, 1884-06-01
THE SENSATION AGE.
The Notwithstanding Influences
Which are Everywhere at Work
How the Grent Men Goethe High
Pressure Pace of RoyaIty--- r
Lent and the Com M
.r. vent.


An eminent doctor present said that there
Is hardly n lady who shines in society whose
nerves are not either broken down or in a
way to break down" In his opinion all civ
ilized states arc suffering from what he calls
the modern neurose, but most particularly
the wealthy classes, and of them tho women.
Our nervous system grew W, he said, in
quiet, jogtrot times, and were quite unpro-
pared for feverish excitement and racket
which steam locomotion, electric biography,
and the great development Of the press have
occasioned.
What the doctor asserted and opined may
well set people to thinking. One notable cir
cumstance seems to be the want of all sense
of proportion in the regard paid to "sensa-
tons" The Java volcano, the massacre of
Hicks Pasha's army, Marie Colombiers's in
decent biography Of Sarah Barnum," and
Emma Nevada's christening are events each
OF which has excited tho Partisan public in
equal degree.
Nobody tries to react against the nerve
oxhausting influences which are everywhers
at work. When the Paris season is over there
isa rush, not to quiet country and seaside
places, but to resortsof fashion like Trouville.
Dieppe, Brighton, etc. where roulettea and card
tables are in full swing in the casinos. The
virtue OF patience has died out People arc
not satisfied to wait quietly for their turn to
see a new play or opera They rush and
strive to DO in the crush at the first, second,
or third representations, although every one
knows that a theatrical piece is always better
acted when it has been some timo before tho
public.
GREAT MEN WEARING OUT.
A penury OF great men is noticed all over
Europe. Those who overtop the crown are
old men-Bismarck and Gladstone, to-wit.
Gordon remains great because his life, when
ha Ia nOt apuaual in spuna g7-aat work fa n
OF meditation and solitude. He goes into
deserts to commune with his own heart, and
to ponder over the ways Of God in dealing
with the human soul. Nor has he read a
newspaper for the last five years, nor taken
the sma Hest interest in those events which
excite the public. Sarah Bernhardt and
Marie Colombier are unknown to him. 1t is
possible that he has never given a thought to
Mrs Langtry. and il told about the wealth
of the California silver kings, ho would sim
cerely pity them for their folly in bothering
themselves with its possession.
i Gambetta would not probably have been
killed by the bullet-wound in his hand il
nervous power had not been pretty we'll used
up before 1t was inflicted. Clemenceau
frequently complains of the nsrve-s1-
hausting atmosphere in which he has to
stay, and says that he has not many years to
live. TIL jews who used to be SO tough are,
to believe Renan, the victims of spinal COM
plant, which is another word for nerve
exhaustion. Prince Bismarck is a colossus,
but has been for the last twelve years a
martyr TO that terribly painful nervous
affection, neuralgia. His malady Is almost
enough to explain tho burst of temper with
which he received this news OF the vote OF
the American house of representatives.
ROYALTY LOSING VITALITY. l
The queen OF Italy was threatened with
melancholy madness. The attempt on the
kings life was given as the cause Of her de-
pressed state. But the remoter reason was
the using up of nervous strength in her at
tempts to retain popularity and keep tho
different cities of Italy in good humor with
the house of Savoy. She has been reared in
Turin in the isolation of a Cinderella, and
was not prepared for the high-pressure e1-
istence which she has led since her marriage.
Mr.. Golden remarked that the three saddest
looking women he ever saw were the queen
of the French Marie Amelie), the queen of
Prussia, and the consort of the Gar NicholaS
The reason was that they were obliged to go
at a high-pressure pace, which wore them out
soon, and in diminishing vitality destroyed
animal spirits.
Every one now who is well off Is excited as
kings and queens used to DO forty years ago
by hearing daily OF what goes on in every
laA Va eAo NV ~ ~ ne q 6lthb ubhl III
public, and by having little if any time for
meditation and recuperRtiye quiet. Lent,
which used to be a time for looking into tho
state OF ones soul and of lying by, Is assum-
ing a modern character. Wealthy ladies are
just as restless during Lent as in any other
period of the year. They worry about grad
uating their mourning nnd have it made up
rather to adorn than to d~fsfigure them; good
places are to be secured in the churches in
which sermons are to DO delivered by the IA
vorite preache rs; fancy costumes are to BE-
inventei and prepared for the mid-Lent
travesty-balls; charity balls are to be- gotten
up; concerts are TO b. attended; and then
there is to be the round of exciting dsvotioAs
in the holy week.
NO MoR sELF-DENIAL.
The retreats of nino days to convonts are
becoming old-fashioned. II made one last
year" said to me a leader OF fashion, "and
1 shall never make one again. Tho food and
hours did not suit me-. l was Obliged to
breakfast and dine at a kind of a table d'hots
with nnrrow-minded and sour old ladies who
thought all religion consisted IN a round
OF small practices. When the nine days
were finished and 1 got back to the busy
world, 1 felt as IL l had in the convent grown
ten years older, and it was some timo before
l got comfortable again in my house and
circle Of friends. 1 cau't say that I was less
worldly minded or more charitable. l
should like now to give free thought a trial,
but unfortunately my mind is not self,reliant
enough to think on any subject"