The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-04-28
h the Books ~ ~
4 y and Magazines


[~hsn he speaks of 1t as
The nunnery of the lily.
". wikel says that Milton is unac-
.srtably shy of the lily 1t appears In MS
1870 but three times, one of which is in
.,,,ination with the rose. But the rose
Il ulv are so employed by all the poets
'.r chaucer down. They are complement
~ sewers and both are symbols OF the
tssin Mary. We have a hint of this in
80 Rossettis The Blessed Damozel;'
sAe had three lilies in her hand
And the stars In her hair were seven.
nor robe, ungrth from clasp TO hem,
IA wrought flowers did adorn.
Rut a white rose of Mary's gift
For service meetly worn,
anne Adelaide Proctor refers to the
rpbolsm of the N.Y.
You know the gentle angels
Bear lilies in their hands.
Yet crowned with purer radiance.
deeper love they claim,
Because their queen-like whiteness q
Is linked with Mary's name.
Saint Francis De Sales compares cnarity
\ tho lily. lie says CHARITY comprehends
4. seven gifts of the Holy Ghost and re
smbles a beautiful lily which has six
psyes winter than snow and in the middle
h pretty little gold hammers.
Dante. with his usual catholicity, blends
hrstian and pagan illusions. When at
~ appearance of Beatrice angels aud
keralds all said:
Benedictus cs qui vents.
snd scattering flowers above them and
round,
Manlbus date lila plenis.
Dante quotes from Virgil. Scatter lilies
hon full hands, In Virgil these flowers
Re offerings for the tomb of the dead
Encellus. Dante transfers the thought
b bis own poem, and unwithering lilies
be scattered by angels as they greet the
nmortal Beatrice.
OF all flowers the lily is most fitting
HI Easter, symbolizing as it does perfect
purity and emblem of the new life Just
tgnn.
The attention of the literary as we'll as
be political world is Just now turned to-
Pard Russia. The exlled 10 stoi IS the
|satral figure. The marvel is THAT Tolstoi
kas so long been allowed his bold freedom
u speech and action in a country notori
|Hs for its tyranny. This exile has proba.
lF come too late to have any marked eff
|nt upon the character of the man who
bas already passed the allotted three score
Fears and ten But naturally onA Is led
e ask what the effect would have been
pou Tolstoi had he left Russia twenty
i've years ago aud mingled freely with
|csding men of other nations. Would 1t
have broadened the man so that his mar.
nw Intensity would have been exchanged
III wider, saner views of life, or would he
have lost his marked individuality and his
sKn peculiar power? John Stuart Min
pnce said; For my own part / have n
srge tolerance for one.eyed men, provided
their one eye is Il penetrating one. II
they saw more, they probably would not
zee 50 keenly nor so eagerly pursue one
course of inquiry"
TolstoI has the traits Of his people
depth Of power, seriousness, enduring pa
Hence. which is active in spite of It's
passlYtty. He has, too, their narrowness
and Isolated point Of view. Ii would seem
~ II his sympathy for humanity, his spirit
81 hopefulness for the oppressed would
have brought him into close relation with
America and THAT for which America claims
70 stand. But. according to Andrew D
Waite who writes upon Tolstci in the cur
rent number of McCylure's Magazine, the
grent Russian knows but little of Ameri
an,I IN at . In n n
STORY way. ''rolstel expressed hRinl
lcr Emerson, Hawthorne and Whittier, but
he seemed to have read at random. no
khowing at all some of the best things.
When DR.. White pressed him further anC
tked him who In the whole range o
american literature he Thought the fore
most, the answer WAS enough to astoun'
ne most benighted. Toistoi named Adei
Sallou as the greatest of American writer's
rae reader may hunt many cyc7opedii
sad dictionary of authors before con'nj
% the name. and when found only Sigh
aesce is given regarding the Massashusett
tergygnan and the community he organized
u Hopedae.
At home OF as an exile Tolstol win nav
'ae interest and good viii of the civilize
fesid. His genius towers far above hi
fSentrlcities and the man himself is great
2 taan anything he has produced.
~
Is the Russian government cruel an
Nranhical: 1t lis easy to answer the que'
pen IN the affirmative, and to cite as proc
lae eSecrable reputation Of the Russians
" severity Of the government, the pei
sAalicn Of the Jews and the horrors q
slern hut an exceedingly well write
way by ]. Novidow of Odessa appears 1
@s International Monthly, inA which tn
nhn Is made that of all the people. Q
Z europe the Russian is one of the teas
spsL The Russians have no popular sport
brutal character--such as c&k Tight
~ nshts, or even boxing or pugilisn
'i'aln the memory of man there las NJ
L ~ region of great Russia which BIS
~ Permanently infested with brigand
s'sal and day one may traverse the mo.
rfity."
my reputation for cruelty which Russ
gained comes partly from the IA
judges political onfenses benin
doors, and on questions OF sta
..s seems to vanish. Russia has develops
than other European nations ar
~ preserved for longer time certa
!! AZ and cruel institutions which we
d terlstic OF all European nations u