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Madam
Valentine
da St. Point
The Brilliant
Parisian Poetess,
Madame de St,
Point, Argues
That the Brave
Soidier Will Be Clianged
by War Into' a More
Chivalrous Vorshipper of
the Gentle Sex
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By Madame de St Point
Tha.Olttlngulthtd Parisian PotUofl an4 Grcndnlcoa f the Qrrai
WILL thla vtr !nt-'oJac aa la
ment of treattr rtolanc aad
brutality Into tha ralatioas
I ihaabNattH-
'V
Lamartlna.
f men and woman? Ttkla U a cueattoa
that thoughtful omen who v1w tha
ITat conflict from tha anxious elan A
point of ta non-combatant are aaXIng
themaelTaa. Many lmaalbla reaiona have
eeen advanced we mar expect the
oldtera of VI countries to return from
their dead! . straggle with primitive ,
hablta. ' ' ' '
The wsr has thrown everything into
confutsicfto-SMteme, tamar. life ta ike '
streets and in the home. All philosophic,
moral and material conceptions haV
been transformed by the terrible months
in which men have acquired again their
ancestral brutality which had keen Bid
den from eight In the long period of
peace.
Throughout all Europe and beyond the
borders there baa been an unleashing of
brutal force. The conception of love
could not escape from fatal traastorma
tlona. Love rulss all human beings.
Every one has a horror of solitude and
often seeks daring bis whole life the
being susceptible of completing it. Some
Bever find It &&S live In a sUta of ua
bappine that makeshifts never succeed
In s&Uefrns.
All on? peopls have been affected by ths
war, which luas caused separations made
all the man agonizing br tha fear that
Aeata may raodar than, permanent. -
harm ll&d Growa Too
Tamo Beforo tk War.
4 The wartike fever of the warriors aad
me fever of devotion among tha w cases
In the rest of the country do mot Vrtng
them fargetfulaess, but only feslp them
by activity te maks the eeparatioa leas
sgonUJsg.
But memory lives oa one side aad oa
The other.
! Before the war tha luxuries of civilised
life and tka security of peace bad canted
love to a maximum f sensual r&ne
ment Jio fear c separation, no uncer
tainty of the morrow but keenness ta
seatimest. Love began to seeaa too
bourgeois, too calm, tor beings ovoa a
little romantic, whom a commonplace
and aaaored dally existence could not
satisfy. Ilenca this eager&ea of the
people of great can tres. where tha ex
tremes of crvlllsaUoa flourish, for the
quest of the unkaown. a quest all the
more sgoalxisg becauee It Is lajsMadble
to satisfy and becomes mora so as earn
Step forward la taken.
It was thus that after one erase and
another we resorted ta luxurious aeae
where we commas jd tunhima or klet
from India, held faatastle Oriental fetae.'
and even sank to the cocaine orgies of
Uontmaxtre.
What did all that naa bet tha need
sf enlivening at aay cost the common
place existence, of giving to love btther
to confined to sensuality, the mystery,
ths chimerical quality that tha tally con
tact of bumaa beings, who are sever
separated, does not favor? raxuClartty
' te the most certain destroy r of taa
ideal.
The war recalled te We a these seek-
era of chimeras, ail these erring pCgrlxne
of love. Trade separatioas made a
ernel aerakeeing." Kor long aaontns saea
and wotob have been leading a separata
life. The thread of custom Is broken.
vv will become of leva?
Our men an lead
ing tha most brutal
Ufa conceivable la
the aldst of blood
shed and . face ta
fses with death.
Luxuries and even
tha most elementary
cors farts are absent.
How will thee.
men, wfca lavs be
toin la a sense,
primitive brstes, tin
daratand lover
A as they going to
bring- bach ths viol
ence na tha brutal
ity of men of tha
cava to who satis
ed their needs te
accidental encouot
ers? We should be
tempted te think so,
K we believed that
violence Is ths
atavistic set of ths
conqueror. Dut this'
act belongs to the
.deeds of war. It has
nothing to de with
love. - .,
x Throughout Mr
lory we find that
when dUes are cap
tured tha women
are considered tha
most precious booty
which ths conqueror
ipproprisla tor htm
self. That is not
right, tt ts ths act
of a brute, for the
violence oZ the
atrong against the
weak should cot be tolerated by a usoral
being.
Such deeds are contrary ta alt
that humanity has sought to realise In
Its struggle ta be superior to the animal.
They are alas among the Innumerable
horrifying deeds of war. Art has perpet
uated many historic abducUoas which
wers, by tha way. as often ths cause as
the effect of wars.
There Is a particularly famous episode
known aa Tha Bans of tha B&blne Wom
en." The conquering. tvreeisUMs Roman.,
flndlag themeelvee ta need ef women,
ruthleealy seised the wives and daughters
of tha peaceful Bahlaaa. What could have
been a mora resbandod act of es brutal
ity than this? But the conquering Ra
mans qukkly fell under the influence of
their foreign wives aad became devoted
fcusbaada, wkOa tha woasea were proad ta
be tha soothers at the rising geoeratloa of
Romans. Not only wens they happy wtu
their Romaa aoBquaron, but when their
kinsman attempted a war ef reveaga they
acted aa paaoaaaakers betweea the twa.
Soldiers capable in tha Intoxication of
victory of Imposing' their desires upon
women wO Bsaally return sgala whan
they are sober ta their Ideal, avea ta the
most ethereal Ideal fust as ths soldier
oftea doss mot know that be Is ktEUng ta
battle, eo ha may be ameenscious of w hat
ha la og ta tha tbah of victory. Ones
ths primitive and aUvlrtJo Instincts at
man are let loose, his coaacienif e ceases
to weta over bias ta a sra.se. it lj thus
that the geatleet of men. who la" the
tranqutmty ef home cannot bear the
eight oc blood, uay become in the bay
onet charge, a demon of destruction, and
tt la thus also that the moat Meal lover
1T7
. ' THE SABINE WOMEN'
"The Romans Seixed the Sabine Women with Red-handed
Violence, But Some Became ' Devoted Husbands, and
Their New . Wives Prevented a War Between Their
Present Husbands and Former Nation." From the
Noted Pain tin f by J. L. David.
THE KNIGHT ERRANT," BY BURNE-JONES !
hemwVi War V'as Then Man's Chief Occupa-
H9?, , ?cret Draim W o Rescue the
Maiden 2a Distress" Says Madame de St. Point.
in the intoxication of
the most Instinctive
may sometimes
victory become
brute.
These shocking deeds of war cannot be
even a slight Indication or what will be
the conception of love when tbeee eame
men return to their homes. ' .
To foresee the future U Is sufficient to
look again at the past for ths same
tide returns jid the eame actions pro
dace the same reactions.
This great and long- war compels us
Inevitably to recall our greatest . war
like epoch the MMdJe Agee, How did
love appear to the knlhta who passed all
their Uvea at war? It is evident that the
amorous adventure f tha wayalde did
not satisfy their romaa tic souls.
la that epoch of great separations aad
Improbable returns, women represented
all beauty, all luxury and all repose. She
haaated tha mind of the knight errant
in hta hours ef weariness.
la a distant caatle she ropreeeated all
that was stable, that harmonious equIM
brtum of which those bora for action
dream eternally without being able to live
their dream. While they were ngatlng. the
lady of their thoughts grouped around
her aU those who are sot me& el action,
but creatures of tha dream puots and
stnrera. troubadours aad minstrels.
Whlls the warrlora fought the battles
that were to form tha great ChrlsUaa
''. the women created around team
coifrta where the first Intellectual renae
meets were known, forerunners of our
western civilization.
The women remained at the castle with
the yoitag peopie. Ue ieture knights who
served their apprenticeship by acting aa
Ps. Otaerv.ut of their duties and re
epectfsl ft the honor of the ahaeat
Ooprria-ht. till, by the Stir Company.
knight, in dally contact with youths In
capable of brutal acts, and bound to shun
all wrong-doing In order to be worthy of '
knighthood, women inspired sentimental
love and under their influence art grew
up and flourished.
It was the period of courts of love and
contests of poetry as well as of tourna
ments of arms, la which love was en
throned rod the lady, like a queen, re
warded the moet afcilful.
During the absence of the warriors the
troubadours sang the deeds of .wsr which
they had- transformed Into poetry. With
their recitals they created the legends
which are the foundation of onr art and
literature.
When the warriors came back the
courts of lovs took another aspect. The
knights who had to strive agalnat the
preatige of tha pages aad poets softened
their manners. The tourneys of poetry
were succeeded by the tourneys of ansa
They were epic struggles, but at one, as
at the other, the stake was always the
same tha heart of tha lady. Tha recom
pense received from her hand was also
tha same a scarf, a belt embroidered by
her.'or soma other present cherished pre
ciously ilka a reye. Thla great epoch
gave birth to tha romantic legends of
chivalry through ths Ideal lovs of woman.
Tha Conditions of Ancient
Chivalry Now Returning.
Whether shs wss ths lady of the knight
or the lady of tha page aad ths trouba
dour, woman, far from being their prey,
was ths un rivalled and romantic queen
around whom everything gravitated and
to whom were dedicated the stories of
deeds Ilka ths "Song of Roland, 'The
History of King Arthur X "The Romance
of tha Roae," aa well as stories of love
tfka -Tristan and Isolde."
Ideal love of tha sentimental pages.
Ideal love of the fierce warriors, that
was ths love of that ago of long wars and.
loag separations.
How will it be to-morrow? If a saper
lcial naiad thinks that modern soldiers
oa their retora must give to love the
brutality they have learned oa fields of
battle, a deeper mind will think different
ly. Wo know since the time of Herculea
that warriors love ths tendernesses of
Omphale. la epite of all oar refinements,
the maaifeatatloae of love before the war
were shove all physical. Now, through
separation, woman has ceased to be a
tangible reality ta become aa Ideal. The
ideal is always that which one does not
poesesa,
To-day tha war is too sear to ths
womea. they take too large a part In It.
through carta g for tha wounded aad
working for the aoldlere, to permit them
to become the centra of an artistic elite,
as in the days of chivalry. When their
warriors were far away, tha ladiee of
olden days bad all their time to them
selves; the women of to-day. thanks to
modern ecience. are in some degree In
constant relation with the soldiers. If '
they do not guide the minds of youth
towsrds art aa in medieval times tt Is
because every auala to-day Is either a
soldier or a future one. They prepare
the soldiers of to-morrow and replace In
nearly every occupation of life those who
have faa. Their role is still preponder
ant Brought back Us a more real ex
is ie nve by the eiuwe which have failea
apea them, womea have ceased to be the
Great Brttaia Risats RMtrrf
... t 4
.frivolous creatures
they were before ths
war.
Tor the absent sol
diers, woman has be
come In a sense an
idoL She strives to
be in harmony with
her new role which
gives her a royalty
still more Incontest
able than that which
pleasure gave her.
By the gravity of her
present task, she' at
tains the same posl
tiou of the ideal
lover that the ladies
of olden times at
tained through tha
amiable leisures of
chivalry. 8hs wttl
always be tha IdoL
These predictions
for tha future are
not only based oa a
study of ths past and
oa the fatality of ths
ebb and How of ten
esncles aad the rep
etition of actions and
reactions. They are
supported by pres
ent occurrence. .
'Isolated by tha
war. many of our
soldiers who have
ao wives, bo fiancees,
no woman friends,
suffered from their
morsl isolatloo
worse than from the
most material priva
tions. Therefore we
thought of providing
"godmothers' (mar
ralnea) for them.
Now what is the
preseat "man-alne"
but the "lady" of ths
old knight. 8hs no
longer offers to the
warrior s scarf or
some piece of lace
which would sot fit
well with the pres
ent costume of the
soldier, but in an are
wnea naoit naa mane jn
aeceasary, the "mar
raine" sends to her
godson everything
which ean soften
for him his physical
sufferings and by her
conatant thoughts of him which shs ex
presses in letters which are eagerly
awaited aha gives him moral support,
which renders leaa bitter the dally battle.
A fashionable Journal has charmingly
and cleverly thought of organizing an as
sociation called tha "Flirt." To the kind
nesses of the "marraines" ths "Fllrteua
ee" add the humorous spirit which min
gles laughter with the best kind of sen
timent Thus it is a little of the wit of
Paris which goes towards the exiled ones
of the ctty of luxuries.
Tha "JTlirteuaes" and the "marrainea"
are sisters. They are really the "lady"
of the knight under different names, the
one frivolous snd the other grave. They
represent the same thing the ideal.
The woman of to-day belonging to
these organisations who personally
knows neither her godson nor her "Jrnirl"
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"KING COPHETUA AND THE BEC&AR MAID"
Mediaeval Times, When Physical Force Was
Most Supreme, the Conquering Man Often Fell a
Captive to the Weakest Woman, a Truth Ulus.
trated by the Beautiful Old Story of 'King Cophe
tua and the Beggar Maid.' " . From the Painting
by Sir Edward Burne-Jones.
correspondent, who has never seen him.
whose sentiment la attached to notnlng
material, la aha not even more ideal than
the lady of ancient chivalry parted for
unknown yeara from her knight?
Every soldier te whom a woman has
given this sentiment will preserve it aa
the most precious thing during the
months, perhaps years, of loneliness and
suffering. He cannot when he comes back
become again a creature entirely sensual.
Weary of the materialism of war be will
certainly strive to conform his life to the
ideal which ha has cherished during his
darkest hours.
Each of our soldiers will have gone
through the terrible war with aa ideal
woman in hla mind. For that reason
when peace cornea, respect of woman
and yearning tor the Ideal in love will
reign In our old Europe.
