The Ottawa Journal from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Page 44

SATURDAY, LITERATURE AND LIFE A BOOKLOVER'S CORNER Five Tudor Monarchs and What I Claire Boothe Luce and Her Career They Meant to, Englan J'g Story I Magazines, Poljtjjcs, Diplomacy By V.M.K. THf Tn0. Br" Chrimf Marrta. Clarke, trwta ead UBtilf, Teraate. MIN Ufrark.

MM. if THERE wis a Tudor on the throne of England from 1483 to 1603. and no century )n the lsland'a lone history hu served more decisively to set English character end habit, to establish a future on the terms of the past. The five Tudors, two of them women. In- eluded the daughters and a son of Henry Eighth the offspring of three of his wives.

Henry the Seventh founded the Tudor line a a -a a mm a at jka At. ana reignea irom itw to iuy; ma son vne eighth of the name was king then to 1547; Edward VI. the boy king, died In 1353 when at aawaa a am1 lvlaAM at s4 a1 St s4 Im SA 1 al lM a 1C VAMJ tAbCVIl All a4 kUllV had been governed by the king's uncles; Mary I. reigned five years to 1438 and her half-sister Elizabeth followed to be queen for 45 glorious years and to give her name to an era of brilliant national achievement. Something of what this royal line meant to their country is put by the author In a Striking paragraph: "Fortune without any doubt smiled on Tudor England.

But the smile was not wholly undeserved. Something undeniably was owed to the balance, the sanity, the moderation and the courage of the English people, and 'not least something to the personal magnetism, to the craft, to the coolness, to the 1 1 ri fti inv ivniini ill i iia mnmmr strength of character possessed by gifted dynasty. The luck went to the cunning and fortune favored the brave." Mr. Morris, who Is Lecturer In History In the University of Cambridge' in England and jl historian of repute, is ho hero-worshipper. 3 re paints his sovereigns warts and all.

Henry Seventh was sly, cold and ruthless, but efficient. Of Henry Eighth the. Author notes his IrmrinM aelflihneea antrurh1inat ha snapped his fingers at all the decisions of Edward hardly mattered he ana Mary were me "unsuccessrur Tuaors. Elizabeth was' vain, flirtatious, capricious, evasive, stingy, vacillating, had a neuroUc fear of Irrevocable decisions, but she had what England needed In those times. She was last and greatest of in illustrious dynasty.

Mr. Morris links them into a continuous chronicle which explains this significant period In English history and some of Its chief characters. JUDOR monarchs were despots, of course, but In the simple social organization of the sixteenth-century England their hold on power was far from secure. They mere in frequent peril not only from without but from Insurrection and uprising within, and the English sovereign then had no standing army under real or even technical control. The eduntry was poor and weak, compared to France- and Spain, and Jew in the days of Henry Eighth would have predicted with much conviction that In the mighty conflicts cf nations the laurels would go to that little lilinrf In (ha Worth Rem "The Tudors found in England a top-heavy society Jargeiy aominatca by tne greed and ambition of a group of powerful nobles the appearance of the Spanish Armada a little more than a century later found against It an England "broadly based with closed ranks and high at once "solid and elastic.

irmly rooted and adventurous, realistic and yet with a sense of exaltation, serious and yet often Much of the change, says the author, was due to the release for the first time of Tnatural resources both economic and and "much more than is generally recognized' was due to the reigning dynasty itself. This was the period, in fact, when England became conscious of her personality, detached herself more than ever before from conti-nental ambitions and Influences, began swiftly to develop along her own distinctive lines, The Tudors. cold, selfish, not too scrupulous, aided this Intensely nationalistic process: I': "It may be that the greatest contribution of the Tudors to their country's history waa the release of the native energies of a people too long held subject to foreign Influence and foreign rulers." Mr. Morris gives a brilliant chapter to each ef.thejfl.ve sovereigns of the dynasty, and we can do no more here than Indicate briefly what considers the outstanding characteristics ot, each. The seventh Henry "was an ex- trtmely clever manr-posslbly the cleverest man who ever sat on the English throne" "man" he says.

He was grim, sour, saturnine, but not wholly so: he was musical and never travelled without his trumpeters and pipers, was a keen sportsman, and his record books of accounts show payments of 10 shillings to "the Scottish boy with the beard" and larger sums to "a little maiden that danceth" He bought books and patronized Inventors and explorers, bought gave elaborate banquets and there Is a mysterious Item of 38 Is "to John Van Delf for famishing of a Henry was determined to keep Englahd-Out of war, and In that he succeeded above all he kept his throne. His objectives were limited, but If he had failed In them England would have been plunged Into new The personality of his son Henry Eighth Is much better known but he was a more fomnltx man. As a vount man ha vti all a sovereign should be splendid, vital, hearty, handsome, dashing, -affable, ingratiating, athletic 'musical, an accomplished linguist, a patron of the arts, orthodox, Many writers have traced his disintegration, have lauded (or deplored) his break with the rope over his determination to divorce a Roman Catholic queen and put Anne Boleyn (mother of Elizabeth) in Catherine's place, but under this Henry too the new England continued to shape Itself proudly and confidently and civil always a menace, was kept away "The eight years of the nominal reign of the boy king Edward last of the Tudor kings, saw Protestantism more firmly established In the land. He was a lad of promise but had he lived a normal life there would have been no Queen Mary and perhaps no Elizabeth. To Mary, who followed him, the author Is more kind than many historians she hi all the family courage, stubbornness, was "the only adult Tudor who was upright, the only adult Tudor with a genuine and It was her tragedy that she' was the only Tudor who failed "and the only Tudor who did fcer country Indisputable The tremendous story of Mary's half -sister Elizabeth Is more, "She waa a very A by s.

G. AMIAtMDOK XTBAOIDIN4BY. Br AMa B.lta: ttMt J. M.Lead TtravU; MI M.M. A BRILLIANT and beautiful woman who has stirred controversy and admiration throughout the world, Mrs.

Clare Boothe Luce, United 8tatea Ambassador to Italy, emerges in this biography as something of a conundrum. As her biographer Alden Hitch writes she Is "brilliant though often foolish, idealistic yet realistic to the verge of cynicism, tough but almost quixotically kind. "In turn she has been a society matron, magazine' editor, wit among wits, reformer among starry-eyed liberals; playwright, war correspondent, congresswoman, lecturer and student of theology, wife ot America's leading publisher (-Henry Luce, publisher of Time', 'Life' and Tortune') and now. Ambassador." Dotted with world-famous names, the book proves that Mrs. Luce has made hundreds of friends among heads of state, politicians, military leaders and social In his rather adoring biography Mr.

Hatch lndl The Ottawa Journal I MI6MTV SHARP I VaaS-y KJ Al-T I I I a I llv I 1j ,1 I 7 1 I 1 iM A AN a l- i a a i fi WHIM ywtj WAt ALL SOMITWIM TC-f 1 and the Italians' pride might be hurt; sec- basic situation thit period in ed she has fascinating cheek- onfiy, she waa a convert to Roman Catholl- the life of a middle-class am- bones and a cat-like mobility cism and people might fear she would be too Uy when the eldest children that makes her a new thing much Influenced by the Vatican; thirdly, are ready to graduate into in photogenic smartness. She since her husband was an important pub- matrimony but have not yet spends exhausting noon-hours Usher people might feel he would not report developed settled tastes as to, between her Job at Ag ana run United States as did the war in Europe, the Luces went to China and there conferred with Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. In August, 1941, Mrs. Luce toured the Philippines for her husband's magazine. In 1942 she visited India, Burma and China, always keeping close to the front lines.

Running on the Republican ticket when she returned, she defeated by 6.000 votes the Democratic Incumbent in Connecticut's fourth congressional district. She wu the first woman congressman from that state, and she became the first woman to be appointed to the Military Affairs committee. Mr. Hatch refers to Mrs. Luce's sense of humor as something of a political handicap.

Speaking on "America in the Post War Air In her maiden speech to Congress, she called for regulation of the airways and added that America must keep Its leadership iri the air for the sake of safety In war and prosperity in peace. Her only Joke was. "Mr. Wallace does, a great deal of global thinking. But much of what Mr.

Wallace calls his global thinking, Is, no matter how you slice, it. still The main thread of her address was Ignored, as "globaloney" rang through the country. IN JANUARY-a4iher daughter was killed In an auto accident and Mrs; -Luc, despondent, wanted to give up active political life. Showing her usual resiliency however, she agreed to ihe" "teynote address the -convention betamlng- the, first woman ever to do so. She also agreed to run for Congress again and won with 2,000 votes more than her opponent although the Democrats hal.4osfd their most able politicians Into the ring against her.

8he announced In 1946 that she would not run for Congress again and her reason for retiring, according to her biographer, was that ahe had decided to become a Roman Catholic. Her congressional district was largely Catholic and she did not want It to appear that she waa being converted to further her political alms. She had never been religious but Mr. Hatch says her visits to war torn countries, her daughter's death, and finally the atomic i blast that killed 100,000 people at Hiroshima, had made her preoccupied with the thought of death and Its meaning. i able woman Judged by any could speak six languages extremely well.

Including Greek and Latin, arid she excelled the monarchs of her times In "the astonishing flexibility of mind, the quickness of her reactions and her. unfailing Intellectual She waa a great woman, last of a noble line, and as fhe author says It was for nothing that November IT, the date of her accession, for two hundred years was a holiday. Important New Books From Toronto THEATRE FOR SHAKESPEARE, by Alfred llarbtge. A provocative, witty, and stimulating book on the production of Shakespeare today, with specific suggestions for staging and costume, by a distinguished Shakespearean critic. 50.

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famUy, ner novel rme roou has been credited with greatly assisting In the Helen. 22, goes In for ill-kempt There is Richard's appear- novel by a new settlement of Trieste, and in helping stem Bohemians whom she cossets ance at the Baptist gymkana uiPor. the tide of communism in Italy, parUally.only up to the point where In his grandmother'a town The. pme i is 11.000 in cash through a poUcy of no United States aid con- they decide to become amor- when he rides a cart horse to or wh ch g500 an advance on tracts for factories dominated by Red workers, ous. Her family are quite victory and his grandmother's royalties.

Born Into a frequently Impoverished frank about what they call complete disapprobation- There nn household. Clare Boothe Luce wu the daugh- "Helen's Moreover Carolines coming out ter of a mother determined that her child her taste In clothes, despite all when all sorts of love-wires get u4f Jv Tonte yn should have a better Ufe, and a "dreamily she can do. la quite deplorable, badly crossed. A artistic" father who eventually deserted his Richard Is handsome, charm- tL0 I MTVas. famUy.

Ing and extrovert; at one THE acceptable thing in Wlmln 6ne week he found two With the first Improvement In the family point he becomes mildly Inter- the author's handling of DlieTw fortunes Mrs. Boothe sent her daughter to a ested In the succession of de- this material Is that all these flrci dollars, in his bus. The seleet girls' school where, among other Unquent glrU whom his aom- trivialities have the right 'omul. achievements, she wrote her first published bre maternal grandmother amount of light-hearted sus-poem. This was the harbinger of several takes under her wing.

He pense about them. The fro-other literary works. Including the plays, dashes over from his army lies of a gay and wholesome "Abide With "The "Kiss the camp to take them of on rides bourgeois, crowd become im- Boys. Ooodbye" and "Margin for on his motor bike. The portant to the reader without which was seaiingly anti-Nazi and, made Its youngest of the Caro- in the least Involving him In appearance Just after Hitler sent his troops line and Guy, artf anT13.

are across the border of Poland. She also wrote Just of an age to enjoy all thelr ln4nrnnf nnnl nrv the best-seller, "Europe In the and family's vagaries with frant JlllLfllUllVUUI Jtui the movie "Come to the and good-natured irreverence. ItjIE SECOND INTERNA- Twice married, ahe was first the wife of TIONAL, by O. D. H.

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At the opening -pages. $12. The a 1 1 1 a Mr. Hatch, was too luxurious, too patterned of the tale he has Just been Company of Canada. This Vol-wlth people who were wealthy but unlnter- appointed to a Judgeship, a ume tells the story of the In-eating, and the marriage ended in divorce flattering recognition of his ternatlonal and of the great after six years.

The couple had one daugh- talents that forces on him a debates at Its successive Canter. Ann, In whom Mrs. Luce always placed decrease In his earn! How- gresses as It came to be faced a large part of her affection. ever, it does give him freedom, with the growing danger of It was at Esa Maxwell's party for Cole for the first time in his m--- war. An account of the rise of Porter In 1934 that Clare, talking with Henry ried life, to discover what his distinct Socialist movements In Luce for, about the third time, was astounded wife.PJlras.heenakingthejrariouA countries, of the to hear him say, You are the one woman In of his brood.

reasons for the marked differ my They were married, following his Beyond the immediate circle enees between them and of the drvorce. In November 1933. of th-family we, mer varied varying relations between the In the Spring of 1941, believing that the host of relatives and friends political parties, the Trade Japanese-Chinese war meant as much to the whose Intermingling involve Union and the Co-operatives. Ltmcfof(iQ Lone Day To be Released April 23 tin APRIL 14, 1955 An Attic Salt-Shaker r.a. The story of Captain Vancouver CAPTAIN-OF THE DISCOVERY A new Storiet of Canada" title ly WISHOViV A new book in this popular eries.

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a memorial dinner. He took Masslngham at the height of the precaution of a drink or vi li.tu f.ma rm tn two before he rose to his feet JXS with the. charming tribute icatiu nr.n,r,(1 Ita hn tri brlUlantly faltered In J' fnmhiH in vain for thread of my speech" down. JT WAS the "nimble minded Hugh Wilson who said Diplomat Between "Nowhere in the world not even in these United States is there such persistent speech-making I wed Thtjournil one ovei or tne eeicr Bishop --t conversationalists of his day QLD FATHER ANTIC la. an us in ail amuslnf run of epl- more than gentle chuckles gn(1 an engaging talker If rnaiwH onmH-ff n)m thit are eentlv snlced and the occasional outriaht Mn un.n....

li Jflt1 thM wh0 d0 not UU her d0 not the happy kind-witty without with satire. laugh. he roM to hU feet every Idea being aelf-consclously smart. Thwe Is, for instance, wei- Tne nover is a welcome fied from hU mind. He was Involving charactera that areJen conuct wun me aosura inienuae me prowem ui-yHEN shortly after his election in 1932 humans before they are com- couturier, Sacha Matrix, from erature of ourjjay.

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