Life — July 7, 1898 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Our Fresh-Air Fund. Previously acknowledged cose e BLRT ST O Bicccvssscereenrses ceseee 25.00 Halt proceeds of a litte sale held hy Julta Cooper and Mary W. Appleton... 50 00 ‘ 3.00 10 00 300 100 00 0 00 OQ Weand WW. Greece $00 Arthur C. Lord... sauseeasseey «= 8 00 Dorothy... e sees 300 $2,009 3T The Solemnities of “ Helbeck.” The solemn story of a man and maid Who loved each other, but were sore afraid ‘To follow where thete true hearts surely led, And, risking all things. bravely to be wed. What's ta a creed to keep two souls apart! ‘The untversal solvent Is the heart! LX t¢ miast of trtvotous setion devoted t0 phases of life that are seen with the eye and Apprehended with the senses, It would be an im- pertinence to treat ftp; ly @ sertous novel that has to do with some of the deepest problems of the soul, Mes. Humphry Ward ts a very sertous- minded writer, and “flelbeck of Banntsdate” milan) i¢ saturated with the solemnity of a From the first page to the t youare made witness of Uie stress of spirit and the confict of bellef. It will be very dim cult for the modern reader to evoke any active sympathy with the Intensity of this spiritual con: ict. Itts ow te to take questions of belief in such a heartbreaking manner. Well-balanced people nowadays belleve or dis- belleve, as thetr reason dictates, but they do not sink Into perpetual gloom because someone they Jove disagrees with them. Indeed, a widespread feeling that it ls the easiest thing tn the world to be mistaken leads us to welcome the other fel- Jow for his contrary opinion. When you have serious doubts of your own Jadgment, you are likely to be extremely tolerant of a man who differs from you. RS. WARD'S subtle analysis of the confict of spirit between a high-minded Roman Catholle and the girl he loves, who ts an agnostic, Will not appeal to many American readers as a vital subject, Catholics, Protestants and agnos- tics are only foteresting to the modern world in no far as they are good or bad people, who go about the business of living in a decent way, treating their neighbors with consideration, tn- difference, of postive hostility. We expend our admiration or indignation in these days upon the individual, and not upon his creed. Th ‘tassif- cation of & man by a set of assnmed opintons, rather than by the trend of his individual life, 18 a solectsm, What counts ts a decent man, and not a unit {a an aggregation of men with an approved label on him. BRAvo! THE two volumes of anguish of splrtt whtct Mra, Ward expends upon setbeck and Laura will, we think, seem superfuous and even dull. Why should the man be driven to a mon- astery and the girl to suicide by a difference of belief when they agreed so heartily in being very much tn lover A glimmer of bumor might have dispelled most of the clouds which hang over the story. The saving grace of ordinary horse-sense would pat Catholicism and agnosticism opon a living basta. But there would not have been any story left. UT, as a novelist, Mrs, Ward justiftles some of the tronble she has taken by the skill with which she has created ber characters, /felbeck and Laura are vivid realities—human, passton- ate, grief-compelling. You may cavil at the doing of tt, but you have no doubt that tt 1s done, and well done. Intellectually and emotionally, tt isa work of force and of cultivation. There are no cheap artifices, no attenuated smartness, no showy cynicism, It {san honest, dend-in-earnest plece of work by a woman witha mind, Droch. “NT OW, Percy, if you're a really good boy I'll take you to the circus.” There was a long pause, and then: “Mal” “ Yes, Perey “‘S'pose I'm the best boy I've ever been, will you leave me there?” A Distressing Situation. $ Von Blumer opened the door his wifo tiptoed downstairs to meet him, and, after the customary kiss, said: “Dear, the Bishop has come.” “What Bishop?” said Von Blumer, “You know perfectly well. Bishop Lan- caster, This is his regular visit to tho diocese, and it happens to be my turn to invito him, At least, L insisted upon his coming.” On his way to the house that afternoon Von Blumer had stopped at the office of the browery and ordered two dozen bottles of beer to be delivered at once. At tho grocer’s he had ordered other materials, more dry and less necessary to the hilarity of the evening. That noon it had suddenly occurred to him that it would bea pleasant thing to invite the four mon with whom ho had taken Iuncheon up to bis house in the evening for a quiet game of cards. Von Blumer had been married four years and a half—just six months short of the allotted period when a man learns not to take any step without first consulting his wife, “Tdidn’t know anything about it,” he said. Mrs, Von Blumer eyed him petulantly. That's just like a man,” she exclaimed, AT LIFE’S FARM—ONE OF THE GIRLS' BEDROOMS. “ comicbooks.com