The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-02-21
The Virtuo,ls Victorian,
(By Agnes Repplier in The Nation.)

Vcrhaeren. says that the influence Of Zola on IN
younger writer's Of France and belgium was neces
sary ito down the long set Of sentimental hypocrisie
known in England Victorian" she repeats
formula which has been in popular use for man,
years. and to which we attach very exact sig
niftcance. EARLY Victorian mid Victorian W
use the phrases eliby and without being aware tina
the mental attitude to which refer is sometimes
not Victorian at ALL but Georgian. Take, for ex
ample that fairly famous sentiment about the Brit
ish navy being. If possible, more distinguished II
Its domestic virtues than in national importance
Nothing oppressively SNUG was ever uttered ir
the reign Of the virtuous queen; yet it was written
by the most humorous and most ptless OF Georgian
novcsts and 1t expressed the conviction Of her soul
When we permit ourselves to sncer at Victorian
hypocrisies We alude, rule to the superficial
observance of religious PRACTICES and to the art-
fcial reticence concerning illicit sexual relations
The former affected life than It did literature:
the latter affected literature more than It did life,
rcsoute silence Is apt to imply or involve an
equally reso'ute denial: and there came time when
certain plain truths denied. because there was
| no other means Of keeping them out Of sight Nov.
| elists and poets conformed TO a standard which
was set by the taste Of their day. So profoundly
was the great Victorian laureate Influenced BY this
old English stories those charming old English ira
| dtions the propriety improperly OF which had
never been matter for concern His fair Rosa.
mond' believes herself welded wife, and 80 cs.
capcs culpability. His maid Marian" wanders
through Sherwood forest under the respectable chap
eronage OF her father. and will not permit to Robin
Hood the harmless liberties common enough among
betrothed lovers.
1t is bit frigid and a bit stilted for the merry
outlaws IF love were ALL" We might admit that
conventonalism had chilled the laureate's pen: but
happily for the great adventures We call life and
DEATH love is not ALL The world swings on its way
peop'ed bv other men than lovers: and it is to Ten
nyson we owe the most splendid denial OF domes-
uclty-and duty-that was ever made deathless by
verse. With what unequalled ardor his Ulysses
aoandons home and country, the faithful but aging
Penelope. the devoted. but dun Tclemachus and the
troublesome business OF law making! He does not
covet safety He does not enjoy the tranquil re-
ward of his labors the tranquil DISCHARGE OF
his obligations. He will drink life to the lees He
will seek the still untravcllcd world, and take what
buffets fortune sends him.
Poor Penelope! What chance has she against
such glad decision against such golden dreams? It
Is plain that the lhacan navy less distinguished
than the British navy for the development of do.
nestle virtues. Until such time as Germany full
fills her threat, and drives the bastard tongue of
canng island pirates" from its hold Of the civilized
world. Tennyson's Ulysses will survive as the en-
bodimcnt Of the adventurous spirit which brooks no
restraint and heeds no liability
II Is always had to make elastic phrase lit
win precision Dates are unyielding, facts are in
tractable. literature is full Of pervcrsity. We know
what we mean by Victorian conventions and hypoc.
rsics but the perpetual intrusion of binding truths
disturbs our point Of view. The new Reform bill
and the extension OF the suffrage we're hardy denias
OF convention. ''Thc Origin OF Species" and Zoolog
ical Evidences to Mans Place In Nature were
not published in the interests OF Hypocrisy There
was nothing oppressvely respectable about "Thd
Ring and the Book: and "1.aus vcneris" can hardly
be said to have needed the fine corrective OF zoa:
These midNictorian products have n SAVIOR OF free
dom about them and so have "The Ordeal of Rich
ard Feverel," and Carlylcs plain spoken Frederick
the Great" Even the Homeric eloquence of Ruskin
was essentially the eoQuence of the free The two
lessons 1t sought to drive home to his reluctant
readers were, first, that EnElshmcn were not living
on an illuminated earth spot, under the cspecia,
P"''o''"Se VI inc AIhuSnty, ana secondly, that
one was called by Providence to the enjoyment of
wealth and security II these unpleasant and rc,tcr
ated truhs-as applicable to the United States to-
day as they were to Victorias England-arc "srue''
then jeremiah was susar-coatcd, and the Baptist an
apostle of case.
The Victorian giants Of mighty sirth They
'rod the earth with proud and heavy steps and with
strength OF conviction which as vast and tran
| qu' as the plains. We have parted with their con-
V'ct'ons and with their tranquility. We have also
parted with their binding preJudces and with their
standards Of taste. Freedom has come to lis not
| broadening down
from precedent to precedent
but swiftly and comprchensivey There are no n,oro
taboos' no more silent or sentimental hypocrisies
We should now know great many interesting de-.
tails concerning the Marquis Of steyne and the Duke
OF Omnium, if these two imposing figures had mi,