Word: masterful
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Readers of Stevenson will recall, in "The Master of Ballantrae", the Hindu servant who taught his master to feign death by "swallowing his tongue". The experiment, in that case, was not altogether successful, and the author leaves doubt as to whether the Hindu really remained alive, after two week's burial in the ground, or not. But the trick was founded on an actual oriental superstition, of which many others have likewise appeared to baffle "civilized" doctors. Perhaps later investigators, like this Frenchman, will not only explain them by natural laws rather than supernatural, but also apply them usefully...
...Beggar's Opera" took London by surprise and fifty years later it was still a favorite theme for polite dispute. The occasion on which Johnson coined this mouth-filling dictum is memorable for another reason; -- the attentive Boswell for once disagreed with his master's defense of the play, and declared "the gaiety and heroines of a highwayman very captivating to a youthful imagination", and a temptation which "it requires a cool and strong judgment to resist". Boswell was not alone in his brave opposition; no loss a figure than Edmund Burke "thought the literary merit of "The Beggar...
...regard to King Lear as a character. Professor Kittredge concluded, "He is a true hero and every inch a king, even in madness when he rejects suggestions to flee. He never ceases to believe that the realm is his and he is its master. He is a man, a father, a king...
...spectacle of a virtuoso conducting a symphony orchestra in one of his own compositions is rare enough in itself to cause comment, but when the conductor-composer is master violinist, 'cellist, pianist, and organist, of international reputation as well, the performance is more than unusual. The appearance of M. Georges Enesco last week with the Boston Symphony Orchestra called attention to a versatility which is almost five centuries out of place...
...Little Masters" are represented by a few prints each, including early etchings by Hirschvogel, Lautensack, and Hopfer. Lucas Cranach's work on both copper and wood is shown, and there are woodcuts designed by Hans Holbein. The proofs from his Dance of Death are fine impressions, and the tiny pictures with their few lines show the master a great draughtsman and composer. the exhibition will last for several weeks...