Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-16
ETHAN ALLEN By John Pell. Boston:
Houghton, Mifi1in Company.

"sExT books of history memorial statu-
airy in art the flamboyance of patri-
otto oratory-theSe together have
rendered distinct disservice to the
early great men of this country These
have moreover, in great measure barred the
heroes Of other days from passing on their
only considerable legacy to the generations AFTER
them-the legacy Of inspiration and example.
No? But yes. Who ever sees lad actually
deyouring a school book in an ardor Of adj
venture with some American hero OF the past?
Who ever comes upon one, wrapt, before the
personality that emanates from some street.
side statue of fame? Who listens to the orator
of a national celebration day except to wish
vaguely that he would be more discriminating
and less wordy in respect to the fathers" of his
theme?
But, within few years. change has been
apparent in each of these three directions.
Commemorative art, that OF city streets and
parks, is bee. ming a truer art and, thereby. a
clearer inspiration to the public generally. In
proof enter the Lincoln Memorial and feel the
outgoing spirit of Abraham Lincoln sitting
there. Again. wait beside The Minute Man
Of Concord" another gift to the world by Daniel
Chester French Or, Just below the Capitol,
share the burden of the Civil War that Is so
clearly weighing upon the body and soul Of
Ulysses Grant, under the imaginative gift and
power of Henry M Shrady, the artist. These
alone will prove to you that true genius is max
ing restitution to the great men of the past by
way of restoring to them a continuance OF their
power with us and with those who come after
us. Even patriotic oratory is gradually tanning
itself to the measure of a human subject in
stead of leaping toward the heights of apoca-
lyptic vision. And the school books of history
sloweSt and most cautious to get into step
are by degrees abandoning the old evaStve fic-
tons with which Puritanism both frightened
and fierce, sought to train its youth in stern
denial of the basic facts Of all human nature.
So little by little the old mannikins and robots,
impressed to service by tmidity and ignorance,
are making way for q temperance OF the
makers of American history. their moments OF
weakness upon them as well as their years OF
strength. Thus only are they able to Ilu-
inmate the present, to direct the future.
CLOSED with unassailable perfection these are
impotent. where in franker consideration they
become beacon lights of enlightened progress.
seETHAN ALLEN" illustrates most interest
ingly the new day Of historic research.
Not great-say like Washington, against whom
the slightest adverse comment brings actual
pain to the great majority, piously bent upon
cheriShing q divinity regardless of the daily
service of disclosing the man. No, not great
in the Olympus sense, Ethan Allen, but so
clearly and robustly and stirringly q man OF
his day. that the recrudescence of Ethan Allen
under the inspiration Of John Pell becomes
not so much the bringing of Allen up into the
present Rather does It transport the reader
back across the years when Ethan Allen stood
the legitimate forbear of the modern go-getter
-realtor land boomer, trader, investor, leader
In the fierce fights going on between the
provinces Of New York and New Hampshire,
with boundary lines as hot cause for dispute
and border warfare they are today. Methods
o shade different and that Is all Originator In
q mood of fierce defiance, Of The Green Noun
tain Boys. Leader Of these Partaker in the on
coming revolution-courageous, bold past rea-
son. impulsive. trouble-naaker. trouble mender.
gallant as q soldier shrewd as q trader sturdy
as = patriot Truly, this is sound and lively
book" one that delivers over to US q man alive.
One, too, Of such diverse and vital interests in
the colonies of the North that record of his
doings comes close to a reproduction of the
locality itself in the acute years Of ntercolonial
strife. This Is q picture OF its day. Rather
. re-enbodiment Of rude and determined men
following the lead Of one even ruder and more
determined. Such an ingratiating fellow, be-
sides, exciting resentment at some high-handed
measure, and almost Immediately inducing COM
piiance and cooperation.
In effect this is q great novel But it is also
historic fact. Its adventures. high and mo-
mentuous. are Of complete authenticity. Its
hero, as real as any other of the makers Of
our independence is Of q quality that invites,
enlists, commands and convinces even at this
long range OF time and circumstance stretching
between him and u.s.
GREECE TODAY: The Aftermath of the
Refugee Impact. BY Eliot Grinnell Mears.
California: Stanford University Press
or all the countries Of the world It Is hard
est to think of Greece as an economic en-
tity and problem. Despite knowledge to the
contrary, we still look upon this country as
the home of pagan gods, the land of sunny
leisure and its sequence of lovely art-yet we
know better. And here Mr.. Mears impresses
upon readers the fact that there is a modern
Greece, compact OF overpopulation, of Scant
resources, of fluctuating industrial suficiency,
of political uneasiness, Of town and country
not yet accommodated one to the other not