Evening star., 1936-11-14

journal OF BrGnd Whttt0ck.
(Appleton- Century CO..
almost his country, by his stubbornness
and by tactless blunders that q
common ward-heeler would know
better than to commit"
As for the French, Mr.. whitlock
execrates them with . passion that
Is surprising. Greed, dishonesty and
overweening conceit he sees as their
national characteristics. He quotes
the Spanish Minister to Belgium as
expressing his own sentiments when
he said, The longer ! live the more
! hate the French!" Thus the state
OF international feeling only Q few
months after the Armistice.
The closing pages Of the book are
indeed q record Of complete disin-
tegration. The hatred which sprang
up among the Allies. the failure Of
the Senate to ratify the Versailles
treaty. the effort of that body to dis
credit President Wilson with England
by offering sympathy to the Irish
and finally the election Of
Ohio politician"-these
plainly bore upon the
writer with a bitterness which colored
all his reflections. The days of
loyalty and disinterestedness were
over. Obligations and gratitude were
forgotten. 1t made . spectacle which,
presented to him at close range, as
1t was, sickened and revolted him.
Yet it Is obvious that he made . con-
scious effort to meet conditions as
they were and contrived, in some sort,
not to lose hope completely.
The perfect ending Of such q mar
rative is contained in the manner
in which Mr.. Whitlock's service in
Belgium came to an end, as har-
monious . detail as II planned by
the master novelist of all time. He
had rendered his resignation to Presi-
dent Harding on the latter's assump-
tion Of duty. He received an am
biguous written reply but verbal as
surance from a friend Of the President
that he was to stay. Nothing further
was said to him until the following
On the 25th Of that
month he makes this simple entry
In his journal:
"A cablegram from Hughes today
brief and formal, saying that my
Is accepted, that the
President wishes TO appoint Fletcher
TO the post, that I am to ask the
Belgian government to agree to his
appointment =. and there you are!
:" The first knowledge that he
aad of his dismissal was, thus, the
request to bespeak favor for his sue
lessor.
On the Goth he adds, "This, then,
S the end of this diplomatic expert
,nce, for go on leave tomorrow. 1t
S sad, of course: love Brussels, and
am loath to leave it. I have passed
,he best, the most interesting years
d my life here; I have played part
n the history of this country, have
many friends and many memories to
attach me to it, and it's more like
nome to me now than any other place
IN earth. But there's nothing to do;
is Johnnie 5owless, pack your kit
md trek"
Mr.. Whitlock reveals himself
through all this extraordinary record
rs statesman of a type that prob
IDLY derives only from America. He
vas an idealist who found even the
mall routine chicaneries of govern
nent service offensive. He was so
inpatient Of political evils that it
vas inevitable he should have seen
n the League Of Nations the rosy
lream with which Wilson invested it.
Ie shows himself in his own words
Incapable of being resigned to what
experience tells him will inevitably
ome about. He is at once the optim-
st and the man of the world, able
t one time to thread his way sue
essfully through the most compli-
ated diplomatic tangles and at an.
ther to cry out in surprise that his
ountry' has turned away from the
curse Of ideals. He shows . simple
dmirable attachment to the prin-
iples of sportsmanship and . touch
ng reverence for literature and art.
ie was . theorist in life to whom
ne adaptation of theory to fact was
ossible but still painful. Even in
lis patriotism he declared that the
lmerica Of his day offended him and
hat he could only love his country
through the memory Of Lincoln and
But 1t is just barely
ossible that that very rejection Of
ne usually gritty facts of the present
DR. the ideals of the past-if prac-
Iced from generation to generation
hight constitute the best method Of
tilizing history and experience.
Mr.. Whitlock also recorded that
q admired England, believed In DEM
cratic government, and hated social
m. Any Of these statements would
Q sufficient to bring down on him
evere disapproval from our neo-
beral group today. It win be
nlusing to see how they reconcile
ecognition Of the pacifist value Of |
aese volumes with censure for state |
rents 20 unorthodox-when viewed
rom their own system Of orthodoxy.
nut no school Of criticism can change |
istory, and II u as history that |
ais Journal win stand-the history |
q bit Of human idealism-its rise |
nd fall.
VAR. Drawings and Etchings. BY i
Kerr Eby. New Haven Yale
University Press.
SAW THEM DIE. BY Shirley NIL
lard. Edited by Adele Comandini. |
New York: Harcourt Brace a Co.
RISING. BY cecil
Lewis. New York: Harcourt Brace
b 90.
1ERE are three works of widely
varying types, III eloquent h.