Jesuitry

SHE KNEW SHE WAS RIGHT--Jesse Lynch Williams--Scribner's ($2.50).

Death came to Author Jesse Lynch Williams last September. He left this book, a quietly satirical study of religious dogmatism. Greatly daring, Author Williams has made his dogmatist-villain a woman, and a beauty.

Hilda Harlan, very rich, very comely, very sure of herself, always got what she wanted but thought God's will was hers. She had been made pious at an early age and never got over it. When she married Cope Harlan, penniless professor of economics, her family disapproved but had to give in; soon it was Cope who was giving in. Cope was an agnostic; his skepticism quickly ran foul of Hilda's belief in her divine rightness. Their first serious quarrel arose over the baptism of their infant daughter; Cope refused to admit she was "conceived in sin," objected to the promises her baptismal sponsors would have to make, their own hypocrisy in making them. Finally Hilda forced him to a separation. He went abroad, made a name for himself on an international finance commission. Then Hilda wanted to marry again, divorced Cope. Too late she discovered she could not remarry in the Episcopal Church unless she was the innocent party in a divorce for adultery. She insisted Cope marry her again and commit adultery, thus making her divorce divinely sanctioned. But events at last were too much for her, proved she was wrong although she knew she was right.

The Author. Jesse Lynch Williams was born in Sterling, Ill., but to his many friends his name was always linked with Princeton. He and his great & good friend Booth Tarkington wrote plays together in college, founded Princeton's Triangle Club, undergraduate dramatic society. After graduation (1892) Williams, worked on the New York Sun, wrote short stories in his spare time. In 1917 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his play, Why Marry? In 1921 he was elected president of the Authors' League of America. Careful writer, Author Williams wrote She Knew She Was Right four times. His quizzical, seamed face and long, lean figure were always familiar sights in Princeton; for many years he made it his home. During a visit to Herkimer, N. Y., last September, he died. He was 58. Other books: Princeton Stories; The Stolen Story; The Adventures of a Freshman; New York Sketches; The Day-Dreamer; My Lost Duchess; The Girl and the Game; Mr Cleveland, A Personal Impression; The Married Life of The Frederic Carrolls; (plays): Why Not?, Lovely Lady.

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