Evening star., 1938-10-16
|MENCKEN ST1RS CONTROVERSY
Reviewer Reader Take Exception Each Other Over Mercury
Article Civil Liberties Union -Sophsticates Offer
Definitions of Sophsicaton.

Therefore, the reviewers claim that
his Intervention in the dispute hns re-
fiected prestige on the Union-and
that the Union was In need Of such
prestige-seems to her justified APP
probation from Mr.. Mencken will have
more weight with very wide range
of Americans than would q court ver-
dict. It is not likely that the ofhcers
Of the Union have been 50 unworldly
as not to know this, too.
As to Mr.. segars statement that 1t
is evident" that the reviewer is
prejudiced against the union and that
she approves Mr. Varney's red bait
ing" the reviewer can only say that
she can find nothing IN her paragraph
Of comment to bear that out. She
fnds something to indicate that she
considered the dispute slightly ridicu-
lous. But she finds nothing which
would indicate that she cherished any
feeling against the Union, except that
she thinks it relatively unimportant;
certainly she wrote nothing which in
dicates that she sympathizes with Mr..
Varney.
She trusts that she has given cour-
teous answer to all the questions which
! Mr.. Segal has raised. AS to his remark
that her work seems to him cheap
imitation Of 'Menckenisms,' she can
only hope that Mr.. Mencken himself
is not too greatly diSpleaSed.
Mr.. Segal, it should be said, inclosed
with his letter a definition of sophis-
tication for the reviewer to add to the
collection of such definitions which
she has been making. She considers
it very handsome of him to contribute
to column which he has just char
acterized as a cheap imitation. She
thanks him Here is the definition:
"Sophistication is that outer blend
or skin of the human personality
which gives it the polish of true cul-
ture, not mere accretion OF facts gar
nered from books or from Standard
lied education. It is general refine
ment which cannot so easily be put
down and which makes its mark on
the individual both in the expression
OF his emotions and in his more mat
ter-of-fsct, concrete, daily activities.
Though it cannot stand to be all-in-
elusive of all the good traits of per-
son as we understand them, sophisti-
cation to my mind should also COM
prehend a broadness of vision, a no.
bilty Of spirit and debonair, philo-
sophcal attitude toward the vicissi-
tudes Of life"
Again. thanks.
Another definition has just been r.
ceived; it comes from Mr.. T. J. Henr.
1t is as follows:
For my Sunday book hours re-
viewer, Mary-Carter Roberts. Sui
ject: Sophistication. 1t is the fourtr
dimension. 1t embraces past. preoe.7,
and future: it is time speaking j.
man. Sex has nothing to do with 1t
although It's half-rooted in the en-
tions and half-rooted in the INTEL;
gence.
Sophisticated persons have i'll
sions, but not the common variety
not the illusions and delusionS of t
masses.
"A sophisticated man knows histo
women, horses, politics. He is beyo
the hope of religion or faith In +
fellowmen. But he does not despG
He is an intelligent pagan. For h
the world is materialistic with
M. Every other fellow a Sound
He never hopes to see straight r6
bow. Or a bluejay on Friday. Y
he is always tolerant, if skeptical
knows there is no place in the VIC
for international morality. When /
encounters that quality in an indivi.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. and unself,
ness-he knocks on wood. 1t tax
him back to the days when he b
lieved in Santa Claus, when his moth
was the greatest woman on earth AZ
his dad embodied knowledge, braver
dash and color and the mascull
spirit.
"Sophistication- is the shot of bit
ters to drink-it adds that final elu-
sive quality to life that leaves man
dCPCioCiit VII ilcltllCl pClSOllS lipi
things, pelf nor power With 1t q man
stands forth a man. Julius Caesar
had it; Montaigne had it; Shakespeare
had it-all men who stand apart and
view the world as joke have 1t.
"Old Machiavelli had it, most Of all
He knew men and the world. He va
honest in his dishonesty"
Thank you, Mr.. Henry.
This follows from B. M. r.: "A s.
phisticate is one who can do somo-
thing that would not dare to do
and not even notice it!
1T is not the deed but the manner
that counts. The sophisticate is neither
apologetic, devil-may- nor defiant.
He is simply matter-of-fact. Criticism
would merely astonish him"
And this from T. r. H.: "Sophisti-
cation-an attitude in which one re-
CARDS behavior Of other human beings
with contemptuous tolerance based
on shallow, self-satisfied knowledge
and reasoning"