Kansas City journal., 1898-01-25
Hours With Fnmou. Par,,tau.

Hours With Famous Parisians.
The following review of Mr.. Stuart
HenryS book is from the Outlook, New
York. Mr.. Henry was an Abilene. kas.
boy. who graduated at the University Of
Kansas. and afterward lived several years
in Paris. from which place he wrote many
charming letters to The Journal. He IS
row a business man in St. Joseph, this
state.
He or she who writes under the name OF
Stuart Henry has given us remarka bly,
readable book comprising over twenty
short essays describing some of the ceie-
hrities Of Paris. These descriptions are
characterized by much robust di-
rectness. and at the same time by 50
much of feminine incisiveness. that we
hardly know whether they were written
by man or woman. AT all events. they
demand special notice. For instance. we
have these words about Madame Adam:
Il; is not true that Madame Adam Is
the only man in France. The compliment
would be magnificent for her, but rather
whimsical. Nevertheless, she is more
serse) than most Of the Frenchmcn you
meet in Paris. / scarcely know a Pari-
STAR who is equipped with such a virile
nand. =" In the private sanctum of
Madame Adam the walls are thinly and
leanly decked with Autograph portraits
OF Victor Hugos 'Quasimodo' and of .
scene from Moere's 'L'Amour Med acir.'
and with colorleSs and uninpassioncd
maps, of the Sahara and of the biSsago
islands. An iron safe weighs the precinct
Gown with solid and iefrigerant sub
stantiality."
Or this. about NJ. Zola:
"a business man. No emotion. no ideals.
no imagination. no poetry. in his personal
intercourse. He does not try to win or
est ir you. and does not expect you to
take any personal interest in him.
His physique is robust. with a big tendency
to obesity. His voice is weak and cracked,
preston in his broad nose. 1t is a nose
constructed to root up the ground and
sniff out the filth of existence. He has
V Weary. and he says vs. All when he speaks
of the immense field he has rooted over.
end has yet to root over. IN his brutal
manner. Life has been for, him blunt;
rude. british thing. He has conquered
merely because he has worked harder than
any one else. With him naturalistic liter
sture succeeds only by the sweat of the
brow"
The essay in which most readrers will he
interested is that on the late Alphonse
Daudet: "All the world knows of him as
a novelist: the Parsians are familiar with
him as a playwright; his bubbling gayety.
perfume-pointed irony, and independent.
Individualistic attitude in the realm of
letters. make him favored and respected
by every one. Yet how few have heard of
his delightful talks. of his riquart and
imponderable conversation. gentle ard fra
sile as woman s-expansive and ConiId-
irg as Tartarin's, There are in it the
sparkle and laugh of Provence. the bead
ing flavor of Southern grape. the dulcet
song and dance of some cascade in Lam
guedoc." NJ. Daudet himself wrote: is
1t possible that, as You say. foreigners in
Paris complain of the vie fermee of Pari-
san households? Why. the idea had never
occurred to me. I do not understand It,.
You see how it all is about you mere
Uhrowing his arm in a careless gesture)-
how unpretendiag it is-old things. We
live in modest comfort: friends. acquaint-
snces. strangers. all are welcome-every
cne does as he pleases. OF course. at the
same time we lead a close family life
/ was laughing just before you came in,
1cr l heard my boy of 16 ask his mother
Won't you go walking with me this aft
ernccn? I cannot-I must take your little
sister out-why don't you go alone?' oh,
l don't want to go without YOU My eldest
sor lives in another part of town. but he
comes here every day in the year to en-
brace me. and to inquire. How are you
to-day, father? Moi. je suis pour la
famille'-1 believe with my heart and soul
In the sanctity of marriage and the fire
side. I am not in favor of the institution
OF divorce. Love of family and love Of
oountry-those are my two great notices
1t seems to me ideal to choose one per-
son and to say to yourself, That is the
person whose eyes I am 10 close forever
or who is to seal mine in the last sleep -
Another portrait is that of NJ. Huysmans:
"A quiet apartment in the palace of the
trench minister of the interior. A room
FURNISHED in green. large desk. one or two
sheets OF paper. plenty of leisure. nothing
glimpse of green branches. silent April
afternoon. A quiet little man at the desk
HIS legs are crossed and he is fumbling
with a ruler. His small pointed gray beard
and mustache are neatly clipped and his
gray hair is scometrically trimmed n la
Renaissance park Of Versailles. His Grant
er bright eye and squirrel look. Not a
suave, facile man of the world A noseless
talker willing to talk. but not KNOWN {.
what to say next. No ceremony. no enthI,-
siasm. no parade. \ part of the time he
scrapes the desk with his ruler like an idle
boy at school. He chops ont the convarsa-
ton something like this: My business is
applying naturalism TO Catholicism. | have
become Catholic because | am extremely
pessimistic. The religious people differ
from the other pessimists only in that they
is going to the dogs. There is a great
deal in the church that is fraud. lis
miracles. c9nfessionals-all that is claptrap
and absurd But enjoy its old pre-Ra-
phaellte spirit, its high animus its art
All this. and more is said in a low
tone of voice. in an echoless. independent
reckless way. without gestures or Hour
ishes. NJ. Huysmans is serious quizzicaI
reverential. Bohemian. He mixes religion
slang. Indifference. realism. mysticism, hope
despair-ail-in determined but tranquil
air of convinced insouCiance"
AS these extracts have shown there is
in each essay Il pleasant mixture of the
man and his work. The book is also valu-
able on account of comparative criticism
We note this especially in the papers on
NM. Anatole France and Jules Lemaitre
OF the other essays. some are remark
able in giving to us in a few rapid strokes
n clear portrait: in others we see either
that the figure moved or that the artists
hand was unsteady. Oar author discusses
such literary men as NM Sardou. Coppee
Drumont. Hervieu. ReGnier Marcel Provost
Mendes. and the late Paul Eerlane: such
men of the stage as NM. Coquelin Cadet
and Mounet-Sully: such women as Bern
hardt. ReichenberE. and-Yvette Guilbert.
such painters as NM. Henner and Bougue-
reau: sand last of all comes the composer,
NJ. ATassenet. The book might have been
surely have been improvd by certain addi-
tions: but taking it for what 1t is. we
must be grateful for much illumination
The light has been turned on by one who
knows the difference between candle. lamp.
gas and electric burners. and who knows
lust what is suited to each subject. Never
theless, even in this clever book the exhi-