The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-05-18

The Great Browning Color Mystery
Much attention has been aroused by the
Great BROWNING Color Mystery. The Bos
ton women wear red hats at BROWNING
readings and celebrations. What" in the
words Of the Boston Transcript, lis the sub
tie connection between red hats and the
reading of BROWNING p This Is the Great
BROWNING Color Mystery, and the Brown.
ING societies Of Chicago and Salt Creek have
been eager to pry into 1t. Tho scholars OF
the latter metropolis are doubtless ponder
ing deeply and modestly upon the difficult
problem. Meanwhile, with the precipitancy
OF raw youth. Chicago assumes to settle
the question at once, which is probably
good deal more than Mr.. BROWN
ING could do were he still breathing the
vital air. The official explanation OF the
Cook county Browninglans appears In the
Chicago Herald. The Young Culture Giant
OF the prairies leaps to the conclusion
and AYERS that "red is the BROWNING col
or" Mr.. BROWNING, as the explanation eS-
plains, is natural coorist. Intensely fond
Of color and instinctively true in tone, he Is
always simple, truthful, rich in his sense Of
hue, and modest, reticent and suggestive,
like q true artist. in its depletion. He Is
not Pre- Raphaelite, yet he is especially nat
ural and truthful in color. He takes color
with loyal and unqualified love and admira-
| ton from nature. His tone is always i'm
| pressionstic. He sees nature not through
the limits Of q palette, but in the wonderful
| glow and depth OF the sunlight. Therefore
the basis OF all his coloring 10 gold. The
| color, apart from tone and atmosphere to
| which he most inclines Is red, the great dom
| inant Of the major common chord OF gold"
| In plain words, he likes to blend red and
| gold, but doesn't want red where red Is not
| put by nature. This assertion would seem
| to show that he liked red heads but not
red hats; and, If true, is fatal to the Chi
cagO unravelling Of the Great Color Mys-
terry. His red is not without secluded
| moral significance" He uses blue with
gold, but only on a vial" Throughout his
works "the ground Of tone Is gold; the
favorite color is red. with graduation to yell
low. black, or the various hues OF the rising
or setting SUM-"
This is very ingenious, but, unfortunately,
the argument breaks down by proving that
the poet WAS practically color blind. He
acknowledges that he is not sure whether a
certain curtain Is blue or green" He ad-
mits, we may add, that he doesn't know red
from yellow. In noting that the Boston
woInens hats remind them Of the Red
Cotton Night Cap Country" the Chica go in
vestigators touch without knowing it
upon the core Of the mystery. There
is good deal Of evidence to show
that, If the book means anything, which
is somewhat improbable, it is an attack
Roaton iDot Tho
Norwegian breeds no bile" is plain
allusion to IBSEN "Thlt monster with
belly full of blare refers not, as some have
contended, to certain Tubby Reformer in |
New York, but to the Great Organ which |
used to be in the Boston Music Hall. THAT |
nullity Of cultivated minds is a sneer at |
Boston's darkness Of Ierstrained intellect. |
" How came you to be born here with those I
lungs, that liver ?" is a hit at the east wind |
and pie. And who can doubt that these
lines are addressed to he Orotund Omnio-
sciolist, JOSEPH Cook
ignorance
Historical and philosophical.
And moral and religions all ono couch
OF crassitude, porhut OF its kind"
And what are the following lines but a
dig at a feminine type for which Boston is
famous2
Maid mature
And dragonish OF aspsc4'
"And spinster JEASNE With megrm troubled much"
Then 1.-THE pretty votive-statue thing" Is
the CAss monument, and so on. We hope wa
have said enough to create presumption
that the Red Gotten Night Cap Country is
Boston. Whether BRowHING's favorite color
was red or elephants breath is Of no impor.
IN "a Ill, -, b.,
worth the CANDLE that his favorite color was
not red Suffice t to say that In the RED
Cotton Night Cap Country" the poet repre-
sents himself as being in White Cap coun-
try, possibly Indiana, and he asks himself:
why not Red Cotton Night Cap Country,
tooP" And. "Ay, to find your Red Deslder-
ated article" Whereupon he writes what he
alls a clear AMI simple poem. probably
about Boston.
Here, then, the Heart OF the Great
BROWNING Cqlor Mystery. 1t is deeper
mystery than Chicago thinks. We know
that the BROWNING women OF Boston wear
red hats. That fact in itself affords no clue
to the seeker after the Heart Of the Mystery.
But. starting with the extremely probable
hypothesis that Boston ID the Red Cotton
Night Cap Country Of which the poet says:
"or thbe, nowhere eso
Win ESTABLISH that Night Cap CLEANS
Otv1onaIy red, not white for oncop
We come To the conclusion that all Boston
Br0oninD Women ,reaT Red Cotton Mint
Caps! Without touching upon forbidden
arcana we respectfully submit that this is
the solution of the Great BROWNING Color
Mystery. Red hats at the BROWNING show;
Red Cotton Night Caps at a later hour.
Doubtless facts will be elected by our n.y. {
pothesis that viii substantiate 1t:
"sohIfu,nre enterprise shall give the world 49,
Quit as remark able q Night Cap show"
Taking Second Glass Mall Matter.
There b bill now before Congress which Il
nrn,,iln, tl,.,t