Evening star., 1935-02-17

art to the eternal soul of man? Here
in this spacious, dignified house, with
its fine nominees, I had again the
same feeling I once had in the Cairo
Museum amid the gorgeous jewelry
and the carved gold and gems Of
kings and queens who had made his
tory long ago.
Time disappeared, and I was face
to face with a great spirit Of old,
breathing the same air in the same
surroundings with a courteous, stately
and humorous gentleman The fam
iliar rooms in which George Wash
| ington once lived brought me even
nearer to an understanding of the
inner spaces of his soul His bed and
table, the sober arrangement Of the
upholstery and the fine and solid fur
niture against the prettily printed
English wall paper told me much
more about him than have any num-
| Der of learned books.
Here was, undoubtedly. a gentleman,
one Of the richest in his country, en-
dowed with means, leisure and culture.
yet not too oversophisticated to lose
his grip on grim facts and turn away
the current of great enterprises s.
Ownership Of land and the touch OF
the soil kept him in communion with
basic realities and he risked his house,
wealth and life at the call of his coun-
try when it beckoned for a chief, be-
cause he was born to be one
Revolution of Gentlemen.
! Americas revolution was a revolu-
ton of gentlemen. 1t was made for
and supported by the people, but it
was under the instigation, control and
leadership of gentlemen who had an
| iron, yet not unscrupulous firmness
and a finely balanced feeling for sue
cess and fairness, for measure and
/ the thoughtful nicetieS of honor
This is more, I think, than can be
/ honestly said of most revolutions. It
stamped Americas tradition into its
subsequent history with a peculiar
brand. This fact springs out of Mount
Vernon's quiet, dignified meadows as
! directly as any innocent blade of grass
| from its soil.
Once had inhaled that quaint Old
World atmosphere of gentlemanly pio-
neering found it easier to solve the
riddles Of American life today. I dis
covered the same spirit-a curious
mingling of adventure and discipline,
of uncurbed rebellion and lawfulness-
in dear old streets and squares ot
Philadelphia and Boston and when ]
piously followed the traces of the
Plymouth pioneers.
I even seemed to breathe It along
the trail of the Western rush, in Cali
fornia, and. more especially, in Salt
Lake City. where heard from living
lips the oral tradition Of Joseph Smith
and Brigham Young. The trek OF
these people through terrible hard
ships and privations to a new home H
the wilderness is saga as fabulous rs
those of the Middle Ages.
In the quiet, clear light of Mount
Vernon also solved another seeming
contradiction in American life which
had puzzled me. While the lesser
literature of the United States as q
rule is filled with buoyancy and some
times coarse optimism and childish
boasting about Americas greatness
industry, progress and general perfec-
ton, the more sophisticated class oi
authors and artists had amazed me
in their essays and poems, philosophy
and novels, by striking note of peSsi-
mistic complaint about Americas
shortcomings in the higher ideals.
Both Viewpoints Justified.
The contradiction, believe, is only
apparent. In truth, both these classes
of moralists are true to their duty
The mission Of the first is to hold up
the spirits of the larger public by in
jections of optimism and enthusiasm
encouraging the people to live. work
hope and thrive as strenuously and
happily as possible.
The smaller class of writer's and au-
thors carries out its mission just as
faithfully for the smaller group. Wom-
en- like Katherine Mayo or Fannie
Hurst, men like Dresser, Sinclair Lewis
Hemingway, Anderson, Ralph Waldo
and many others administer. as q
stimulant, the counter poison Of sound
healthy peSsimism. Like the biblical
prophets of old, they denounce In
terms Of generous indignation some
peculiar grief or the general unsatis-
factory state of things to keep "the
salt of the earth" from getting dat
and to arouse moral discomfort so that
people will fight for improvement.
AS a humble consort in craftsman
ship, I cannot but thankfully admire
these brothers and sisters of mine who
resist the temptation to hattery, real
izing that we shall all be held re-
sponsible for every syllable we write.
whether it ring true or false! They
know-as who should know better
the tremendous responsibility Of each
carrier Of the word, compared to
which, especially with the immense
circulation Of American books, maga-
zines and newspapers, dynamite Is
mild and innocuouS.
America! OF all the places have
been to abroad, none has left me
such a desire to return.
| How shall I ever forget, when shall
ever get back to that glitter Of bits
of mica on the pavements Of Fifth
avenue, hard like the sparks Of dia-
monds and soft like the glitter of stars.
when the big town roars itself to sleep
under the floods Of electricity stream
| ing over New York like stupendous
checker board Of sreen and red2