The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 13, 1898, Page 22

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1898. 7 / She spoke with con- and fluency of being perfectly in- rked by a decid- e we chatted. rable anima empted noble birth, is “ountess Ade- re of the castle d the Countess, » of an impos- the wall. “You I am was a n My his_ideas -ontinued. Rive as well Montreal, rman governesses, visited ma cient in all th able now to speak in en I was a very young t at the Ger- wife of girl 1 man court. Wilhelm the took a deep with her. d my time and the im- became Au- lady of honor. 3 nd functions General and Mrs. Grant made their tour of the world I had a long conversation with him at the p 3 the h flag, W 1 a sturdy o ired expressl hrough the siderable at- lakes, tention v a cultured h force of character irit. She had three iteurs of Germany to books and periodi- once on b out a few h , and was e 1ing in a conversazione, the) Con iy invited to attend. These of her men imparted the ormation gleaned ss, with critiques work by them to the Empr When Here it was that handsor d. My Bible and & me, and I be- 100 anity in the Surrounded as I was by and wealth, T saw the selfish- or and sin- it cities of art as never Auguste was inter- I began and helped Of course, persecu- Count : substantially. f the most violent and persist- s uch re begun by my titled rela- n still fresh abhorred the idea of my iperance and salvation hed drinking men by houses and providing and their fami- on even was given and must be sent to s luminou: very pictur- ing on and helping wr building coffee proper food for lies. The impres that T was insane let cloth and satin. She wore or jewels of any a madhouse, but no earthly power could ki stop me when God was at my side. In dignity and a sweet exchange for a racing cutter I secured or of speech were impres- the yacht Duen, from Prince Waldemtr, sions gained of my hoste youngest brother of the Princess of who bade by her tiny coal stove Wales, and began my work among the e e e sailors. “I am a spinster, and my three sons, Paul Friedrich, Wilhelm and Otto, are adopted. I took them when they were babies in need of a mother’s care. They are now such a blessing to me. Paul Friedrich attends to all the financial and practical affairs of our journey- ings, opens and closes my meetings for me and in countless ways assists me in my work. Each year we have aimed to touch once at the large ports of Eu- rope and do missionary work. London, Berlin, Hamburg and Genoa are some of tha places in which I have worked months at a time. Last year I visited fifty-eight citles, including some in Denmark and Scandinavia. “My plan of work is to enter the har- bor of some city,” continued the Count- ess, “apprise the sailors and wharfmen of our presence, let their curiosity be awakened by the yacht and the fact of my being a lady of gentle birth. I go ashore and speak to them in a hall near by if possible. I not only present the Gospel, but endeavor to establish cof- fee houses and induce men to give up strong drink. The results of our meet- ings are often.marvelous, I believe.” this modestly. “I am never patroniz- ing in my manner, and because I, a Countess, have left behind me a life of ease and am spending my fortune to advance the cause of Christ, the anar- chists and infidels are often touched and won to righteous living, because they believe in my sincerity and accept salvation as a good thing. Work is very hard in Germany, where even the Christians fight me for advocating tem- perance. Oh! there is no city so bad as Berlin for drunkenness. Hamburg and all the German towns are wretch- edly intemperate in the matter of drink. London is not so bad. Strange to say, the socialists of Europe are the ones who do the most active temperance work. “The poverty and intemperance in Old World cities are vastly greater than in America, where the women— mark youfthe women—are so actively employed in good work—in mothering boys and girls who need help. In Ger- many the Women’s Christian _Temper- ance Unfon and the Christian Endeavor Society have obtained but a small foot- ing. It Is yet very hard for women to do public philanthropic work without ridicule and contempt. “I have gone from city to city, hop- ing my object lesson would inspire other women to take a positive stand. I have never taken up collections at my meetings, defraying my expenses from my own fortune, I have had contribu- tions from the lately deceased Queen of Denmark—a noble woman and a friend to me—also from the Princess of W s, but neothing ever from the Prince. 1 have sold my jewels and am now about to dispose of my country in Denmark. to my plans here, I hope to ad- large audience on Sunday after- noon in a public hall in Cleveland, where people of all classes will feel free to come. I shall tell of my life, my work, my journey on land and sea, and also of what a Savior I have found. I would like every one to know it will be free and no collection taken. “When I arrived at Montreal I was astonished to find a great crowd of fishermen, sailors and wharfmen as- sembled to greet me. I had not heralded my arrival, but somehow they had learned of it, and I addressed them many times during my stay. Ah, I have sailed away from harbors with thé cheers and ‘God bless you!” of hun- dreds of converted men ringing in my ears! Do you wonder I find my work dress a interesting? They have told me here in America that Chicago is very wicked —terrible, in fact. But nothing can ex- ceed the vice and misery of Old World cities, in whose slums and prisons I have labored. One of my most pleas- ant tasks is the searching for parents of wayward boys, who, when converted, want father and mother to know of it.” The Countess here brought forth a file of letters and read touching ex- tracts from several—one from a con- verted anarchist Hebrew, another from a pardoned convict, and still others from rough sailors and seamen. There was one also from a wealthy young OVER THE WORLD TO SAVE LOST SOULS. THE—DU'EN; which, of course, I dare not miss see- ing, since it is such an important part of America.” The Countess then showed me through the apartments of the yacht. Her own room—very daintily finished and furnished, with pretty air; tains and bed draperies, quantities photographs, including a large auto-. graph one of Empress Augusta of Ger- German woman of rank who wrote to tell of her conversion. “I am going to spend the winter in Chicago, where our yacht will go into quarters,” she said. “I do not know how or with whom I shall carry on my work there. “After Chicago, I think I will go up into Lake Superior,” she continued, “to personally investigate that region as a settlement place for Danes and many; bits ‘of oil and water color Scandinavians, that I may take back scenes—is a marvel of elegance and to anxious people in the Old World cozine: The same artistic taste pre- vailed in the other rooms. The Coun- tess and her crew leave Monday for Detroit, whence they go to Chicago. exact knowledge of the conditions there. Then I may return to Cleveland and go down the Hudson to New York, 0000C0000GCO0000000000CO000000000000000000000000C000000C000C0000000000000000000000000000WO000CO00030000000V000000000C0C0CO000000000L0000 MAX NORDAU DISCUSSES THE RELATIONS OF POLITICS AND CHARACTER. The Distinguished @Author Declares the Degree of Respect Political Opponents Pay One @Another Is the Standard of a SWEET THINGS ONE WOMAN SAYS TO Lady of the house (to bore, who generally calis just as she ping)—Won't you let me ring for a little refreshment for you? Bore—I think I'll take 2 little something just before | go. Ladv of the house—Oh, then, DO have it now, ¢ o2 ANOTHER. is about to go shop- - The English, who were the first peo- ple in Europe to have a political party life in the modern meaning of the words, used to say, “Even in attacking a political antagonist one must treat him so that one can dine at the same table with him on the same day with- out embarrassment.” And it is evident that English professional politicians carefully adhere to this rule. The degree of respect which political opponents pay one another is the best | standard of the state of health of any | nation’s public life. ~We should be warned against the deceptive inference that “politics ruins character,” as If the contagion of the personal relations be- tween the contending parties resulted in poisoning public life. Exactly the reverse is the true case. It is from the existing unhealthfulness of public life that the evil forms of the relations of political parties to one another develop. A deeply dissatisfied nation which is not aware of the real 'sources of its economical or critical discomfort has a natural inclination to listen to swin- dlers and quacks who offer it obvious, easily understood though childishly in- correct explanations of its condition and suggest pleasant remedles, or which flatter its inclinations and weak- nesges. A nation that finds itself in this psychical condition brings to the sur- { face a political personnel which owes | its rise to the most corrupt methods— 1o unscrupulousness, charlatanism, de- | ception of the people, courting popular | favor, untruthfulness.and actual or virtual immorality. But this personnel, | of course, uses in the party press and |in Parliament the same means by which it has succeeded in popular meet- ings and district associations. Cleon cannot speak or act except as Cleon, whether he is in the market place in the midst of the shouting mob or in the council of the responsible directors of the destiny of the country. Therefore politics does not corrupt character, but bad character corrupts politics. From this proposition it fol- lows that evil methods of procedure in party life imply bad character in par- tisans. ‘Why should a man hate his political opponents and assail them in a base personal way? If we seek every pos- gible cause which can explain such con- duct we shall find that each one of these causes must necessarily have for its foundation a contemptible soul. We may think first of intolerance. We will not allow that our opponent can have a different opinion from ours. If he contends against it it must be done in bad faith, for, like every sensi- ble and honkst man, he certainly must perceive that our view is the only cor- rect one! Intolerance in this case is the result of artless dogmatism, but this always proves incapacity for ob- jective thought, and t!.:us mental in- feriority. Another cause might be that one im- pute dishonest motives to our antago- nist. This, too, no decent politician, no decent man will do. To suspect an- other of double dealing we must be capable of it ourselves. Whoever is sure of the purity of his own intentions will not easily, not without trebly sure proofs, suspect a fellow man, even though he is an antagonist of dis- honesty. Patriotism is as universal, as natural a feeling as love for our own parents or children. Its absence is morbid, a perversion of feeling. But as soon as we concede that our opponent loves his country as well as we do, we must also admit that he plans and- recommends his political belief because he is con- vinced that it will best promote the welfare of the nation. o This conviction may be erroneous—it is the business of party strife to en- lighten the people as well as the ruler— but it has a claim to respect because the motives from which it springs have this claim. What impulse save the de- sire to serve his people and his govern- ment would induce any one to go upon the stage of public life in Germany? In countries actually ruled by parliaments one may hope to find the way from parliament to a ministerial palace. 2 - L3 Nation’s Public Life. Therefore, among those nations, poli- ticians under certain circumstances might, without offense, be expected to pursue their political career, not solely from patriotism, but also or even ex- clusively from personal ambition. In Germany parliament is not the stepping stone to ministerial positions. Or, to be exact, at the utmost it is only for a single party, the conservative. In all other parties place hunting is excluded because it must always be futile. In Germany there is no sort of advantage connected with the profes- sfon of a politician who ‘does not stand by the government through thick and thin. Why should a man subject him- self to the toil and annoyance of this career except from unselfish zeal for the common good? So in Germany distrust of the mo- tives of a political opponent is less in- telligible than elsewhere unless he is himself pursuing in politics an uncon- fessed selfish subordinate purpose either for himself or the caste to which he belongs. = A third cause, personal enmity to the opponent, would be especially base. It would flatter an aversion, perhaps even active hatred, whether of a part of the nation or of high positions against cer- tain men or classes. In this case hos- tile assaults upon opponents would be nothing but a form of tale bearing, spy- ing, currying favor by means of de- nunciatory tales, and the word which alone could fitly designate the man ca- pable of such acts would better remain unwritten here. Thus personal enmity toward the po- litical opponent always proves either intolerance from dogmatism or inca- pacity to impute proper motives to him, or criminal speculations upon certain convictions of influential circles, which implies narrowness of mind or baseness of character or both at once. A broad, candid Intellect always dis- trusts its own discernment sufficiently to admit the possibility of ‘2 mistake, and therefore allows every divergent standpoint a certain degree of theoret- ical appreciation. A lofty nature is always ready to believe every man hon- orable until there are proofs of the con- trary. s 4 Proof Conclusive. Thi 'Leldlng Man—What makes you think Stormer s only getting about 340 The Comedian—Why, he told me himself that he was only getting a hundred.