Evening star., 1937-06-05

OCtWCCH u ~NPNfSCSC uIbu uH
American Uon1dn In his sec
ond noUel, This Solid Flesh"
(BobbS MERRILL
own swing round to oppose the op-
poeers-these events, with much hu-
man detail. Ill the early years OF
the Republic, as Mr.. Hendrick tells
them. With the rise Of John
Marshall to the Chief Justiceship,
however. the narrative begins to cen
ter on the part which the Supreme
Court has played in constitutional his
tory and follows that line from
thenceforth pretty closely.
The famous cases which have been
treated 20 variously by impassioned
writer's In recent times are taken UP
here once more-the Marbury vs..
Madison case. which established the
principle Of judicial review; the Dart
mouth College case, which was con-
cerned among other things with the
sanctity Of contracts; the Gibbons vs..
Ogden case. which established con-
gressionAl control over interstate COM
merce; the Dred Scott decision, in
which the original opinion Of the
justices was completely changed by
direct land, says Mr.. Hendrick, highly
improper) presidential interference
in the books treatment Of these and
other cases there is . substantial
history Of our Government.
THAT the court has been both
packed" and ''muzzled' In times
past to meet the requirements of poll
ticians Is made abundantly clear in
the chapters on the reconstruction
act, when the number Of the justices
was decreased In order to secure de-
cistons favorable to the prevailing
prejudice Of the Carpet Bagger party
against the South. There Is, indeed.
observes Mr.. Hendrick, little that Is
new in American history.
Coming to the increasing promi-
nence Of the court in national affairs,
Mr.. Hendrick says that he sees no
reason to view the phenomenon ~
alarming or ~ anything but part Of
the natural course Of events. The
early crises were settled, he points
out, chiefly by events-"The most mo-
mentous constitutional crisis the Ma
ton faced-the' right Of . State to
sccede, which concerned the very
marrow Of the constitutional fabric
never reached the courts, but was de-
cided by civil war. That from 1857
to 1866 the Supreme Court set aside
only two laws passed by Congress Is .
point frequently made; this is only
another way Of saying that constitu-
tional issues in that period were re-
solved, not by black-robed judges, but
by circumstances. That more laws
have been invandated since recon-
struction means that, In the con.
stitutionar crisis Of the latter time.
the courts, not war or fierce political
contention, have played the chief part
In settling the disputes"
This, he reasons. Is aS 1t should be,
and who indeed would dispute it?
The book ends with rare tribute
to Justice Holmes, which ought to
commend itself particularly to Wash
instonians who knew and remember
that great figure. It compares the
late justice freely to John Marshall,
and sums up better than any other
brief passage the authors attitude
toward the Constitution, and 80 may
be quoted:
They were both Americans. In the
estimation Of these two great jurists,
the Constitution. despite demon
strated shortcoming, had accomplished
one stupendous result. To Marshall
and Holmes-one q soldier In the
Revolution one = soldier in the Civil
War-the Constitution was great, and
worthy Of protection and respect, be-
cause It had created a Nation"
A CARDINAL OF THE MEDIC1. BY
Susan Hicks Beach. New York
The Macmillan Co.
THIS is rarely fine work Of fiction
impressive III style and wise ir
content. It purports to be the history
OF Ippolito de Medici. nlegitimate sor
OF Guiliano de Medici and grandson o.
the great Lorenzo. It Is set down as Il
told, or written, by Ippolito's mother
a lady of the court Of Urbino, and II
this device Mrs. Beach has been ad.
mirably successful, for, in her heroine!
words, she recreates the time with vivit
propriety. The style OF the best Rem
aissance chronicles is her meter; he,
accomplishment is that she gives he
readers directly full-crowded stor!
OF the time as 1t would have seemed Il
one living at that time and indirectly
creates the character OF the narrator
so that it lives in well-rounded proper
ton. The book seems to the reviewel
unique among recent fiction and 1t 4
commended unreservedly as . fine
thing.
The story is all too intricate to out
line. 1t tells OF the circumstances o
young Ippolito's birth at Urbino, whel
his mother was a young widow. 1t tell
OF her second marriage and her subse
| quent watching OF her sons career, he
motherhood being unknown and un
acknowledged. The story shifts abou
among the various courts OF italy
beginning At Urbino, 1t move to Rom
and goes to Florence, with lesser scene
in still other courts. Political intrigue
Is seen through the eyes Of = womal
reared in the atmosphere OF courts, i
the controlling power In the tale; tn
tragedy Is that the mother, who see
and understands the Vaccinations o
courtiers and ofdciak. Il unable t
prevent the destruction Of her son b
their means.
She sees him made . cardinal in hi
10Th year and subsequently preventet
at every turn from retaining tn
glories Of his family in their nativ
Florence. to do 50 being the one gres
ambition of his life. She sees in hir
the authentic genius Of his forbear,
but also sees that genius thwarted. H
comes finally. at the age ef as. to sud
den death. presumably poisoned b