Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/319

 ecessary

thus to  torment  ? Might not  omnipotence  have  devised some scheme  less  cruel  than  that  which  must  needs send up  one  universal  wail  from  the  beginning  to  the end of  time,  wailing  births  followed  by  wailing  deaths, as though  spirit  and  flesh  had  been  united  only  to  be torn  asunder,  as  though  sentient  beings  had  been created only  for  the  amusement  of  fate  ? What is  this one lesson  nature  teaches  us  ? Short, swift,  and  damna- ble. Throughout the  ages  the  strong  shall  eat  up the  weak,  and  death  shall  swallow  all. Foolish are we, to  propagate  our  kind  that  they  may  be  made the sport  of  the  present,  with  the  certainty  of  a  final ghastly issue.

Now the  heathen  for  their  gods  do  not  have  that love and  respect. Love, or  what  was  called  love  in Homeric  heroes,  in  the  minds  of  Augustan  critics,  and in mediaeval  religious  devotees  was  but  a  weakness. Among warriors,  the  tender  sentiment  implied  effiemi- nacy, and  too  often  piety  pleaded  the  will  of  heaven  as an  excuse  for  treachery  to  woman. And what  did the gods  themselves  know  about  love? Their love was all  sensuality. Jupiter put  Cupid  in  the  stocks because the  mischievous  imp  would  not  make  the women love  him  for  himself  alone,  but  must  first  turn him into  bull,  satyr,  swan,  or  other  form  before  his presence should  inspire  the  tender  passion. They would call  it  hate,  not  love,  that  prompted  the  idea  of eternal  burnino-.

There are  in  every  city  other  fifty  wives  besides  the fifty daughters  of  Danaus,  king  of  Argos,  who  kill their husbands,  if  not  in  a  single  night,  then  in  a  time made yet  more  cruel  by  its  prolonged  length.

Intolerant of  restraint  as  the  wild  votaries  of  Bel- lona, or  of  Anubis,  of  Osiris,  or  of  Cybele,  like  the Romans of  Juvenal's  day,  one  common  quality  of reckless  disregard  of  consequences  pervaded  the  whim of the  hour. Amorous widow-hunters  of  the  Colonel Chartres or  duke  of  Roussillon  type,  preeminent  in their  superfluity  of  naughtiness,  met  with  fair  success.