Evening star., 1950-12-10

1Iicy IldFc A1dICcICu pIO
have been threatened with abrid
haps they have come to mean m
abroad they seem reft of mean
ing. Perhaps they mean more to
us because of common and
sometimes inarticulate conviction
that they deserve reception. 1t
is only as they reach a destination
that words attain reality. Other
wise they are lost and lost words
are strictly of no account.
1t Is the misfortune of words
that over and over again they
have run headlong into insensate
distractions and knocked them
selves insensate. It is their still
greater misfortune that they are
plant and can be twisted into
the fraudulent accomplices of de-
struction. They are as often the
sounds of evil and shame and
cynicism as they are sounds of
decency and dignity and hope.
Consider how much alike and how
contradictory are servitude and
service.
1t is well, it seems to me. to
reflect upon the complicated ma
ture of words, their wonders and
their weaknesses, and to remem-
ber that they are understood only
perfectly by God and only by man
imperfectly.
Requirements Are Grave
And Formidable
Books are words purposefully
arranged and legibly presented to
convey message. It is. there
fore, the messages in books which
make them important as express
sions of national policy But
here again are the delusions of
semantics. for at this moment in
America when, by circumstance,
national policy and international
policy are. in fact. synonymous;
when free no longer is noun but
verb only; when democracy is
debased by slavicized translation;
the requirements of the message
and its clarity are grave and
formidable and ominous.
1t is generally recognized that
books. are media capable of elicit
ing the understanding of prin-
cipleS and peoples. cultures and
cravings. behaviors and "beguil-
ings. Moreover, it is agreed. even
by those whom agreement fright
ems, that there are books which
can transmit the disclosures of
science and the applications Of
technology in ways that will ad-
vantage the lot of the human
family and promise the enrich
ment of every life. Finally, it is
conceded sometimes furtively and
sometimes frankly, that there are
books which sustain and support
and strengthen the sublime COM
radeship of the race and give
it spirit.
There is, for example. the Bible,
which does not contain but
eternally releases the regenerative
and irenic powers of essential
unity. There are the surviving
lenses Of Plato and Aristotle which
give a common focus to a common
universe. There are the Shake
speares and Dantes and Turgenevs
and Goethes and Hugos and Whit
mans whose experience is not
halted at frontiers.
There are formularies which can
heal at once the yellow man und,
the black man and the white man.
There are eloquent fraternities in
a chemical journal, sturdy al
liances in manuals for the making
of this or the repair of that, mag
nificent collaborations in any
newsletter which shares the
learning that it finds. 1t is by
dissemination that majesty comes
to truth.
Their Success as Emissaries
Depends Upon Availability
Yes. it may be taken for granted
that there are books which can
tell peoples story to themselves
and to others in helpful. persuas-
i've. penetrating words that dispel
suspicion and invite respectful.
even enlightened, consideration. It
r. H. 4. L