The record-union., 1898-11-11
ephemeral, calls for the employment OF
a Numerically opposite quality.
PRESENT DAY THOUGHTS.
BY G. Grosvenor Dave.

AS TO france. 1t Woulu pt fciy
easy indeed to write of France in light
sarcastic vein, because of great many
| Of her opera bouffe performances IN
both recent and historic times. The
impulse must be somewhat curbed
however, for fickle and almost anus
ing though France may be, her own
great national destines and the indi-
| vidual destinies Of her millions are in
volved in the outcome Of policies that
may be and are fippantly entered up
/ on.
1 doubt not, however, that when his
tory is written a hundred years from
now, the '.Fashoda incident" with its
outcome Of hostility toward England,
will be found to be-though apparently
the most-yet in fact, the least tickle
of Frances recent acts. Viewed in one
way, it reminds one of DR.. Talmadge' $
| dog and his experiences with the ice
cream freezer. This unhappy canine
| finding cream in freezer, inserted his
head and Tapped it ali up. Then,
| alarmed by shout, instead of having
sense enough to draw his head out
quietly, pushed it in further and 80
ran blindly hither and thither about
the yard Talmage wisely remarks on
the brevity Of the dogs pleasure, and
the length Of his subsequent agony and
humiliation. This much ought to be
| said for the dog-whatever he after
ward suffered, he still had the cream.
! Therein the illustration fails to fit the
case Of France. AS I have intimated
in previous lines, it will some day be
seen that Notwithstanding the nom
sensical claims of France to have pos
| sessions on Egyptian soil, just because
| Kitchener whipped the Khalifa in time
| to prevent his swallowing Marchand,
like the sparrow that flew higher than
an eagle, just because it hid in the
| eagles wing-yet the willingness of
French statesmen to risk a disastrous
and possibly fatally war WAS wise
move, if results had justified it. They
regarded the "Fashoda incident" as a
splendid means Of diverting the atten-
| tion of the home populace from the
rotten travesty upon democracy which
the French peoples have to endure.
| France is like the average human
heart; it has far less to fear from enc
mics without-though they destroy it
| than from self-treachery within. In
| fact, the strength of the enemy without
will be increased by the weakness and
| irresolution within. The third republic
| is not yet thirty years old, yet no one
| can see in 1t any other than signs OF
decay and premature senility. The
rosy light Of exuberant youth, proud OF
Liberty, Fraternity, Equality" has
! faded entirely away, till these words
are uttered-instead of with faith and
feeling-With the quavering voice Of an
aged infidel, who believes nothing,
| hopes nothing, and whose age does not
save from foolishness. 1t Is sad COM
mentary upon the men who have mis-
| managed France, and upon the popu-
| lace who have permitted mismanage-
ment. It1 shows that a broad compre-
hension 7of human rights and human
| trustworthiness is still far from this
/ semi-Latin race.
France has been blessed by few un-
| selfish men like Theirs, but these have
not been in sufficient numbers to keep
down the aspirations of designing men,
| and-those who are equally fatal to
| republic-whimsical men. Watch the
| next game where twenty-five or more
| boys are gathered together, and you
will get a. fair picture Of Frances leg
| iSlative proceedings. There is lacking
| the wisdom for many men Of many
| minds to work together in unity; but
there is no lack of an insistent individ-
uality that is content with drowning the
voice Of, the opponent, with greater
noise, Indifferent as to whether he is
convinced or not. This noisy and dis
| jointed way of conducting affairs is
| not recent development, but will be
| found throughout the history of the
| present, Gepublic; changing the calm
| judicial atmosphere of thought into the
| hot, passion scented air of the gadia-
| torial arena. 1t is this love of per-
| Sonal triumph; this rule or ruin feel
ing Of the average French law maker;
this passion for dramatic situations
| though France perish, that makes
thinkers feel alarmed for the future of
a country of magnificent resources
Possibly a strong fgurative presenta-
| ton of it can be found in imagining a
mutinous crew, pickering among them
| selves while a hurricane is threatening
not only the unworthy sailors, but the
| ship beneath their feet, and it's price
| less cargo, as we'll We cannot deny
French impetuosity and courage, but
! it is not the courage of the British hol-
low square, where every man stands or
| falls by every other man, but rather the
courage Of the Homeric individual COM
bat. And these two forms of courage
are the marks that show one nation to
be in step with civilization that magni-
fies the rights Of others; and the other
nation, beneath all it's glorious trap
pings of art, literature, courtesy and
what not to be barbaric, still
Whether France will ever learn to
carry liberty with dignity, instead of
turning it into license, for those who
have power, and oppression for those
who are without power, it would need
a prophetic pen to state. Whether she
will ever rise to comprehend that fra
ternity is not mere word, and that
as word it is naught, but as a spirit
1t is everything, no one can tell This
| however seems true-that she would
better wipe it off her escutcheon than
have it remain there a lie. Whether
her denial of equality, by her horrible
injustice in the Dreyfus case. is a mere
temporary impulse or a permanent ma
tional illiberality, time alone will tell.
The latter seems the truth. alasi
Whether she will dare at the dawn OF
new century and after a century OF
apparent strugglings toward light, to
declare that the civil power of a re-
public ought to be and is subordinate tc
the military power, some sad pages OF
her future history will be needed to