Life, 1888-09-06 · page 11 of 14
Life — September 6, 1888 — page 11: what you’re looking at
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# Life Magazine, Page 137: Historical Satire This page contains three separate satirical commentary pieces, not traditional cartoons: **"Continuation of a Tale of the Orient"** (top illustrations): Two sketches depicting an exotic scene, likely referencing contemporary orientalist literature or debate. **"Reflections" section**: Three brief satirical items: 1. **Lawrence Oliphant**: Mocks the writer/diplomat for marrying a second time while claiming his deceased first wife's spirit continued collaborating with him on his book. The satire questions whether someone maintaining such intimate spiritual communion with a dead spouse should remarry. 2. **Mr. Childs' poetry**: Ridicules the Philadelphia *Ledger* owner for claiming authorship of paid mortuary verses he doesn't actually write himself. 3. **Renan on King David**: Critiques French scholar Ernest Renan's moral disapproval of biblical King David's conduct. The piece defends David as an effective leader, implying Renan should admire such "hustlers" rather than criticizing ancient standards through modern Victorian morality—particularly given France's contemporary fascination with General Boulanger. All three pieces employ mock-serious tone to satirize contemporary intellectual and public figures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CONTINUATION OF A TALE OF THE ORIENT. REFLECTIONS. EVERAL days ago, a cable message from London included this paragraph : ‘Lawrence Oliphant, who was eecently in America, is lying at Malvern, at a hydropathic establishment, suffering from a brain trouble which renders him little better than a lunatic. It was only upon the announcement of his illness that many of his friends learned that he had recently married again, the bride being Miss Rosamund Dale Owen, granddaughter of the well-known Socialist.” Here is a case which, if we were the recent Miss Amelie Rives, we might make it our business to investigate. Not long ago, Mr. Oli- phant had a wife who was closely associated with him in the religious investigations and aspirations which have occupied him for the last decade. By her aid he was writing a book, setting forth his notions of truth, when she died. But her interest in the work in hand was not cut short by death. It is understood that Mr. Oliphant believed and averred that his work was carried to its conclusion by the aid of his deceased wife's spirit, which continued to share his labors and direct his pen. To the average mind, it will seem fairly questionable whether a man who is on terms so intimate as these with the spirit of his de- ceased wife can reasonably be deemed a widower, or may safely venture to marry again, But it seems that Mr. Oliphant did marry again. In these circumstances, we would like to know if the author of ' The Quick and the Dead," who is expert in such matters, does not consider Mr. Oliphant's present dementia about what might have been expected. He is a mighty queer gentleman, is Mr. Lawrence Oliphant, but this last phase of peculiarity seems somehow to be of a different pat- tern from the experiences that have preceded it. A BOSTON Herald man reports that Mr. Childs, of Philadelphia, does not personally compose the mortuary verse of his Ledger, though he gets twenty cents a line for all he prints. This will be interesting news for the Sux, which has supposed all along that Mr. Childs did:them himself. The Sun may be mistaken about Tariff, too. . . . WING to circumstances over which the Republican managers have had inadequate control, the Beginning of the End has been postponed until DEPEW GITS BACK. . . * MONG recent reports from Paris is the news that the urbane, but distrustful, M. Renan, is having what fun he can with "* David, King of Israel.” He has been reading in the Bible, and seems to be really shocked to find in how many details David deviated from what is regarded in the nineteenth century as a proper line of con- duct. It is true enough that King David had his faults, and that if he had lived in these days his energies might often have been hampered for lack of bail. But he was a person of very earnest purpose and a tremendous hustler, and if Mr. Renan was not absorbed in Oriental studies, it might occur to him what a boon such a man would be to France, When Frenchmen are worshipping the shadow in Bou- langer, it doesn't befit M. Renan to disparage the substance in King. David. ELS. M. comicbooks.com