The annual bazaar of the Evangelical Charitable Society in Souk el-Gharb (the handworks)

A work of art has a material form and a hidden spirit, and the secret lies in joining matter and spirit without the one overwhelming the other or hiding it entirely...

The aim of art is not the imitation of nature with "mechanical" exactness; the aim is the pleasure of the eye and the stirring of feeling. But when the artist tries to cast off natural lines and colors so as to lose himself in abstraction (l'abstrait), he sacrifices many of art's possibilities — he makes them limited, makes art poor, and empties it of its most important powers... And what meaning is left to lines and colors if they do not show, for instance, the beauty of the body's features and the shapes and colors of flowers??

• Among the elements of good in the town of Souk el-Gharb is the Evangelical Ladies' Charitable Society. Since the dawn of its founding this society has never ceased rendering signal services to humanity — relieving the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and easing the pains of the stricken and the wretched, without distinction of race or religion.

On the late afternoon of Saturday, the ninth of August, it held, as is its custom, a charity bazaar in the courtyard of the Lebanese College, inviting to take part in it a select company of honored summer visitors and others from the town and its environs. The party was under the patronage of Mr. Charles Saad, president of the National College in Choueifat, a man well known in the field of teaching and character-train-ing, and a zealous humanitarian in the arena of good works, virtues, and benevolence.

No sooner had the fifth hour drawn near than the hall was thronged with the good people who had answered the invitation with pleasure. Each began strolling among the tables on which the society's various

handworks were arrayed, buying from them whatever pleased him, then moving on to that table laden with all kinds of foods, sweets, and refreshments, choosing from it what was delicious and good — all this in a merry atmosphere full of cheer and gladness, thanks to the effort expended by the society's president, Mrs. Mariam Baroudi, and its members, ladies and young ladies alike, so that the party came off in the utmost splendor and perfection.

It has come to our ears that Mr. Mohammad Jamil Beyhum has received a letter from Dr. Frank Sakran, director of international services affairs in Washington, informing him that the Library of Congress has appreciated the efforts he expended in composing his work:

The Arab Nation in the Past and Present.

and that it accepted with pleasure the placing of the manuscript of this venerable volume among its precious manuscripts, at a special ceremony held for this purpose at three o'clock on June 30, 1954, attended by certain of the Library's officials and a company of the friends of the Arabs in America.