Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], March 07, 1912, Page 6, Image 6

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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6
OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
PROGRESS OF OPERA SEASON.
CALVE AGAIN SINGS CARMEN.
The History of Her Interpretation of
This Part.
“Carmen” was snug a week ago yester
day afternoon at the Boston opera house
before a great and demonstrative audience.
The most notable thing about the occasion
was that Emma Calve again sang the role
of Carmon. Mr Clement sang the role of
Dou Jose, nnd .Mr Vothier was the Esca
millo. It was found tluit neither Calve
nor her voice had lost its fascination.
Mme Calve's reappearance stirred Philip
Hale to provide the Herald's readers with
reminiscences of the great singer's career,
and his historical account of the different
■
FREDERICK S. CONVERSE.
[The well-known Boston composer.]
interpretations which Mme Calve has given
of the role is well worth reprinting:—
. It was on February 27. 1894, that
Mme Calve first appeared in Boston as
Carmen. It was in the Mechanics’ build
ing. Her associates were Miss Pettigiani.
De Lucia and Ancona. Mr Bevignani
conducted.
Mme Calve was then 30 years old, in
the fulness of her beauty and at the hight
of her fame. In this country, as in Faris
late in ’92. her Carmen was wildly ap
plauded. although in Paris there were some
who shook their heads at her audacity
and lamented her twisting of the phrase
and her contempt for rhythm.
Her impersonation in Mechanics’ build
ing was characterized by sensuousness that
often turned into sensuality. Her fascina
tion was in her animal beauty and the ex
posure of her animal instincts. Thus she
appealed to Don Jose, to Zuniga, to Esca
millo. to any one of her lovers. There was
the swaying of the restless hips, the curv
ing of amorous arms, the languishing eye
that encouraged, promised, persuaded.
This impersonation was vividly dramatic,
broadly conceived, abounding in subtle de
tail. demoniacally reckless, and, in the
card scene and before the arena, superbly
tragic.
Mme Calve’s success was instantaneous
and enormous. Victor Hugo said that suc
cess is hideous. It was injurious to her.
Managers were loath to allow her to ap
pear in other operas. When she had the
opportunity, audiences applauded cour
teously and demanded “Carmen." She
wearied of the part. She would be indif
ferent or farcically extravagant. She
would be vulgar or dull, with now and
then a flash of genius. The great public
was the more demonstrative when she was
the least artistic.
Late in 1809 she gave a memorable per
formance at the Boston theater. Her Car
men was then a creature of refined cun
ning rather than an unblushing wanton.
Her tones were colored marvelously to ex
press nuances of emotion. She was bodily
more quiet; the dramatic action was in
that voice of ineffable beauty. Her tones
were now glowing, radiant: now pale, chill,
sepulchral. An extraordinary performance,
but the public was perplexed and demand
ed the old Carmen. She yielded to the in
evitable and went back to her extravagant
ways.
Yet when she was here in 1904 there
was no touch of disfiguring flippancy, no
suggestion of deliberate insincerity. And
in certain respects the performance yester
day afternoon recalled that of eight years
ago, when Felix Mottl complained bitterly
of her indifference toward rhythm.
It would be absurd to deny that the
years have changed her face and figure,
but it is unnecessary to insist on this. Iler
first act was disappointing. It is said that,
she has not played the part for several
years. This fact, and the natural nerv
ousness that possesses even the experienced
after a Jong absence from the stage, ac
counted probably for her singular lack of
ease. There was no longer the proud self
confidence, the supreme authority, the o’er
mastcring spell. Even her stage business
was meager and inconsequential. She took
strange liberties with text and music. Her
intonation was insecure. But the timbre of
the voice, a timbre peculiar, unique, was
unchanged; the diction was. as of old, in
comparable. The vocal art remained.
In the second act the singer, becoming
more and more herself, colored tone with
irresistible dramatic effect. Again we heard
the Calve who thrilled us 18 years ago.
And until the end of the opera the voice
itself and the skill with which it was em
ployed held the great audience captive,
ja the card scene she is still incomparable.
There was no foolish or screaming protest
against Fate. The prophecy of the cards
had struck terror to her soul. There, at
her elbow, was Don Jose. who. she knew
full well, was doomed to slay her. Her
voice was cold and heavy with despair.
Her face was as an antique mask of frozen
horror.
So. too. in the last act there were mem
orable moments when song and speech re
vealed the full glory of the tragedian's art,
when gestures or any mere facial expres
sion according to the formulas of the
schools would have seemed superfluous, un
meaning.
Nor was this another instance of art
triumphant with the aid of scanty mate
rial. The voice of Calve is still beautiful
in itself; it is still a wonderful instrument
of expression; it still caresses, enchants,
plays at will on nerves and heart.
LHEVINNE IN RECITAL.
Appearance of the Distinguished
Pianist in a Notable Program at
Northampton.
Josef Lheviune, the great Russian pian
ist. appeared in Northampton at Smith
college Friday night in u recital which was
uot in the regular course of concerts
planned at the beginning of the college
year. By a sudden and fortunate chance
Mr Lhevinne’s services were sechred at
short notice and this additional concert
provided. To these facts, 10 doubt, must
be attributed the comparatively small size
of the audience. Bnt though the audience
was not quite so large as usual, tljcir en
thusiasm was great.
The program was almost entirely dif
ferent from the one given in Holyoke re-
cently. but of equal interest. Me Lbevinne
was in fine form, playing nt times superb
l.v. His technical equipment is universally
acknowledged to be renin rkable. Never
theless he seldom makes technic an end
in itself. His cantnbile is as noteworthy
its his bravura. Especially good instances
of this were heard in Liszt'S transcrip
tihn of Mendelssohn's "On Winps of
Song," and the charming serenade by
Rubinstein. The Boethoven sonata, the
“Farewell" sonata, wins played very beau
tifully and convincingly, working up to
sneh a fervor in the finale as only n trans
cendental technic can achieve.
i Of the Chopin group the C minor etude.
I opus 25. Was tremendous: the beautiful
; “Barcarolle" tine in the climax. After the
I FoJomiise the pianist was recalled so many
times that he finally played the Chopin
waltz in A flat major, with its cross
rhythm.
Xcw Work by Frederick S. Converse.
A symphonic poem by il'rederick S. Con
verse. the Boston composer, formerly as
sistant professor of music at Harvard uni
versity, was performed from the manu
script by the Boston symphony orchestra.
Max Fieldler conductor, at tlie concerts
in Boston a fortnight ago. Philip Hale said
in the Herald:—
The subject is the conflict between
Ormazd and Ahriman, light and darkness,
whom the disciples of Zoroaster defied as
the gods of good and evil; the constructive
and destructive principles. As in certain
other religions, the conflict will finally end
in the triumph of Ormazd. The poetic
idea appealed to the composer, as he in
forms us. on account of its picturesque ex
pression of elemental truths; for in each
one of us the two spirits are contending.
Now in the sonata form, which is still
the basis of many symphonic poems and
of the first movement of a symphony, a
conflict is established betwen two schemes
or musical ideas which, to quote Vincent
d'lndy. present themselves in succession,
each at one of the two poles of the adopted
tonality: they seek each other, shun each
other, arrive at an explanation, and end
by uniting in one and the same tonality.
The opposition of two decided elements of
musical expression may be more or less
Strongly defined, so that there is dramatic
action in music, whether the composition
have a title and a program or be pre
sented to the public as absolute music.
In Mr Converse’s symphonic poem,
Ormazd assembles the heavenly hosts, and
there is a martial motive. There is a con
trasting motive which suggests "the per
nicious activity" of the spirit of darkness.
The two are in sharp opposition in the
conflict episode. But there is another
musical thought that musically is of equal
importance, ami to the average hearer
probably of greater importance tn that it
makes a more emotional appeal: that is
the song of good souls, the blessed Frava
shis, which is heard before the conflict
and at the end with the hosts of light ex
ulting in praise of the conqueror.
The more salient features of this work
are those that are decorative and imagi
native. The music that describes the wild
regret and the moaning anguish of Ahri
man and the lost is not so effective—or.
rather, it was not so effectively brought
out yesterday—as the episode of the march
ing hosts of light and the song of adoration
and of triumph.
“Harmonic Ear" of the Ne<ro.
What is meant by the "harmonic ear”
of the American negro is considered by
Natalie Curtis in the Craftsman: —
Though utterly without training, the
negroes improvise alto, tenor and bass
parts to their songs with entire ease, and
a whole negro chorus will spontaneously
break into harmony of real interest to the
musician as well as of beauty.
In the tobacco factories of the South
and in the fields I have heard ignorant
negroes who seemed nearly related to their
primitive African progenitors sing four-
Kart harmony of a richness and charm
truly amazing. This harmonic talent of
the negroes is strikingly in evidence at
Hampton institute, the industrial school
for negroes and Indians in Virginia. There
a chorus of 800 negro students sings with
out accompaniment and in faultless pitch
throughout an evening, chanting in the
untaught harmonies peculiar to the negro,
the old plantation songs of the past gene
ration. It is safe to say that Hampton
has done more than any other single infl
enee to keep extant the negro music in its
purity.
Once when I was visiting Hampton
there was present a musician from Europe.
He asked me who trained the chorus. I
said: "Nobody trains the negroes, their
singing is natural." He said: “I don't
mean who trains their voices or teaches
them tone production: I mean who teaches
them their parts—and trains them to sing
together?” I repeated, "Nobody.” He
said: "That is not possible! I have never
heard finer choral singing.” I said: “If
you do not believe me. ask Major Moton,
the negro leader who starts the chorus in
each song." Major Moton answered as I
did. The musician was amazed. “How
do you do it?" he asked. The negro an
swered, “I don’t know how- we do it—we
just sing, that’s all." And we agreed that
a people who could “just sing” as these did
and improvise harmonies of such simple
and natural beauty certainly posses a
distinct musical gift, probably capable of
rare development.
A Contralto With Soprano Ambitions.
The performances of Mme Matzenauer
are a feature of the present opera season
in this country, but it appears that she
is fond of trying parts that lie outside
the range of her finest, tones. The New
York Evening Post of Tuesday said:—
Mme Matzenauer has not allowed her
contralto origin to interfere with her so
prano ambitions, and although she has not
been called upon abroad to sing the great
Wagnerian soprano roles, she has made it
her business to acquaint herself fully with
certain of the more important ones and
hold them in reserve for possible emergen
cies. Not long ago she amazed opera
goers here with her Kundry. which she
had never sung on any stage before, and
which she did on that occasion only at the
11th hour, and practically without rehear
sal. A week or so ago she saved a per
formance of "Walklire’’ for Mr Dippel in
Baltimore by singing Brunnhilde—another
part she knew, hnt had never had the
chance to put to practical use. Last night
she appeared in this part for the first time
in Nev.- York, when the second “Walkure”
of the season was given. There was little
doubt that this splendid artist would sing
and act the part magnificently and moving
ly. and this is precisely what she did Her
Hrunhilde is undoubtedly a trifle matronly
in appearance, bint nevertheless poetic. It
is not altogether certain, however, that
the contralto quality’of voice is best suited
to this music.
Harvard and the Opera.
The Harvard Crimson has been lecturing
the undergraduates about their indifference
to the opera:—
In all the large university cities of Eu
rope there is a close connection between
the students and the opera. Tito students
are allowed seats nt reduced rates, form
a large proportion of the audience, and get
a great deal of education .in that wav.
Here we have a university, and an opera
near by. but the opportunity for bringing
about close relations between the two has
been neglected. The reason is evidenl:
college men cannot afford to pay the full
price for tickets. As a result they cannot
go. and thus not ouiy they lose' a great
opportunity for education, but the iqiern
loses an enthusiastic backing. . . . The
situation in Europe provides us with an
example of what the possibilities are. If
any differences exist in the possibilities
hero, it is that they are greater, and more
urgent. Here, more than in Europe, the
opera needs backing. Money may be super
ficially the most important need of tile
Boston opera company, but the more fun
damental need is an intelligent interest.
Harvard enn give the interest. It is all
ready to be used, hnt it cannot be used
unless in sonic why Harvard students can
attend the opera. A few Harvard seats,
which men could obtain at reduced rates,
would be a step in the right direction, and
this, of course, would cost money. There
are many schemes suggested for bringing
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1912.
I about the relations that wo encourage, but
the particular arrangements arc not for
us to decide.
That the Chicago opera bouse is to re
main a western institution is suggested by
Eric Delamater in the Chicago Inter
Ocean. Il is officially stated at the office
of the Chicago opera company, he writes,
that reservations for next season are far
beyond expectalions. The lowering of the
tariff on seats in the balcony and galleries
has stirred many less opulent purses to
the preliminary fidgets of barter. The
lower floor has suffered practically no
change in subscriptions, and the boxes are
a foregone conclusion, anyway. The im
possible has certainly come to pass in this
cordial support of Andreas Oippel nnd
Cleofoute Campanini. It is bruited about
among the "wise men" of the Rialto that
the resident company will purge its mem
ory of Philadelphia and the East after this
season, possibly, and within the next two
or three surely. There is a sort of false
pride in this, and many will lift the glad
some pean of praise that the company is
to become an all-western institution.
A fortnight ago Oscar Hammerstein re
duced the prices at bis London opera
house, adopting the following scale: Five
hundred scats at one shilling] 509 seats nt
two shillings nnd sixpence; stalls, .seven
shillings and sixpence nnd 10 shillings; 500
seats at four shillings: 500 seats nt six
shillings: boxes, two to five guineas. All
these seats, except those in the shilling
gallery, will bo reserved. "By the reduc
tion of price Mr Hammerstein appeals.to
the groat musical public of London which
lias hitherto refused to pny the high prices
usually charged for grand opera. Mr Ham
merstein now hopes to obtain the packed
bouses which alone will make such a ven
ture pay." says an evening paper. Opera
at a shilling <24 cents) brings London into
the class of continental cities. Lucky
London!
The London symphony orchestra, with
which Mr Nikisch is to make a tour of the
I'nited States, will reach Boston next
month. The program for the Boston con
cert at Symphony hall. Tuesday night,
April 9. is as follows: Overture. "Leo
nora.'' No 3. Beethoven; symphony in C
minor. No 1. Brahms: symphonic poem,
"Francesca da Rimini," Tschaikowsky;
overture, "Tannhauser." Wagner.
W. H. Leahy, who is erecting the new
Tivoli opera house in San Framisco. has
arranged to have Mr Dippel take the en
tire Chicago company to open the new
opera house with a gain performance on
March 13, 1913. Grand opera on a big
scale has not been heard in San Francisco
since the earthquake.
Emil Paur, formerly director of the
Pittsburg symphony orchestra, lias been
selected ns chief conductor of the Royal
opera. Berlin, to succeed Dr Karl Muck,
who is to become again the conductor of
the Boston symphony orchestra.
THE ITALIAN FUTURISTS.
Latest Freak Fad of the European
Studios.
The art “convulsion" of the moment in
Paris is “futurisme." It is the logical suc
cessor of “cubisme," which appeared to be
“the limit.” but which it quite outdoes. If
one were to symbolize from the collection
of canvases now at the Bernheim gallery,
one could not do better than choose the
one entitled “Cabots de Fiacre"—the jolts
of a cab. If there were any “motif to
which this movement should particularly
lend itself, it would be to this representing
of the jolts of a cab.
According to the doctrines of the Italian
futurists, says the Boston Transcript, it is
a piece of mental cowardice to paint from
a model who poses, no matter whether the
model is translated in lines, spheres or
cubes. Ou the other hand, it is declared
to be the intoxicating aim and end of
fqturist art to represent the “simultane
ousness of states of mind.” For instance,
in painting-a person on a balcony as seen
from the interior of rhe room, a futurist
would not limit the scene to what he actu
ally saw through the window, but he
would feel obliged to give all the visual
sensations felt by the person on the bal
cony, including the traffic of the street,
the houses on both sides of the street, and
the other balconies within view, etc., that
is to say. ’’simultaneousness of the ambi
ence.” The futurists hold that a picture
ought to be the synthesis of what is seen
and what is remembered by the artist,
that is to say. he must give the invisible,
which moves and which lives beyond his
sight, that which he has at bis right and
his left and behind him. as well as what
be sees in front of him. He must place
himself in the middle of the picture, ho
must give the dynamic sensation, that is
to say. the rhythm of each object, its in
tensity, its mood, its interior force.
Now. of course, this sounds absurd, and
it is absurd, but at rhe same time it con
tains a grain of truth. It is true that the
artist ought to, and, as a matter of fact,
does, use his memory as well as his eyes
in painting, and that the memory counts
for a very important part in the produc
tion of fine pictures. Every artist knows
this, and he does not confine himself
wholly to the things that lie sees. So far
as this is true, the futurists are merely
carrying out what almost all painters have
already discovered for themselves and
utilized in their practice. But when we
come to examine the works produced by
these futurists, we find that the majority
of them, if not all of them, are mere
fakirs and charlatans, and that their chief
object in life, so far from being the repre
sentation of the “simultaneousness of
states of mind.” is to attract attention to
themselves and to advertise themselves at
all costs.
DICKENS IN CAMP.
Above the pines the moon was slowly
drifting.
The river sang below;
The dim Sierras, far beyond, uplifting
Their minarets of snow.
The roaring camp-fire, with rude humor,
painted
The ruddy tints of health
On haggard face and form that drooped
and fainted
In the fierce race for wealth;
Till one arose, and from his pack's scant
treasure
A hoarded volume drew.
And cards were dropped from hands of
listless leisure.
To hear the tale anew:
And then, while round them shadows
gathered faster.
And as tlm firelight fell.
He read aloud the book wherein the
Master
Had writ of “Little Nell.”
Perhaps ’twas boyish fancy—for the reader
Was youngest of them all—
But. as he rend, from clustering pine and
cedar
A silence seemed to fall:
The fir-trees, gathering closer in the shad
ows.
Listened in every spray.
While the whole camp, With “Nell," on
English meadows
Wandered aud lost their way.
And so in monutai:i solitudes—o’ertaken
As by some spell divine—
Their cares dropped from them like the
needles shaken
From out the gusty pine.
Lost is that <amp. and wasted all its fire;
And he who wrought that spell?--
Ah. towering pine and stately Kentish
spire. ,
Ye have ohe talc to tell!
Lost is that camp! but lot Its fragrant story
Blend with the breath that thrills
With hop-vjnes’ Incense nil the pensive
glory
That fills the Kentish hills.
And on that grave whore English onk and
holly
And Inure! wreaths entwine.
Deem ii not nil a too precumptou* folly—
This spray of Western pine.
—Bret Harte.
EUROPE'S GENERAL SPY SYSTEM.
' ALL THE BIG POWERS INVOLVED.
Military and Naval Mtnehes, Inperu
nl»» Clerks null Actresses Among
Ilie Performers—The sort of In
formation They Seek and Gel.
ICopyilght. ling, by Curtis Brown.]
Correspondence of The Republican.
Berlin, February 20, iIH2.
Poor Europe is gasping in “spiouitis."
Germany, Austria and Russia are all pre
paring legislation making it harder for
foreign spies to work, and making it more
painful for them to get caught. England
has already passed such an act. Sums
estimated conservatively at $2,500,000 a
year are being paid out by the great pow
ers to get filets—and fictions about one
another's defenses. It is generally sup-
MM
GEN VON HEERINGEN.
[Prussian minister of war. who nas prepared
new legislation to cheek the spy evil,
which is making Europe nervous ]
posed that the figures are much higher;
but that is a mistake. Tlie business is in
teresting, villainous and heroic enough;
but it is not so romantic as the public
thinks. It absorbs few incognito grand
dukes and black-eyed, impassioned prin
cesses: and is rather the domain of
retired pickpockets, drunken clerks who
can't get other jobs, unfrocked parsons,
and unwashed ne'er-do-wells. It is mainly
a matter of pay—triotism.
The spy business has its humor. The
humor lies in the fact that every nation
holds itself stainless from the foul treach
ery. and paints itself as an innocent victim
of spying neighbors. In reality, no nation
is any better than any other. A year ago,
when Britishers were deep iu virtuous
auger over, the imaginary invasion of Ger
man waiter-spies, the Germans discovered
two British spy organizations, one of them
formed by full-blown British officers who
got caught wljug stealing into Borkum
forts by night. Abd when. later, .virtuous
Germans had tf'jmme about villainous Kus
sian 1 spies in East Prussia, the Russians
found behind a gun in Brest-Litovsk for
tress a German spy named Teyn. Next
the Italians had their turn. Their news
papers printed revelations about the over
running of Udi^e by disguised Austrian
engineer officers. Far be it, they said,
from decent, chivalrous Italy blacking her
lily hands with such base treachery. Aud
just at that moment the Austrians arrest
ed in Pola an arsenal employe who was
providing Rome's naval staff with com
plete plans of the harbor defenses. Which
proves that all Europe spies and lies in
discriminately.
The estimate of $2,500,000 for all Eu
rope's military and naval spying is prob
ably near the truth. The Frenchman who
last year wrote a book to prove that Ger
many was spending $50,000,00t> a year on
spying in France alone was ridiculous: be
cause the amounts at the disposal of all
Europe's governments for secret purposes
are precisely known. Russia heads the
list with her famous ”lO,()0O,OOO ruble
fund" ($4,OOl),OOQ). But at least nine-tenths
of this goes on domestic spying, organizing
bomb plots for political purposes, and other
matters nowise connected witli war. Ac
cording to a German authority, the Ger
man expenditure on military and naval
spying is $225,000 a year. The French
government spends from $250,000 to $275,-
000. No power really expends sufficient
money to keep the thousands of spies
which exist in its enemies’ imaginations;
and as a fact such expenditures would not
pay, except where war is actually decided
on, as in 1902-3. 1 when tlie Japanese flood
ed Manchuria and eastern Siberia with
officers disguised as waiters and barbers.
Europe's real spying is done much more
economically. Firstly, it is done, officially
and unofficially, by the military and naval
attaches kept in every capital. Secondly
it is done by unofficial emissaries. The at
tache's nominal duty is to collect “legiti
mate” information, attend maneuvers and
keep in touch with war literature. His real
work is to spy. According to the conti
nental practice, if they gather insufficient
information they are removed; if they do
spy too liberally, and get found out, they
are also removed, but in this case pro
moted. The Dreyfus case, began as an
attache spy case. The last case recorded
was that of Col Spannochi, Austrian army
attache at St Petersburg, who bad in his
pay the Russian journalist Baron Ungern-
Sternburg, and the infantry officer Col
Postkikoff. The Russians went to penal
servitude for eight years, Spannochi was
removed to Vienna and raised in rank.
Nothing succeeds like impudent spying.
Fifty years ago nil Europe rang with the
scandal of n young Russian named Alexis
Lobanoff. who succeeded in stealing
French document* by hiding himself in a
wardrobe. Forty years later this docu
ment steairr emerged as Prince Lobanoff-
Rostovsky, minister of foreign' affairs to
Czar Nicholas 11.
Many military attaches' bureaus are
mere espionage departments. They are
equipped on the lines of detective depart
ments. The Rtissinn embassies. shown
by the Azeff cn e even steal letters from
the post, open them, aud return them.
(Jther nations hardly fall short. The Span
nochi case showed that Austria received
letters from Russian traitors in Warsaw,
which were ostensibly letters about social
matters, bnt when tested for invisible ink.
revealed hidden military communications.
This means was resorted to because the
traitors knew that Ilie Russian post habitu
ally open letters in the hope of entrapping
political plotters. For weeks after the
Bpannoehl ease the Russian authorities
tested Polish letters for invisible ink by
thawing over them a cross in copperas.
This brings out the secret ink writing. In
a recent Vlettm* trial it was sworn that
certain letterh word opened in the Italian
ethbassy nnd afterward resoitlcd.
If military attaches do not stl<k nt such
methods. natiirulß the unofficial spies go
further. Most of these ttnoffieiaf spies arc
civilians of doubtful clmrncler. They often
spy equally for or nan Inst I heir own coun
try. The number of them is exaggerated.
The best German authority says that there
are not 1W German spies in England; and
not 50 French spies in Germany. Frequent
arrests indicate that Russia keeps many
■ spies in Germany nnd Austria: but
! sin's spying is badly done. A trial in LIOJ
nt Cracow showed that n Russian officer
who was paid $3500 a year to spy in
Gnlicia was giving his own country wortli;
[ less or untrue news; nnd at the same time
selling to Austria valuable facts obtained
through his relations with the Russian
general staff. Germany and Austria keep
very few spies in Russia. They can buy
Russian military news direct from officers
in tin 1 St Petersburg general staft. A Ger
nniu mimed Godfrey, who last year pub
lished a pamphlet on espionage, says that
“there is probably not one secret document
in Russia's war office which could not be
had for $125."
Women play a considerable role in Eu
rope's espionage. Variety stage artistes
often act as spies. That is easy because
they travel in different countries. A re
recent Italian case revealed n .'life chiint
ant artiste named Liicchiania in the dual
role of sweetheart to a sergeant named
Lori and purveyor to Austria of tacts
about the defenses on the BollunoToblach
road. In tier spare time, Siguorimi Luc
chiani made Ipve to Italian officers, and
cozened out of them vuluable facts wnicn
Lori was ignorant of. This little affair
was hushed up. but it cost Italy $100,900
Io re-lay the mines on tlie mountain road.
A similar case took place on the r ranco-
Italian frontier. "Here the woman spy
was a hospital nurse. Last November
there was arrest oil in Posen Use 1 btzner
and a noncommissioned officer named
Schroeder on charge selling plans of the
fortress to Russia. The story was that
Schroeder had tattooed the plans on his
sweetheart’s body. The Russian t'ol Do
donoff. arrested at Lemberg about the
sumo time, admitted having got drawings
of Przemysl fortress from a demimon
daine. Three of these women were at
once arrested. Another case is that of
tlie prettv aud vouthfnl French governess,
Mlle Thirion, who was sent to jail in West
Germany. The evidence showed that Mile
Thirion was led into spying for France
without at first knowing what she was do
ing.
The material wanted from spies is in
most cases not what the public is told.
The German. Godfrey, writes that infor
mation about meeliapical inventions is sel
dom required or given. Nearly all such
"secret” information leaks out without
the help of spies or traitors. It leaks
through the tbehnical newspapers, and
through persons engaged in tlie manufac
ture of the invention. If France, says
Godfrey, decides on a new gun in Jan
uary, the details are known in Germany,
without any spies, by March; that is. long
before France can turn out enough of the
guns to constitute a danger. Godfrey adds
that mechanical superiority alone has
never decided a war. A needle-guii ena
bled Prussia to defeat Austria in 1868,
because in other respects the Prussians
were superior, hut the mitrailleuse did not
help the French in 1870-71, because the
French were inferior. For that reason
new inventions are not so important from
the spy point of view. And the same for
another reason is true of fortifications.
Every power has already plans of its
neighbor's fortifications. You can buy
good drawings of Kronstadt and Belfort
in Berlin. Tlie unknown factor is the gun
positions; but these count for little, be
cause in any ease they will be changed in
time of war. The things for which spies
are paid highly are signal books, wireless
telegraphy codes, keys to ciphers, and
plans of mobilization, plans of campaign,
the strength of garrisons, the provisioning
of fortresses and. finally, military-diplo
matic secrets concerning the strategical
agreements of allied powers. Information
is also sought about defects in the mech
anism aud organization of armaments.
The naval staffs want to know which
ships steam at under their nominal speed,
what defects they show, whether they are
good as grin-platfomis, and so on. Tlie
German marine department has a particu
larly good stock of reports on these points,
and knows the defects of the French and
British fleets quite as well as do the
French and British themselves.
The cause of the present European
“spiouitis” is mainly the enormous num
ber of arrests which have taken place of
lute. I.ast December there was a risk
that every traveler in Europe would be
seized as a spy. In that month the Hun
garian reserve officer, Czerno, and the
Russian captain, Vinogradoff, were ar
rested in Germany. In the same month
the Hungarian Honved officer, Simonides,
CAPT B. F. FRENCH.
[One of the two British officers who were
caught stealing into Borkum forts by night
and sentenced to tour-years’ imprison
ment in a fortress.]
was seized at Vienna. It was alleged
that after a whole series of adventures
with pretty women lie had turned up at
Monte Carlo, where he frequented the so
ciety of Russian officers, to whom he sold
Austrian plans. A few days later. Aus
tria arrested Russia's Lemberg spy organ
ization. consisting of a central bureau,
and 22 agents at Brody. Cracow and
Przemvsl. Among them were officials,
students and three women. Russia retort
ed bv arresting four Austvo-Polish stu
dents who wore learning agriculture on the
estate of Prince Radziwill in Volhynia
province. The students had been set to
make a plan of tlm estate. The Russians
accused them of selling the plans to the
Vienna general staff. The Austrian
Reichsrath made trouble oyer their fate.
Thev wore acqnittml. In North Germany
spies also were busy. Two men wore ar
rested at Lubeck. The army lieutenant,
steinreich. left at thn Hamburg baggage
office a box containing a secret lecture on
military institutions. Five minutes later
a spy armed with a forged coupon claimed
it. and got clear away.
The general staffs now complain that
the law is insufficient to keep spies in
check. As it fact spying in limo of peace
is relatively modern, and 25 years ago it
wns not even a punishable offense. Ger
many (in 1893) was the last state to puss
an antispy law. The laws usually dis
tinguished between spying, that is, unlaw
fully getting possession of military secrets,
and treasom which is doing the same thing
with the aim of selling the secrets to a
foreign power. For treason the punisli
ment runs usually tip to ‘2O years penal
servitude. Foreign officers who any not
for money get off easily. The British
officer spies Trench and Brandon got only
four years iu a fortress; whereas the Ger
man Hipsiih of Wilhelmshaven, Who for
money sold sei rets to England got 12
Jems’ penal servitude. The German gen
ernl staff proposes not only to alter the
law. but also to take preventive moamires.
Many trials bring out the fact that the
average soldier knows nothing about spies,
and thus easily falls into their net ami
gives awny ipiormation without knowing
it. In futuie regimental commanders are
required to instruct soldiers as to what
spies are, lutw. to foil them, to’eilteh tlieni,
and so on. All of which Mill niqrely hnvq
the effi et of inerenking Europe's "Spior
nitis.”
OUR BOSTON LITERARY LETTER.
THE JEW AND HIS HISTORY.
The .tiiilatc Mission—Harnack and His
Historic Theory—Renan,Montaiitne,
and the- Rest—Marcos Aurelias.
From Our Special Correspondent.
Boston, Tuesday, February 27.
Tim world-wide legends of mankind are
never to be wholly disregarded. M but
signify those persistent beliefs in the rc
incarnation of the dead, for anotlier
er,leer on the earth they have long aban
doned, and whose dust already covers their
bones or their ashes? What but the repe
tition of historic experiences, and the per
petuity of race? Pythagoras taught that
he had existed before, as one of the heroes
of the Trojan war: Achilles was gone
away to the islands, of the Blest, and
might return at a crisis: Arthur, equally
fabulous, perchance, was laid at rest in
the “islapd valley of the Avilion,” until
the magic horn should arouse him. and be
should return in great glory. He never
has. and few of these expected exiles have
returned; yet the legend still holds good.
Persistent among these delusions is the
tale of the Wandering Jew.—“ Der Ewige
Jude." as the Germans designate him,—a
wretch who. for scoffing at the meek and
lowly Jesns, was condemned to wander
for centuries, aud is a tlieme for romance
in every Christian land. Sometimes he is
held to suffer as Tithonus did. because lie
cannot die: sometimes ho is feigned, as in
the French poem, to bo hurried along from
land to land like Coleridge's “Ancient
Mariner;”—the poet using the strong figure
of the Hebrew- Psalmist, —“chaff driven
before the wind "
Chretien, an voyaguef souffrant.
Tends uue verre d’eau sur ta porte!
Je sufs, je suts Ie .lulf errant.
Qu'un toublllon toujours emporte.
Clnistian! a woeful wanderer see
Imploring alms before thy gate!
The Wandering Jew behold in me.
Driven by the whirlwind blast of Fate.
Prof Harnack, himself a Jew, like so
many of the brilliant intellects of the
Christian era, has given a new interpre
tation to this alleged ban'on his race, ill
tlie Dispersion which-lias scut them, like
vessels of a fleet scattered before the gale,
into every corner of the liumau oceun:
whore their mission has lioen to plant the
seeds of Christianity. This book of his.
now some ten years old, but of several
editions and translations, bears the En
glish name of “The Mission and Expaiv
sion of Christianity.” aud attempts to ex
plain why Constantine, and no other,
three centuries after the crucifixion, by
any calmlation. should have been the mag
nate to adopt the cross as his symbol, nnd
to give the new religion a co-ordinate
place with the old faiths of Greece. Rome
and Judea. Harnack's reply is to the ef
fect that Christianity stood on the shoul
ders of Judaism: that the fight was waged
Y on by Jewish missions, much mine
effective, for two or three centuries, tlian
was the comparatively feeble apostoliza
tion of the Jewish Christians, of whom
Saul of Tarsus is the type, and Barnabas.
Luke and Mark examples. This conclu
sion is more a matter of inference and
conjecture, than of historic proof; but
Harnack makes it probable, besides bring
mg together, in its support, a great mass
°f. more easily explained in accord
itli his theory than by the common one,
—that Christianitj’ spread less bv its own
energies than by favoring circumstances,
or by the, cowardices of its supporting.
Harnack begins by showing how nu
merous and how widespread were the
friends of the synagog when Tiberius be
gan to incline toward them, and succeed
ing emperors against them. He says iu
his first chapter of the first volume:—
There were Jews in most of the Homan
provinces; eastward, also beyond Syria, thev
were thickly ma ^ed in Mesopotamia. Baby
lonia and Media. Their numbers were great
est in Syria; next to that in Egypt, Rome,
and the provinces of Asia Minor. In Africa
along the coast-liue, Jews were numerous.
In southern Gaul their numbers cannot have
been small; while in Spain thev were both
populous aud powerful. In Italy thev exist
ed. but were not numerous. As to their ag
gregate number in the so-called Dispersion,
the accounts are conflicting. Philo, himself
a Jew of Alexandria, reckons their total In
Egypt as 100 myriads,—a million. In Sulla's
time the Jews of Cyrene, according to Stra
bo, were one of the four classes of the peo
ple.—the others being citizens, peasants and
resident aliens. In the great rebellion of
Traian’s reign, they are said to have killed
220,000 unbelievers in Cyrene; in revenge
far which many myriads of their own num
ber were put to death. Their revolt spread
to Cyprus, where 240.000 Gentiles are said
tv have been murdered by them. The entire
population of Egypt under Vespasian was
7.000,000 or 8,000,000; the Jews, with a mil
lion. were 13 per cent of the whole. Svria
Is the only Roman province with a higher
percentage. Rome, with only 10.000 Jews,
would find them but: e doth of the whole
population.—6oo.ooo. The whole population of
the empire under Augustus being estimated
at 54.000.000. the Jews had a 50th part.—
4.000,000 or 4.500,000.
It seems, then, that within our 90,000.-
000 we have as many (or more) Jews as
were found or suspected in the whole Ro
man empire. It was a proselyting religion
which they held, far more than now. and it
was the best seed-bed Christianity could
have had, being already a missionary en
terprise. This is Harnack's view, which
to most of us, will come as a surprise. The
early antagonism between the Jews and
Christians; the points of difference in the
creed and dogmas, and the inclusive activ
ity of the Christians, as against the ex
clusiveness of the Jew. all make against
this theory; yet it seetns to be historically
true. Its statement by Harnack is in
volved, and illustrated by many guesses
and conjectures, as the German fashion is;
but there is learning and acuteness in it.
It is the personal distinction of individ
ual Jews, however, and their persistent
reappearance »n history, which is the sur
prising thing. Their long list of national
heroes and poets and lawgivers, attests
this, and th^ir descendants among the
dispersed tribes, and Christian and Moor
ish nations. It may turn out yet twit Ari
stotle was n Jew, and very likely
les ger and Taician were. Miss Edith
,Sirhcl in her recent book. "Michel de
Montaigne." not only thinks that odd Gas
con may he of English descent from an
Oakham family (she does not expressly say
this, as some lo). but adds that nis mother
vas a Lopez, of the Spanish Jews, such as
were banished by Ferdinand' and Isabella
to ^aldnica. where I saw their descend:
ants. Berk son. * the latest and sabtHist
of German philosophers, is a Jew. and so
were the Mendelssohns, whether sages nr
musicians, -and perhaps Maeterlinck him
self. Kenan was credited with being re
motely a Jew.--how truly. I know not.
It was ho. however, who said of tbaf
people, in his “Apostles”:—
The Jews were the first to exempli ft fhst
sort of patriotism whinh the Parser's, foe
Anneid.ins nnd the modern Greeks were to
display In inter times, a patriotism of great
warmth, but not attached to any one local
ity, a patriotism nf merchants who wander
up and down the World, hailing each other
ns brethren: but forming not compact states
but small nutonomons romnnndtles. under the
aegis of other states.
Marcus Aurelius, one of Kenan’s moikd
men. certainly was not a Jew; hot. ip
Kenan’s eyes, was he h philosopher; he
wns only a good man. n good soldier who
Imted wnr, a good emperor, a good son,
good husband, good friend, nnd exquisitely
a good writer in his best pipages. Kenan
says of him, by way of criticism and of
appreciation: - ,
Wo.should any Im Mil too litt'e curiosityj
ho did not learn nil ihfit u contemporary or
Galen and Ptolemy, the geographer, might
bare known; in his cosmology he held some
views below the best science of his day. But
I Ids.yioral ideas, set free from ail fetters of
| dogma. g:dn«'d thereby a singular elevation^
। I nomas a Kempls. even, , equally detached
from scholastic (hiMdogy. did. not rise *o
blnh; for bls thought was essentially Chris
turn after ajl: and without, those allied
views, his hook would lose part of its charm.
But the Meditations, having no dogmatic
basis, fori*ver retains its freshness of feeling.
Everyone, from the atheist, or the man who
fancies himself .such, to the person most in
volved in special beliefs of his sect, may
find cdiflcatFoiJ In M. Aurelius. Ho hook wa.s
over more purely human: it opens uo con
troverted question. His theology wavers be
tween pure theism, a natural polytheism In
the Stoic sense, ami a form of cosmic pan
theism; be uses Indifferently the three vocab
idanes.—deist, polytheist, pantheist. His
thoughts have ever two faces, according to
which of the two. God or the Soul, presents
Itaeif to his mind. He said: “To leave
the companionship of men Is not distressing,
if there are no gods, or If they do not con
cern themselves with human affairs: why
should I then wish to live |n a world without
gods ami orphaned of their providence? Rut
surely there are gods and they do take hti
mnn things to heart.’’ Again: “Man should
live according to Nature during the few days
granted him on earth: and when the hour of
departure comes, should yield without a sigh ,
oven as. the.olive, falling ripe from its tree,
blesses the trunk that boro It, and thanks
the branch on which it grew. Al) which is
acceptable to thee, O Universe, is accepta
ble to me. Nothing is too early or too late
which is seasonable to thee. Dvery fruit thy
seasons bear Is agreeable to mo. O Nature!
Erom thoo are all things: in thee are al!
things;- to thee they all return. Could the
poet say. ‘Dear City of ('eerops,’ and shall 1
not say/• Dear City of Jove?’'’
To me this passage Ims a special voice:
for it was the first passage of the good
Marcus which I over heard cited; and the
voice was the mild accent of Longfellow,
reading one of his translations from
“Fattst” tO his class in German at Har
vard. the last year of his lectures there.
I had entered sophomore the summer be
’ fore, from Exeter: had no claim to join
his class, except that I had been reading
j German for three years, lie admitted me.
i and in one of the first readings, he ouotisl
this from the Glasgow version of Marcus
Aurelius. I was bold enough to ask him
for a copy in his backhanded script, which
he gave nip, graciously ; and Jt was the be
ginning of an agreeable acquaints nee with
him. to the day of his death, long after
ward. Tiu Glasgow version (printed by
Foulis) I have esteemed the best English
in which the Greek text has ever been
rendered.
WAS LISTED AS A DESERTER.
COL RICH APPEALED To STANTON.
Local Man'll Intcrestiaß Army Expe
rience—Aided to Get His Back Pay
by the War Secretary.
Col Jolin L. Rice narrates an interesting
anecdote from his own war experisniea
which illustrates how ehaigea.of desertion
nnd the actual enrolment of brave and
faithful soldiers as deserters from the
army were brought about. It may be that
real deserters, bounty-jumpers and traitors
hare succeeded in seeming pensions from
a too indulgent government, as Gen
Charles Francis Adorns says, but it is also
true, according to Col Rice, that men of
faithful service have been debarred from
an earned pension because of some tech
nical error or carelessness cm the part of
department clerks in the war time.
Col Rice, then a private soldier, was
shot through the lungs at the first battle
of Bull Run. left for dead on the field,
taken prisoner by the confederates, and
was dropped from the rolls of his regi
ment as “killed in action." After six
months in Libby prison, he and some 300
others were exchanged. Being brought to
Baltimore the exchanged prisoners were
given an enthusiastic welcome and tak
en to the homes of the citizens in spite of
the officers in, charge,of them. The result
was that it took several days to corral
them for transpbrfafidh to Washington.
On their arrival at the capital they were
put under guard in the old Soldiers’ rest.
Col Rice in some way learned that the
major of Ins regiment was at the old Na
tional hotel on his way from Spending a
furlough in New Hampshire back to his
regiment on the tower Potomac. Desiring
to get back to his regiment. Col Rice
managed to escape from the Soldiers' rest
and went with the major to Ivs regiment,
where lie learned for the first time that
he had been reported killed and that bls
funeral had been held at his home in Ver
mont. Col Rice was soon iipportliued by
his parents to get a furlough and visit
them. This he did. and started home by
way of Washington. With his furlough
for credential, he applied at the pay office
in the war dcpariiuent building at Wash
ington for tlie six-months' pay cine him.
To his surprise, he was shown a. record
of desertion lodged against him on ae;
count of hfs departure from the Soldiers’
rest, and told that he could not be paid.
Young Rice left'the office entirely un
certain wliat to do. anil, of course,
dumbfounded to learn that lie was on the
official roils ns a deserter. Passing down
the corridor of^tlic war department build-
i ing. whom should lie see hut Secretary
of War Edwin M. Stanton coining toward
him. Rice hud never seen that celebrated
man, but fie instantly recognized him by
his familiar bald head, glasses, heavy
beard aud short, heavy physique.
Making bold to address him. Rice began
to tell his- story. Manton,- impatient at
first at tlie inlerfupiion. soon became in
terested, and then said. “Come with me.”
They went back to tile paymaster's office,
and. approaching the desk, the secretary
of war roared: “B-r-r-r-r! Why don’t yon
give this young man his pay?” The pay
master wits much taken aback, but he had
the nerve to answer that he should require
a written order from the kberetary before
lie would pay the young soldier his money.
This was dobc, so far as Col Rice recol
lected. and he returned to the service, and
never afterward-did he find that his record
was in any why questioned.
SHAKESPEARE AS AN’ ACTOR.
Some Speculation as to a Mysterious
Career.
[Brander Matthews in the North American
Review.]
It was probably in 1598 that Shake
spearq first appeared hs Adam and as the
elder Knowell. and it was probably in
I 1602 tbnt he first personated'the Ghost,
being then 38 years old! He was to re
main on the stitge 10 or 12 years longer;
bnt there is no reason to suppose that the
parts he played ih latet life were any more
important. We do not know what char
acters he undertook in the plays which he
wrote after “Hamlet": nor do we know
what parts he assumed in the many pieces
by other authors which tnndc up the rep
ertory of the company. That he continued
Io act. we need not doubt: for instance,
he was one of the performers in Ben Jon
son’s “.Srjiinus." probably produced in
1W& br But the absence of-specifle
information on this point is evidence that
he did not impress himself upon his con
temporaries as an actor of power. As
Lewes declared, “tlie mere fact that we
hear nothing of his qualities aS an actor
implies that there was nothing above the
line, nothing memorable to he spoken of.”
The parts which we lielioVe him to have
played did not A emand or admit various
excellencies." Slfaltespearo may have had
lofty hhstrionio ambitions, hut probably he
pas nqt allowed to gratify his longings,
and certainly wo have uo tradition or hint
that he ever failed fn. what he attempted
in the theater. Perhaps we are justified
in Wlirthiir that he had gone on the stage
merely ns the easiest means bf immediately
earning his living, that he did not greatly
care for nrtlilg. and that be was satisfied
to assume the responsible, but subordinate
parts for, which lie was best fitted.
S- — ....... —— LL , . y ~l r|| .
When a Japanese maiden deSiren to
show- marked attention to tier lover.
uses the sharpened point of one of her
finger nails in writing to him.