The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-07-31
Good Evening.


- The abysmal depth of my ignorance is always being
Brought home to me- For, always I'm running into
someone who knows much more about something than
do instance if it weren't for the lads in the Com
posing room Joe Evans, frankie Holeran, Al Rlker,
Ambie Scully Johnny Wrenn, Bill Moran Al Paris and
"Red" Nichos-to name few of the-and Bill Earring
ton, George Dillon Mrs Stoddard and Miss Fleming IN
the City Room - would never be able 10 90 my odny
stint on the Democrat.
But the otner day received blow which my col
league Sports Editor John Cuney, might term night
on the button And it happened, of all places in the
library here in Waterbury,
had gone into the library libraries have always
held me in thra, to what might see: It's very
lovely library quite the incest public library have
ever been in It doesn't like public place at all.
1t has the air of being the library in the home of
friend
Idly looked through the card index of books and
found with little thrill that my fathers two volumes OF
irish fairy tales in the Waterbury Library and
book by my mother which she wrote when she was
than seventy years old Then got my shock The
shock quaint quatran engraved on the marble
mantle of the fireplace:
Cease not to learn until you cease to live;
Think that day lost wherein thou drawst no letter,
Nor gan'st no lesson that new grace may give
To make thySelf learned, wiser, better
The lines attributed simply to "Pibrac" And
that where my Ignorance came W and smacked
ole the l had never read the lines before
Worse than that had heard of Pibrac Which is
lnexcusable for upon time was Literature and
Arts editor OF the deunct DlgeSJ, ana
should have known something at least about Plbrac
But I knew nothing. So I looked him up in encyclo
pedas, and found nothing in World Book, Interna-
tional Doubedays Comptons Picture, Everymans The
New International, and the World. The Encyclopedia Br
tanica finally rewarded my efforts and learned that
his name Guy Du Faur Pbrac that he was Selgneur
French urst and poet, who lived from 1929 to 1884,
and that he cleft among other literary renans elegant
and sententious quatranes.
thought I'd like to read some of his elegant
and sententous quatranes SO appealed to the attrac
tiuoU yUbOv tbe n al
the moment But she wasn't able to help AS mat
ter of record she knew very little about Pbrac-
Than had already discovered. She at least however,
knew that his short history to be found in the Ency
clopedia BRITANNICA but there wasn't copy, reprint
of any fhis works in the library which has honored
him to the extent it has.
Somehow, that made me eel better And my mind
walked back to day. when was living in little bit
of country town, which nonetheless had library
had been i'll, and my i'll health due to continue for
time I had been reading Arthur Welgels life of
Cleopatra, with its references to the Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire and Plutarch's Lives. And the
thought came to me that this good time as
ever to acquaintance with the Decline and Fall
and PlutarchS Lives. So when could manage it,
went up to the Library and asked the dear old lady in
charge for the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
With little bird-lke gesture and tilt of her head
she wanted to know by whom it written.
Gibbons" said l, and her face frightened Glib
bons' Gibbons, Cardinal Gbbons?'
l had to admit that while the Cardinal had done
some noteworthy things he hadn't written The De-
cline and Fall"
There was moment of embarrassment which
thought to breach by asking for Plutarchs Lives NO,
she said obviously, I'm afraid haven't got that. Is
it book?"
81 settled for 1.-The Good Earth" by Peal Buck and
went out into the sunshine and back into the roadster
and was driven home.
Some day I'm going to re-read THE Decline and
Fall, and "Plutarch's Lives