Evening star., 1936-11-04
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
MARGARET GERMOND.
AUDUBON. BY Constance Rourke. New

befog legitimate concept of the charac-
ter of one who has advanced from OBJ
scurity to fame is the gradual substitu-
ton by succeeding generations of fact
for fancy until the figure that eventually
emerges from the haze of sentimentality
bears little resemblance to the man who
by genius or valor won the admiration
and esteem of his fellow man. Stripped
of the personality which made perse-
verance or leadership possible, and senti-
mentalized into being barely lowering
within the orbit Of mere mortalS, true
reputation has frequently been sub
merged in the building by romanticiSm
of character more traditional than
real.
John James Audubon, mystery man OF
two continents, is one of those upon
whom has fallen the ethereal mantle Of
sentimentality rather than the substan-
tial cloak of actuality. To most of us
Audubon has become typical of a serene,
poetic man to whom the most precious
moments of life were those spent in
the quietude of woods and fields, where
his soul sought expansion in the study
and Sketching of birds. This estimate
of the man is to large extent true, but
in the growing appreciation of that part
of his work which led to the widespread
movement for the preservation OF bird
life much of the dynamic personality
and individuality of character has faded.
Few men, in fact, have lived more
fully than did Audubon. From the be-
ginning his life described crazy pat
tern, as fantastic as that of any flctional
hero, and he not only knew 1t but en-
joyed 1t.
AS the adopted son of French sea
captain he witnessed the beginning OF
the French Revolution. A natural love
for the out of doors made all efforts to
fit him with a formal education useless.
He had a passion for hunting and devel-
oped an amazing expertness in marks
manShip. He knew and understood the
creatures of the earth as well as those
that dwell in the lakes and rivers. But
there is little to romanticize in the craw-
fish, the crab or the weasel. Thus it
happens that the poetic painter and STU
dent of birds survives.
mystery as profound as that which
shrouds his birth beclouds the reason
for transporting him to America. Fail
ure as a student would hardly account
for the dispatch with which Capt. Audu-
bon shipped him out OF France. Nor
does the explanation that the adven-
turous seaman wished him to oversee
some of his holdings on the Western
Hemisphere ring with genuine sincerity.
Certainly young Audubon's record as
custodian of his foster fathers property
after his arrival in this country war
rants little faith in his ability, while on
the other hand he developed a keen
business sense in regard to land and
built up more than one sizable fortune in
land deals.
It was in the woods and forests OF
America, however, that he spent major
part of the hours in which necessity was
not driving, him to earn a livelihood for
himself and his family. Like most men
who possess a passion for those things
which do not readily lend themselves to
money making. he had little ability to
take care of that which he earned. He
lost heavily by indorsing the notes OF
friends, and both he and his devoted
wife were often obliged to join forces in
the earning of money. He was an ex-
pert skater and an accomplished dancer.
While cutting fancy figure on the ice
he could shoot bird on the wing with
out losing foot stroke. He was ruth
less as well as passionate huntsman.
and this art, together with his popularity
as a teacher of dancing, spelled food
and shelter during the long, lean periods.
Xxx X
1t is from this approach. rather than
from the sentimentalists concept of
Audubon. that Miss Rourke undertakes to
present the life of the naturalist. woods
,,l ficf xrhnc rchy,cf 1nua Of life
and whose compelling personality won
for him the confidence of the creatures
of the earth and the air as well as the
esteem and admiration of his neighbors
and friends and the good will of the
chance acquaintances he encountered
while on his jaunts and hikes through
field and forest. He was essentially an
adventurer to whom hardship and priva
ton were but part of the fulfllment
OF ambition-and that ambition was to
capture in sketch and color lifelike re-
productions of the feathered creatures of
every section he visited. From Florida
to Labrador and from Pennsylvania to
Texas he travelled in his untiring search
for avian lore. Sometimes in the COM
pany of his adored wife and sometimes
without her unwavering help and en-
couragement he braved the dangers Of
life on the frontiers, and withStood with
equal balance the adulation and criti-
cism of England, France and America.
Through failure and success he pos
sessed unbounded faith in the goodness
and abundance of life and the capacity
whole -heartedly to enjoy it.
X
If in the course of his colorful, adven-
turous career he carried with him the
belief that he might in reality be the
lost Dauphin of France, why not? The
mystery of his birth, the circumstances
of his transport to America and many
other queer circumstances surrounding
his life indicated to him the possibility.
Throughout Miss Rourke's biography a
fair and logical explanation of the pos
sibility is apparent, without any sugges-
ton that the circumstances as given
contain either proof or disproof of Audu-
bon's royal heritage. All evidence to
the contrary, there. is always the hope
in many minds that the mystery Of
Frances lost heir apparent will be def
r1itely solved, and, as crazy as the pos
sibility seems, Americans still entertain
a secret hope that the answer may be
found in the intrepid young foreigner
who found work, pleasure and success
in this land of the free.
But all speculations aside as to the
parents of the lad who was adopted and
given the name of Fougere Audubon, and
who as John James Audubon lived an
adventurous, happy and successful life
tra r