The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-08-05
BY AMBROSE BIERCE.

REPUBLIC SPECIAL.
Washington. ID. c.. Aug. 4.-(Copyright,
1900. by W. r. Hearst. liking Humbert $
assassination does not mark the beginning
Of the end of "monarchal institutions" 1t
is not prophecy of doom to the reign of
law and power and authority. The killing
ei Kings Is no new industry; it is as ancient
as the race. Always and everywhere per-
sons in high places have been the assassin 5
prey. We have ourselves lost two Presi-
dents by murder. If anything is new in
this present activity of the regicide I'VE lack
comprehensive name for HIM it is found
In the choice Of victims. The contemporary
aVenger' Stays not the merely great but
the good and the inoffensive. An American
President who struck the chains from mil
lions of slaves; another who had not enough
character to do intelligent wrong if he had
desired Russian Car who, against the
Will and work of his own powerful mobiles.
had freed their serfs; French President
from whom the French people had received
nothing but good; powerless Austrian En-
press. whose weight of sorrows touched the
world to tears; a blameless Italian King,
beloved of his people; such Is the recent
record of the regicide-a record whose every
entry is a tale of infamy unrelieved by one
circumstance of justice. decency or good in
tention.
This unbroken Uniformity OF malevolerce
In the choice of victims Is not without sig
n'icance. 1t points Gfn,i;takably to two
fuctS: First. that the selections are rladc
'ot by the aSsassins themselves. but ly
some central control inaccessible to indi-
vidual preference and unaffected by the
fortunes of its Instruments: second. that
there IL consistent purpose To manifest
an an:aSoEism, not to individual rulers: net
to any system Of government, but to Gov
ernment. 1t IS war. rt ul,cn t"use in al-
thority, but upon Authority. The Issue is
defined, the alignment ma'ie the iaE.le set:
Chaos against order, anarthv against law.
Choose ye this day w'!"nn 20 will serve.
In one of the dispatches concerning King
Humberts assassination the suggestion is
made that 1t was due 70 the lenity with
which it l.; customary to treat The criminals
who attempt such crimes and fail: an In
stance beng the recent release Of the young
rascal ~ilo tried TO shoot the Prince nj
Wales. Repeatedly. persons attacking Queen
Victoria have. through her intervention.
been given light punishment and King
Humbert himself committed the death sen
tence of a previous assailant ana pensioned
his mother. Such mercy seems to be due to
unanimous. thereby emphasizing the :1;a.hy
of the crimes and propi:ilttns ambitious
criminals.
AS well try 10 propitate rattlesnakes. In
dealing with regicidSs VI c:.'Ino'. a even
great-hearted Noltaire advised. revert 10 tile
discredited method of physical torture. hut
to show them mercy is y sin. Anarchsm
will be got under. as, in its mmemorial war
upon society, crime IN ev.Iy age and coun.
try is got under eventually. The Criminal
is merely a fool considered under another
aspect-an idiot With an opportunity. To
such. as to the junces who play n faro,
it seems always that they can "heat the
game" and sometimes 1t happens that one
of them makes winning: but the game is
never beaten. Society, which keeps the ia
Die, is always victorious in 'he enc.
1t seems likely, though. that We shall have
TO alter the rules of the game 10 obtain
new advantage.
7 suggest that they be altered ir this way:
Free speech is good thing. or bad, ac-
cordihg to what is spoken. We do not,
even in this lawless country, allow 1t TO
those engaged in instigating murder or in
citing a riot; why allow it to those promoi-
ing anarchy, which entails both? He who
denies the authority OF Law '!as no claim to
Its protection him who would n"crthrow the
state, the state may rightly overthrow.
That is Self-protecttOn. the 1irSt law 6t
nature" In all other cases the state can
afford to await the act; in this 1t should
punish~the word: not whI- the man does.
but what he is-,disclos I'd by what he says.
And the punishment should fit the crime.
The offender should be "set frea from daily
contact with the things ne loattes"-ban-
ished. made a wanderer on alien shores
and unfamiliar seas man without a
country" For mercy We caE foreEo The
use of the branding IrOl.
In considering the Englishman as hrs-
band. my distinguished ccliabora:or. Max
O'Rell. makes the amazing statement that
"his honeymoon lasts month" About hcw
long would he expect Il honeymonth to last?
If a man does not know that in the word
honeymoon moon means month, Won
der what he can think it means-what kind
of conception the phrase pass the honey
moon" has the honor to give him. About n
dozen times week 1 observe this wnrl
used to denote all sorts of periods of time.
our books and newspapers are full of the
ridiculous solecism. But Max O'Rell is
French; one expects better things of him.
Egad! I begin to suspect that the fellow
knows our language no better than we.
General Dorward, who commanded the
British and American contingents at the
battle of Tien-Tsin. blames himself for !
that he made in placing our Ninth