Evening star., 1936-06-20

Salmon" by Henry William
son. little, BrotUn & CO..
national heroine, Jadwiga. The broad
outline of her story is no more than
that which is set down in general his
tory-the account Of Jadwiga's mar
riage to Jagiello, Grand Duke of Lith-
uania, by which Poland and Lithuania
were united and the last pagan coun-
try Of Europe converted to Christian
ity. But on this plain history Mrs.
Kellogg has embroidered vast wealth
of detail, evidencing wide and care
tul research. Her book becomes, then,
personal history, including a mo-
mentous and touching romance.
For Jadwiga of Poland was one Of
those pathetic and glamorous figures
to be found throughout medieval
hiStory-a child on whom the mantle
of public responsibility fell; a girl
Queen who was called upon to decide
whether she would dispose of her life
according to her own preference in
love, or whether she would marry in
accordance with the welfare of her
people, a warrior Queen who rode out
at the head of her army; a sovereign
who dealt with precarious situations
unfiinchingly, but who in her youth and
beauty has not lost her power to stir
the Imagination, even after more than
five centuries. Mrs. Kellogg, in writ
ing Jadwiga's life, has dealt with this
poetic quality first of all and has cap
tured it successfully.
Almost inevitably such a biography
lends itself to emotional writing. The
life Of q child, removed from her
parents land and crowned Queen of
q strange realm at the age Of Is;
forced no more than a year later to
choose between her childhood be-
trothed, q cultivated and handsome
prince. and pagan duke. her coun-
try'S hereditary and abhorred enemy,
man much older than herself
these are elements which commend
themselves to poetry rather than to
mere recording. Mrs. Kellogg, plainly
under the sway of her materials, does
treat her story in an emotional vein.
Her book, however, bears the marks
OF historical authenticity and indeed
has been accepted by the Polish His
torical Congress.
The mingled splendor and grief of
ruling in days when the ruler was
charged with personal responsibility
for his land, the conflict between pub
lie and private life. the strange wor-
shipful devotion felt for the cultured
Hungarian princess by her savage
northern subjects, the beginnings Of
Polish national consciousness under
her direction-these are the themes
which sound through Mrs. Kellogg's
narrative. Jadwiga, once she had ac-
cepted her unwelcome crown, never
looked back. She worked ceaSeleSSly
for her country's welfare, as welfare
was understood in the fourteenth
century. She founded schools, hos
pitals and churches. She sent mis-
sionarieS out to carry charity and
learning to her most distant prov
inceS She did what she could to
ameliorate the savagery of the me-
dieval laws. She averted war against
the order of the Teutonic Knights,
even though she felt that there was
just cause for fighting. She grieved
over her childlessness through the
years of her reign and died giving
birth to an infant daughter when she
was no more than 20.
Perhaps the most eminent Pole alive
today, Ignace Jan Padrewski, says Of
the present work in the foreword
which he has contributed: "Jadwiga,
Queen of Poland, was one of the
pureSt and nobleSt creatures that ever
came out Of Gods hands. Though
dearly beloved by her. own people, she
has been for centuries almost un-
known in the west Of Europe. 1t is
evidently the mission Of an American
lady, the authoress Of this book, to
acquaint the English-speaking public
with that sublime figure"
ELLEN EWING. WIFE OF GENERAL
SHERMAN BY Anna McAllister.
New York: Benziger Bros.
This biography of Ellen Ewing Sher-
man might well be called Portrait
Of Victorian Wife" For it shows
the energetic lady who married the
great general in those preoccupations
which we think of as typically Vic
torian-home, husband, religion, FASH
ions, relatives, friends. The work Is
founded on Mrs Sherman's own let
ters and on family records. It under
takes to cover its subjects entire life
and contains a foreword by her son,
vouching for its authenticity.
The work is done in great detail
and makes use of profuse quotations
from letters; hence it becomes a pic
ture Of the life of the day, as well as
the history Of an individual. Mrs.
Sherman, for example, made the then
difficult journey out to California,
travelling by the Nicaragua and Pana-
ma routes; she made her home for
some years in that State, which she
considered an 'outlandish" place; she
experienced the social life of Washing
ton, New Orleans, st. Louis and New
York. She was an irrepressible letter
writer and apparently delighted in
making her communications lively
accounts of her experiences. Con-
sequently there Is much in the book to
interest students Of early Americana.
Travel methods in our inconveniently
vast young country, social customs
of the past age, local history-the
book throws an interesting light on
all these.
AS for its subject, she emerges as
an energetic, determined woman who,
in her firmneSs of character, in her
humorous adaptability and her pre-
occupations with home and religion