Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-12

| Italy, but at Nice an emissary OF the conyeu-
ton recalls him to paris TO explain his con-
The young hero does not - he might
| hand over this message 70 the soldiers who
| idolise their general The lion neither rosrs
nor Stays his insulter, but goes quietly 70 Paris
and to prison, sad and disgusted and ready 70
pay with his life for the glories his victories
have covered him with.
But the ninth Of Thermidor arrived His
prison gate opens. Robespierre himself il led
to the scaffold. gnashing with rage at not hav-
ing added the head CT the heroic Hoche 20 the
overlooking basket of the guillotine.
The vice of democracies is TO use no talent
ana then shelve it The humor OF democracies
10 the refreshing way in which the mob affect
familiar and patronizing airs toward the great
leaders OF men. The tory sweep speaks Of
Gladstone Is Tom does of Dick and Harry,
Even the appeiiation grand old man. is now
superseded IN the mouths of most tories by
Poor Old Gladstone" and g. o. NJ. will need
be soon replaced by p. o. @. IL is the same
everywhere that King Demos reigns The
French guillotine is rusty. but mud and brick
bats are always at hand for men OF Hoche's
type. II they should crop up, and there would
not De wanting men TO use them in the name OF
liberty, fraternity and equality
How BRrrrsHERs REGARD IBsES.
MIS-. Erving Winslow Of Boston ought 70 be
very satisfied with the audience which her
reading Of Ibsen's play, "The Enemy Of the
People," drew to the Haymarket Theater on
the 18th. The house was full and attentive.
MIR. Gladstone, looking wonderfully vigorous
ana well. was among the intellectual-look
crowd which had come TO give her an appre-
ciative hearing, and the theater was dotted
over with well-known faces in all parts. But
the fact remains that this afternoon audience
was a picked one and did not Of course repre-
sent the ordinary theater-going crowd For
the crowd, lbsen scarcely exists yet and IN
deed 1t is doubtful if it ever will. l cannot
imagine anything less likely TO charm them
than the lofty, unsensational realism of the
Norwegian master. The s.olid, well-fed, no.
nonsense-about-him Briton does not pay his
money to go and listen to a sermon such as we
had IN The Enemy of the People" He has
dlned well, he has perhaps wined we'll, he feels
pretty well satisfied with the world as il is, and
he Is in anything but a mood TO be captious
about rifies. AS for the lower middle class
one might AS well give them q play of Sopho-
cles In the original Greek as one Of Ibsen's
Dramas The peace and complacency born o.:
a comfortable feeling in the inner man. wrap
MN around, and he is in no mind to be shown
That life is perpetual warfare against all
forms OF cowardice within us aud without He
finds
THE WORLD FAIRLY DECENT SORT OF PLACE
and ono man about as good as another He has
no particular wish to improve it or them, es-
pecially if it involves the uncomfortable ne
cessity of iuexorabiy acting up to ones belief
and vigorously shaking off of the shackles Of
conventionality. He will take q stage pill con-
tanning moral lesson without rebelling, but it
must be well coated with dramatic situations,
scenic effects, &c. Ibsen's plays do not glitter
with bats of this kind His personages are
PLAIN, everyday folk, and their language is not
nne, not punctuated with wit and epigram
though this latter feature would scarcely be a
drawback In the eyes OF our ordinary Briton.
Then, again. Ibsen addresses himself to the will
and to the judgment, and not at all to the
senses, and this will also be a defect for the
mass OF English play-goers; he, the least sensual
OF men. will remain practically sealed book
70 them. No. Mr.. Ibsen, your own Peter Nor
tensgaard is too plentifully represented in flesh
and blood here in the world for you to ever be-
come universally appreciated.
LONDON STATUES
When l wrote my first book about England
1 made II point to mention that to a foreigner
1t was curious to see the fourth pedestal in
trafalgar Square remain unsurmounted with
statue. 1t seemed to me that if England could
not put her hand upon man just suited to the
conspicuous elevation. she might meanwhile
set up some good mediocrity for symmetry's
sake Seven years have since gone by, and
that pedestal is still waiting. very fine statue
OF Gordon has been set up in the center OF the
square, and certainly no one felt inclined to
cavll at the notion that soldier saint Of
hhartoum' was not particularly appropriate
pendent for George VI The FIRST gentleman
OF Europe is, OF course, little difficult to
match. and my feeling now is more one Of
curiosity as to how that difficulty will resolve
Itself than one of wonder at the want of SYM
metry In the present arrangement. have seen
SO many astonishing sights in other parts Of
LONDON that simply came to the conclusion
that London in such matters is content to re-
main far behind the most paltry country
town OF the world Near one Of the entrances
OF the most beautiful park in the city there are
four eyesores that were once, no doubt. pretty
groups of statuary. 1t is years since noticed
them first. but even then they we're hardly
recognizable as ever having been ornamental
And there they stand yet, blotched, battered
scabbed scarecrovs, such as one could not
match in any town in the world. Half the
statues of London look like victims Of erysip-
elias. In some, the disease is more advanced
than In others. Queen Anne's was the most
distressing case. The figure of that sovereign
lady in St Paul's churchyard was minus Its
nose when saw it first, and remained in that
state for about ten years. And, goodness knows,
nose is useful member in England-ir the
winter especially
Gull from French police court report the
following:
Judge-"You say you saw the ARRAY outside
the tavern from your doorstep: How far is il
from that place to your houses''
No answer.
Judge-.'Is it three hundred yards?"
No answer.
Judge-'Is it a hundred yards?"
Judge-"Is it fifty? How long does it take
to go from the one to the other?''
Witness-"Well, sir. it depends Do you
mean going or returning?"
MAX O'RRLL