Warren sheaf., 1881-07-06

Ano ntusos arc HecKeu Win q rusty Drown.
Batter away at its massive plates!
Hark! do you hear the mOcking fates?
'Tis only the echoes that 60 and come
Like the measured beats of a muf1ed drum.
Your hands are bleeding? Then come away,
Perhaps at length, you have learned to-day & Il
That only when under the grass or snow
We learn what mortals must die to know;
That only when we are still and cold -,sI
The door will swing on its hinges oldl
A GOOD WORD FOR .OUIDA.n
Written for the Springfield Sunday Republican
Some of Ouida's critics and accusers betray
that they have either not read her writings, or
that they have read them with jaundiced eyes,
seeing saffron color in her purplest violets and
pessimistic, too exaggerated and-deadly fault
in busy age-t0o diffuse She has the quick,
wide glancing eye and sympathy Of an artist,
and she lacks that power Of selection that be-
longs to the true, the Greek-spirited artist !,
But her sympathy with everything beautiful,
with everything that suffers, and with much
that is noble, deserves more discriminating
words than have been heaped upon her of late.
Several of her critics say in effect: soThere Ia
nothing in Ouida's books save uncleanness.
.eWell" can only say, eff that is all you found
there, you ought to be very much ashamed of
it;' and as q specimen of what these critics
might have found, had they looked for it, l
submit the following extracts
CHOOSING BETWEEN CHRIST AND BARABBAs:
This is the description of cartoon in an art
lists studio: The old Syrian world of 1900 years
ago arose and glowed before him. The things
of his own life died away, and in their stead he
saw the fierce flame of eastern suns, the gleam-
ing range Of marble palaces, the purple flush of
pomegranate flowers, the deep color Of Oriental
robes the soft silver of hills olive crested, the
nmult Of q city at high festival. i Ts
A great, thirsty, heated, seething crowd;
crowd that had manhood and womanhood, age
and infancy, youths and maidens within it's
ranks; crowd in whose faces every animal
lust'and every human passion were let loose; q
crowd on which MONDAY sun without shadow
and stones and goads in their hands; and in
their midst they had one clothed in white,
whose head was thorn crowned and whose eyes
were filled with gods pity and mans re-
proach; and him they stoned and lashed and
hooted. sv
And triumphant in the throng whose choice
he was, seated aloft upon mems shoulders,
there sat q brawny, grinning, bloated, jibber--
ing thing, with curled lips and savage eyes and
satyr's leer; the creature Of greed, of lust, of
obscenity of brutality, of avarice, of desire.
This man the people followed, rejoicing ex-
ceedingly, content in the guide whom they had
a.
throats and brazen lungs ''Barab5as!''
There was not form in all this closely
packed throng, which had not terrible irony
in it, which was not in itself symbol of some
lust or of some vice, for which women and
men abjure the godheaG in them. One
broken beneath him, the stream OF the purple
wine Tapped eagerly by ragged children j, A
money changer had left the receipt Of customs,
: eager to watch and to shout, and thief
clutched both hands full of the forsaken coins
and fed A miser had dropped bag of gold,
and stopped to catch at all the rolling pieces,
regardless in his greed of how the crowd tram
pied and trod on him: A mother child and
struck her little brown, curly. child, because
he stretched his arms and turned his face to-
the temple with blood stained knife thrust in
his girdIe, dragged beside him by the throat,
q little tender lamb, doomed for sacrifice.
dancing woman with jewels in her ears, and
half-naked to the waist. sounding the brazen
cymbals above her head, drew score of youths
after her in Barabbas' train
Differently conceived is the picture of tho
Roman boy, won by childs light word to for
sake the hereditary occupation of his ances
tors: &5% fas
~ a THE sELF-MADE ROMAN. t}$&
We came of the gems Quintilii according to
our traditions, and of course my father, being
so noble and of such ancient lineage, never
could work a'sBeg too, little wretch" he said
to me, when was big enough to trot across the
river to the Spanish square; and begged ac-
>cordingly till was seven. Inever made very
much; I was ugly; and never could bring my
self to whine.
WhenI got to be seven years old, asked q
little girl not much older for q coin. She was
a very pretty little foreign thing. coming down
the steps of the Trinita di M0nti. She looked
like little angel, for she had cloud of light
hair and some roses in her hands She gave
me the roses
ssYou:can sell them, y she said to me, sbut why
do you beg? Only thieves and towards do
that. !" q And then she ran away to her people,
That night, Beredino beat me with q stout
ash stick, because brought home nothing
Ny body was sore for three days, but did not
care. kept the roses. When the stripes were
healed,I went to an old fellow knew. who
cobbled boots and shoes in Trastevere
"Will you teach me to do that?" I asked
him. 81 am tired of the Spanish steps, and
will not beg any more"
The old fellow showed his spectacles to the
crown of his head in amaZement Little Ru-
fo, you are mad! What are you thinking of
Edo not make so much in q week as you do in
an hour
hung my head ssBut am ugly; and / get
nothing by begging, " / said to MIN; for [ was
ashamed, as young things are, of being ashamed
sThati another affair, then," said the
bier. IF you can not make fraud succeed, it
ls just as we'll 10 5De honesL IT you cannot get
this world you may as well have la try for the
next Here and there are . few people who
cannot get lie out OF their mouths-iust as
there are folks color blind, who cannot see the
red in an apple. When one is deficient like
that, one must tell the TRUTH and cobble leath-
figure among men. It is misfortune. but
there is no help for it I was one Of them.
Your father drinks wine every night, and has
his stomach full Of bread, beans and good goats
meat Taste flesh once q year, on Fat Thurs
day, and never know what kid tastes like II
you but 1 warn you what it will COST