The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1890-08-26
THE STRENGTH OF LOVE.
BY GUY DE MAU-PASskNT

It was tca-time, before the appear
ance of the lamps. The villa COM
manded the sea; the sun, which had
disappeared, h&d LETT the sky all rosy
from his passing-rubbed, as it were,
wit gold-dust; and the Mediterra-
mean, without a ripple, without q shud-
der smooth, still shining uEder the
dying day, seemed like q huge and
polished metal plate. ~
Far off to the right the jagged noun
tains outlined their black profile on the
paled purple of the west.
We talked of love, we discussed
that old subject, we said again the
things which we had said already very
often. The .weet melancholy Of the
twilight made our words slower,
caused a tende ness to waver56in our
souls; and thatlword ssloyaWhich
came back ceaselessly, now pronounced
by strong mans voice, now uttered
by the frail-toned sweet veieeof a
woman, seemed to fill the littie salon,
to futter there like a bird, hover
! there like spirit. ssss
Can one remain in love fGsyears in
succession? Z.
eyes," maintained some.
stNo," affirmed others.
We distinguished cases, we estab-
ished limitations, we cited examples;
and all, men and women, flle with
rising and troubling memories nch
they could not quote, and lich
mounted to their lips, seemed pyed.
| and talked Of that common, soF-
ereign thing, the tender and eJi-
Gus union of two beings, with pros
found emotion and an ardent s.
But all of a sudden some one5 Ise
eyes had been fixed upon the dise
cried out: 81
ssOh! Look down there; q
it?"
On the sea, at the bottom hog
rizon, loomed up a mass, 81 ssenor.
nous and CONFUSED oeilsSS
The Women had sjses fpS;a :..hsN
seats, and without undeTsaandin
looked at this surprising thing which
they had never seen before.
Some one said:
cit is Corsica! You see it so two
or three times year, in certain excep-
tional conditions of the atmosphere,
when the air is perfectly clear, and it
is not concealed by those heavy mists
of sea-fog which always veil the dis
! tances."
We distinguished vaguely the noun
tain ridges, we thought we recognized
the SOW of their SUBMITS. And
every one remained surprised, troubled,
almost terrified, by this sudden appari-
ton of a world, by this phantom risen
from the sea. Maybe tAat those who.
like Columbus, went across undiscov-
ored oceans had such strange visions
as this.
Then said an old gentleman who had
not yet spoken:
"See here: I knew in that island
which raises itself before Us, as if in
person to answer to what we said, and
to recall to me singular memory--1
knew, say, an admirable case Of love
which was true, of love which, i'm
probably enough, was happy. Here it
Is:
"Fi7e years ago Inade q journey in
Corsica. That So age island is more
unknown and more distant from us
than America, even though you see it
sometimes from the very coasts OF
France, as we have done to-day.
"Imagine world which is still
chaos, imagine storm of mountains
separated by narrow ravines where
torrents roll; not single plain, but
immense waves Of granite, aud giant
undulations of earth covered with
brushw2od or with high forests Of
chestnut-trees ard pines. It is yir-
gin soil, uncultivated, desert, although
! you sometimes make out village, like
heap of rocks. on the summit of q
mountain. No culture, no industries,
no art. One never meets here with a
morsel of carved wood, or a bit of
sculptured stone, never the least re-
minder that the ancestors of these
people had any taste, whether rude OF
refined, for gracious and beautiful
things. Ii is this which strikes you the
most in their superb and hard country ;
their Indifference to that search for Sc
ductive forms which is called Art.
"Italy, where every palace, full of
masterpieces, is masterpiece itself ;
Italy, where marble, wood, bronze,
iron, metals, and precious stones attest
mans genius, where the smallest old
things which lie about in the ancient
houses reveal that divine care for
grace-Italy is for us the sacred coun-
try we love, because she shows US and
proves to US the struggle, the
grandeu-, the power, and the triumph
Of the intelligence which creates.
"And. face to face, with ner, the
savage Corsica has remained exactly as
in her earliest days. A man lives there
in his rude house, Indifferent to every
thing which does not concern his own
bare Existence CT his family feuds.
And he:r as retained the vices and the
vir:u S Of wage races; lie is violent,
malignant. ssrgu:aary, without a
;horght of rc:nor=e, but also hospita-
BILE, generous, d;voted, simpl', open
ing his door 20 passers-by, and giving
| freely h S faithful friendship in return
! eo, tho 1ooct cion of human SETe thv