Maddern Fiske, is one of the greatest actresses in the world.
She has made a wonderful hit in New York this season. And so the
ebb and flow of life goes on--the old pass and the young arrive.

"Death and progress!" It may be that death is, after all, a great
blessing. Maybe it gives zest and flavor to life, ardor and flame
to love. At the same time I say, "long life" to all my friends.

I want to live--I get great happiness out of life. I enjoy the
company of my friends. I enjoy seeing the faces of the ones I
love. I enjoy art and music. I love Shakespeare and Burns; love
to hear the music of Wagner; love to see a good play. I take
pleasure in eating and sleeping. The fact is, I like to breathe.

I want to get all the happiness out of life that I can. I want to
suck the orange dry, so that when death comes nothing but the
peelings will be left, and so I say: "Long life!"

--_The Republic_, St. Louis, April 11, 1897.

THE VENEZUELAN BOUNDARY DISCUSSION AND THE WHIPPING-POST.

_Question_. What is your opinion as to the action of the President
on the Venezuelan matter?

_Answer_. In my judgment, the President acted in haste and without
thought. It may be said that it would have been well enough for
him to have laid the correspondence before Congress and asked for
an appropriation for a commission to ascertain the facts, to the
end that our Government might intelligently act. There was no
propriety in going further than that. To almost declare war before
the facts were known was a blunder--almost a crime. For my part,
I do not think the Monroe doctrine has anything to do with the
case. Mr. Olney reasons badly, and it is only by a perversion of
facts, and an exaggeration of facts, and by calling in question
the motives of England that it is possible to conclude that the
Monroe doctrine has or can have anything to do with the controversy.
The President went out of his way to find a cause of quarrel.
Nobody doubts the courage of the American people, and we for that
reason can afford to be sensible and prudent. Valor and discretion
should go together. Nobody doubts the courage of England.

America and England are the leading nations, and in their keeping,
to a great extent, is the glory of the future. They should be at
peace. Should a difference arise it should be settled without
recourse to war.

Fighting settles nothing but the relative strength. No light is
thrown on the cause of the conf