Evening star., 1923-08-25
THE SETTING
BY DIR. FRANK CRANE.

, Everything depends upon the Set
ting.
Ntne-tenths of the charm of any
thing is its background
Not long ago / saw an ancient Shin
to temple. 1t was nothing like AS
huge and cost nothing near as much
as st. Paurs Cathedral, but. al
| though | am Christian, il was more
! impressive to me because II was set
on the side of a high green mountain
and surrounded by a grove OF glgan-
| tic cryptomerias.
| The value of picture depends very
! much upon where ii is hung.
Even chair or table, though most
artistic and expensive, gives poor sat
! isfaction if ii is set in the wrong
! place.
| great tree standing alone in a
| meadow is vastly more Impressive
than if il were crowded with its fell
| lows in the forest
| So it is with what you say: its value
is determined very largely by who
, you are and when, where and how
you say IL, quite as much as by the
| contents Of the sentence itself. In a
| heated discussion the man who VIII
keep still until everybody gets
\ through and then expresses his opin-
! ion quietly puts tremendous force
] behind what he says.
Word set IN poise snineS lhe
| jewel
Mark Twain could not open his
mouth and say word but we thought
| it extremely funny: there was the
| setting OF years of reputation. You,
being a bookkeeper in d grocery,
| light say honesty is the best pol
| ICY" and no one would pay any at
tention to you; but let the king arise
/ from his throne. or the President ap-
pear upon the White House steps. or
lal tof- H. h 1tc CT a 1Y1d
| upon the floor of parliament. and
| amidst the breathleSs hush of the au-
! ditors declare that honesty is the
best policy" and the same would be
| teiegraphed. cabled, radioed. printed
and repeated at the ends of the earth:
/ How much twaddle is perpetrated
| and listened TO simply because of its
setting! ] have heard bishops babbie
while the great congregation looked
up with worshfpful eyes. / have heard
presidents pull pIatitudes SO dreadful
| that ! did not know whether to
laugh or TO cry, and have been as
| founded TO see his hearers clap their
hands and turn around and smile and
! read the most monstrous drivel per-
petrsted by Judges; their lives were
saved only by the bench on which
they sat; if they had been school j.
boys they would have been spanked
and sent home.
| This world does not want for wis
dom. There are plenty of people wise
,enough to tell US what to do. the
trouble is that most OF the pedestal
are occupied by ninnies. The real
leaders Of men cannot get the proper
| setting.
You, gentle reader. know this very
| we'll for il the world would. but us
ten to you respectfully you would SET
| everything right. -.
Then there is the setting OF action;
liz we like any one, whatever he says
| impresses us: If We despise him notn-
ing that he can say matters.
| Controversialists and politicians un-
derstand this law very wei. neh
they want TO upset an opponent they
do not bother with disproving what
he said it is much more enectlVe 70
bring out the fact that he was drunk
last Friday. If you want 10 reIute
the argument about the Trinity whlcf
your theologian antagonist has mace
the most effective way to do SO Is &c
publish the fact that his wife cousin
was once iE the penitentiary.
| If you want TO ruin man, or more
especialIy woman. throw mud or
the background. not on the, lndlHiuual
IT is easier and more effective.
! And if you wish to attain bFeal
reputation and fame in TINS wor!o
give attention to your pedestai a.
well as TO your statue.