THE COURIER.
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Clara Morris' biography lacks the
unselfconsciousness of Mrs. Gilbert's
work. Miss Morris keeps herself in
mind. Iler recital of the events of
her life is purely subjective. She
seems anxious that the public should
know by what struggles, and in spite
of what jealousies and hatreds, she
attained a worthy rank among actors.
Mrs. Gilbcrt'sSntnd has retained
nothing but memories of the kind
nesses that were shown her. Miss
Morris remembers the courtesies but
cut deep and too distinct is the mem
ory of snubs from Fanny Davenport,
Mrs. Gilbert and others, administered,
she-says, when she was an unknown,,
obscure actress. Miss Morris' writing
is like her act'.ng, emotional and sub
jective. She is "not conscious of the
universality of life, literature and the
drama.1 Her actFng was marred by
the personal note, by an insistent, ex
igent 'personality that localized and
narrowed tragedy and made her ex
pressions of pain and suffering seem
rattier impertinent to an audience.
As Booth played Lear, he was not
Lear hurt-by his daughters, but fath
erhood wronged and deserted and
thus the concern of all time and place.
Miss Morris' art would have localized
Lear, given him a century and a place
and restricted sympathy 'for Lear to
her demands upon it. I have never
seen Mrs. Gilbert at work, but I am
sure she makes her characters types.
In her eightieth year she demon
strates the unity and universality of
life and her biography is therefore a
contribution to literature and a treas
ure to all students of life.
j The Cominer.
Undoubtedly the inventor of Eng
lish writing defferentiated the n and
the u on purpose by making u open
at the top and n at the bottom of the
line. "Yet so perverse are the writers
who use these characters, others have
invented for them, that it is only by
the context of their manuscripts that
readers are enabled to discriminate
between these two letters. Fortunate
ly the typewriter has finally demon
strated that it is stronger than the
pen and typewriters have no human
idiosyncrasies. The tendency to make
n, u'and double rs exactly alike has
resulted in some confusion in the case
of The Courier and The Commoner
mail. Printed the two bear no re
semblance, but written, are quite
easily mistaken one for the other.
Some of Mr. Bryan's subscribers call
his paper the "Cominer'' and when
the postal clerks see the dotted i
without hesitation, it is dropped into
The Courier box;
Pegasus and the Plow.
The efficient working of any organ
ization, depends not only upon the
selection of a fit. man, but. upon the
assignment of tit duties. Pegasus
harnessed, to the plow-represented to
the Greek mind the incongruity of
exhausting the higher talent in the
lower work. St. Paul expressed the
same thing without the myth: "It
is -not reason," he says, "that we
should leave the work of God anrJ
serve, tables" One of the strongest
arguments for- the inauguration of
civil service Teform was .based upon
the t alarming extent to which the
pressure for political appointments
encroached upon the president's time
and strength, to the detriment of im
portant .matters, of state. , General
Otis' effecUvenessMn the Fjliplnes was
lessened because he wore himself out
on clerical work instead of giving his
strength to the larger supervision
which the situation demanded. A
court of appeals is not expected to
waste its time on, matters which prop-
erly belong to the court of original
jurisdiction.
No manager expects the Forenjah.p
a gang or men to work at ine oencn,'
and .still exercise that intelligent su
pervision which turns out the best
product with -the least outlay. In
couttand shop a thorough knowledge
of the lower work is required for the
performance of the higher duties, but
the energies'. are demanded by the.
latter. The saddest feature - in. con
nection with our ''denominational
schools is the number of wrecked and
shortened lives resulting from bur
dening the college professor with the
.training of preparatory classes. The
denominational schools are not, how
ever, the Only offenders. Boards of
education too often select a man
capable of intelligent- and wise super-
vision and then burden him with col
lateral duties, to the detriment of the
very work to which they called him.
Superintendents demand of their
teachers night drudgery in correcting
papers and making out standings
which renders it impossible for them
to come to the classes with that fresh
ness and inspiration which are abso
lutely essential to the best teaching.
Our churches call a man to the high
position of spiritual overseer, and
then leave him to wear himself out
doing the work of the deacons. The
trouble originates partly in ignorance,
partly from lack of appreciation. We
call a man to an important position,
load him down with the work in sight
and forget to leave the necessary mar
gin for the larger duties upon which
his success depends. We expect that
masterly supervision which makes
itself felt in better work in every
grade,.but we neglect to allow oppor
tunity and strength for that individ
ual impress and inspiration which
constitute a great man's best work,
his personal influence. We still re
peat the folly of -harnessing Pegasus
to the plow, of calling an apostle to
serve tables.
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Woman.
There are several million more wo
men in Sew England than there are
men. In New England the proportion
of men to women is about the same.
Most of these women are poor and
must earn their own living. They
are handicapped in the effort by dis
franchisement and by the jealousy of
workmen who naturally object to
competing with an element that
lowers wages. Women who have been
supported all their lives and are quite
familiar with the scornful opinion
entertained by men of female suf
fragists, have no conception of the in
justice suffered by a woman who to
earn her own living must oppose
prejudice and constantly see promo
tions bestowed on others which she has
earned but does not receive on account
of her sex.
As to woman's worth M. Ferdinand
Brunetiere has declared that without
the contributions of Frenchwomen
French literature would not be what
it is. In English, Jane Austen, George
"EHot. Charlotte Bronte and Mrs.
Browning are the only women who
liave contributed notably to the his
tory of literature. To be frank, their
contributions, if withdrawn, would
not effect either the progress or the
meaning of the whole.
Adventures of the
Amateur Cracksman.
E.W. Hornung is writing stories
about two rogues and one of them is
as .clever as Conan Doyle's amateur
detective. Rogue or detective of
rogues, it does not matter, the inter
.est centers in the intellectual keen
ness and quickness nf the hero who
in this case is a thief. A thief who is
chivalrous, who sends jubilee presents
to the Queen and is the champion of
persecuted, beautiful maids, a thief
"who knows he Is followed without
looking behind, a thief who reasons
as lucidly as Poe's philosopher in the
"Murder in the Rue Morgue." This
sort of reasoning, wherein the story
teller keeps the story reader, close by
his side and conducts him from point
to point-has the fascination of good
comradeship i and'of." a form of Intel
lectual exercise that Poe tested and
proved. The dramatic coolness of
"Raffles!' in moments when his liberty
depends on his coolness, and his con
trol of his temper attract sympathy
to a hero who is a thief and does not
deserve it. Stories of adventure now-a-days
go back to the piratical times
of Elizabeth or of Louis. XI. These
tales are modern in costume, setting
and habit. There is no veiled at
tempt to teach history or morals or
anything else, only to amuseand en
tertain. When the stories are pub
lished in book form they deserve as
large a popularity as Conan Doyle's
detective yarns and will probably at
tain it. The style is simple and color
less. The stories have been printed
in Scribner's Magazine.
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Evolution.
Mr. Fiske in the essays "Through
Nature to God" says that It must
have occurred to everyone to wonder
why God did not make man better
while He was about it. or words to
that effect. To create something is
the most inspiring motive of God and
man. Children who are presented
with elaborately perfect mechanical
toys, smash them in desperation, be
cause they are too perfect. They
leave nothing to the imagination and
the defrauded child is angry without
knowing why. The working of the
imagination is creation and the little
girl whose imagination has made a
French doll out of a cob and a few old
rags has the same translated look on
her face as the poet, or the architect
or the painter who has just created
something beautiful. Therefore, Mr.
Fiske says, was the world left wicked
which is only a kind of imperfection,
that we, not by our imagination but
by making ugly things beautiful may
make the world better.
The kindergarten system is based
on the universal desire to create.
The effect of the manual training is
so beneficial because the creative im
pulse is recognized, utilized and grat
ified. Wickedness is destructive and
unnatural. Only the insane and the
degenerate really enjoy killing or
robbing or burning. If everyone had
work to do and every worker could see
how useful the work of his hands is,
the peculiar rewards of creation would
keep him from all forms of destruc
tion and that excludes all wickedness.
The joy of creating is so pervading
and satisfying, no human being
should be without it. By leaving a
world unfinished or imperfect it is
evident that we were intended to help
in the greatest work ever undertaken.
The Teather Service.
Professor Willis L. Moore, chief of
the United States Weather Bureau,
assembled all the experts in his de
partment the night before the inaug
uration. They tried all the ancient
and all the new instruments for fore
telling the weather and all the signs,
symbols, machines and oracles report
ed that the sun was going to sbfne on
America's coronation day. Every
body now knows that it rained and
that President McKinley spoke to the
storm and what looked like fields of
dark toadstools, but which were, in
reality, umbrellas with a man or a
woman under each one. Excepting
when it makes a very great deal of
difference the prophesies of the jne.
teorological bureau may be relied
upon. But the science is not an ex
act one and the areas of low and tiiyii
barometer shift eccentrically and on
inaugurationi day, when it is of su
preme importance that lie should
guess accurately Mr. Moore's predic
tions fail.
Thermopylae.
Messrs. A. R. Oleson, Dan Swanson,
J. J. McCarthy, Frank .Touvenat!
H. Rohwer, C. F. Steele, .T. E. Evans,'
f. A. Whltmore and M. Broderick,
who have stood firmly by their princi
ples since the legislature convened,
who have not been influenced by rep
resentations of expediency and of per
sonal benefits -are men and color-
bearers of republicanism who deserve
the distinction and credit accorded to
those who kept the pass at Thermop
ylae. Their singular devotion to the
ideals and principles of the party lias
rescued it from sordid meu indifferent
to the wishes of their constituents.
In refusing to vote for Mr. Thompson
they have declared their loyalty to a
party and their indifference to the
temporary convenience of having a
senator or; two at Washington.
The deadlock in the Nebraska legis
lature is also another reason why the
senator should be elected directly by
the people. It is another warning to
men like Mr. Thompson not to spend
time and money to overcome a deep
seated popular prejudice against poli
ticians of their type. It is another
instance of the righteousness of mi
norities, the usefulness of theexcep
tional man, and a modern instance of
the uses of bravery in politics. The
long continued struggle has been a
trial of sentiment and has demon
strated that at least nine out of sixty
men care more for, (he approval
of their own consciences than
for the urgings of expediency.
After they have returned to their
homes there will be those who will
remonstrate with them for not send
ing someone, to the senate. But
by far the greater portion of men and
women who have seen and appreciated
the nobility of these men are proud
to be their fellow citizens.
Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth" was not lazy. No lazy
person writes books. No lazy person
thinks consecutively and logically.
Elizabeth's dreamery works out into
peans of living, worth while ponder
ing. She has written two books and
written down the music of the songs
her children sing. She has maids who
sew, bake and clean for her and her
family. She might have put in her
time accomplishing those mighty an
nual bakings or fruit-preservings, or
linen chest filling that periodically
fills the time of German house-wives.
Instead she chooses, like the psalmist
to invite her soul, she gives herself
time to enjoy the innocence and
beauty of her children, the beauty of
growing things and the peculiarities
of her friends. Most of us are so oc
cupied with trivial things that we
live and die strangers to the lessons
of the spirit. Elizabeth might be
Eve, conventional procedure and habit
have so little effect upon her. She i
Mary and all other women are
Marthas. She has made a choice of
nature and books and young life and
of such is the kingdom of heaven
Tellies, linens, gowns, cooking and so
ciety which absorb the time of the
German housekeepers have little at
traction for Elizabeth. Her infinite
variety and enjoyment of her own
society piques her husband and keeps
him devoted to her more effectually
than jellies and fussy housekeeping
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