The record-union., 1898-04-24

scanned all over with the wounds of
the market and the dangers of the field,
launched into action and passion by
the immensity and compleXity of the
general struggle a boundless ferocity
of battle-driven above all by the ex-
traordinary, the unique relation in
which he for the most part stands to
the life of his lawful, his immitigable
womankind the wives and daughters
who float, who splash on the surface
and ride the waves, his terrific link
with civilization, his social substitutes
and representatives while, like diver
for shipwrecked treasure, he gasps in
the depths and breathes through an air.
tube.
This relation, even taken alone, con-
tains elements that strikes me as only
yearning for their interpreter - ele-
ments, moreover, that would present
the further merit of melting into the
huge neighboring province of the spe-
cial situation of women in an order OF
things which to be a woman at all
certainly to be young woman-con-
stitutes in itself a social position. The
difficulty. doubtless, is that the world
of affairs. as affairs are understood in
the painting cities, though around us
all the while. before US, behind US, and
under our feet, is as special and oc-
cult a one to the outsider as the world,
say. of Arctic exploration-aS impene-
trable save as a result of special train
ing Those who know it are not the
men to paint it; those who might at
tempt it are not the men who know IT,
The most energetic attempt at por-
trayal that we have anywhere had
..LArgent," of Emile Zola-is precisely
a warning of the difference between
false and true initiation. The subject
there though so richly imagined, is all
too mechanically, if prodiglously, got
up." Meanwhile, accordingly, the
American business man" remains
thanks to the length and strength OF
the wires that move him. the magniti-
cent theme en- disponibilite. The ro-
nance of fact, indeed, has touched him
in a way that quite puts to shame the
romance of fiction.
George w. Smalley: So much We
all feel for NJ Zola, the champion Of
Justice. But for NJ Zola, the author
of Paris" the feeling of the Amer1-
can public can hardly be the same. The
novelist has never been a favorite here.
He ought not to be- He has done more
than any Frenchman of his time-more
than any other living writer OF any
nationality-to corrupt literature, to
debase it. to make it the servant of
what is unworthy and shameful.
Paris" the latest, is also one of the
most vicious of his books, a book as
false as it is coarse and vulgar. THE
Beacon City" or willie Lumiere," of
Voctor Hugo. has become a dung heap
if YOU accept NJ Zola's account of it
as true. 1t is not true-not true in
literature. not true in fact. If M. Zola
chose to write a book about the gut
ters and back alleys and all the moral
filth of Paris he had no right TO do so.
He had already done it in L Assom-
moir." a novel incomparably more
powerful than this. But he had no
right to produce such a book and pre-
tend that it is picture of Paris.
New York Mail and Express: Charles
Henry Hart's paper, the title of which
is ''Peale's Original Whole-length Por-
trait of Washington-a Plea for Exact
ness in Historical Writings" shows
what are the methods used by this ca
pable expert in the determination of
portraits. Between the ''putative paint
er" and the possible sitter nothing
ought to be taken for granted. If ques-
tions of authenticity arise these must
''bear the same investigation and be
tested by the same immutable rules Of
evidence as every other department of
historical study" The two canons
which must govern all investigation.
Mr.. Hart writes are: Take nothing
for granted and Use exact language"
Taking. for an example, the portraits
of Washington painted by Charles Will
son .Peale. Mr. Hart begins his interest
ing article by stating that Peale paint
ed Washington from life more often
than any of his contemporaries. he
began in May, 1772, when Washington
was a Virginia Colonel and ended in
September, 1895. with him as President
of the United States" To Mr. Hart
is due the finding of the portrait of
Washington painted by Peale, the
only revolutionary portrait" and this
was painted to relieve the tedium OF
the winter quarters at Valley Forge
upon a piece of bed ticking, the only
available material to be had in those
days that tried mems souls" Careful
studies made by Mr. Hart are convlnc-
ing that the Valley Forge picture was
the guide Peale followed in that whole
length portrait having Nassau Hall in
the distance Now as to the true his
tory of the picture Washington. sum-
moned to Philadelphia by Congress, ar
rived on December %, 177S, and re-
mained in Philadelphia until the I'd Of
February, 1719 Almost year after
Valley Forge and six months after