The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-11-25

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u'ne- b" d'm"nl' N d's~ an sooufst' map
" vaa philosophical is method 80. " o"at
w" hufnsn ahimsl ~ converse Win MN. v"
lnfe him With -nnil"- and .ch -"fd' ana 70
"lhd about him = muitiiulr " Hlehd"' '"I"'.
'l hsNA' fsducehto helfl"''ns-a h"m''h''
Wa ""h7ihefed "fnir"nNN Nuh''I' INV w"
h"hh,sdt " DEMANDED lhnnite ,A''' 'W' wv
lN'l"n'" fr what was lnv'lN~n w" ""'"'"s
10" ihnn IN" training ~ the other lh''h''
~ hanii- ~ refinement ana ds i'll'n' w"
'~"1'll1s bin to content himself WIN ""N
iidhits NJ love ~ sirdlin"~- ana 70 'e'''n
from opnaisnily showing tsenh ana 'aN' WIN
CRY fof hi toward. VI" wore CIV 'h't'n'
~ tho heast ~ Prey hIsht had vas hoeh-h
Tho little fsvors by which mat wore he'd rap
tive were IN no way oien to c%eh'ufo, thsy were
virtue itself. Tor tho end vas hei TO Iu'uly
tho means Tho art ~hICh regulated Va" GUS
pensation ~ these fnvors must he f"saIu""
~ a CON plicated one II grew out OF long
hnbit and was not learned from BOOKS "
was tho Machia vcllsm OF a special charity
q supreme devotion. very often tho mnoIa
ton Of self. and II was precisely this adrnirablo
feature which distinguished tlatonisIn from
oouuetry 20 Love" cried Beinho. IL Is oy
thee that tho higher virtues rule the lower
How many Of these strange. admirable women
might he mentioned who devoured men like
I NtTlfNNle NllrHlthlEs, HUl VIII NV
them. would have liked 10 resusctate them
for another mcal. The author Of this book
tells ,s that the Mnrchesa Scaldasols OF Pavta
was one Of these terrible harpie.: yet she acted
with absoluts frnf knees. one day at a ball
she said Ia n young prothonotary named De
I~scun. who was losing his head a little You
see. do "a your guards do. who TX a tassel
to their horses cruppers. 20 warn people
not TO go too near" and she pointed to her
sky-blue dress. In Italy, blue denoted heaven
ward aspirations. Lescun was devoured IKE
the ret. BY q freak Of fate. be happened
to be severely wounded beneath the walls
of PaNa In tho famous battle in which Francs
] lost all bur honor. When he was picked
up covered with blood. he asked to be carried
to the house Of hs dear lady and patronees "
The Msroh-sa received the quiverinR shreds
of humanity with TRANSPORTS OF tenderness.
and II was in her arms. sustained by her loving
look. and consoled by her pious words that
I.escun Ureathed his last.
We are cautioned not to lose sight OF tbs
ideal from which the feminine platonists Of
tho Renaissance started. It WAS absolutely
the reverse OF that which now prevails 10
these days French women. at all events. are
careful not to seneralize. they prefer TO per-
sonallze everything medicine in the doctor.
religion In the priest, the family in the husband.
lONt III llle ltNtI lHt 'iiic VI Nbo
century, on the contrary, had an ardent faith
In things. but none at all in men They had
no intention whatever Of being In bondage
70 a man. whoever he was. but preferred TO so
straight to the ideal and then 10 make Its In
t~erpreter their apostle. or what he pleased
They were In love with love, but were unques-
'tionably prone to regard the lover as OF Sec
ondary importance. or. at the most. as tho
minister Of their cult, not their master. Trust
fulness and self-surrende7 struck them az
delightful, desirable. religious, almost neces-
sary when based on a broad principle of liberty.
and when they furnished a goal at which tho
affections might aim, Here NJ de Maulde la
Clavi6re insists upon another important con-
sideration. These ~Ilatonic ladies' OF the Re
Nuisance did notlabor for their peisonalhaIpi-
ness. In most cases they had no hope OF ever
attaining IL, They discovered a neane OF
giving life to others. but lacked II Tor them
selves, they had known either too much or too
little OF existence. They were Dissatisfied. out
Of conceit with everything perhaps with them
selves they had been mothers. anu were yet
maids. The soul, like the body, needs TO glvo
itself. and on this condition depend lie vitality
and fuitfulness Many OF these women had
thadowy and nscfutabie Souls souls whose
pages no one had troubled 10 turn they sneth-
cred their feelings, but they had suffered much
anu stii euheieu' W. Hee NeN
only their body. the poorest part OF theni.the
contaminated part, the part that IA 1851 In the
giving; while the soul IL epnoblec and puIlfed
by self-surrender. They had periorcf to cut
themselves In two. and. as maioens' to look on
at the ruin or one rartof themselves and MOTH
ing was more painful than this cleavage phil
osophcrs even maintained that II was an i'm.
possible one. and that when q woman yielded
her BODY. unuer oDiIeauoh OF he'esei'!' anu
sometimes with disgust, she gave nothing but
remained Immediately a virgin. because he
true virginity 10 that OF the heart
A ~favorite idea Of the Renaissance was that
whatever vicissltudes the bodily mechanism
might undergo. only the soul could tndorse
thcm. That 10 the sentiment which Victor
Hugo puts In tho mouth Of Marion De Lorms.
and which. when uttered on the stage, excited
the de-ision of the Rroundlings FL ramour
ma rtfGi une ~rIrginite Here. then. were un-
happy dilettanu Of love. who. regarding ami
NAL passion a. the antipodes. the negauon.
of true passion. vigorously safcguarded their
purity. and adopted platonism Us the channel
through which to bestow their souls on man