ment, for
distrust and suspicion poison love. We often hear of justified
jealousy; I maintain, on the contrary, that jealousy is never
justified, and that it is only the brutal stupidity of an atavistic
heritage, or a pathological symptom. A reasonable man who has doubts
as to the fidelity of his wife has certainly the right to assure
himself of their correctness. But of what use is it to be jealous? If
he finds his suspicions false he has, by his manner, made his wife
unnecessarily unhappy and destroyed conjugal confidence and happiness.
If, on the contrary, his suspicions are well founded he has only to
choose between one of two ways. If it is a case of amorous
intoxication suggested by another man to his wife, who is often very
unhappy about it, she may then be restored to her husband and
pardoned, for in this case affection only can cure her, never
jealousy. If, however, love for her husband is entirely extinguished
in her, or if she is only a false intriguer without character,
jealousy is even more absurd, for the game is not worth the candle,
and immediate divorce is necessary.

Unfortunately, man only possesses very little control over his
feelings when these are violent. The jealous person by nature, that is
by heredity, is generally incurable and poisons his own existence at
the same time as that of his wife. Such individuals should never
marry.

In lunatic asylums, in law, and in novels jealousy plays an important
part, for it is one of the most fruitful sources of tragedies and
human unhappiness. The combined and persevering efforts of education
and selection are necessary to gradually eliminate it from the human
brain. We often hear it said of man and woman that they are not
jealous enough, because they are too indulgent toward the
extra-nuptial inclinations of their conjoint. When such indulgence
rests on cynical indifference or on pecuniary interests, it is not the
want of jealousy but the want of moral sense which is to blame. If it
arises from real and reasoned love, it should on the contrary be
highly respected and praised. I would wish all heroes of offended
honor and all defenders of jealousy to reflect on the following case:

A man of high position, and the father of five children, lived in the
most happy union. One day he made the acquaintance of a friend of his
wife, a very intelligent and well-educated lady. Frequent visits and
long conversations led to intimacy which developed into violent
r