CHAPTER XXVII
THE JOINT SESSION
Election day passed quietly; it resulted in an overwhelming majority infavor of the government, and the character of the majority was clearlyanimated by the intention to visit heavily upon Chairo the consequencesof his actions.
We had all understood that Lydia's return to New York was due to somedetermination on her part, but what that determination was not evenAriston knew. The first session of the legislature on the 1st ofJanuary, '94, was attended by the deepest misgiving on the part of allChairo's friends; nothing could be determined by the proceedings of thatday--which were purely formal--but on the next an incident occurredwhich showed how matters stood. The previous Speaker of the Senate whowould, if reelected, preside at the joint session of both houses, was aman of moderate views, who had for years impartially administered theduties of his office. It was a matter of course that he should berenominated as the candidate of the government, and a motion to thiseffect was duly made by Peleas. But it was seconded by Masters, and thisproduced the effect of an understanding between the government andChairo's men which exasperated the irreconcilables; one of them,therefore, in a moment of impulse nominated a distinguished Asclepianpriest, who had been elected on the platform of war on Chairo; hisnomination was hotly seconded by a chorus of voices, and although he wasopposed by the government party and by the supporters of both Chairo andMasters, he was beaten only by a dozen votes.
The situation looked critical for Chairo when Masters stood up to bringthe amnesty bill before the joint session; he was received in a mannersignally different from that which usually greeted him; the applause ofhis own particular adherents sounded faint and hollow and only served toaccentuate the silence of the rest. He did not speak at length,reserving himself till after the report of the investigating committeehad been read. He was followed by several speakers, who repeated theunreasoning vituperation which had marked the electoral campaign, all ofthem opposed to the passage of an amnesty bill of any kind.
The real incident of the day was the reading of the report of theinvestigating committee, which, for the first time, officially broughtout the facts as they were. The chairman of the committee who read thereport concluded by a brief expression of personal opinion to the effectthat after the reading of the report it was impossible for any one dulyconscious of his duties to the state to approve of the amnesty bill asread. Doubtless many--perhaps, indeed, most of those concerned--had beenunduly influenced by others, and for these he was himself prepared tocast a vote of pardon. But all the guilty parties were not before them.He was interrupted here by a loud murmur of approval and by a counterdemonstration of those who still believed in Neaera's innocence. He didnot propose to try any one in their absence (applause), but assuredly itwas not proper to pardon any one in their absence either (loudapplause). There was one case which demanded particular attention; hereferred to the man who had organized the whole conspiracy. (There was adeep silence here, and many involuntarily turned to where Chairo saterect and immovable with his arms crossed.) There was evidence to showthat after he had effected the particular personal end he had in view,he had sent a message intended to put an end to further violence. Heasked the legislature to consider how far this tardy, unsuccessful, and,as it appeared to him, half-hearted effort at reparation deserved to betaken into account in mitigation.
This conclusion was greeted with the wildest applause; members stood upand, with vociferating gestures directed at the corner where Chairo sat,demanded justice and the full measure of the law.
It was expected that Masters would take the floor, but in the heatedcondition of the house he judged it wiser that Arkles should be heardbefore him. So Arkles slowly rose, and straightening himself to his fullheight, addressed the speaker. The disorder which had followed thespeech of the chairman of the committee immediately subsided, and thespokesman of the Demetrian cult was listened to in respectful silence."It is my honor," he said, "to address you on behalf of a religious cultwhich has been outraged, upon the question whether this outrage shall gounpunished or whether the cult shall be vindicated by the visitation onthe guilty of the full measure of the law."
He used advisedly the very catchword "full measure of the law," whichhad never failed to secure applause at the meetings held by theindignant supporters of the cult, and his purpose was fulfilled, for heat once got them on his side, as the approval that greeted his openingfully showed. He then reviewed the history of the cult, its principles,the benefit it had bestowed; he dwelt upon the earnestness of itsdevotees, and contrasted the social conditions that prevailed where thecult was strong with those that prevailed where it was non-existent. Fortwo hours he kept the unflagging attention of the audience with the mostcarefully reasoned exposition of what the cult stood for that thatgeneration had heard. Clearly the conclusion to be drawn from hisargument was, that an institution so essential to public welfare wasentitled to the further protection of the state, and that an outrageupon it must be so punished as to render any repetition of the offenseto the highest degree improbable. Sure of this conclusion, theirreconcilables joined with the government ranks in loud approval ofArkles's discourse. But here Arkles turned an unexpected corner, forafter having demanded justice, in tones that filled the house with areverberation of applause, he suddenly asked the question: "And in thiscase, what is the justice we have a right to ask?"
He turned at this point to the desk by him, filled a glass with water,drank it, and continued:
"The Demetrian cult is not founded on legal enactment. It is not proppedby any state authority. It derives all its strength from the appeal itmakes to reason and morality. So long as it finds support in the publicconscience it is strong; the moment it appeals from conscience to thestate it confesses a weakness of which the cult is not to-day aware.Nay, there never was a day when the cult was more strong than now, neverwhen it was better able to vindicate its rights upon its own merits,that is to say, not by appeal to the state for protection, but by appealto every man and woman in the commonwealth for support.
"And here it is essential to make a careful distinction between actscommitted in violation of the law of the land and those committed inviolation of our sanctuary. As to the first, he, as spokesman of thecult, had nothing to say; the state alone could deal with them. As tothe last, they had received the prayerful deliberation of the Demetriancouncil, and he was instructed now to read the following resolution:
"'Inasmuch as the exercise of our duties can be justified only by the extent to which this exercise is approved, not merely by the worshippers of Demeter but by the community at large;
"'Inasmuch as such exercise deals with the most sacred and intimate passions of the human heart;
"'We now solemnly declare that we count only upon devotion to the cult for protection, and deem it wiser to suffer sacrilege to go unpunished than by retaliation to keep alive in the hearts of the guilty or of those who support them, a spark of hostility or resentment.'"
A profound silence followed the reading of this resolution, and Arklesconcluded as follows:
"It has been the policy of our commonwealth to abandon the principle of punishment for crime. Those who are unfit for social life we remove from social life and try to make them fit; until they are fit for it, we keep them isolated. Do not let us depart from a salutary rule in the interests of the cult, which the cult itself has largely contributed to introduce and which it is deeply interested in keeping alive. There are contingencies, Mr. Speaker, when the highest justice is mercy."
When Arkles sat down he left the session in a state of suspendedjudgment. There was applause, but it was the applause of men convincedagainst their will, and the irreconcilables remained absolutely silent.The day was drawing to a close, and the session adjourned almost in astate of confusion.
As we walked home to our quarters we none of us were inclined to speak."That speech of Arkles will bear fruit," said Ariston. But Chairo
wasgloomily silent, and I did not have the heart to speak words ofencouragement I did not feel. We were joined at the bath by quite anumber of our house, who seemed anxious to cheer us up by the gossip ofthe day. All were much exercised by the result of the four-mile racewhich had just been run. It was the first time a woman had ever enteredfor this race, and she had succeeded in making a dead heat of it.Chairo, who had excelled in these sports, was gradually aroused from hisdiscouragement, and, without much reason for it, we returned to thesession next day in a better humor than circumstances warranted, for thewhole day was taken up in violent harangues against the incriminatedparties, some attacking Chairo not only as a conspirator but as a cowardfor treachery to Neaera, others attacking Neaera without vindicatingChairo.
That evening Chairo left us to dine with a few of his followers, who,feeling the situation desperate, advised a conference with Peleas,Masters, and Arkles, with a view to suggesting an amendment to theamnesty bill that would secure a majority without going to the extremesdemanded by the irreconcilables.
CHAPTER XXVIII
LYDIA TO THE RESCUE
Political offenses, such as the one with which Chairo was charged, werepunished not by confinement in farm colonies but by imprisonment in afortress, and had this disadvantage that, whereas the term in the formercase could be diminished by good conduct, in the latter case it wasfixed for a number of years and was generally of inordinate length. Thiswas the remnant of a code prepared at a time when social crimes were notmuch feared, whereas political crimes were regarded as of utmost dangerto the commonwealth. The maximum term of imprisonment was fifty years,and this for Chairo would be practically equivalent to imprisonment forlife. The irreconcilables clamored for nothing less than this. It was nosmall credit to Chairo's character in the community that with so heavy asentence impending over him, it occurred to no one--not even his worstenemies--to ask that special precautions be made to prevent his escape.That he would keep his parole was never for a moment doubted.
The difficulty attending any conclusion arose from the heterogeneous andunorganized character of the irreconcilables; they were split up into anumber of factions, agreed only upon one thing--the "full measure of thelaw" for Chairo; in every other respect they differed, some demandingwhat they called justice, on grounds which they could not explain, butthe reasonableness of which they made a matter of conscience andmorality; others declared themselves to be vindicating "principles"which, upon examination, turned out to be pure assumptions built uponprejudice and temper; others professed to be acting as champions of thecult, too helpless to be able to defend itself, and although willing andanxious to discuss and explain their attitude, could never be brought toany other conclusion than the "full measure of the law"--a phrase whichhad obtained as complete a mastery over them as the "sleep" of ahypnotizing doctor over a hypnotic subject.
The third day of the session opened in as great uncertainty as before.Peleas had not spoken, and was unwilling to speak, until some amendmentcould be hit upon which had a reasonable chance of uniting a majority.The debate was, therefore, left almost entirely in the hands of theirreconcilables, who vied with one another in the application to Chairoof epithets that were picturesque and vituperative. Toward the close ofthe session, however, an incident occurred that was unexpected andstartling: Arkles arose and asked that the courtesy of the floor beextended to Lydia Second. Chairo half rose in protest, but Masters, whosat beside him, whispered a word in his ear and he resumed his seat,burying his chin in his breast. A loud murmur of excitement filled thechamber; the motion was put, and it was carried without a dissentingvoice; the house sat wrapt in silence awaiting the entrance of thespeaker. Soon Irene was seen coming down a side aisle, and by her side,shrouded by a veil, a figure, which all immediately recognized asLydia's. When they reached a point half way down the aisle they paused;Irene said a word to Lydia, and Lydia removed her veil.
I had not seen her since we parted at Tyringham; as I looked at herpreparing herself to speak I experienced a conflict of emotion thatbrought beads of perspiration to my forehead; my love for her nowkindled into admiration, the hopelessness of it, the fate of Chairo, anundoubted admiration for him and yet a jealousy of him that torturedme, willingness, nay, almost a burning desire to effect Lydia'shappiness at any cost--all these things struggled within me for mastery,as with compressed lips I sat waiting to hear her speak. She wasobviously suffering from an emotion that made her eyes water and herthroat dry; she lifted her hand to her bosom once or twice in futileagitation, but mastering herself, she stiffened, and, at last, as itwere by a supreme effort, lifting her head high, began:
"I do not presume, Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the legislature, topresent myself before you trusting in my strength. I depend rather on myweakness, for I am a woman, and because I am a woman who hasfaltered"--she corrected herself--"who has suffered, you will hear me."
She spoke very low but very distinctly, and there was in the chamber asilence so complete that she could be heard at the utmost corner of it.
"For him who has joined with me in this misadventure I do not presume tospeak at all. He is a man, and among men, able to hold his own. But youcannot strike him without striking me, and it is for myself I plead."
Chairo's chin buried itself deeper in his breast, but he controlled theimpulse to protest. Indeed, there was a note in Lydia's voice thatbrought a lump into his throat. He could not have protested had hedared.
Irene had sent for a glass of water; Lydia partook of it, and then,raising her voice, proceeded:
"Ever since I was restored to my home I have kept silence, because Ifelt--and I was so advised--that a moment would come when I should bebetter understood than at a time when the public mind was inflamed byrevolution and bloodshed. As to these things, I have cruelly felt theextent to which I was the occasion of them, but I ask you to considerwhether indeed I was the cause. And I ask you, too, not to confuse thequestion raised by the cult of Demeter with those other questions forwhich the rebels stood. In these last I have had no share and to them Ishall not again refer. They have no part in the question you have todecide. To give them a part would be to do me a great wrong.
"And as regards the cult of Demeter, there is no devouter daughter ofthe cult than I; and that I should stand to-day, arrayed in the eyes ofsome of you against the cult, chokes my utterance and fills my eyes withtears. Nor should I have had strength to plead my cause with you to-dayhad I not come to you leaning on one of Demeter's worthiest votaries."
Here Lydia put her hand on Irene's shoulder, and Irene looked into herface and smiled.
"For in my heart there is a reverence for Demeter so profound that whenthe mission was tendered to me, I felt that a cubit had been added to mystature; I felt a strength grow in me to make what sacrifice wasneedful, and as day passed day the sacrifice grew less and my strengthgrew more.
"But oh, fellow-worshippers of Demeter," and she looked here at the partof the hall where the irreconcilables had grouped themselves, "do notfrown on me when I say that there was also in my heart anotherreverence, another strength, of which I was not sufficiently aware; andin your faith in the cult you serve, do not blind yourself to that othercult to which, whether we will or no, we are all--yes, all--subject. Wemay harden our hearts to it, we may bring it as a sacrifice upon youraltar, but if it has once grown deep enough, it overpowers all therest--I am not ashamed to say it here--before you who ask mercy forChairo and you who ask for his destruction, I am not ashamed to publishit to all the world--stronger than reverence for Demeter, stronger thanthe unutterable honor of the Demetrian mission--is the love of a womanfor a man."
She paused; there was no applause, but the breathless silence thatreigned bore a higher tribute to the impression made than any spokenword or gesture.
"And when love came it brought with it a sense of duty to another, sothat I no longer stood merely between Demeter and my love, I stood alsobetween Demeter and Chairo"--a loud murmur of disapproval greeted thesewords. Lydia, however, went
bravely on. "But I looked with suspicionupon an argument that so favored my own inclination, and believing dutyto lie in resistance to inclination rather than in consent to it, Istrangled my love, and with a pride in my own sacrifice that was falseand bad I accepted the mission."
Again a murmur of disapproval filled the hall. This time Lydiaacknowledged it by turning to the corner whence it came.
"Yes, I repeat it--with a pride in my own sacrifice that was false andbad--for it gave me strength to do a thing that was wrong! What isheroic in one is vanity in another. And I thank you for that expressionof disapproval that reminds me to distinguish those to whom it is anugly hypocrisy. There are women--and may their names be blessed--who,before their hearts have been kindled by love, bear within them acapacity for sacrifice and a longing for maternity which makes of themfitting subjects for the Demetrian mission; but when a woman has onceharbored the young God Eros, when she has by implication, if not byexpress promise, sanctioned the harboring of him in another, then thestrength that can disown her love and break that promise is drawn from avanity that is foolish, or a conceit that is contemptible; and as I lookback to the day when, after weeks of weakening struggle, I arose fromthe bed of torment strangely endowed with a strength that enabled me tomake unmoved my final vows, I see that my strength came not from Demeterbut from self-righteousness and self-conceit. And I make this bitterconfession before you all that the fault may rest where it should, notupon you, priests and priestesses of Demeter"--and here she looked up atthe gallery where they sat--"not upon him"--and she turned almostimperceptibly to Chairo--"but upon me."
Her voice sank as she said these words, and there broke from many of usa murmur of sympathy.
"But these things," she continued in a louder voice, "are of littleimportance by the side of what I have yet to say. Pardon me, if I havehad to speak of myself; it is not often--and, indeed, it is distressfulthat so private a thing as this should become matter of public concern.But you have to decide an issue in which the conduct of one least worthyof your attention has become set up, as it were, before you as theconduct of all my sex. It is not I that am judged, but all who areunworthy of the mission--or shall I not rather say--unfitted for it. Forthough I am willing--nay, desire--to accept my full share of blame, yetam I not willing that my sex shall in my person be judged less worthythan it is. Believe me, that noble as is the mission of Demeter, noblealso is the love of a woman for a man, and though I bow my head as Iconfess my unfitness for the one, in vindication of the other I hold myhead erect."
She straightened herself at these words, and her stature helped to giveto this vindication both dignity and strength. There was somethingsplendid in the gesture, the emphasis, and the inflection with whichthese words were said. For the first time Lydia's speech was hereinterrupted by applause; it began far away from her and was soon caughtup by others, it swelled through the building, and feelings long pentup in hushed attention to her now found relief in an expression oftriumphant approval; a few in their excitement rose to their feet, thenmore, till all, except Chairo, who remained resolutely seated, stoodwildly gesticulating their admiration for the girl who had the courageto face them in vindication of a love upon which some had wished tothrow disgrace, but which now she held up to universal honor.
The applause lasted several minutes; if it died away in one corner itwas vociferously renewed in another, and when at last, out of veryweariness, it came to an end, Lydia resumed:
"But all I have said is but a preface to what I have still to say: Ihave spoken to you of myself, but what shall I say to you of Chairo? Ihave told you of a duty I felt to him, but to every duty is there not acorresponding right? And if Chairo had rights does he not stand, too,for the rights of all his sex?"
Once more the chamber rang with renewed applause, and Chairo for thefirst time raised his head and looked at Lydia. Now at last she hadlifted the subject to a level which eliminated him. He was no longer theissue; she was speaking for all men, for the rights universal ofmanhood, which the cult had, in his case, ignored and must at last bevindicated.
"I have told you that by implication, if not by express words, Chairohad reason to know I loved him; was he to stand by and see the rights Ihad given him denied, rights for which he has stood, not for himselfalone, but for all men long before his own became involved? He standscharged here with sacrilege and with violence. Mr. Speaker, andgentlemen of the legislature, so far as I am concerned, he is guilty ofneither the one nor the other."
A deep murmur passed through the chamber as Lydia's voice impressivelylowered on these final words.
"Had the woman he snatched from Demeter's sanctuary been indeed fittedfor it, then he would have been guilty of both. But he knew I was notfitted for it, he knew that I belonged to him, he knew that once I felthis presence in my room I would consent--_and I consented_."
Chairo, whose eyes had remained riveted on Lydia ever since he raisedthem, now lowered them again, and he covered his face with his hands.That so sacred a thing to him as Lydia and his love for her should bedragged into a public discussion was cruel to him, but that the storyshould be told as Lydia told it, filled his heart with a mixture oftriumph and bitterness he could not endure to show.
"And so, Mr. Speaker, with my confession of consent, the charge againstChairo of sacrilege and violence falls to the ground. As to those whoagainst his bidding sought to rescue their leader from his bonds I havethis to say: When there shall have disappeared from the hearts of menthe loyalty, devotion, and sacrifice that prompted an act of violenceforever to be deplored, then let this world and all that is in itdisappear from the constellations of God. They erred, but they erred ina cause they believed to be righteous, and I protest--I plead the stateis strong enough to grant them pardon.
"Every institution, human and divine, has to pay a price for theblessings it bestows--_dura lex sed lex_. Eventually, perhaps, wisdommay so increase among us that the price all pay shall grow less andless; eventually, the mission may be neither offered to nor accepted bythose unfit for it; perhaps, indeed, the events of last month maycontribute to this wisdom, but to-day, O priests and priestesses ofDemeter, join with me in the prayer to our legislators that they do not,by visiting on these men too severely the consequences of their errors,bring discredit upon a cult so precious and so noble as that of thegoddess you serve. Great is Demeter! But great also is Eros. May wisdomso guide your counsels that Eros, no longer tempted to destroy thealtars of Demeter, may strengthen them and build them up, and so,through continence and sacrifice, remain for us as beautiful as he isstrong!"
Lydia bowed her head over these words and gave her hand to Irene. We allsat motionless; not a sound was heard as they slowly turned andproceeded to leave the chamber. Then, with one accord, we rose, and in abreathless silence the two women passed out.
We resumed our seats, and for some minutes no one spoke. At last Arklesmoved that, in view of the remarkable and touching words they had justheard, the joint session adjourn for the day. "For," he added, "neitherI, nor apparently any of my colleagues, are able or willing by any wordof our own to efface or modify the impression they have left upon us."
"You have heard the motion," said the speaker. "In the absence of adissenting voice the session will adjourn for the day." Not a voice washeard; we rose and left the chamber in silence.
CONCLUSION
My narrative has now come to a close: an amnesty bill was passed thatincluded every person charged, except Neaera, and deprived Chairo of hispolitical rights until the legislature should by a joint resolutionrestore them; the editor arrested for libel was found guilty andcommitted to a penal colony.
Lydia married Chairo. And Anna of Ann did not visit on Ariston hisindifference too heavily, but her nuptials were darkened by the absenceof Harmes. Out of a bold and crooked game Neaera had secured this onesmall satisfaction.
LONDON: PRINTED BY A. BONNER, 1 & 2, TOOK'S COURT, E.C.
(_All Rights Reserved._)
Transcriber's Note: _
Underscores_ have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts. Inconsistent hyphenation has been left as written.
The Woman Who Vowed (The Demetrian) Page 27