The record-union., 1899-06-24

Blessed are we indeed, If there is q wo-
man, near and dear, who will examine
what We have thrown aside as I'M
worthy and save for others what she
knows is good. AS Mrs. Kipling found
the masterpiece Of religious poetry of
this day crumpled by the mans dis
pleasure, and pointed out to him with
womanly authority the worth of that
which he had written and then failed
to correctly value, SO we men know that
woman often opens our blind eyes.
shows us the way to fields beyond the
animal stalls. and sometimes leads US
skillfully, worthily, close up to the
angel-guarded gates of Paradise.
But, does a man know woman?
Many are foolish enough to think that
they do. Some, perhaps, have keener
vision, deeper insight, distincter per-
ception of psycical and psychological
processes than others, but we men OF
normal mold know that we know them
not. And Kipling does not disappoint
us in his qualities in this respect. He
doesn't pre&end to be more than he is
in this as IN other matters; he writes
on this topic rudely, vulgarly of the
Ivampire-he knows her, but The seems
aware of the existence of noble Wo-
men only as the blind man guesses at
objects of which he has heard the
name" or listened to their descriptions;
as some one has said, she lacks the
power to form their concepts in his
own mind wildly, realistically; they re-
main shadowy, indistinct, only half
alive" We remember Dick Heldar, the
man with purpose-to do for Maisie
we forget Maisie-the woman with a
purpose-but what was her purpose, 1t
was shadowy even to Kipling; we have
forgotten Take the Brushwood Boy"
where the hero and heroine hold much
the same moral point of view. Which
of them is it that moves. The man, OF
course. The woman is but dream
girl, necessary to the hero's develop
ment. 1t is the man, ever the man,
who claims our attention and sympa-
| thy. And yet one must admit that
what there is of the girl seems all
right. It is simply that she is too in
tangible, too shadowy, for us to grasp.
She is only a sketch. never completed
or intended to be completed"
asked lover of Kipling for the
name of the woman in Kiplings works
best portraying noble womanhood. The
answer came quickly, William the
conqueror. I read the tale with in
terest. William, the Conqueror, is a
well-drawn character, a very success
full, attractive character; but I kept
thinking of her as of a, younger
brother. Noble womanhood rolling
cigarettes for her older brother! That
isn't attractive to man as from
woman. 1t is an unnatural act from
the standpoint of womanly nobility-it
might be overlooked in man capable
of transcendent physical heroism.
William, the Conqueror, won my re-
spect before had finished the story,
but not because she was womanly
woman-in fact she would have had
the same respect had she been a man.
When Kipling writes, then, of wo-
man, so far as 1 have read, he. writes
as one limited in his knowledge con-
corning the deeper realities of her ma
ture; but when he writes anything, be
it Of ship or of bridge, of the SON of
a Hambletonian sire or. of Maltese
cat, of an ocean cable or number O01
he makes each, then all, act and talk
and groan and laugh like men, and he
does this because he knows men and
sees the truth in them and about them.
And he is great because he tells the
truth; but he is great for to-day, be-
cause he is of to-day.
1t is altogether presumptuous in me
to dare to make a prediction as to the
length of Kipling's literary life. 1t
may be that in my estimate of the man
I am altogether wrong. But I have
told you just what I think of him, and
the last question that presents itself to
| me is-will he live-will he live for
ever? I do not know. but believe that
| to those of this generation who may
| live on while the next is breathing the
breath of the spirit of its time, there
will be evidence of the transformers
of earthly fame. The last stroke of
Kipling's pen will strike the knell of
| departing fame. The mighty Kipling
for he will have been mighty-shall
have gone to his rest, and the place
of his glory shall know him no more.
(Note-Authorities Newspaper clip
pings, THE Literary Digest" and peo-