The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-04

1t was absolutely necessary. while she
was rampant. to skim the Nude books
before leaving them on the drawing
room table. and to say this of Nude,
whose very name reeks of respecta-
bility, is to express plainly the doubt
full state into which our literature had
plunged before Fashion cried enough, %
and the great stream of turgid novels
was stemmed.
Yes; we have done now with the
dreadful woman. whose very souls have
been laid bare before us. We have said
goodbye, let us trust, to yellow asters
and speckled toads, and the rest of the
tribe of monstroSitieS. We are to an
aiyZe less, and enjoy literature more
for the sake of style than for the sake
of what inner receSseS of doubtful
emotions it opened TO us. 1t is we'll to
pause here and consider our gain. Has
it been forgotten that novels can be
at one and the same time works Of
art and-as it is called-books with a
purpose? Surely Jane Austin, gentle
soul and fervid; surely the Kingsleys,
Charles and Henry, and particularly
Henry, whose works are at last receiv-
ing their proper need of praise: surely
more immediate modern writers, such
as Robert Stevenson. Barrie. John
Davidson, with hosts of others, are
sufficient to prove to us a mine Of
wealth without the introduction Of
mere base metal? Life is not long
enough even to look once at all the
exquisite gems of literature. Why pore
over limitations while the realities are
available? We have disposed of the
ubiquitous New Woman SO far as the
stage and literature are concerned. In
the art of painting she has no place:
she was too ugly. But let us pause ere
SO sweeping a statement be made. Bet
IL ~, Loo 70
however. Better recollect that the merit
of an advertisement depends upon its
arrestive qualities. and accord to them
at least this characteristic.
1t remains. then, for us TO consider
the new woman in real life. To tell
the truth. therein lies our difficulty
Wheie is she? If it be true that she
has skunk off into the limbo of the past,
then where was she when she was
among US? Strangely enough, we
never met her. We heard OF her a
great deal too much, but she did not
materialise. Surely, she was a spook,
a creature of the imagination. A
mystery, most decidedly, was this So
longed, or, indeed, had the faintest de-
sire, to make her acquaintance. We
were only too glad she never came our
way.
We have heard Of, however-indeed,
with thankfulness, we may declare we
have known-women to whom the
epithet new might possibly be ap-
piled, though we are of a good hope
that the generations that are gone
were also well acquainted with her
prototypes. Let US paint her in words,
poor in comparison with her richness,
yet the best we can command. She
is strong-strong enough to be indie
dependent if life meteS out to her the
path. She is sweet Never
was woman more lovable nor tenderer.
She is gentle, both of voice and man
ner She is kind to her dependents and
very merciful; broad in her views, and
tolerant. She works-maybe works for
money. Circumstances over which she
has had no control have forced her to
earn her own living-earn, too, those
IF others, perhaps. Yet she does not
sound her own trumpet upon this ac-
count; neither does she lament her
sad case. For she deems labor honor
able, and is thankful for the talents
that enable her to bear her own bur-
len. she is very honest, pays her way,