The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-05-21

~phiianfhropic ends for the propagation of
which it pleases him 10 have so esteemed
. medium ~ the Tim<s. The people who
nm TO see him. the deputies, the minis
tiers. the an AMBASSADORS. he writers. the
artists, the simple reas da saoade come
most often, not TO iais Office, hut TO his
warm and hospitahle home. Here. In one
OF the streets that wind about tue star
arch At the head OF the Champs Eaysees he
receives all the world rs the charm
ing gentleman rather than the historic
journalist De Blowitx. The admired cen
ter OF 3 devoted family circle. he discourscs
at his dinner table OF the serious events OF
the day. volubly. ricturesqueiy and with
conviction. although always ready 10 rs
ten and even TO alter his opinions At q
moments notice. though that notice must
be good. While he himself makes the cot
fee the talk becomes less exacting ana
more general. Often he tells you of has
pictures and points out TO You the panels
set into the wall of the loom works ot has
friends. great canvasses by NJ. Clairin or
by Mile. Sarah B~ernhard:, and n q
sunny view of the Norman house on the
cliff by If. Duphot. After dinner in the
private study, with its high walls covered
with paintings and souvenirs and auto
graphs. photographs OF the great
est names OF France. you SMOKE III
the arms of III easy chair. the wood
fire burning brightly IN an ample chin
hAh wa ttSts f-e!tNf
cushions. and with one les curied under
him. drops grandiy into pleasant remi-
absences. One has visions OF basdad.
After an hour like this you wonda when
NJ. de Biowits works. But he has been
working ali the time. lie has been think
Ing in one-half of very capacaous brain
and talking from another. The chance
are that he viii have planned n column
article for the Times newspaper. left you
for \ half hour To runinage III his books
while he dictates the article. telephoned
for his carriage to await him at Q O'Clock
in the court below. and asAed you to ac-
company him to the opera-all before he
has finished his cigar. But then the cigar
is a remarkably good one. aud knows not,
as is the case with annassadorisi nico-
tine, the protec,ivcsrustoms of France.
Life means to NJ. de Blowitx a mental
activity and alertness hat never sleep.
Yet he is always amiaoie. :~oierasing every
thing but stupidity. He is a Journalist by
natural selection" But that, in the Eu-
rope of his ,inie. and given the accidents
of his fortune. made him the d~iplomatist
that he has been and Is. He can keep q
secret as well as tell one.
What Frenchman said Truth is =
wedge that makes its way only by being
strgck?" have forgotten. at all events
isn't the remark III times out of ten
true? But NJ. de Blowitz could apply for
the honor OF being the prove.hial excep-
ton. His workshop is full of wedges. and
q more impatient man would have used
up ali of them long ago., after having
hammered the battered tops nto \ con-
dition Of spiay Disagreement. NJ. de
Biowitx does not do this. He knew and
knows a better way. lie can afford tn
wait. He likes to wait. He has the good
and amia5!e heart of q mau who. ike
Odysseus, has seen many men and coun-
tries, and knows that all things-I include
even people who are "bores"-have a point
of view tina, may he rendered interesting.
Himself n of the most individualixcd
of contemporary institutions. his own
career Is a standing argument against the
sacredness OF the idea of institutions.
Yet. though he has inevitably learned
how relative things in general are, he
himself appeals to his friends as unusually
selt-eontasned and absolute. Dlplomatist
among ~diplcmatists. he is more powerful
than any of them. because he works in the
interest OF the whole rather than in that of
a part. Loya! absolutely 10 the 7iBses,
which 10 its accidental honor has en-
tangled him. the Times is, at its best. only
the accidental projection, a kind % chronic
double of himself. His letters are kind at
tentions which have the air of a continual
favor. Though better Tccompcnsed than
fayors sometimes are, and though what
ever their contents he will be read by
everybody, this is not only because what
tue author writes IL important, huG be-
cause he does not write when he has moth
ing TO say.
This reticence is superb, and one Of its
practical results has been the remarkable
physical yigor of this man who is after
all no longer young. One should see him
in his country home. NJ. de Blowitx went
up and down the north coast of France
hunting for an eyry. He found i. on the
wooded top OF one of the side slopes of the
thousand aud one ~ravines in which the
fishermen along that coast had fixed their |
cabins. at the small hamlet OF Les Petites
Dalies. Like Alphonse karr AT Etretat,
guide book will tell you the fact: M. do
Biowitz. correspondent OF the English
newspaper, the Times. has n v,ila here"
l defy you to find any other distinction |
special 10 this place. The high Normandy !
coast is ALWAYS charming. but 1t is equally |
so at a hundred other points. And of
what charm there is here simply as n
village NJ. de Biowitx's presence would |
seem to threaten partial extinction. For
this very presence is rendering the spot ia
nous and crowded. Sit in tie afternoon
listening Ia the three violIns tina, provide
the music for. and taxing your absinthe
on one of those hard benches within the
narrow limits OF. the space called casino
there. and you will run the risk OF over
hearing a conversation like this:
This is your first summer herer"
BE- "ies; came las. night. am tired OF
Pau. and 1 though; / could bury myself
here. Bnt there's too much world"
ssNna hat Us1a n ~A.t. = kZff