The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-20
A Great Metaphysical
Drama by calderon.

awakens in the royal bed of the palace,
surrounded by servants. and by visions
of splendor. His every wish is gratified
Clotaldo tells him the whole truth about
his life, and the reason for his long i'm
pr1sonment, and endeavors to lead him
to act with moderation and justice in
his exalted station, thus defeating the
prophecy of evil.
But the prince is only furious at what
ne considers his terrible wrongs lie
is from the first ungovernable rash, vio-
lent and almost savage. The experiment
is failure. At night another potion
is administered to him secretly When
he iawakens, he finds himself in the tow
err IN chains, as before and Clotaldo
is talking about the eagle. Clotaldo an
swers his inquiries by telling him that
he has been dreaming The prince can
not admit this, except by declaring that
all life is but dream, and that the
senses cannot be relied on. Yet in his
sad awakening the prince learns one
great lesson which is, in fact, the high
est philosophy OF life. He regrets that
ne did wrong, even in dream; and he
makes up his mind that truth, Justice
and love are realities, however unreal
may be the passing show of human life.
He had met at the palace beautiful
maid, his cousin, the only woman he
had ever known, and she had awakened
in his breast an undying love- which
now hlled him with aspirations toward
the highest ideals in character and life.
The mobiles of Poland, fearing the sue
cession of foreign prince-a Russian
and learning that they have true prince
imprisoned in tower, find him out and
proclaim him king on the battlefield,
where his father Is overthrown. The
prince has learned the great lesson of
human life. He still fears that he will
awaken again and find that he has been
deraming; but dream or no dream, he
will do right and live up to his highest
ideals. He marries his fair cousin, par
dons Clotaldo and nonors his repentant
father. He rules in wisdom, and lives
to proclaim the great truth that while
the scenes of life may be vain illusions,
goodness, duty and love are real and
imperishable.
This is the main plot. The details
bring in interesting characters and sit
uations and maintain the liveliest ex
pectancy to the last. There is no little
wit and humor to enliven the scenes, and
there is much that is thrilling in the
action.
AS protest against predes tina
ton and a demonstration of the freedom
of the human will the drama was
startling innovation. violating the prece-
dents of classic dramatic literature. rms
of itself would have been sufficient to
render it great work. But more than
this, it sets forth the problem Of the
evidence of the senses upon which the
idealists and the Scottish school have
since been in controversy, carrying their
discussions into the deep waters of meta
physics where the superficial thinker
founders blindly.
The practical lesson of the drama is
the grand truth expressed in the quaint
words of 1.-The Preacher in Holy Writ:
"Of the making of many books there is
no end,- and much study is a WEAKNESS
of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion
of the whole matter. Fear God and keep
His commandments, for this is the whole
of man.