The San Francisco call., 1899-03-05
WITH ENTIRE FRANKNESS.

BY HENRY JAMES.


the genius of our age. Every genera
ton brings forth bright men, men u
talent and learning, who comfnahd
spect and even veneration- only inc
centuries produce genius. Chrlsl was
one of these, a magnificent persohali'y
who smoke with inspired wisdom, and
whose matchless teachings 1orhi lne
safest. noblest guide to human conduct.
Shakespeare was genius, Wrltlns h'
though he drew upon the fount OF an-
solute knowledge, inscribing imperlsna-
BILE lines, appalling mankind by the
profundity of his intuitive learning.
Such men are not to be understood
We merely accept them, thank God Tor
them. and wonder. Philosophy cannot
expIain g. Kipling. He is, and that 1s
all we know His grasp of life Is De
yond ordinary ken The charm OF his
pen enthraIls. He builds a poem, ana
| the world beats time to it's cadence.
He tells a story, and entranced we
watch the portrayal of emotions when
had thrilled u.s. but which we could not
define; of desire, aspiration, love, pat
riotism He exalts the commonplace or
from the sublime strips the glamour.
! He tells of the sea, and we hear the
| beating of surf on a distant shore. lie
| tells of ships, and we listen to the throo
of their mighty engines, While the roam
! flying from their proWs as they cleaVe
the waves smites the very brow. he
! tells of war, and the din of battle aWes
us, the groans of the wounded oreak
| the after silence, and before US there
| spreads in fascinating horror a vision
| of the dead. He tells of the beasts OF
| the jungle, and we perceive that the
! secrets of the forest have been revealed
to him. He carries us from the tropics
| to the northern foes, and we go with
him content KipIing towers above his
| literary fellows a splendid giant. HIS
work has mystic, marvellous touch
no other intellect now framed in mortal
| clay can give, and the reader is aware
that through the august phrases OF q
modern writer the Infinite is finding ex-
| preston.
1 observe with pleasure that a man
who was engaged in robbing an eagles
nest was attacked by the mother bird
and received some scratches. The rob
bing of nests always seemed to me on
plane with the robbing Of hen roosts.
The Rev. Charles Locke, for whom 1
| entertain a deep respect, says that
| Sunday law is necessary. Yet the peo-
pie to whom he breaches would under
such a law have only the freedom to
worship that is already theirs, while
| people outside the narrow world of
creed would not pay to such a law the
slightest attention. The reverend gen
tleman can sustain his position only
on the hypothesis that everybody
| Joa iIIaf ha c1n me-
point of view as that from which he
studies the universe. Were this true,
he would have no occasion to sus-
tain it.
Captain John McCafferty has written
several columns about the situation at
Manila Concerning this article there
are two strange things. One is that
any paper should have given it space,
and another, that anybody should have
read 1t, as 1 must confess having done.
The article possesses no value, unless
as a symptom of dyspepsia, and to be
regarded with interest from a medical
standpoint. I judge that the captain
while in the Philippines told the men
in authority how to run things, and
that they failed to be impressed.
| 1t is a shameful and sorry circum-
| stance that scandal should have come
out of the war with Spain, and that it
should have touched both the army and
navy. AS to the army, there is charge
that soldiers were fed on rotten meat
The charge was brought by Major Gen
eral Miles. There is not the slightest
reason for believing he would have
brought it had he not been certain it
was true. He had nothing to gain by
making false accusations, but much to
| lose. He had, save the respect of his
| countrymen, nothing to gain by laying
bare the truth. The investigation which
has resulted has been from the first a
farce and a sham, directed not to the
ascertaining of facts, but to an effort
| to besmirch Miles and protect his Of
| fetal superior and a lot of rascally con-
tractors for whom hanging would be
| too good. Since Miles has been ira
duced and belittled, it would be ht-
| ting recompense were he to see the Sec
retary of War turned from office, and
there being no politics in this column,
do not hesitate to say this is what the
| Secretary deserves. During the Civil
| War he was never a good soldier, an
unpalatable verify known to Miles, and
|
less. AS to the navy, Sampson and the
people behind him have so clearly been
trying to job Schley that Sampson
ought never to have been advanced an
other peg. He had been advanced sud
| denly once over the heads or better
men, and he showed his appreciation by
trying to diseredit those who calmly
submitted to the injustice and faith
fully strove to nerform their duties
Sampson has been spoiled, and his
goody-g good friend Long also causes
that tired feeling. Neither one could
pay a finer tribute to the exigencies of
the occasion than by resigning.
The police are being blamed for a
lack of effort to rescue a woman who
had attempted suicide by turning on
the gas. I do not blame them in the
least. For my part I would consider