The San Francisco call., 1899-06-11

proven to be false. AS a general rule
it is better to kill a story than to wish
man dead, but in this case the story
was so excellent to the whole world,
while the man is of such little value to
anything more than a very small and
fractions fraction, it is hard to avoid
a feeling of regret that he did not die
at the very time and in the very way he
was reported to have died.
In the whole realm of fiction hardly
anything can be found equal in dra-
matte contrast and intensity to that
brief telegram telling how the beauti-
full Princess Chimay lay in sumptu-
Gus villa in the suburbs of Cairo Civ
ing birth to twins, while her wild art
ist lover reveled with his friends in joy
over the event, improvising wonderful
rhapsodies on his violin. filing the
Egyptian night with the intoxicatfon OF
wine, happiness and music until the
dread bubonic plague struck him,
changed his melodies to howltngs and
sent his half drunken company OF rev.
elers squealing home through the dark
ness, while he lay dying and beyond
the hearing of the cries Of his love call
ing for him continually until her
nurses quieted her with an opiate
sleep.
1t was as mad and tragic tale as
ever was told of love and beauty
Zola's description of the death of Mana
is as nothing to it. Every incident OF
it served so we'll to point moral and
adorn tale; it is a pity it was a lie.
OF ha ct
of the death of Rigo and its contra
diction there were just twenty-four
hours, but that short space was long
enough to give fluent moral1sts
chance to preach one more sermon in
the old way upon the old theme, The
wages of sin is DEATH They have as
sumed that the Princess is sinner,
that her lover is another sinner that
their love is a very great sin indeed;
and they have preached as if these as
sumptiOns were indisputable. One local
moraIst went so far as to intimate it
would not be immoral to strangle the
twins, "the innocent. helpless crea-
lures" born of that love, in order to
get rid of that much of "the evil that
corrupts and gangrenes humanity"
The chief objection to such assump-
tions is that when assumed we lose the
arguments by which they are sup
ported. and it would be interesting to
know why the Princess and her artist
are sinners any more than some other
folks. Against what, against whom
and in what way do these two dazzling
free livers sin? That they have lived
according to their own mutual will and
not according to the will of their
neighbors is true but may not their
neighbOrs be wrong?
If men and women have not q right
to the enjoyment of their own souls
and their own bodies. so long as that
enjoyment Injuries no one else, to what
have they a right? Society indeed
claims and asserts a right to regulate
the life of every Individual; and that
right is not to be disputed by any one
who lives in society and accepts it's
favors and its benefits; but when one
departs from society and goes into an
other realm to live, Mrs. Grundy has
no more right to pursue and TO punish
than Kaiser William would have to ar
rest in the United States some German
who should happen to sing in this
"Meinself und Gott."
If a balance were rightly struck be-
tween the Princess Chimay and society
it would probably be found that society
snned against her more than she
sinned against it. From all that is
known of her, it is certain nature gave
her many good qualities and infused
them with more than ordinary strength
She has courage, independence, frank
ness and a sort of undisciplined self
pride that refuses to stoop to hypOc-
risy. When she took a lover she left
her husband. She did not lie to him,
nor stain his house by an intrigue.
Thus while she has defied society and
fought it, she has never cheated it, nor
tried to cheat it.
On the other hand, society cheated
her from the start. 1t gave her false
ideals of life. 1t taught her to believe
that money, rank, title and social pres
tige are the best things the soul can
desire. and that for these everything
else ought to be sacrificed. She be-
lieved society She gave up whatever
there was in her ardent and uneXperi-
enced girlhood for the title of Princess
and a position in royal drawing rooms
and throne rooms. She found her
Prince to be a scamp, her position a
vanity, the throne rooms a bore, her
existence a continual vexation of spirit.
Society. in fact, had fimflammed her
1t had played a confidence game on her
1t promised her golden joys and gave
her a package of brass filings.
Most women under such circunl-
stances would have stayed in the game
until they had a chance to pull out with
a Belmont or a Vanderbilt, and so go
off with wealth, to start new with the
sanction of the state, the blessing of
the church and the congratulations of
society. This woman didn't play the
game a minute after she found she had
been swindled. She went off with an
artist instead of a millionaire; and for
that offending is dubbed sinner in
every land where Mrs. Grundy rules.
1t must not be supposed that a justi-
fication of the course of the Princess
Chimay means a condemnation of So
ciety. That would be illogical. If the
Princess has a right to do as she
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