Evening star., 1935-10-13

ahead for something similar. These
are quotations from Mark. Beside
them, the rest, though scholarly,
might just as well be silence. One
page of "Huckleberry Finn" is worth
the whole of it.
EARLY ONE MORNING. BY Walter
de la Mare. New York: The Mac
MILAN Co.
IN THIS large volume. Mr.. de Ia
Mare treats eXhaustively of child
hood. From every conceivable view
point, he looks upon ourselves when
young. and he quotes frequently from
the records of the early years of men
and women Of genius to illustrate his
meanings.
His book has three parts-"Early
Years" Early Memories and EARLY
Writings" Seldom perhaps has the
status of the child been subjected to
just this sort of examination, combin-
ing, as it does. psychological and his
torical research. but research made
from the point of view of the creative
artist and not the psychologist or the
historian. For Mr.. de la Mare ap-
proaches his subject as the artist.
He has used neither graph with a
writhing curve nor a statistical table
to prove to us that children are
actually the young of the human race.
He writes about the supply of chill
dren (Which he fears is running low,
their dolls, toys, woes, memories,
schools, horrors and achievements
and he does richly produce quotations
from the recorded memories of gen.
fuses to substantiate his points; but
of course points and quotations alike
are selected by Mr.. de la Mare as
he has seen fit. and are the result
of a loving, rather than a scientific
study. Notwithstanding this lack of
satisfactorily grim spirit of inquiry,
the book is vast mine of inforna-
ton.
1t is too bad that Mr.. de la Mare,
writing on SO popular subject, has
used a style that is laborious and
obscure. He has done SO, however,
and it seems likely that this alone
will keep his book from going far be-
yond library shelves. 1t deserves to
go further. Perhaps this artist ought
to take a lesson in popular" writing
from our scientists after all. Their
truth-seeking works, one seems to
recall, not infrequently become best
sellers.
THE LEES OF VIRGINIA. BY Bur-
ton ]. Hendrick. Little, Brown 6.
Co.
THE soil of America has been sterile
for dynasties.
The European family tree could not
find root-room here. 1t was choked
in the rank-growing wilderness of op-
portunity and adventure in which
futile efforts were made to plant it.
Some of the saplings flourished for
a time and bore a few gorgeous bios
SONS. Then the indigenous, unpedi-
greed growth of democracy surged in
upon the little clearings. The tenderly
nurtured transplants weakened and
withered.
So it is that the races Of outstand-
ing hero and scoundrel alike-such as
elsewhere on earth are hereditary
lords and ladies-became inextricably
mingled with the forest growth. Blood
availed them nothing. Most lived and
are living obscure lives. We know not
even the names of the great-great-
grandchildren of the founders of the
Republic. Some, solely on their merit
as individuals, have achieved out
standing distinction. But the progeny
of generals have been no more exalted
than the progeny of laborers.
It may be that the Sterility lies
deeper than the overt course of Ameri-
can history from jamestown to the
Argonne. Even before the coming of
the English this land-perhaps alone
of all lands on earth-had given no
prestige to heredity. The painted red
man had no aristocracy, in striking
contrast to other aboriginals. All the
constant warfare of 80 or 40 centuries
in North America had failed so to
fertilize the soil with blood and har-
row it with grave-digging to the ex-
tent where the seeds of dynasty could
sprout and flourish.
Not even the descendants Of Capt.
Kidd or Simon Girty are dukes and
earls-to say nothing of the descend
ants of George Washington or John
Paul Jones. Let the advocates of
heredity explain the condition as best