The San Francisco call., 1899-09-17
~ RR/HIk A6(o/eA HD
VIII. % Rn Hu)T
10 WEP(

In tragic life. God wot,
No villain need be! Passions spin the
plot"
Literature was most unstinted in its
praise Of ~ Guardian Of the Poor" a
book of short stories with vein of con-
unuity running through, Them, written
The reviewer Of the Pail Mall Gazette
only checked the eUlogies quivering at
the point Of his pen for fear they might
contribution to realistic sweater" lit
erature, grim. haunting and artistic but
the present volume, The Mandate, is
tale is found on the title page in verse
by George Meredith:
In tra sic life God wot
No villain need be. Passions spin the
We & a[e betrayed by what is false
For there is no villain in the story and
plot. Three notes in miserable life dis
cord dominate the theme, one of them
good ringing note when sounded alone,
one a sweet pathetic note, but both much
out of tune; with a third hopelessly OH
pitch. Paula, the heroine is pittable
Iovable, indefensibe-a perfectly amiable
and Virtuous woman who does not love
her husband. She had married OPEN
eyed and without illusions a man most
infinitely her inferior; had married him
with scornful tolerance, believing she
could always dominate him, could always
place. She had huckstered her own beauty
against wealth believing herself. after
all. assured of the better side of the bar
gain Finding her husband more despic-
ence of her position less than she had
anticipated, she had no right to replne.
Such a bargain IS always a base one no no
matter what the circumstances IN
Paulas case tEey We're but remotely II at
all iustifiable. She was the oldest of four
daughters of a poor clergyman and much
In Af GTRnm0T
married John St. Kelvin, a Journalist and
promoter of mining schemes, a perfectly
commonplace brute with a brain, who,
when he ceased to drink, through the in
fuence of suggested hypnotsm, was over
mastered with a lust of cruelty.
THE exercised devil of drink gave
place to the more intolerable demon of
Violence" In the words of the author:
''rhc tragical part of such marriages is
odd immoral destiny which sometimes
takes Il group of people in hand and plays
such saturnne tricks with them Hor-
ace Massie was chosen by fate to make
though a man of letters, invaded 1ourai-
ism and in this way met ST. Kelvin. He
did not like him. Yet, one day ne al,
lowed Destiny and the journalist to. lead
him upstairs into the presence of the
beautiful unhappy Paula.
To those who will see, the whole story
is revealed. They need each Other-Mas-
sic and Paula-they fall in love. Through
suggested hypnotism begun a first for
amusement, MaSsic cures st. Kelvin or
the drink habit When Paula reveals her
love, Masse guarding her honor as his
life. finds separation the hest substitute
for strength. Later when the brutality of
ST. Kelvin becomes unbearabe, Paula
comes to Masse for protection. He helps
her to find home outside of London, safe
from the possible annoyance of her hus-
band avoids st. Kelvin thereafter and
deeply desires his death In an evil hour,
after day spent by Massie in the British
Museum, reading Binet and Frere on hyp-
notism he meets him al the club. st: kel-
vim, who has discovered that Masste keeps
that he has taken all the satisfaction out
of his life for the last two months and
whines to be released from the spell Mas
sic agrees, takes him to his rooms, puts
him under hypnotic power, tells him he Is
to drink in future to his hearts content
and be damned, and coursng through his
brain all this time were certain words of
Binet and Frere: Death may be caused
and he suggests death and becomes at
heart a murderer. Within the night the
crime accompishes itself, He, and Paula
him about makes Of life a he'll and finally
makes of him a ravng maniac.
The characters of Massie and St. Kei-
vim are wonderfully drawn. particularly
the latter. man who habitually reeked
of artificial perfume. who loved the SEN
saton of befuddlement who was infiu-
enced by every wind that tiew, whom a
of his capacity and beyond it, and whose
death and disappearance from the haunts
of men was received by his acquaintances
with pitiful indifference. Massie wins all
an admirable fellow, victim of circum-
stances He was not an adventurer, not
a libertine, not disturber of domestic
tranquility, and yet he met fate re-
trusted him, but seldom found him at
tractive, hence Paula's influence over him