The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1911-02-02
II HE\article published in the Lon.

NOil llllleS ltsdlillS " Nouat SSN
= TolStoi, of which mention was
made in these columns last week. has
been taken up by an English critic IN
defense of the Countess. Count IoiStol
loved his wife, there was no BOUNDS TO
her admiration and depth OF feeling
for him. and their married life, pre-
vious to the last 90 years. had been
supremacy happy But it was the eter-
nal conflict between the ideal and the
practical the reformer and the con-
sentative. which ruined the peace OF
these latter years. The instinct in the
female to protect her young is God
planted. and the Countess, who had a,
very large family of children. was only
chewing this Divine impulse in trying
to prevent them from being sacrificed
on the altar of her husbands altrulsm-
She did insist that his earlier copy
rights should be secured to her for
their benefit, and that they should be-
permitted to lead lives somewhat in
accordance with their rank and sta
ton, all of which was hideously wrong
in the eyes of Tolstoi, who believed
that no one had the right even to
crust Of dry bread while old people and
little children starved. These extreme !
views the Countess could not share. for
she was not an :3ealist, but woman
of practical mind, and above all de-
voted mother, hence the distressing
scenes referred TO in the Times article
reformer from his home. To live with
genius in sympathetic harmony is eX-
tremely difficult. History shows us that
the wives of such exceptional creatures
are seldom happy, and when to the
trying and erratic ways of genius is
added a passion for service, for self
remuneration such as Tolstoi possessed,
then, indeed. must the patience and
affection of the wife be Of more than
human strength to endure the strain
Men of the stamp of the great Rus
sian are out of harmony with their en-
vironment The conventional life, the
domestic life. is not for them. and the
attempt to adapt themselves to 1t re-
suits only in tragic failure. Yet I'M
doubtedly Countess TolstOi to-day
would rather be the Countess Tolstoi
than the wife of any other man. Few
married women can look back upon a,
record of unbroken happiness when he f!
who has been their closest earthly !
companion is taken from them by God. |
The Countess has the memory. blessed, |
indeed. to her now, of those carly nap |
py years and she has, besides. the in
tense pride and satisfaction of having
given to her children name which !
will forever stand out. unique. in the
history of the great men of the world. |
IN HE spooks seem to have taken up |
the case of Cook and Peary, and
say that while neither of them |
got there, Cook got nearer than Peary. !
No other than the spirit of Sir John |
Franklin. who lost his life in the at I
tempt to discover a northwest passage
early in the last century, conducted
Cook nearly to the pole and then left
him, which was unkind in the spirit
Sir John in the body would hardly have
been so inconsiderate.
TINE Chinese have splendid stuff in
them There is nothing more
u shameful in the history of the Ma
tions than the way the English forced
opium upon them. Tho its importation
was strictly forbidden by the Chinese
Emperors. the English paid no atten
ton to this. but continued to smuggle
the demoralizing drug into the country
until the Chinese Nation was nearly !
ruined New China, fully awake to the |
necessity of infusing good red blood
into the pale corpuscleS of its opium
dulled people, has determined to free
themselves of this vice. and quite rel
Gently a great bonfire was made of the
opium pipes in the streets of Shanghai.
There is a very impressive fact in con-
nectiOn with This remuneration of the
M RS. ASQUTTH, the brilliant, if
Nl somewhat sharp-tongued, wife of
Az Engiand's Prime Minister. gave
voice TO deplorable fact when she
said that the extravaganza of a woman,
instead Of barring her from society,
was one of the best passports into it.
Society, as a general thing, concernsi
itself very little as to how you get your
money Results are all IL asks for, and
the more beautifully a woman dresses
and entertains the more she is admired
and sought after, tho she may be ruin
ing her husband by her extravaganza
in so doing.
IN HE widow of Ole Bull, at one time
the great world master of the vio-
lin. has just died in Cambridge.
Mass. where she has been living for
many years. Ole Bull was himself a
Norwegian, and met and married his
wife during a professional visit to
America He died in 1880 Mrs. Bull
has always been deeply interested in
her distinguished husbands country
men, and belonged TO several Scandina-
Wan societies.
In the presence of 30 OF her faithful
followers all that is mortal of the
founder of Christian Science 1drs.
Mary Baker Eddy, was removed from
the receiving tomb, where it has been
resting since her death, and placed in
the grave prepared for it. The First
Reader of the Mother Church read the
91st psalm, and pronounced benedic-
IlOf aS the caSket was lowered TO lis
final home With Mrs. Eddy was buried
copies Of her prose and poem writings
inclosed in a sealed copper box.
a T n benefit performance given re-
~ Gently in the/9Ietropolitan Opera
House, New York, in which Fer
rar. Caruso and many of the other op-
cratic lights took part. an event, tragic
from = feminine point of view, oc-
Cured The two singers Destinn and
Homer. happened to run into each 9TH
er behind the scenes on their way to
their respective dressing rooms. Each
gave one glance at the toilet of the
other. then stopped short Heavens"
they exclaimed in one breath. -"our
dresses are identical, How could that
have happened" II developed that
they had employed the same Partisan
Inodiste. who had assured each that the
gown should not be duplicated, but
who had treacherously broken faith
with them Something had TO be done.
however, for under no circumstances
could they both have appeared ROBBED
as they we're, so Destinn pf1oned to her
maid to come to her at once with n
different costume, into which the diva
slipped into just in time to save the
situation.
Hoods 81