Evening star., 1933-10-18
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
HAVEN'S END. BY John p. Marquand
Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Margaret Csgmond.

HAVEN'S END. BY John p. Marquand
Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
It seems q pity that it cannot be tht
privilege of every individual in this vas
Nation to enjoy the enlightening expe'
rience Of life in a small town, prefer.
ably in one Of those which was founded
before the Revolutionary War. The ad.
vantages to be gained by such an ex.
perience. If accepted in the spirit OF
post course in citizenship, are
numerous enough to give merit to the
iCea, however fantastic it may be. Life
In any small community has an educa-
tional value far outweighing that con-
tanned in any text book on either eco
nomic, social or political questions, but
1t Is only In the towns and cities which
| are older than the Declaration Of In
| dependence that one can become fully
saturated with the fundamental influ-
| ences which brought about the creation
| of the largest nation in the world and
the development OF people separate
| and distinct in character from the race
from which it sprang.
Great physical and spiritual changes
have been wrought by time in the quaint
port towns, trading posts and centers OF
| political actidtywhich two hundred years
ago were engaged in thriving business
enterprises and seething with suspicion
decline, others have grown and pros
pered, and still others have vaiiantly
maintained a proportionate balance be-
tween their traditional significance and
the demands Of progressive develop
| ment. But in all Of them there will
still be found the extremes Of adher-
| ence to thought and doctrine and the
| Inyielding prides which prevailed when
| what is now the United States Of Amer
lea was but group of infant colonies.
For those whose experience has been
limited to strictly metropolitan life a
sojourn in Haven's End would be an
| ordeal for time. Studious observation
and infinite patience would be required
to arrive at a sympathetic understand
ing and appreciation Of the spiritual
and social character of its people. The
"Haven's End" selected by Mr.. Mar
! quand, though he does not identify it,
is undoubtedly in Massachusetts. 1t
might be any one of several New Eng
land communities and be true to the
traditions and the characters portrayed
in the narrative Also, except for its
distinct flavor of the sea, it might be
| any one OF the numerous Haven's Ends
| of Colonial birth which are scattered
along the Eastern border Of the United
States from st. Augustine to Maine and
still be an authentic description Of the
individuals and the events Of an age
gone by.
Mr.. Marquands narrative is in the
nature of chronicle Of the Swales and
Of the Scarlets. These two families, as
old as Haven's End itself, are typical of
the two social extremes which are ia
miliar history in all the little Haven S
Ends which have survived the rigors OF
time and modern development. In the
words of Sam Whistle, the Swales are
steel and the scarlets are lead. The
narrative itself tells Of the uncompro-
missing hardness of the aristocratic
SwaleS to save themselves from the con-
.aminating blood of the commoner Scar
lets.
THE Scarlets,"- says Sam Whistle
ARE heavy on their feet and patient
like the cattle. They're the ones who
pay the piper for the music. They're
the ones who work and build and make
two grow where one grew last. They
take no risks. They have no ups and
downs. They are kind and they are
mild and all they want is peace. And
what of the Swales? They're the ones
who make the music They take what
others may have gathered and toss it
over. They lead the Scarlets where no
Scarlet dares 60 first and beat them
when they follow. They have no pa
tience and no skill in useful toll and
they have no mercy, even for them
selves You cannot bend nor break 'em
or they would have been nothing long
ago. Steel for Swale and lead for
Scarlet, and steel cuts lead and lead
wraps steel. The Swales have no mercy
and no fear. but the Scarlets have them
both. The Swales go high and fall, but
Scarlets die in their beds"
1t Is story familiar to every observ-
ant individual who is thoroughly ac-
quainted with the small town. The
same circumstances and the same types
Of individuals are Just as distinct in the
great cities. but humanity in the mass
has little time for contemplation upon
the perpetual warfare between the
Swales and the Scarlets The former
rise to heights and fall to depths and
the latter die in their beds, but the
masses Of the metropolis are not con-
cerned. In Haven's End, where associa-
tions are more intimate. those who
know both families observe and wonder.
They have seen Swale fall in love
with a Scarlet and have known what
the consequences would be.
The chronicle recorded in this par
ticularly delightful book begins with the
founding of Haven's End and carries on
through the generations of these two
families the interesting story of their
accomplishments and their falls. Un-
popular and disdainful, the Swales have
always been cordially hated and re-
spected. Their scandals and question:
able escapades have always been
never-failing source of interesting con-
versation. and they always will be-
From the days when rum was traded
for slaves from Guiana, through the
period OF privateering and on down the
years the story of the Swales and the
Scarlets and Of Haven's End is told
with all of the genuine gift of Mr..
Marquand for bringing into reality the
things about which he writes.
To large degree the aristocracy of
the olden days has vanished from the
surviving Haven's Ends of Colonial DAYS,
but there Is still enough of it left to
hold those to whom history and tradi-
ton are the breath of life and to at
tract those few who love the bigness of
the drama which every day is played
In full in the quaint old towns which
made possible the birth of a nation.
With Mr.. Marquand's book as an in
centive, many readers will be inspired
to 60 to Haven's End and to stay there
for a long time.