Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-11
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the B0oklOUer

Joseph Hilaire Pierre Belloc. has been
characterized as "a Frenchman, an Eng
lishman, an oxford man, a country gen.
tleman. soldier, a satirist, democrat.
novelist and a practical journalist" "
Two important points have been omitted
in this list. He is historian and a
devoted Roman Catholic. He Is at his
best in historical argument when the
position of the Roman Catholic Church
and its place IN history are under dis
cuSSion, and some of his most interest
ing histories are those in which Cathol-
icism is an important issue, as James
the Second" "Richelieu," How the
Reformation Happened" and his 1880
book, "Wolsey.', Mr.. Belloc was born
at La Celle, near Paris, in 1870, and Is
the son of a French barrister, Louis
Belloc. He was educated at Balliol Col
lege, oxford, where he received his
tory scholarship. His wife was an
American woman, native of California.
Not long after leaving college he was
naturaliZed as British citizen, and
was a member of the House of Com
mons from 1905 to 1910. He refused to
stand for reelection because he has the
literary mans distaste for politics and
preferred to be free from party tram
mels within Parliament so that he could
attack political measures as he chose.
ical and critical of the literary work
and ideas of others, he has come into
conflict with other prominent English
writer's, notably Bernard Shaw and H.
@. Wells. Shaw. free-thinker and So
cialist, and Belloc, Catholic and medi-
evaliSt. would naturally not find them
selves in agreement about many things.
| Belloc lives at Kings Land, Shipley,
Horsham, about 20 miles south of
London.
Hilaire Belloc's "Wolsey" is not so
much biography as it is an analysis
| Of the character and the motives which
! actuated Wolsey in his relations with
Henry VIII and the other soyereignS of
| Europe, Francis l of France and Charles
v of Spain. The importance of Wolsey
grew largely from circumstances. mot
so much WolSey's own life as the place
and time of his activity put a strain on
| right judgment, because they are the
/ place and time in which was prepared
! that religious revolution called The
Reforma ton whence modern England
| springs" Mr.. Belloc treats his volume
| as a drama. tragedy. and entities Part
I The Setting of the Tragedy" and
| Part II The Action" The rise of the
son of a butcher and grazier of Ipswich
/ to the position of cardinal in the Cath
I Ole Church, chancellor Of England and
unofficial master of the King of Eng
! land: then his downfall, until, being
| fastened. sick man, on a charge Of
/ high treason. from Yorkshire to the
Tower he died at the Augustinian Abbey
at Leicester. are surely tragedy enough.
! Shakespeare recognized the DIR matte
value of Wolsey's life, and made him the
! dominant figure in his play Henry
, Hr pa1lOn no
Sonal tragedy Is secondary. The great
tragedy is that of the state, violently
! separated from the Church of Rome.
As a result of the Renaissance, coming
| into conflict with medieval social forms,
! there was "a growing menace of 6isrup-
! ton and ruin. The loosing of such wild
! forces against containing barriers so
! fixed, so Geadened and so decayed, BODIED
immediate anarchy. and. after anarchy.
after the dust of the explosion should
have settled down. the complete dis
union Of Christian men, the ruin OF that
by which we had lived and achieved. the
, loss of a society wherein all could re-
pose With Wolsey did it lie
mere than with anv other man whether
the good or the evil fate should prevail
! He failed. The tragedy is the
tragedy of his f2iIure"
X
In Part I of "Wclsav" in the chapter
The Cast" Hia're Bel,oc gives a
series of vignettes of the chief person
ages Of the early sixteenth century. In
addition to Wolsey himself. there are
Henry VIII of England: Catherine OF
Aragon, Eis first wife: Anne Boleyn. his
second wife: Thomas Howard. third
! Duke of Norfolk. uncle of Anne Boleyn
! Charles Brandon. Duke of Suffolk. hus-
10, @f zrr-F~ sefn
| Adrian VI and Clement VII; Francis
! of France: Charles V Of Spain; Cardinal
! Campegg;o. papel legate to England
Cambridge Cardinal and Archbishop of
York; Richard Foxe. Bishop of Win
chester, and Thomas Cromwell son OF
! a public house keeper in Putney. who
! supp.anted Wolsey. The sketches OF
c. Uterine of Aragon. 80 free from all
CorlpleHity. g-asping so strongly those
few main principles which for her were
the whole of life: Clement VII. "eX-
cellent in organization. defective in
power. Francis l. "a charging man
who won and lost: Charles V. per
fectlv sane. one might almost say toe
sane" in spite of his family faint OF
INSANITY and C5mpeggio. learned
! steadfast and OF high integrity
especially good
More then 200 plays by which chill
6ren NAV find eX.N.essiOn for thei. dra-
matte instincts in the home, the church
or the school are listed in Index t.
Children's Plays by Aeola Hyatt. which
has recently been published by the
American Library Association. Growing
interest in drama is shown by the fact
that the author who based the collec-
ton on list issued in 1921, was able
to add about 900 titles. many o which
have been published recently. Descrip-
tive notes accompanying each title give
the number of boys and girls in tn:
cast. information about coS1Jming. set!
and time required for production. Play:
for holidays and anniversaries and play!
on popular subjects have been reliSteC
under the days and subjects for which
they are appropriate. Another helpful
feature is the further relisting of title!
in three main groups, according to thu
number Of characters required Book
on plays and play production are listec
separately. as are books on coStuming
folk dances and singing games. A sec
ton is also devoted to puppets. thei
history. construction and manipulation
Buying Information is furnished for al
entries. In the Introduction Cora Me
Patten. chairman OF the junior depart
ment OF the ORA ma League of America
points out that the desire for Spokel
drama which cannot at present be sup
piled by professional companies" i
bringing about the rise of the local dra
matte club. She emphasizes the imDor
tance of including children in this ORA
matte renaissance, ard says of the In
deX g" that 1t should repTe-en
an asset in the dramatic growth o
every community it reaches"
| X X X
Once dead, the hero of a biograph
can appear to his biographer only as
ghost. Such is the biographical theor
of Miss E. M. Butler, who has recentl
written Sheridan: A Ghost Story" TIL
first part of the biography is entitle,
"Sheridan's Posthumous Life" and tell
of his different biographerS, the evi
dence about him ha found in his