Evening star., 1938-10-09
By Mary.Carter Roberts.

BY Mdry.Larfer hOberfS.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. BY Carl Van
Doren. New York: The Viking
Press.
Unless the reviewer has missed
something this biography OF Benjamin
Franklin is by all odds the best life
history of the year. 1t is one OF
those monumental masterpieces Of
research and writing which, even fresh
from the press, bears the dignity OF
q future classic perceptibly about 1t.
It seems unlikely that there will be
anything left to say of Franklin after
this, or that anything which may be
said will be said better. This may
sound like extravagant praise, but the
work is one of those which irresistibly
moves a reader to the highest admira-
ton.
1t is, as said. huge piece OF work.
It runs to almost 300 pages. It's
method has been to follow Franklin
through his busy life, to report duly
what he did, and to endeavor to keep
before the reader at all times rounded
picture of that astonishingly versatile
man. 1t is in this latter endeavor that
the great virtue of the work lies. Mr..
Van Doren has had profound appre-
citation of the immense variety which
Law within Franklin's nature and has
been hardly less than BosWelllan In
recording small episodes and events
of revelatory significance. Franklin
was. he SAYS, in his concluding SEN
tence, "a harmonius human multitude. y
He presents this multitude to us,
that is his ndertaking-Franklln the
tradesman, Franklin the scientist,
Franklin the citizen, the statesman,
the diplomat, the philosopher, the
religious, the epicure, the man OF
letters, the rigid self-disciplinarian. the
lover of pleasure. And in each presen-
tation he manages to preserve that
element of harmony of which he has
spoken, making no mere gallery OF
fat pen sketches, but portraying with
roundness and depth the whole person.
ality of his subject as has conceived
of it.
reviewer has received is surprise at
the extent to which Franklin STOOD
alone in his life. 1t is to be expected
of course, that the man OF genius Will
be cut off from much support from
society. Franklin, however, seems TO
have made his own path to a degree
uncommon even among the great. He
causual parental counselling undl-
rected. What he learned, he learned
alone. And, more remarkable, the
choice of learning which he made
was his own. His mind seemed TO work
wholly from within. In his younger
years his material career was deter
mined by a series of accidents. He
was tossed about, from JOB to Job.
from friend to friend, from one side
of the Atlantic to the other. THESE
external vicissitudes, however, seemed
not to have touched him. From what
ever vanage point he found he looked
at the world through self-determlned
spectacles. He took no authority,
though he tried many, experimenting
with religion, metaphysics, free thought,
philosophy. Fundamentally, of course,
he was a cynic, but too profound not
to prove the grounds of his lack OF
faith as he went along. His positive
genius lay in his capacity for unerr-
inely accurate reasoning-and his
magnificent ability as an actor.
He acted, as Mr.. Van Doren shows
us, throughout his whole life. As a
young printer in Philadelphia he re-
cords himself as deliberately filling
role-"In order to secure my credit
and character =" he wrote, Il took
care not only to be in reality indus
trious and frugal but to avoid all ap-
pearance to the contrary. I dressed
plainly, I was seen at no places OF
Idle diversion. I never went out a.
fishing or shooting; book, indeed,
sometimes debauched me from my
work, but that was seldom, snug and
gave no scandal; and, to show that I
was not above my business. I some
times brought home the paper I pur-
chased at the stores through the
streets on q wheelbarrow
There is natural contempt for So
ciety in this admission Surh con-
tempt, of course, might be felt e any
moderately observant person. When,
however. it was combined with the
mental capacity of genius-why then
you have Franklin. 1t would seem
that he was designed for the great
est affairs chiefly because nothing
would seem to him greater than the
doing of it. He could perform in the
part of perfect plenipotentiary with
1ust that precision which directed him
when he was playing the perfect
tradesman. It Is hard to believe, too,
that he put more of himself into one
role than the other. He simply knew
himself competent. He was very
great man.
This is the picture which, with in
finite detail, Mr.. Van Doren carries
on for us to the length Of some TOO
pages. Admiration for his thorough
ness in study and his mellow manner
of writing must compete with the
readers wonder over the greatness of
the subject.
WHILE ENGLAND SLEPT. BY Win
ston Churchill. New York: G. P.
Putnams Sons.
This is a collection of political
speeches of Winston Churchills made
between the years 1882 and 1898. The
addresses deal with international af-
fairs. chiefly with disarmament and
world peace Most of them were made
before the House of Commons. They
are divided into three sections &C
cording to what the editor has felt
to be the dominant factor in world
affairs at the time-that is, as fol-
lows: Germany Disarmed," Ger
many Rearming" and Germany
Armed"
For sheer entertainment, the work
can be recommended. Mr.. Churchill
has a beautiful style, and bears out
well here his reputation for wit. 1t is
amazing to find political addresses IN
this day which are genuinely distin-
guished pieces of composition. But
L. ie