The morning times., 1897-01-03
EVIL NOT TRANSMITTED
Heredity Attacked in an ExtraOr-
dinary French Drama.
AUTHOR SAYS III Is A MYTH
Claims That Humanity Must Be Set
Free From the ReyerentiaI Ter
ror Substituted for the Religious
Terror of Punishment-PI Han
Attracted Much Attention.

M. Brieux, Of Paris. has just published
drama Of singular originality. entitled
Il Evasion" 1t has attracted great
deal Of attention from the public and the
press.
The reason is obvious. L Evasion isan
attackupon atavisn. InthiSextra0rrtinary
drama NJ. Brieux takes issue with some OF
the greatest scientists Of the age, maintain
ing boldly that the theory Of ph psychological
heredity OF evil is untenable. or, in other
words. that there are absolutely no grounds
for the statement that evil qualities are
necessarily transmitted from one generation
to another.
There Is no such thing as hereditary
evil, he says, .'and we must set humanity
free from the reverential terror which Tn,
ignorance or the knavery OF physicians has
substituted in out fnaterialiStic and infidel
society for the religious terror Of hell"
The plot Of "L'Eyasion" is unique. DIR.
Bertry is the principal character. He is a
shire wd phi ysGian, who has succeeded in the
world by his own adroitneSs and the heIpof
useful friends KnOwingIttle Ofthe science
OF medicine, he yet pIOclaims himself infaI-
lible, and though he suffers fTom a u alady
which he is wholly unable 20 cure, his sheer
audacity constrains many TO believe IN him
Atavism is his hobby Everywhere he
breaches 1.-THE dCIOrous If POSSIBLY newt
able dOstrine that the SIPS OF the fathers are
visited on the children, and that once in
the meshes Of this orritIe hereditary net
escape therefrom is imI ossihle.
With Bertry lives Jean Belmont his step
son. the child of his deceased wife. Jeans
father wasa hypCCh OndriaC, AID on thethe-
Ory like father Ike on" the doctor pre-
diets that Jean. t. o, III ust be a hyFoohOn-
driac Anotherinmate Ofthe Doctors house
ishisniece. Lucienne, III thenlegitinate daugh-
ter Ofthe Doctor brother. She is a Charm
ing young girl, but as her mothers morals
were decidedly : lax, the doctor predicts that
Lucienre, q o, willinevitabIy 60 to the bad.
Nothing can save her. he reasons Her
mother was an immoral woman and she,
too, will become an immoral woman
The problem, then, is this. VIII these
two subjects Jean and Lucienne, be
able to escape from the prison OF atavism
or must they remain in captivity, the in
nOcent victims Of fatal hereCltv? Their
escape, says the author, would mean the
bankruptcy OF science, for the edict Of
science is that the children or degenerate
or imperfect parents must themselves be
degenerate OF imperfect If they do not
escape-bUt the author positively refuses
to consider the possibility.
The Heroine's Trials.
Lucienne falls in love with young man
named Paul de Bancour, and her future
seems clear and happy, when suddenly
she learns that Paul has broken faith with
her and is about TO marry one Of her
friends She suffers cruelty from this
blow, as cruelty as Jean Belmont suffers
from the thought that the ennUi which
continually Oppresses him forebOdes the
same maIady OF hyppchonGria which rem
dered life unbearabIe for his father.
From his earliest daysthe doctor has been
iupresSing this horrible truth on Jean,
and the young man is convinced that he is
doomed Ever he strUgS1esa eaiu>t hisdead-
" HstleSsness. and his struggles and de-
spair are at their height al the moment
when LUcienne'S love dream is shattered
A nd. as a very natural result, these two
suffering creatures turn 10 each other for
sympathy, and this sympathy very soon
grows into love. and the end is, that Jean
and Lucienne resolve To face the future to-
gether Love, too, hasOpenedtheir yes and
given them fresh coura courage to defy
fate nd 70 fight bravelv against the be-
setting sins due to heredity
LuCIeune's father approves Of this match,
for he loves his daughter tenderly, but the
doctor bitterly opposes it, and in the name
of science. If these two degenerate crea-
lures marry each other" Is his uIJimatum,
the end will surely be that one OF them viii
commit suicide and the other will violate
the marriag ge laws The 8rriaGe takes
place all the same, and the young people
start housekeeping on a farm For awhile
all goes well Jean happy as a gentleman
farmer, and Lucienne shares his happi-
ness.
Even though happy however LuCienne at
times is oppressed by the deadly monOtony
of this quiet country life, and Jean at times
grows very jealous thinking of LuCienns
and her former fiance, Paul de BancOGr.
DIR. Bertry. meanwhile, is watching the
young couple from Paris, and he ChuckleSin
/ a self-satisfied manner when the crisis
comes, and he learns that Paul de BanCOur
has been making love Co Lucienne Yes.
Paul has stolen. serpent fashion to the
farm, and woOs LuCienDe daily. She reSistS
him, but only family. for once more she is
overpowercd by the bugbear OF heredity-
| Has not her uncle for years been dinnins
into rer ears the inexoTable truth that she
is the daughter of an immoral woman and
consequently must become an immoral
| woman herself?
Victory at Last.