The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-01-08


From His Own Life and as He ConsId
cred Himself sinned Against He Di'
Not Treat Society Amy Too IIindly-wa
Born out of wedIock and vote a Bool
to Defend Himself-His liother's Infiu
ence on His Works.
Paris. Jan. THE following article
by Max Nordau, author of ''Degenera
ton, viii appear in a leading Paris pa.
per tomorrow morning:
Dumas once said of himself, 4 am ar
oppresSor,' and at .~notl1er occasion ht
expressed the same idea by the words
I feel like subduing everybody with
whom I come in contact When one Of
his admirers fattered him by suggesting
a similarity of face and department be-
tween himself and Bismarck he smiled
and said: Indeed, I believe have miss
ed my vocation was born 10 govern
could have made a very acceptable
minister of state
IAN such remarks, specifically con-
sidered, smack Of insane medicines
as, under ordinary circums tances, scar
cely corporal Of the stage would in
cline to regard a playwright, even If
he were the greatest, sufficiently pos
Sessed of diplomatic talents and social
| worth TO aspire TO the position Duma S
| thought his destination. And yet he
| was right. His words were merely an
! echo Of the consciousness of certain Pc
culiarities In his mental makeup.
Every genuine playwTight-I mean a
draInatist, who adopted his calling be
cause he felt himself equal to the task;
do not mean playwrights from motives
or vanity, Of frivolity, or those who are
only 3-nJta tors-every genuine play
| wright, L say, every dramatiSt by the
( grace Of naive and organic impulse,
! has the same feeling as Dumas did.
! THE psychological characteristics Of
/ the dranauist and of the Caesar-Diota-
| tor almost balanced each other. If we
pursue investigations 10 the utmost, Il
will be found that a stage success and
| a successful coup d'etat are really pro-
/ ducts of the same moral factor. Whe,th-
er one and the same man undertakes
TO rule over the boards or 70 assume a
| throne, that depends merely on acct
dents, ON outward circumstances. on the
influences exercised by social events, by
persons, and by the general aims and
necessities of the times.
1T would be interesting 10 know
whether or not Plus VII. was fully con-
sclous of the great truth he expressed
when apostrophising the great Napol-
con with the historic words, Common
dante! Tragedianter 4 most precise
expression. Napoleon the Great was
decidedly man of the theater; so was
Napoleon III, so Were julius Caesar.
Cola di Rienzi, Oliver Cromwell.
Among the genuine playwrights we dis
cover, on fthe other hand, uSurperS, ty-
rants and conquerors.
THAT Napoleon as youth COMPOSED
a tragedy: that Talrna always remained
his favorite; that during his historical
interview with Goeth he spoke at
length about the drama, forgetting ALIKE
time and all other business; that in the
midst of the most exciting chapter of
the worlds history, in the burning of
MOSCOW, he exclaimed and authorized
the rules OF the Theater Francois, which
are still / nforce, all this is not acident-
al; 1t Is manifestation of the most Sc
cret and most unconscious nature OF
Napoleon, who was bound to act ex-
actly as he did act.
To the dictator as well as to the
dranatist success is life. Both can
achieve victory only while they are able
to concentrate public attention upon
their persons and acts; they must also
nave the power to make others forget
their own personalities while i'm the
presence of The self-styled heroes If
lose sight of their idols even for a mo-
ment, the latters' dominion is at an end
Suggestion, the excitement of emo
tons and of pleaSura'ble sensations are
means 10 captivate the asses for
longer or shorter period. The first is
produced by action and requisites, equiv
alentS Of the fetion temporarily selected
for worship by aborigines.
Witness how the conqueror goes to
work; deeds of prowess or despotism.
grand receptions, maneUvers, army re-
views; these are the effects he employ
es; in that line We may mention also the
gold lace and plumes of his suite, the
creation of a new order, etc, etc. The
same with the playwright; his appara-
tus resembles that of his confrere in
every thing but in size. There is no
need Of detil~d comparison.
Emotions are produced by the arous-
ing OF peoples sympathy and vanity
Show the masses on the battlefield or
on the stage. examples of herOiSrn. of
sacrifice or Overpowering fortitude. and
all hearts Will respond Speak Of mill
taTy glory and the counter-j jumper.
measuring cheap calico or Weighing
Iaurels on his forehead.
To 1mpart pleaSurs.ole sensations %
me mass, the cOnqueror and the play
VIII alike fiaUter peoples prejudfces
and often create for the benefit of their
dupes an ideal world which seems 70
realize their ssmideyeloped wants and
expectations
'One needs To possess certain organic
faculties - make successful use OF the
means for captivating mobs above de-
sclIb@d, namely: 4 strong VIII. suS-
cepuDiiity % primitive symbols, even % 4
absurbttieS. an emotional temperament, (
and good portion of ylilCartty The I
hrSc IS essential 20 action; action Is |
and its mental equivalent Is
called impulse. Actors. ministers q I
STATE, humanitarian fguTeheadS. ar
mics. all obey the same display OF VIII |
power, the one group giving life 70 their
approximations, the others f.NCwing 4
ca esa-'s wink OF bidding. slave fashion /;
The man 81 the faint heart can Meth |
or compose a successful drama nor Gre l
ate dictatorship nor direct a plebiscioe 1
open 70 subtle TeaSontngs. but viii a. |
ways applaud brutal declarations. \ !
reSounding voice. The Io-dly sway OF an /
arm, bringing down ones FIST upon the !
table are thu very arguments THAI find |
an echo IN Ire souls If the plebs. To I
impress and hypnotic ones sudi=rce,
fantasy must be called into play.
Fantasy, indeed, - responsible f0r 1
the Legion ~ Honor. for thai cJTu1a-iCl
comedy n which ,hs crown q Charla-
ma gle figured - crnsp icuousIy. also l
for the uncommon but entirely !rrevar- 4
phrase u the forty centuries boxing
down from the -op Of the pyramids.
The masses form m excellent phIo- I
g1s-on- but s. takes bright fame 70 ig-
ni-e their souls Dsed< % deSpo-5s-r,.
such a. the Dictator delights IN BE-
cause they iatter his eg3tts-ScsI anns-
ton. require for their conception and
execution intense nerve excitement Be
-eft o. thar phys.cAl and meta ssnsa-
ton. the plsy-TrlEllt's fi-urehes1S would I