Evening star., 1949-05-08

Mozart. Early In the American II
desperate for munitions and othe
who saw that they were supplied
nize its debt to him until 1880,
many years after his death.
But those were only passing
achievements in q career which
for hazard and intrigue. romance
and adventure will challenge the
plot of any historical novel.
This story of the amazing 18th
century Frenchman is not OF that
hybrid species, f1ctionized biogra-
ply. The author tells us at the
start that there are no imaginary
dialogues or anecdotes: every cpl
sode LIS from q reliable original
source. Mr.. Lemaitre. now pro-
fessor of romance languages at
Stanford University. has done q
f1rst-class Job of research and
writing.
~Beaumarchais, whose real name
was Pierre-Augustin Caron, ran
away in his teens because his
father, q Partisan matchmaker.
wanted him to learn the business.
When the boy crawled home. de-
feated for the time being, his
father laid down stern measures
as the price Of taking him back.
Until manhood, the lad remained
q model apprentice and a dutiful
son. But Mr.. Lemaitre feels that
this Sudden and complete tanning
of q strong temperament was
neither normal nor altogether
wholesome, and that he never
wholly succeeded in bridging the
psychological gap that separates
adolescence from manhood"
Beaumarchais' immature, ar
rested emotional state" the biog-
rapher thinks, accounts for the
lack of direction which marked
his entire life. Adventures in
love. adventures in almost every
conceivable field. OF action-hls
whole career was q succession OF
disconnected, independent cpl
sodes. He could never set q long
range, self f-justifying, life-unify-
ing goal for himself"
Astonishing Happenings.
Yet. on this haphazard journey.
astonishing things were always
happening to him. AS a youth,
though he showed no interest in
Matchmaking, he invented a way
of making smaller watches than
any then known. Louis XIV sent
for Pierre and had him explain
the mechanism, and the young
man made a ring watch for Nine.
de Pompadour. Characteristlcally,
Beaumarchais then deserted the
trade he had mastered and left
home for good. He soon was
prominent at the Court OF Ver-
settles, though. as his noble enc
mics were always pointing out, he
"came from nothing" There
were duels and intrigues. He
made and lost more than one for
tune. He became the secret agent
of Louis XIV in England and aft
erward OF his grandson. Louis
XVI. Beaumarchais not only Or
ganized the shipping Of supplies
and troops to the Colonies in l776,
but he had q great deal to do with
the later official Intervention OF
France on the side of the Amer
leans. During the French Revo-
luton he barely escaped the
guillotine, though he always was
sympathetic to the people. His
literary work was incidental. and
yet lie Marriage de Figaro is
zone of the French stages great
est masterpieces"
Beaumarchais was no model OF
rectitude. He was not always
scrupulous in working for his ad-
vantage and In dealing with his
numerous foes. Yet, in the larger
affairs of his life he seems gen.
orally to have been on the side OF
justice and honesty. He was
clever, sometimes brilliant, per-
sonable, generous. courageous and
of great executive ability. His
story is told here with the smooth
ness and suspense Of a novel,
rather than with the plodding
Recommendation of many biogra-
phies.
THE HUSBAND
BY Natalie Anderson Scott.
(Dutton; So
A brooding mystery and q hid
den suspense lurk in the matter
of-fact events that carry this
novel along almost to the CLOSE.
The occasional dramatic episodes
scattered through the story are
brought In almost casually. as If
greater and more sinister forces
were gathering in the distance.
Miss Scott has set her narra-
tive in the New England Of two
centuries ago, but she has not
made 1t dependent on the prob
lens and customs of that day. In
its essential psychological aspects.
1t might as well have happened
today. Yet the situation has been
strengthened by being placed in
that remote era, because the
family was q close-knit unit and
the community q separate entity
then.
"The Husband" deals with the
marriage Of Cassie Harris and
Ebenezer Rawson. AS the years
go on. and children come. two
subtly developed themes are ap-
parent: The fierce, not-quite-
natural devotion Of Cassie for her
husband, and o certain strange
ness about him and ambiguity In
his life. No more can be said