The Weiser semi-weekly signal. (Weiser, Washington Co., Idaho) 1904-1911, 1904-10-15

a. BE Despaired of and Too
.ry For Civilization No
try SO Full OF Intellectual
IN and Hope, Says Edmund
,o.e.
.odore Stanton sends the Open
- number of letters on ''The De-
ssoce of France" written by celebri-
We give several letters:
r.,ouel Sir Howard Vincent, M. p:
NJ this question there Is only one
.orso. No; thousand times nor /
! myself in the happy condition to
- his statement. / have just COM
sd Journey through France. Ev-
There is order, everywhere prosper
everywhere quiet and happy
,0le well fed, well nurtured, gay,
rtent hospitable, generous. The
y are not to be seen. Luxury Is ex-
ss,vp Such are the Impressions re-
vsd by my colleagues and myself,
tbis Is the reason why / answer,
no, no."
Edmund Gosse, librarian Of the
use Of lords:
NV reply is peremptorily, categor-
by, no.
what is 'decadencer Is 1t not a
,sse BY which the timid often at
inf TO mask their fear of what Is
active and rebellious?
The only decadent nations are those
eh do not dare to change, which
on in a constant terror Of encour-
M audacity of thought or perver-
Of conduct The living nations are
ever making new experiments at
jch conventional people shudder and
san
i've NAV scour the horizon of the
Md at this hour and see no nation
cb seems so little to deserve the re-
Re Of decay as the French. To my
behension no country at the present
b Is so full Of intellectual youth
hope, offers to the observer 80
at variety Of points of vitality or
TVS the attention Of the thoughtful
h with so v1vacious a sympathy as
knce.
II by decadence' you mean evolu-
the painful metamorphosis of life
sl If BY 'decadence' you mean dull
S, apathy, a sinking of the moral
mental temperature, thousand
q bs-now
Lucas Malet:
The question which you propose, l,
lover Of France, venture to an
r with an emphatic negative.
nce is not In a state of decadence,
she is, in my humble opinion, In q
te Of convalescence-and the symp.
s Of the latter condition may easily
superficial observers, be mistaken
those of the former. From the
Idle Of the eighteenth century she
passed through series of con
slons, both moral and material, OF
Beriments, Of splendors and dis
ers, eliminating in the cruel trag
. Of 1901, which must always
balm to the student one Of the amaz
chapters of human history. Thai
should have retained her solidarity
genius and revived as a nation
TVS vitality so enormous, and al
diligence so adaptable and fertile
! 1t Is impossible to entertain mis-
ngs as to her future. But the eff
Is Of her past sufferings are still
pn her In certain nervousness ant
sluveness, which result in episodes
nful to her admirers. She is takel
u unreasoning fears, and these Leaf
Violence both offeeling and of actiol
en strikes the observer as unworth.
exaggerated. Two very dissimila
sOues, having their rise in thes
'Ous terrors, appear especially un
Iunate-I refer to the 'Affaire Drey
and the expulsion of the religion
es. In the first case there was
Oh abstract justice, in the secon
cur Oh religious liberty. AS Cathc
anu Liberal alike, it is inconceiy
10 me that the highest interest
any nation can ever be served by th
uuiauon Of such fundamental priI
~ OF social existence and of pros
such reputation, like all othe
Nurse to artificial and arbitrary rem
- suggests lack of faith in he
ana In her splendid destiny, whic
sut De alarming, did one not remen
uiat she still bears the scars {
tremendous adventures of the late
Oh the eighteenth and nearly I'll
wy Vi the nineteenth century. HI
"escence must of necessity
out there are surely alread
mat her restoration to health wi
Dnpiete and lasting. There al
Saps nations In Europe whom v
~ 20 without, but France yea
1''u'y Is not among these! Indee
n0l too much TO say that new
we influence and traditions Of Il
" iaees been OF more vital N
''pe % tbe evolution OF a true az
qslllzation than at the presel
n. ss't Murray, formerly professor