Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-22

By the BOOklOUer

Brethren" The idealism OF Mr.. Free
mans second novel, Down in the VAL
ley" in which farming appears as an
exhilarating recreation, is less con-
vincing. One can entirely sympathize
with Everard Mulliver when, released
| from the domination of his mother, he
also rebels against the domination of
| the established grocery business in
Bury, inherited from his father, and
buys and restores a picturesque. tum-
bledown cottage in the Valley Of Lind
mer, in Suffolk. 1t is quite possible
for him to manage his select grocery
business, with the eficient organiza-
ton built up by his father, and to
spend week ends, and even frequent
extra holidays, at the cottage. But
the idyllic rural life which he SO
rapturously encounters at Lindmer
soon makes the blending of tea and
coffee and the supervising of purA
chases and accounts seem utterly bore
some From the start Everard evinces
an unusual flair for country life and
all its processes and associations. The
cool moist earth-nice, rich black
stu1"-in his garden yields readily to
his spade, while the robins hop about
and pick up the worms which are
turned up. Lettuces and cabbages and
salad herbs soon spring from the
ground and furnish his week end table.
| aRRACoi BCulo DluNlO IIOIl
his old orchard are delicious to MUNICH
during inspections of his property and
are utilized by his model houSekeeper
for conserves. Esthetic pleasure is
provided by a parterre of grass, sur
rounded by clumps Of lavender, roses.
marigolds, night-scented stock, mar
joram, hollyhocks and evening prim-
roSeS-a bower where he takes maps
in reclining chair. Though a gen
tleman," he adapts himself so easily
so eagerly-to the village social life
that he is soon the most popular fire.
quenter Of THE Olive Leaf" where
he is always ready to treat or be
treated TO the bitter, nutty beer of the
host, Mr.. Chinery. And at the end Of
a year he is the village champion at
the annual QUOT match
| \
It is doubtful If his cottage garden.
his orchard, his social popularity would
have completely changed Everard Null
liver from merchant Of Bury into
farmer of Lindmer Vale. Other forces
are necessary for that. The first step
In the change is taken on the day
when, "buckheading" his hedge, Everard
sees Farmer Kindred blowing in
the neighboring field, pushes through
a thin spot in the hedge, leaps the ditch
and asks to try q furroW. After
crooked furrow or two and one Jump
OF the pillow entirely out of the fur
row, Everard proves to be a natural
plowman. Flowing on Farmer Kin
dred's land becomes his chief rec
reation. for which he neglects his gar
den, and, of course, hts business in
Bury Not gradually, but with extreme
rapidity. he becomes expert in all the
labors of the Kindred farm-sIeep
raising, fold setting, hurdle making,
planting. draining land. Dinner with
the farmer under a hedge and tea in
Mrs. Kindred's kitchen becomes the
usual thing. The other influence which
draws Everard more and more to the
country is Ruthie Gathercole After a
brief idyl Of meetings in lanes and
copSeS. he comes to see in her an i'm
portant part of his newly realized uni
verse OF, simple, primitive and earthly
things. more beautiful, more inspiring
than all. She, too, was close to earth
herself a dear symbol of its fruitfulnesS
and bounty, answering his simple need
with her own, giving all he asked and
asking nothing more in return than he
could give, linking them both to the
roots OF things, so that the sap of the
world flowed in them and moved them
to Its own eternal ends" He looks
forward to the time when. having grown
old together on the land, he and Ruthie
shall be like Farmer Kindred and his
wife, Emma-he master of his fiocks
and herds. tilling his acres in the val
ley-the farmer: and Ruthie he
side him. her dark-gold hair greying.
her buxom figure spreading and her
red cheeks pouched, a tall, outstanding
old woman of Emma Kindred's mould
the farmers WIFE,"
X 4
The first prose work of Siegfried
SasSoon has gone through a number
of English editions and been published
In America. Whether genuine auto
biography or partly fiction, Memoirs
Of Fox-Hunting Man" contains much
that is almost poetry. In writing prose,
Siegfrted SaSsoon seems as unable to
escape from poetry as was Carl Sand
burg when he wrote his Lincoln" The
Memoirs" starts with the author. at
the age of 9, welcoming his first pony,
and ends with him in the trenches
There, in the midst Of horror. he was
yet able to see beauty. Somewhere
out Of sight beyond the splintered tree
tops OF Hidden Wood bird began to
sing. Without knowing why, I re-
membered that it was Easter Sunday
\ y X y
A Canadian has his opinions about
the rulers and statesmen of Europe and
expresses them freely in Gaps and
Crowns of Europe" by Thomas Guerin.
The author is French Canadian but
claims that he has met an unusual
number of the European potentates.
Reproductions Of many signed photo
graphs illustrate the book. There were
disappointments met by Mr. Guerin in
his search for celebrities King George
and the former Kaiser proved elusive
and Monsieur BRAND was among those
not met. But the Hapsburg Archduke
Albrecht was luncheon companion
and Austen Chamberlain gave an hour
and half Of his time to Mr.. Guerin.
The impressions of the book seem al
most entirely personal, not hampered
by world judgments.
**
Lincoln, pursuing the course he be-
heved just and right. aSsassinated at
the moment when he thought the worst
was over, but was planning a sane and
kindly reconstruction, was thwarted and
i prosecuted by large numbers of both
sincere and hypocritical men in his own
time. After his death. the process of
elevating him into the Nations ideal
began. Perhaps historical perspective
IL always needed to estimate any man
correctly, perhaps it is easier to do
Justice to dead than to living man.
third theory is provided by Lloyd
Lewis in his book, Myths After Lin
coin" 1t Is that every nation requires
a folkgod and folklore and that people
of the United States proceeded to create
both after the death of Lincoln. Ad-
hitting the point of view of Mr.. Lewis.
why was not the Nation supplied with
both folkgod and folklore after the
death of Washington? Perhaps because
Washington did not suffer q martyrs
| death. Mr.. Lewis goes at great length
into the various legends concerning the
instigators OF the plot to kill Lincoln
and those about the escape Of Booth.