The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-04-05
The Talk of the Day.

o
VIII he assist in the elevation Of the
stage? Or viii he oDen q saloon which
he win personally conduct. not as
bouncer. but as a genial host. a man OF
experience, one that hath had losses,
one of a noble band? Leaning in
graceful attitude on the bar, he can say
with Ulysses:
am become a name;
Fer always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have / seen and known. cities ri men
And manners. climates, councils, gcrerDUsents-
Myself not least. but han0red ri them al;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers
The fight was nc doubt an agreeable
affair. but it seems to have been de
fcient in memorabIy picturesque incl
dents There was no store Of ladies"
present whose bright eyes rain infu-
ence and judge the prize" There was
no such instance Of woman's devotion
as when Mrs. Fttzsimmons cried 10 her
Iiege lord. Poke him in the Stats.
Bob" Nothing finer than this is to be
found in PIutarch's essay Concerning
the Virtues Of Women
The reports published in the newspa-
perg are too dry and technical Right
and left jabs. uppercUts, hooks TO the
stomach, rights to the kidneys, waIIops
in the mouth-ft's dull reading No re-
porter should be allowed to attend
mill in his professional capacity until he
has mastered the art OF Hazlitts essay,
The Fight" Henley quotes this essay
as an instance OF Habits Incompatible
criticism and expression of life His
summary Of the fight between Hickman
and Bill Neate is alone in literature, as
also in the annals Of the ring
HazlLtt looked on ut the proceedings Of
Neate and the Gaslight Man exactly as
he had looked on at divers creations o.
Edmund Kean. He saw The essentials III
both EXPRESSIONS of human activity, and
his treatment of both is fundamentally
the same. In both he ignores the trivial.
here the acting Tin its lowest sense.
there the hits that did not count and
thus. as he gives you only the vital
touches you know how and why Neats
heat Hickman. and can tell The exact
moment at which Hickman began 20 be a
beaten man"
There is George Borrow's description
of fight: there is a great fight IN
Victor Hugo's "LHomme Qui Rit" be
tween PhcIcm- ghc-Mad0De and Helms
gziI-.'wheu Phelem-g he-Madoue. re-
leased at last. raised his head. he had
no longer any features at all, what had
beeu a nose. eyes. and a mouth had the
appearance only Of black sponge
soaked in blood; ne spat out four teeth
upon the ground there is a brave
slugging in Homer and Virgil. Fitz
James O'Brien's poem should not pass
unmentiored; Maginn's "IdyI on the
Battle" and his "Luctus on the Death
Of sir Daniel DonnelIy. late champion
Of Ireland should be familiar TO every
schooiboy. but nothing approaches this
ESSAY by Hazlitt It may be remember
"a that Donuelly. after he retired in
TO private life. opened q pub. tho
shining Daisy" and he aourished an
I'll in February. 1920, having drank an
almost incredible number Of umhlcrs
Of punch at one sitting 3Out OF mere
frayado) and swallowing half a huckcs
Of cold water. while in state Of pro-
fuse pcrspiratfou. after the aforesaid
tumblers. he burst blood vessel and
denarted this life in the forty-foIjh year
of his age" Mr.. MaGovern should pom
De- his fate in retirement and avoid
water from bucket or from glass.
Some one alluded ia New York paper
to that commonplace article. the safety
pia." Now, a safety pin is never com