Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-02


have called forth such storm Of dissent from
readers that he has had to further explain
them This explanation, which appeared in
= SYNDICATE OF newspapers. is not cheering.
count Tolstoi is a wonderful genius but he
certainly depressing. Some one long ago
recommended him as capital reading for
any one suffering from q plethora Of high spir-
its, His latest utterances have distinctly added
TO MS reputation in this line What. take away
out or life the little poetry that it Possesses!
there should be but one name for the highest
devotion OF an Adam Bede and the sensual pas
SION OF Tito Melema; but IL Is dismal to hear
Doth inmped together and to be told that love
ano All the states that accompany and follow it.
no matter what the poets may say, never do
and never can facilitate the attainment of an
difficult
THE SUBTLE PASSION.
what, stigmatize a. unholy 1.-The maiden pas
SION Tor maid" that ''most subtle passion I'M
der heaven, that not alone keeps down the base
In man. but doth 'teach high thoughts and
noble deeds and all that makes q man. Do
away with the golden bond Of wedlock and
make the earth a silent dungeon for want of the
sunshine and laughter of children! That there
IS SIN IN the world we all know: that much of it
Is caused by 'feshly lusts which war against
the soul Is another truism; but to advocate
the extinction Of the species as a remedy for
the evil is much like proposing to cure tooth
acne py cutting the patients head off. witty
frehcnman has said that one must needs put
up with growing old since it is the only means
yet discovered for living long. As "'tis love
that makes the world 60 round" most of us
VIII. L dare say. be willing to put up with that,
TOO, Tor some time longer
OSCAR WILDE.
How true is that saying of Josh Billings that
when a man has once stood on his head before
the public the public will never allow him to
stand on his feet again. The case OF Mr. Oscar
Wilde is good illustration of this truth. For
several years he has been doing serious work.
but IT Id still difficult to take him seriously His
readers cannot forget the Oscar Wilde of the
platform though he has long ceased to exist
and IN his stead has appeared the Oscar Tame
who, clothed and in his right mind"-with
his hair cut-does his best to make them for
get that he ever stood on anything but his foe.
lie gives them poetry that is refined and
pretty, and he gives them prose- that is poeti-
call but every now and then there comes some
tremendous statement, which instead of being
impressive, as 1t Is intended to be, somehow has
the opposite effect and inevitably recalls the
attitudInizing Oscar of old. Such an utterance
Is the one in his article on Criticism" in this
months Nineteenth Century. Speaking of
journalism. he says: 1T justifes its own exist
euce by the great Darwiniau doctrine of the
survival OF the vulgarist." And AGAIN. The
difference betweep journalism and literature is
that journalism is unreliable and literature is
unread"
Ii must be hard to have to label your Jokes
but perhaps harder still to have to label your
serious statements
THE LATEST FRENCH FAD.
Paris is growing ludicrous with her adjective
I'm de steele. Everything is fin dc steele (ceu-
fury end). There is century-end DRAMA CEN
tury-ond music, century end literature. dresses,
women, men. manners and even menus that
are III all remarkable are characterized as fin
de steele. There IL the mother-in-law fin de
steele the lover fin de steele; in fact Paris has
but one adjective at present and that is fin de
steele. What do the novelty-loving Parisians
mean by this term? Nothing What do thew
pretend to mean? A great many things; real
ISM, hlaterlallsm. cynlc SIN and long string of
other lsms all equally bald and unprepo3sess-
ing. But you must mover take the Frenchman
at MS own valuation. Edward Paiieron knows
ms compatriots, and he said: when IA French
man speaks Ill of himself do not believe
him; he Is boasting." The explanation
OF his vagaries is this: He breads dullness
like poison. On the other hand he
loves play acting. And so what happens? For
rear or being led into dizziness he will scarcely
be serious; for fear you should take HIM for
better than he is he will play the reprobate
But do not DO deceived; it is only PLAYING. He
nature. think. than this his latest pose. If
iii de sieclo, as he employs it, means anything
at al! 1t means absence of sentiment and the
Frenchman is full of sentiment. Here and
there. IN my country, one may find woman
destitute OF it. but / believe never man.
There Is French saying which runs thus:
Drive away a natural trait and it comes back
ut gallop." This Id so true that confidently
look for Il speedy return of the Parisian's SEN
nmentaiism and the disappearance of this
crank of caliousness.
l take from the Figaro, which is the great
journal of century-end literature, the following
century-end announcement:
Madame ~, an interchangeable talker having
died. her son-in-law sent to the friends of the
family an in;imation OF her demise in these
words: AT quarter past seven this morning
my mother-in-law ceased to speak"
MAX O'RELL.