible BasQueS. Each OF these steps
is perfectly level, somewhat oval in
shape, q mile or two, or sometimes nVe
miles long, but not often mile broad.
Through each will run the river OF
the valley, and upon either side OF it
there will be rich pastures, and high
plain of this sort is called Jasse, the
same as in California is called nat,
as Dutch Flat Poverty Flat, and
other famous flats"
~
"The Spirit of the Times"-not the
present times, but the various times
during the period l543-16S7-is an
alyzed in "A History of Modern Gull
ture," by Preserved Smith, professor OF
history in Cornell University. Ideals
Of morals and manners are shown TO
have undergone great changes. In
fact, the author says that every con-
ceivable form of sexual relations, every
conceivable form of holding property,
has been regarded in some society at
some time as the only righteous one"
In nothing has change been more
marked than in the position of women
in society. Bishop Aylmer, preaching
before Queen Elizabeth, dared to de-
clare that most women were 'fond,
foolish, wanton flibbergibs evil
tongued, worse minded, and in every
way doltified with the dregs OF the
devils dunghill." Perhaps he recon-
ciled the Queen to his language by
fiatteringly pointing out her superiority
to most women" Thomas Fuller, &c
CicSAooIASaA AAASVoA AAAi' NANSeN J -sstI,
that the virtuous woman 'commandeth
her husband in any equal matter by
constantly obeying him" ana never
crosseth him in his anger" Massa-
chusetts laws we're very liberal, as COM
pared with English law and practice,
for law of 1641 provided that every
married woman shall be free from
bodily correction or stripes by her hus-
band, unless it be in his own defence
upon her assault" 1t must often have
been difficult to decide this question OF
self-defenSe. Probably 1t was some
times settled by the relative size and
~ L..-laa..a .z.ifn Milton