New-York tribune., 1896-05-03
nKEY" LITERATURE.
o,ovrH CONSTITUTES A SOCIAL
ro DANGER.

IT, wha' ,s,rg their pens for the puohc por-
,sifed III u'"S .eror-c,,izens under pseudonymes
tsyal Oh w. ,sss transparent character? Ihe
Of mo'e 10 that is acquiring Increased I'M
@ssn0" " ory year. With the spread OF popuia'
portance 49,. crowd Of those who turn 10 h'-
duca atioi'' living Is continually growing larger
srsture io' .'.,or Incoming more intense For one
and comp oIav that succeeds. there are thou-
novel OF 0"> ,,o,,e nothing but failure-a 1a'iure
ssnds tna' CT, "a hear with resignation since
he more - Goa fruit for days. weeks. months
me-. .,.sr years of TOLL ana a oio" NV 80 ax,st-
nu rride. but often 70 ones ,',e S. ora there
saes pr,'~ ore the devices which are 'ne'e
snce' .ontea to attract that popu'a' 90 =, ,o,-
Pre- au,t f,c brings success in the "or'u y.
shch wong them there Is none mo,.
YRS anu Va effective than that or nli'ns '"o
knt OF nv hook or play with characters oi"""
agss o. srch a manner as to permit iae"'
from h'e - II constitutco an appeal 10 inc
nsnuh'', the public to the weil-h's" un'
curiosl" ,or solving riddle. and to the equ0'''
versa vers..a fonaness for scandal ouod
s.despi'" .,r,ost every one Of those so-ca',e'
For !" o,d "kev" plays II is some scah"a'
Tey" ho.e. Constitutes the theme. Blaheles
Il other ''' s.vo,d Of dramatic incident 70 thri'i
ress '' '' or ,heatregoer What Is heeueo
ether fe'N are knavery and vice. ana nov
for the p'' playwright excuses himseH lor
ei's .s,e BY preference these Oh .ne s' ,sacbine
pe'a., ,nsforn,ing pubic serN'.e n &c I'm.
ne 80, which IN nine cases ou' ~ ,,,,,totore
moral ,".,,r,o,,s EVIL always finds lm''a'o's'
m''s, crime that is made puono - ,r Tho
E'e,, due to the spirit OF i'''i'a''0" - .ha
o. 0''' we,l as IN the smian race IN"
A'n1" .s,s the case by reason OF 'ne iao' ,"".
.sorases n"' pictured In these Key pa
ne pe sre invariably men ana women
anu ho .,s higher II not. indeed the n's"''''
longing soc,al sphere-tust the people, III
graues whom the lower orders are ac0"
fact upon unconsciously. to model them-
tomeo' rber in books and plays they are
se',' .hot the moral tone and cono'c' p'V'
taught una ..o,r social superiors are more
ien' a' ,san yir,uous. their horror OF wrong o.
VIZ au,,ed and their sense OF risht uio''eD
co"'' ,rr.d IN behalf Of these key pays
INC ~ t,o, they serve TO nculcate lessons
anu ,., - ,ba neople and act as SORT Oh
pe"e a,orrora cannot therefore be accep'eu
mo'". :. raauv no excuse for those play
Aiu .,a ou,hors who pander to the most un-
vho,esome cravings OF 'he pun" .,.,o,
.,.,,, Car the sake of pecunary gain. the io'oieS
OF the rich and great
VICTIMS WITHOUT REDRESS.
=. ros, eases the persons lampooned are
utterly defenceless. There Is no legal reu'eSs .O
t,sn for any application to the courts in'o,'e'
A.. oar,,ss,on on the part Of the plaintiHs tnat
orarct has furnished matter for dramauc
-o,,or.,c treatment, as we'll as an aVo"ai
.,., tho can fits. no matter how vile Its appear
ance while it Is always open to the noVe"s. "
n,.vvr,eht to go into the witness box ana 10
susar that the plaintiffs were not the perso"'
,s had IN view in writing his story or play No'
vs, "a any good likely to be achieved oy COURSE
=, .c,on such as that adopted by the Prince ue
coo.n at Paris the other day when he cnalleiseu
.ns, uermant. the scurrilous author OF La
Neu,e" n fight duel For the encounter
bloodlew and ridiculous one. has merely serVeu
TO give such splendid advertisement to the pay
natk Is likely to lead an even still greater NUM-
Der OF knights of the pen to adopt analogous
methods Of counting publicity.
Yet what else was the Prince de Sagan to do'
Nving, as ne does. In a world the social code or
shich renders 1t imperative that every Insult
hould be accounted for on the so-called "held OF
onor"? Had he alone been pictured In La
deute" he would in all probability have merely
eclined to acknowledge the resemblance, ano
n have classed 1t contemptuously not as por'
raval but as a mere caricature, and as such
ru orYhv of serious consideration. This was the
Characteristic attitude which the Partisan Aici-
aadas adopted a few years ago when he was
upon the stage In the title role OF
IN, tho n
xsu,s" not only his father. the octogenarian
Due de Sagan. but also his wife. from whom ne
has long been separated. and above all MS un-
,or.una,a eldest son Helie de Taleyrand-Perigord
were drawn from life by the playwright. whose
ch,s, theme was a lamentable scandal in which
NJ. Count do Talleyrand -I-erigord became In
yoved couple of years ago In connection WIN
the late m muti-milionaire Max Lebaudy. Charees
o forgery and fraud were brought against the
nJbeman. and he spent some tlme III pr'soi'
Bu, the right and wrong OF the case were never
made nublic the authorities releasing the count
on the ground that there was not sufficient evil
dence TO warrant his being brought to trial. IN
deed there was a very widespread belief at the
time that Heue de Talleyrand- Perigord was more
snned against than SHINING: that he was the
dam friend and associate, and indirectly, TOO. OF
a mothers aversion At any rate, his father' the
Prince de Sagan, stood by him In those days IN
manner calculated to win the admiration even
Of those who had been accustomed to look upon
him as mere selfish man Of pleasure and now
that the lad is working to make an independent
livelihood and fortune for himself. the father
considers It his duty once more to defend MS
ooy IN the only manner-a poor one at pest
mat no has at his disposal.
PlLLORIED BY POPULAR AUTHORS.
Inc only thing that can be urged in behalf OF
tne author OF La Meute" is that by using do
mestic scandals as his theme and well-know1
ieiow-citizens for the personages OF his play he
mas merely followed the example Of many other
,sr more distinguished and popular authors than
a,mself Thus when victorien sardou produced
as play entitled 'Rabagas" every one was able
Ncognize In the title role the personality OF
l0etta' while in Dora" by the same emil
'ss oramafist. Princess Lise Troubetskoi was
S"usyed to the life Then too II would be i'm