The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-10-04


earning the true position 10 be accordet.
! Is Emile lola and his works. X is csrtail
thai few writers have proE0sed hotter
o. more general discussion than ne dur
+ ing the last tvzsssts'-E-r-- years and that
many OF his most vehement opponents
were greatly softensd ia thei- attitude to-
ward him By his hus exhibition 81 moral
courage n thu Dreytus case. This re-
ruarlahle FTenehmsn vas born on April
lSio, at Paris. in the Rue St. Joseph.
/ which Is close 70 the al.es. the great cen
( tai market % the town His father.
I ira ncois Zola. vas the son OF 2 Venetian
( father oy q Greek mother after a waa-
derinS life F-anc0is Zoia settled in south
I CIT. France as an engineer His later years
were entirely devoted TO the task of sup
: plying AK with water. he Just lived
tD see the beginning Of the practical fu3-
filnlent or his great design and then died.
leaving his widow and his son Emile.
child CT seven-without adequate pro-
1 vision. During the next ten years Young
Zola remained N 5tsx. and vss educated
( a. the college in that town, He was =
clever. but not. apparently. very indus
( tEieUs boy, with s7ecial horror OF Lat :
I and Greek His chief pleasure wss 20
wander IN TIE country round AK; 70
/ battle in the Arc: TO go shooting. and =
read Alfred &c MGsset's poetry in the shade
o. trees or OF caves. or in the parGlrs o.
rustic inns. Traces OF this careless md
happy life are 70 he found IN some of his
early novels. The manners and customs
I o. the people OF AK rsappear in the stu
! dies OF PiassaRss the cradle OF the family
OF Rougoh- Macodart. The arid lands de-
scribe6 IN La F'aute de IAboe Siouret
are the lands Of Provence. and The Para
; ctse. in which the Able reverts 70 the In
ROcence OF our frat parents. Is copied from
/ a neglected PARK between AK and Rogue
favour.
: In ISIS poverty drove the family 81 Zela
! out of AK. they went 10 Paris. and Emile
( obtained a bourse at the Lycse Saiu-
/ Louis. Here he lived unhappy and un-
friended. he failed in hts NAL exainin-
/ alton, nor was he more successful in a
second attempt 10 pass. Between lss
and 1862 he led but miserable exist
/ ence- one Of his biogra piers. N Alexis.
describes him as ''shlvering In bed-aIl
his wardrobe piled over MS legs. his nose
/ and fingers red with cold writing In pen
/ Gil This presumably was his epic poem.
! La Genese." At last those days Of mis-
/ cry ended when lie obtained "A situation
! as a clerk in the establishment of N
Hachette. the publisher 1t was then FOR
/ the first tire that he was brought into
intimate contact With a great body OF lit
erature and with men OF letters. and his
! associations inspired him 20 write his
first volumes OF short fancifui stories
I 'Ccntes Ninun.' In these but few sug-
/ gestions are to be found CT the lola Of the
I future. The stories had not much sue
cess. and for twelve years the young au-
thor was in perpetual monetary Difficult
lies and accumulated q Burden OF debts
/ Il 1860 he began 10 contribute 20 the
PRESS. and. among other things. wrote in
n Lyons newspaper a series OF criticisms
81. artistic subjects. which were collected
later under the tide OF Mes Haines. IN
many of these the bent Of his mind was
first revealed in lis denial Of the theory
that ii was the true aim of art 10 select
beautiful subjects. and his demand for
scientific. true. and minute observations IN
literature. The harshness Of some Of his
Judgments and the peculiarly Of his
views attracted some attention. and his
notoTiety was increased very considera-
bly, little later on by the publication
OF his La Confession de Claude the
first of his frankly naturalistic works
which contained passages Of such uncOm-
mon plainness that the authorities talked
O.. prosecution. Thereupon he left NJ.
IiGchette. and definitely entered upon the
/ profession of letters, accepting commits
sion from II. Villemessant 10 write for
l. 'Evenement. In this he published
series of reviews of the Salon. which wSre
a least vigorous. if they were not Just
OF his earlier novels among which may
2
lie Yoeu dime Mofte. u is not neees-
sary 20 make more than mere mention.
but in 1861 he published his Therese IA
duin.' a work admittedly suggested ny
La Venus de Gordcs which at once pro-
vCked attack and discussion. and thus
toured an immense circulation. Befor7
long il d appeared in condensed form IN the
theatre. and Sarah Bernhardt herself did
not disdain 10 appear as the heroine. Th-
tale of which II IS not nCedful now 10 re-
peat the details. was record of the most
surdid vice and the most squalid misery,
and the debaucheries committed by thr
characters and the abomnation or the
abode In which they kenneiled We're de-
scrihed with an unrestrained fidelity %
speech. which raised the gorge Of all but
the most hardened readers IL was hailed
or the one hand as a masterpiece Of We
r9city which was at once the hiFheet
art and the most effective means Of re-
form. and on the other denotrced as .
most atrocious outrage upon dccency. ana
deliberate and disgracefui bit ~ pam
deTing 10 the depTaved taste Of the som
sstion-lovins crowd. II is upon these
lines that the criticism or his later works
has been chiefly conducted aud his as
sailants have been 10th TO admit even the
presence Of that raw literary or imagin-
ative power upon which his admirers
strongly insist. or the honesty - motive
urged In Justification OF the disserlina-
ton OF wholesale 9Th. NJ lola himself
e. an essay called lie Roman Expert
mental. vehemently proclaimed that the
motive which inspired him vas purely
scientific. and maintained that the only
true method ~ writing Q novel vas from
notes compiled from actual life. Else
where ne compares himself and his school
I, surgeons who prefer unhealthy sub
jccts. and have 10 interest IN What 81
normal and natural
Madeleine Fernt was one 81 the frs
stories In which he brgan 20 develop his
theories Of hered.ty and ne then con
ceived the idea of writing a long serics 81
r. names. dealing with the lives ~
group Of characters. after TIE manner
% Baizac. with whom he did not hesitate
30 compare himself IN fuiGiiment of this
design he produced the 'Rougon-Aac-
quart books. supposed q De- history -
a family living uHder The second empire
and dealing Incidentally with fhr r0u-
etat the oxcesses of tbs courtfere ~
Napoleon the Little che haiies cer-
traies and their fre7uentcrs the erfs sf-
tclf1rt uFon cel!hate cierEr. the pTi-
vata lives o. certsin prominent French
politicians. etc. Tho whole forming ar
cxtrsordinarv compilation - social sores
ard plague spois ~ every description
Cf all the volumes. which etectsIaf eacf
other with raridifv and reeuiarifs
which AFFORDED convincing art aursz.nr
proof - the ia3ustTy II ne eufhcr t7-a
were Dre-er1inea1iv succrssfffi ln rsfnsrg
UctoTiety. one = assornrnolr which wac
aiTost 1s popular ir thea frlcal as in book
fern. sr3 the otht- 0N7na. which fa its
toli defence r. aH To accerfsa rroprf
ties - speech. exree1eC the h1.Gest ~
=. Zoias prerieus Performance
AFTER e hrirf Interval Cesotea - nrrl-s
wh-ch Gre fe5 less srs4firr ~ nehrfah