Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1882-12-09

I
attempts have accordingly keen made to murder
them in English.
There arc Signs. Of late that the spiritual
and Intellectual ISOLATION which, like the thorny
heSlce in the fairy tale, has iot centuries shut
out the Norscman ftum Ill hu, mcrc commcr.
cal intercourse with the great nations OF the
WORLD. Is heinr gradually broken. Riotnson
was the daring prince who first hravc,i the
densc ihouy hodge Of patriotic eouceii, ptciu
dice and clerical ohscnn,isrn. and he woke
the Suml<rng princess, Norway with Mss
81 JotmY affection. \ great fresh guFt ~
modern thought m>hcl in through the break
which Nc had made. and 1t was ol NO avail that
the conservative ministers II the crown and the
orthodox Lutheran olcrDmcn pulled the hucd
collars " thcii oyereuais up 10 their EYES to
preserve them from this dangerous nineteenth
century draught People hcgan TO breathe
the new atmosphere. and It agreed with them
Nothing vep terrible happened to anybody
leSccw to the antidcluyian ministers Of the
crown. who soon found themselves withou,
majority in the Storihinc tprlamentl. They
hkci their places 50 well, however, that they
determined to keep them in spite oi the hostile
majority. and that exeellen, King. Oscar IL,
who from force OF habit had become quite fond
Of the aniideluyisn gentlemen. jus, then had
the good luck to discover that he possessed, &C
coriinc to the constitution, an absolute veto !;
and that. accordingly. It was Of very small con
sequence whether the people approved OF him
and his ministers OF not. The people, who
never found anything in the constitution abou,
the absolute veto. were as,onished, and gave
their astonishment vent through very unmistak.
able demonstrations, and by passing the law
which the King had vetoed in four successive
pafliaments. When the head of the ministry,
the Premiet Stang. was obliged on aceoun, Of
old age and inhrmiy to resign, he was sue
eecdcd by hitherto obscure gentleman named
Selmer. who, as far as people could Judge. was
selected as reward and encouragement, to
rneiiccfity In the meantime the people have
been aroused by the indigniiies which they
have received AT the hands OF the government,
" and the constitutional battle is being fought
!, with visor and spirit. Norway. which dorer
years agowaslying in an uneasy slumber with the
huge bureaucratic nightmare planted upon he
breast, is now n, leas, wide awake, and i
: struggling to rise to her fee, and lie, the invig
. Grating breath of the great worlds though
blow freely into her face.
This political in,erlude was but intended t.
show what the intellectual condition Of Nor
IL xx-ithgNf 4,
this the new literary movement would hardly b
comprehensive. The new writer whom | M
am abou, to introduce has a revolutonar
! spark in him, and he could hardly have foun
v 50 large public in Norway il the politics
= agitation had not made mems minds acceSsibl
" 10 new ideas. II ! were 10 define more cxactl
"a the position OF Alexander Kielland, shoul
~ say that he represented the French naturalist
applied to Morse conditions. lie is lola in
" milder form, an artistic and well-hred Zols
with an innate aristocracy OF the heart whic
Restraints the democracy OF his brain. He
- singularly clear-sighied, and sees whittier III
world is inevitably drifting. But doubt il
- approves OF the democracy of the future
cordially as he disapproves OF the olisarch
:, abuses Of the present. ! may be doing hi
III injustice il | say that he loves the people. h,
" with his handkerchief TO his nose. 1t is n,
any sentimental regard for the people as sue
" tina, kindles his indignation and inspires h
scaihipg satire; j, is rather his sense OF justic
- his innate love Of fair play, which impels hi
TO speak. And he speaks as no one has spoke
- before him in Norway-not with the war
Titanic eloquence Of Bjornson, but with
1 polished Parisian elegance, and with cool er
grammaiic audacity. There is nothing viii,
be would shrink from saying il truth and ju
:" tice demanded it, He is no, in the leas, afra
OF shocking sensitive nerves; but on the 9th
hand he is crude, like lola, and his sati
eIeyIt redeems every daring statement by ri
~ ing j, point, hghtness and humor. There is |,
wise self-restraint of the man OF the world Sc
in his boldest utteranees, and his satire gal
~ immeasuraby in force by its calm SUPERIOR
=" and well-bred air.
The four books which he has published Ia
all a serious purpose, but they written wi
a 6onAsnnsie and an amiable urbanity viii
~ almos, disguise their earnes,ness. In t
y "Noyelettes" the democratic tendency "
~ yet vague and indis,inci. II seemed to be I,
whimsical democracy Of the man OF pleasr
-" who, when the ball is over, sits down with
Wy gloves on and philosophers on the artificial
~ OF civilization and the wholesomeness OF hon
toll An indigestion makes him occasiona
49, communist, but glass OF settler soon recs
' Giles him to civilization and reawakens
aris,oeIaiie instincts. Blu, Mr.. Kielland's 5
W ond novel "Garman and Worse" proved Il
such Judgment in his case would be hasty Of
His democratic proclivities were apparen
"s something more than mood, and were 81
ported by an honest conviction. II was /
important Circumstance which made many "
49, had laughed a, the frs, book take alarm al
second. That peculiar species Of clergy VII
Norwegian Lu,heranism has evolved had ne
before been 10 sirikingly portrayed as in I
- novel. and although they recognized their Ii
mesa they were not at all pleased with il.
government officials, the bufeauefatiSss. y
, guard the io,tering throne Of Oscar Bcrnado
were also quick to discover that this book
dangerous" in lis tendencies, and when
- kielland responded to their warning will
third novel, "Afheids- Folk l~ofking Poop
which Was devoted more particularly to
portrayal u the bureaucratic world. their
digna,scn knew no limits. fourth nol
"Eisa," which unmssks The phaIisaisrn
nsay so-oalied charitable institutions. Wa
IN signai ios further denancia,ion Of the auth
bsi the ioroe u the lesson which the book c
soed asd the usihialness q Us dsserip,i
were recognized even by thos~ who condcm