Evening star., 1933-02-12

gested Pathological Principles contains much
matter for thought, and probably, on the part
OF many, for disagreement. 1t discusses, for
example, the desirabity of abolishing prisons.
What may properly be expected is gradual
evolution Of the prison into group of institu-
tionS OF varying functions which meet the
several needs Of the problems presented" DR..
White does not entirely agree with the views
OF Clarence Darrow which point toward the
abolition Of both prisons and punishment. He
believes that persons of anti-social tendencies
cannot be permitted to exercise their destruc-
tive instincts free from interference"
THE MAKING OF NICHOLAS LONGwORTH:
ANNALS OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY BY
Clara Longworth De Chambrun. New York:
Ray Long & Richard r. Smith.
NMY short time has elapsed since the
~ death Of the able and popular Speaker
worth. Doubtless other biographies Of him
will be written, but none can have the first
hand knowledge and charm of personal
"Reminiscences possessed by this work Of his
sister, the Comtesse de Chambrun. 1t is
Characterization, o study of personality and
private human interests. rather than an ac-
count Of public activities and services. In her
Prelude" the Comtesse de Chambrun says:
'"Ihe key to his rare personality may be found
in this-he neither changed nor stopped grow
Ing steadily. equally. in height and in breadth,
like the great blackberry tree under whose
boughS his childhood was passed What
essentially Nick was at 16. found him again
at 60, and so did all who knew him; affec-
donate humorous sociable, just, with a never
tagging interest in, and love for, his fellow
man."
Part Of "The Making of Nicholas Long
worth" Is study in the pioneer history of the
United States, or of that part of it where
Cincinnati came into being An early Nicholas
LOngworth great-grandfather of the Speaker,
came down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh In
the first year of the nineteenth century, with
what was for the time an elegant wardrobe,
including fancy waistcoats, silk breeches ruined
shirts, and many cravats. He was addicted
to writing witty verse, at least there have been
printed worse" He was one of the early
builders Of Cincinnati, and invested all the
savings from his legal practice in land. His
pioneer ancestry was always a matter of pride
to the Speaker, who retained through life a
deep sense Of belonging to his birthplace and
to its people. To represent Cincinnati in the
Nation was his chief pride and satisfaction"
Part II, "Our Own Times" 1869-1931 begins
with the birth Of the third Nicholas Longworth
and ends with his death, less than month
after he had adjouried Congress. Some of the
interesting details about Mr.. Longworth's per-
sonal tastes include his love of music especially
his violin; his natural elegance in dress, though
he spent little time and money on his wardrobe;
his genius for friendship, his friendliness with
the press. The Comtesse de Chambrun, who
Is. OF course, writer of experience student
Of Shakespeare and the author of Shakespeare
criticism, has written this life of her brother in
style direct and simple, free from eulogistic
ornamentation, delicate in its discriminating
appreciation
SINCLAIR LEWIS: BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH By Carl Van Doren, New York.
D0lbIedav g.
TIMED for publication at about the same date
as "Ann Vickers'' Mr.. Lewis new novel,
this biographical essay with its accompaniment
OF chronology, chronological list of books by
Sinclair Lewis and photography, offers both in
formation and critical estimate of the winner
OF the Nobel prize, whom many in this country
and IN Europe consider our foremost American
writer Of fiction. Mr.. Van Doren is evidently
among those who hold that high opinion. His
critical estimate Is sympathetic, enthusiastic
He says: Those inquiring foreigners, who, in
the eighteenth century, would have sought out
Benjamin Franklin as the essential American
or in the nineteenth century Mark Twain
would, in the twentieth, find what they were
looking for In Sinclair Lewis"
Sinclair Lewis the man, is as important in
the essay as the writer, who is called "the
national epitome." "As to flesh and blood, Mr..
Lewis has the long, heroic angularity of Uncle
Sam, the color of a torch, the mobile i'm
patience which comes from quick and restless
nerves. In any imaginable society he would be
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