The sun., 1909-02-28


the capture Of men by women. ,uve
women the vote and in Ave years there will
Be n crushing tax on bachelors-
u 10 assumed that the woman rnut
wait motlonless until she II wooed. Nay.
she often docs wait motioniess. Thet -
how tho spider waits for the fy. But tho
spider spins her web, and II the ny, like
my hero, shows a strength that promises
to extrtcato him how swiftly does she
abandon her pretence OF passiveness and
openly fling coil after COLI about him until
he 10 secured forever.
Just picture TO yourself the stealthi-
ness Of the domestic villain who makes
a circle Of lead around this indictment
Of the feminine gender and then. care
fully bestows 1t where his wife. or his
wife's mother will he sure to sAost:-
You can't always say ofhsnd whether
a passage is marked for assent OF dis
sent, though usually there is some twist
or turn to the inscription which seems
10 indicate whether the corners Of It's
mouth are inclined up OF down. But
there are specimens which are open to
more than one Interpretation What
are you going to infer from these lines.
also from Man and Supermsn":
Tho women are becoming
equally dangerous: the sex 10 aggressive.
powerful. When women are wrongsd they
do not group themselves patheticslly to
sing "Proteega, II Riusto cielo," they grasp
formid able legal and social weapons and
retsliats.
Now, that might have been noted by
suffrsgette or by the apprehensive young
gentleman who ats next TO her at the
boarding house table. You never can
tell. but as between the two the apph-
cation OF 1t would differ widely.
In what mood and for what purpose
and by WHOM was this remark in Steven
sons "virginibus Puerisque' fenced Oh
from its context:
great many people run down Jealousy
on the score that It is an artificial feeling
as we'll as practically inconvenient. This
is scarcely fair. Jealousy, at any rate.
Is one OF the con sequences OF love- and you
may like it OF not like II, at pleasure; but
there 1t is.
There too is the line VIII ioh the reader
has drawn beside it.. What Ia the con
sideration behind the line? Was II put
there TO salve guilty, jealous conscience
or to poke fun at a jealous suitor or just
TO direct attention to the philosophy?
Love and jealousy and the foibles OF one
sex as construed by the other. these are
by far the most prolific causes Of marginal
notes in public library books, but not by
any means the only causes There Is
also the reader who likes to think he has
caught his author in q mistake, and the
greater the author the greater the pleasure
Of taking him down. Itwas such q critic
who pounced upon Dickens for asserting In
christmas Stories that a sailor was
singing -as cheerily as a blackbird
There was no written word. only an under
scoring and an exclamation point. which
said as plainly as words -Blackbirds don't
sing cheerly." Very likely they don't.
There 10 similar rebuke under q certain
line in one Of Stevenson's essays In which
he employed the word -botanise." Don't
take liberties With the language. says the
hierogly phic OF derision. All the time
'botanise' was in the dictionary and IL
was within the terms Of MIR. Stew ensou's
or any other authors license to use II II
he chose.
The books on political economy and
religion are a Joy to the controversialist.
Take work like Prof j. Laurence Laugh
Inns Elements OF Political Economy.
and you will find some Of his best reason
ing labelled STANDARD OIL" in delicate
allusion. no doubt. to his connection with
Chicago University, founded by Mr..
Rockefeller, Or when he explains that
no matter how desirable a thing may be.
such as honesty or intelligence, il cannot
be classed as wealth unless IL IL transfer
able, the amateur scientist notes on the
margin: ~How about corporations
good will?" Thus Prof. Laughlin Is
crushed.
Another reader rises TO the defence OF
Prov ovidence when Thackeray in one Of his
editorial asides comments on the hidden
and awful Wisdom which apportions the
destinies of m ankin and lis pleased to
humiliate and cast down the tender good
and wise and TO : up the selfish, the
foolish or the wicked.
THE hidden " Wisdom says the marginal
note lis not cruel. It's mans ignorance
Of the true Interpretation Of the divine
laws that leads TO so much misery" So
that painful duty was done and the story
teller properly chastised.
The battle fairly RACES in the pages OF
Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy's Science and
Health and it isn't all conducted in
parliamentary language either.
Where she describes herself as will
| ing utsclple AZ tne heavenly gate some
sootfer writes, Rot! Twaddle!' Mrs.
Eddy advises students OF Christian
Science to be charitable and kind to
those who hold differing opinions. and
her antagonist promptly retorts: 'You
are not charitable and kind. You de-
nounce them as ignorant and sinful"
Further on Mrs. Eddy tries the case Of
man who is accused OF having liver
complaint jury Of mortal minds
condemns him to death, but he u ac-
Quilted by a jury Of Spiritual Senses.
This sllegory. says the marginal sneer.
= is rhvrhateer OF s~SSs1k @oman."
"Is not finite mindignorant of Gods
method?- asks Mrs. Eddy. Yours dont
seem to be- rejoins the margin.
The frankest and shortest Of all ths
criticisms are supplied by the juvenile
departments Of the public libraries. One
word usually sufices. You look on the
fyleaf OF one Of Harry Castlemon's
stories about Frank in the Rockies--f
they admit that matchless author to the
library at all-and you find tho single
statement "A peach!' or it may be 'Dan-
dyl' and you realize how MIR Castlsmon
reached the pinnacle OF schoolboy fame.
I