Life — July 6, 1911 — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

‘LIFE: Life’s Family Album Agnes Repplier HE art of writing essays is not un- like that of guiding an aeroplane. All the machinery must be in perfect adjustment, down to the most trivial de- 1 The poise must be absolutely cor- rect. A mind tuned to the greatest delicacy must be behind it all; and to add to this, experience must act as a sure guide. That is why there are so few first-class essayists. In this coun- try who is there, we wonder, to ap- proach Miss Repplier? She has what we may term the sense of words—a ‘combination of taste and judgment in the use of her vocabulary, She the right sort of humor, always held in the proper perspective, never over exag- gerated; and she Ss common sense united with that kind of culture which is produced by much thought and read- ing. Her home is in Philadelphia, and thither we flew impertinently seeking information. For what would Lire’s Album be without the one whose writ- ings have delighted so many of Live's readers? It was immediately evident, however, that the whole affair would be matter of fact. “You were born, Miss Repplier?” “In Philadelph And educated ? “In the Convent of the Sacred Heart.” “Wasn't one of your books. ? “You refer to ‘In Our Convent Days.’ Yes, that book and one other, ‘The 1 have written con amore, je Sphinx’ was in- spired by love for my cat, Agrippina (would that I could believe Dr. Furness to be a true prophet when he promises her the immortality of Lesbia's spar- row!), and ‘In Our Convent Days’ was inspired by affection for my friend and schoolmate, Elizabeth Robins Pennell, who is the ‘Elizabeth’ of those vera- cious stories.” “When were your firs: essays written?” “In 1886, ‘Children Past and Pres ent’ was published in the Atlantic Monthly in that year, and my first book of essays, ‘Books and Men,’ was pub- lished in 1888.” “When did you first begin to be a genius, Miss Repplier “Dear me, I did not learn the art of reading until I was nine years of age— rather Jate, I admit. I have never studied. I have only read all my life.” “How do you stand on the suffrage question?” “Tam personally indifferent to it.” Ww SRE ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly for a doctor to tell a patient what he has written on his prescrip When You Complain Name the Paper ! T letter to the Evening Post begins: _ Sin: Some of the New York papers, one in particular, published an account of a i Circus and Carnivai ing the fierce Saturday night. There follows complaint in detail of the reckless untruthfulness of the ac- count given, But why should not this complainant, and others like him, have named the papers, “one in particular, that were at fault? As St. Paul might have said: “Don't beat the air. Punch your man where he lives.” Doubt IR OLIVER LODGE does not be lieve in death, He wonders if there is really any such thing. His doubts may have been vitalized by the statistics of the United States Pension Office. An Entomologist ORD AVEBURY spends his leisure in the study of ants and has won fame by writing about them. His seri- ous occupation is statesmanship, but his celebrity is duc to his leisure. OFFERED to let him have a hun- dred.” “That would only be a drop in the bucket-shop.” A GUILTY CONSCIENCE ‘eich cS Noe (samp Qe (Carre Ceotiias enous SMOK 922-8 West comicbookk Cl |