Evening star., 1932-10-15
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C.. BOWERMAN.

objets dart, novelist, rival Of Madame
de Sevigne as a letter writer, was one
of the most interesting personalities Of
18th century England. II he is known
to many today in no other way, al
least they find his name in histories
of English literature as the originator
Of the Gothic romance. by his wild tale
THE Castle of Otranto," in which "a
monstrous helmet with waving plumes
''' at suitable moments materializes
and strikes terror" This romance un-
Walpoles absorption in his home OF
tween Twickenham and Hampton
Court, which he was busy remodeline
into q pseudo Gothic castle. A very
readable new biography of Horace Wal
pole which stresses his great enjoy
ment Of life, from his early maturity
to his good old age, is by Stephen
Gwynn. Mr.. Gwyrfn believes, as dc
other critics, that Horace Walpole's
work OF greatest and most permanent
value is to be found in what was his
greatest pleasure, his letters. These
have now been collected in many vol
umes, and in them "he renders to us
. what he rendered
unconsciously-the temper Of his times "
The joys Of Walpole's life were his
friends, his letter. writing his library
his home at Strawberry Hill. to which
he was always adding q tower or q
gallery; his garden, his dogs, and his
bibAlots, which he collected rather un-
disor .ninatingly. As for his seat In
Parliament, which was almost perma-
nent, he took his duties lightly and
rarely made q speech, but was very
conscientious In his attendance and
voting with his party. There was a
real humanity about him. a warm
which made him one OF
the most popular men of his time, In
spite of his many eccentricities.
Horace Walpole never married and
Mr.. Gwynn confesses that II he could
throw any light on any scandals in his
life lit would be- by current standards,
a biographer's first duty to communi-
cate all the succulent details" but he
has been able to find no scandals.
Nobody IN that plain-spoken age seems
to have brought any such charge
against Horace" But Horace Walpole
had genius for friendships with
women much older or much younger
than himself. Perhaps the most famous
of all his friendships was that with
Madame Du Deffand, beginning when
she was 68 and he was 48. He met her
in Paris in 1765. when she had been
blind for 18 years. In 1717. the year
when Horace Walpole was born. she was
a young woman married to dull man
and flung herself into the society over
which the Regent presided; for fort
night she was even the Regents mis-
tress. After 10 years experience Of
she settled down. in 1880
when Horace Walpole was an Eton boy
to live with her brother. a canon. "
After that she had a famous salon for
many years, even after her sight had
failed. and there Horace Walpole met
her during a stay in Paris. They
formed a friendship which lasted until
her death, Is years later. when she
bequeathed him her papers and her
cross old dog, Tonton, which he cher
ished and pampered as long as it
lived. The blind old woman and the
man Of the world in his prime had
much in common. From the first he
was inclined to treat her as a living
document - especially concerning a
period celebrated for its improprieties-
while she on her part was finding him
just the company that suited her. Ne
mind, like his, had a great dislike OF all
she liked facts, not the
cries. she hated metaphysics and loved
the dry light of the intellect-Some-
times for the fine things it showed her,
but more often for the pleasure of
laughter. He kept her laughing.
But also she wanted his affection" He
gave it TO her, with reservations, but
had a dread of ridicule, fearing that
the society Of his world would find an
attachment to such an old woman alb
surd. So he continually hurt her sensi-
tive feelings by enjoining upon her
reserve and discretion in the expression
of her feeling for him in her letters.
His own letters to her alternated be-
tween warm friendship and cynical
against making him ridicu-
lous. Ever since I ceased to be young"
he wrote her. Il have had a horrible
fear Of becoming a ridiculous old man"
X 4 X
Retribution for his pedantic attitude
toward Madame Du Deffand overlook
Walpole years later when in the opin-
ion of many. he really became "a ri
diculouS old man" When he was II
a Mr.. Berry and his two charming
Mary and Agnes. took a
house near him at Twickenham and
he saw a great deal Of them. He wrote
verses to the two beauties, called them
his two wives" wrote them the most
effusive letters (without any of that
discretion which he had enforced upon
Madame Du DeffandD, talked of them
to all of his friends. He
but Mary was obviously his favOrite
During their absences on the Continent
he was overwhelmed with loneliness,
and found his usual. formerly enjoy
able, occupations dull and meaningless.
He was loud in his lamentations. both
to them and TO all his associates, and
in his urgent demands that they hasten
their return. When that return was
announced for the near future, he
wrote: Yet do not wonder. that after
4 years absence, my affection. instead
Of waning. Is increased. Can I help
feeling the infinite obligation I have to
you both for quitting Italy that you
love to humour Methusalem?" Mary
Berry gave up marrying a man she
loved partly because she knew the grief
her departure would cause Horace Wal
pole. At Walpole'S death. at the age
Of 80 he left to the Berrys Cliveden.
small estate near Strawberry Hill; a
bequest of money. and
many of his papers. Mary Berry pre-
pared for publication several quarto
volumes of his writings.
X Il X r
Villa Gathers latest fiction volume,
Obscure DeStinies." consists of three
long stores of short-story type. Neigh
oour Rosicky," "Old Mrs. Harris" and
Two Friends" The first has kinship
With Miss Gathers earlier novel, MY
Antonia," through its treatment OF the
life of foreign-born Americans on
Middle Western farms. Old Farmer
2osicky loves the soil, with all its hard
ships, because upon it man may be
whereas in the city he
cannot get away from the misery and
brutality of his neighbors. "Old Mrs.
Harris" lives in an arid Colorado town
and is the household drudge in the
1ome of her daughter. The town does
not approve Of this slavery Of the older
generation, and Miss Rosen, Jewish
next-door neighbor of Mrs Harris. does