The Parisians | Page 2

its own in any thoughtful classification of their
author's works.
One last word to those who will miss from these pages the connecting
and completing touches of the master's hand. It may be hoped that such
a disadvantage, though irreparable, is somewhat mitigated by the
essential character of the work itself. The aesthetic merit of this kind of
novel is in the vivacity of a general effect produced by large, swift
strokes of character; and in such strokes, if they be by a great artist,
force and freedom of style must still be apparent, even when they are

left rough and unfinished. Nor can any lack of final verbal correction
much diminish the intellectual value which many of the more
thoughtful passages of the present work derive from a long, keen, and
practical study of political phenomena, guided by personal experience
of public life, and enlightened by a large, instinctive knowledge of the
human heart.
Such a belief is, at least, encouraged by the private communications
spontaneously made to him who expresses it, by persons of political
experience and social position in France, who have acknowledged the
general accuracy of the author's descriptions, and noticed the
suggestive sagacity and penetration of his occasional comments on the
circumstances and sentiments he describes.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
They who chance to have read the "Coming Race" may perhaps
remember that I, the adventurous discoverer of the land without a sun,
concluded the sketch of my adventures by a brief reference to the
malady which, though giving no perceptible notice of its
encroachments, might, in the opinion of my medical attendant, prove
suddenly fatal.
I had brought my little book to this somewhat melancholy close a few
years before the date of its publication, and in the meanwhile I was
induced to transfer my residence to Paris, in order to place myself
under the care of an English physician, renowned for his successful
treatment of complaints analogous to my own.
I was the more readily persuaded to undertake this journey,--partly
because I enjoyed a familiar acquaintance with the eminent physician
referred to, who had commenced his career and founded his reputation
in the United States; partly because I had become a solitary man, the
ties of home broken, and dear friends of mine were domiciled in Paris,
with whom I should be sure of tender sympathy and cheerful
companionship. I had reason to be thankful for this change of residence:
the skill of Dr. C_____ soon restored me to health. Brought much into
contact with various circles of Parisian society, I became acquainted
with the persons and a witness of the events that form the substance of
the tale I am about to submit to the public, which has treated my former
book with so generous an indulgence. Sensitively tenacious of that

character for strict and unalloyed veracity which, I flatter myself, my
account of the abodes and manners of the Vril-ya has established, I
could have wished to preserve the following narrative no less jealously
guarded than its predecessor from the vagaries of fancy. But Truth
undisguised, never welcome in any civilized community above ground,
is exposed at this time to especial dangers in Paris; and my life would
not be worth an hour's purchase if I exhibited her 'in puris naturalibus'
to the eyes of a people wholly unfamiliarized to a spectacle so
indecorous. That care for one's personal safety which is the first duty of
thoughtful man compels me therefore to reconcile the appearance of 'la
Verite' to the 'bienseances' of the polished society in which 'la Liberte'
admits no opinion not dressed after the last fashion.
Attired as fiction, Truth may be peacefully received; and, despite the
necessity thus imposed by prudence, I indulge the modest hope that I
do not in these pages unfaithfully represent certain prominent types of
the brilliant population which has invented so many varieties of
Koom-Posh;
[Koom-Posh, Glek-Nas. For the derivation of these terms and their
metaphorical signification, I must refer the reader to the "Coming
Race," chapter xii., on the language of the Vril-ya. To those who have
not read or have forgotten that historical composition, it may be
convenient to state briefly that Koom-Posh with the Vril-ya is the name
for the government of the many, or the ascendency of the most ignorant
or hollow, and may be loosely rendered Hollow-Bosh. When
Koom-Posh degenerates from popular ignorance into the popular
ferocity which precedes its decease, the name for that state of things is
Glek-Nas; namely, the universal strife-rot.]
and even when it appears hopelessly lost in the slough of a Glek-Nas,
re-emerges fresh and lively as if from an invigorating plunge into the
Fountain of Youth. O Paris, 'foyer des idees, et oeil du monde!'--
animated contrast to the serene tranquillity of the Vril-ya, which,