The Washington herald., 1907-06-02
The Measure of the Hours.

A cuuously working mind is that ~
Maurice Nastsrlmck. whom iu this couu-
try we are inclined 90 think of as "a some
what gloomy philosopher with something
of the grim fear of life that informs the
work of Ibsgn and GAuDuuzio. But hIs
latest book. "a fine collection Of essays.
shows NaetsrIucS iu altogether n joyous
and happy mood and his book, The
Measure Of the Hours" IS one Of sheer
joy
Take the initial essay which lends IFS
title to the book. 1t is n plea for n0bler
mcasur. Of tlme iu the happy days Of
summer. Let us gather their dazzling
inmates IN unaccustomcd UrHs. glorious.
transparent. and made of the very light
which they are TO contain, even as we
serve Il costly wine not i'm the common
glass of the daily table. but i'm the pUrost
cup Of crystal and silver locked in the
sideboard OF the d.Hng-room."
We have 90 measure time, We are SO
constructed. We have 70 count the work
/ ing hours, the hours of toll and pain,
/ the somber hours of disc0uragemeut Of
self-deHiaI, of sickness, and these. our es-
sayist thinks. should most fttngiy be
/ registered on the detected and silent hour
glass Of our ancestors. Best of all are
those hours that are registered by the
sundiaI. such dials as that which Haz-
lit found bearing the inscription. "Horas
non numcro ntsi serrDas' Il count only
/ the hours that are sorenel. What a fine
] Q "a. en-.
no note Of time but by its benefits, TO
| watch only for the smiles and neglect the
/ frowns Of fate. % compose our lives of
/ bright and gentle moments. turning al
ways to The sunny side OF things and
/ letting the rest slip from our magma
/ tious. uuheoded or forgotten
! Another essay full Of fine, high thoughts
/ is that on Immortality" the question Of
/ life beyond the tomb. n question toward
/ which we have moved no nearer the so
luton since humanity began. and on
which Maeterliuck has something more
/ than ordinarily interesting 10 say. In "The
/ Gods of War this daring speculator
about things unknown touches, again. on
/ the question Of Immortality. and wonders
at the courageous f0Olhardiness Of men
/ who dare to invoke powers whose limi-
tatiOns they know nothing Of. Take his
questioning Of the awful force Of modern
explosves-it is strange, metaphysical
questioning this.
/ Meuit dynamite rauclastir cordi'e and robur-
ite lyddtg and laliisite u Sc indesTihibIe srec-
ters hv whose side the old black powder that
struck terror into our fathers and even the mighty
thUndeThG= once held the most awful symbol of
divine anger become mere gJs7UDy, g0od-natured
old women, little ready 20 strike, perhaps, h1t
almost ju0f usiye, almost maternal: Of your count
/ lCss secrets not even the mast superficial has been
laid bare and the chemist who emposes your
I s'umber even as the engineer or srfilleymau who
auakcrs sou. Is iu total ignorance Of yUur nature.
yuur origin. your soul. the springs of your ncyed
! ihle bound and the eternal laws which you So sud
denly obey Are you the result of things mpri--
onod since The beginning Of time; are you the gcam
ing TRANSFORMATION # DEATH the awful gadncss Of
the paluitating void: are you eruption Of hatred
or excess Of i1yg Are gCu new form 0t life and
I So ardent that you consume IN a second the "a
tience Of twenty centuries. Are yUI a fame from
/ the enigma Of the world that has f0und a fssUTc
In the walls Cf silence that inClCse II. Arc you
am audacisus loan from the reserve Of energy that
supports our earth in space DO y0u for that uu-
cquasd bound of yours toward rev destiny
/ gather up IN the twIuklmg Of eye al that has
ncen stored. an that has been gathered and ue-
u7-rd i'm the secret Of rocks and seas and noun
tsiuss Are ycu s1nl or matter or a third sta
t still unknown To- life3 Whence do y0U derive v9ur
destructive passion; Were do you rest the lever
that splits a continent; whence does the impetus de-
tart that eNceads the zone Of the stars where the
earth. your mother exercises her viii.
Now this is curious speculation that
leads us far afield. and yet by no means
wasteful speculation. For, as it is not
given man to be content with half-knowl-