The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1904-11-11
Impressions of Celebrated
Men on the Question.
SIGNS TO THE CONTRARY
zangwin Regards France as Too Great
to Be Despaired Of and
Too Necessary for
Civilization.

Theodore stanton sends the Open
Court a number Of letters on 'sThe De
cadence of France" written by celebri
ties. We give several letters
Colonel Sir Howard Vincent, NJ F.;
ITO this question there IS only one
response: No; d thousand times nor i
find myself ID the happy condition to
make this statement. / have just com.
pleted journey through France Ey
esywhere Is order, everywhere prosper
ity, everywhere quiet and happy
people, well fed. wen nurtnred gay
content, hospitable. generous The
poor are not 70 be seen. Luxury Is ex
tenslve, Such are the Impressions m
ceived BY my colleagues and myself
ana this Is the reason why | answer
No, no, no.
Edmund Gosse, librarian Of tha
house Of lords
"Mv reply IS peremptoriiy, categof
ically, no.
sWhat is 'decadenceT Is 4 not II
phrase BIZ which the timid often at
tempt 70 mask their fear Of what is
new. active and rebellious?
@The only deeadent nations are those
which do not dare to change. which
i've on III a constant terror Of encour
aging audacltv Of thought or perver
sity Of conduct The living nations are
forever making new experiments at
which conventional people shudder and
scream.
eve may seour the horizon OF the
world at this hour and see no nation
which seems so little to deserve the re
buke OF decay as the French To my
apprehension 20 country ut the present
hour Is so full Of intellectual youth
and hope. offers 10 the observer 50
great variety Of points Of vitality Or
draws the attention Of the thoughtful
to 1t with SO vivacious a sympathy as
France.
III By deeaaenee' you mean evolu-
ton. the painful metamorphosls Of life
yes II by sdecadence' you mean dull
ness. apathy. a sinking Of the moral
and mental temperature, Thousand
times nor
Lucas Malet
THE question which sou propose /
\ as lover of France. venture to an
swer with ain emphatic negative
France Is not In a state Of decadence
but she Is, IN my humble opinion, IN q
state Of convalescence-and the symp-
toms Of the latter condition may easily
by superficial observers. be mistaken
for those Of the former From the
middle Of the eighteenth century she
has passed through a series OF con.
yuIsions. both moral and material. Of
experiments. Of splendors and dis
asters. eliminating ii the cruel trag-
edy of 1901, which must always
remain To the student one Of the amaz-
1 ing chapters Of human history. That
she should have retained her solidarity,
her genius and revived as a nation,
shows a vitality so enormous, and an
intelligence 50 adaptable and fertile
1 that 1t Is impossible to entertain mis-.
givings as to her future But the eff
fects Of her past suferings are still
upon her in i certain nervousness and
sensitiveness. which result III episodes
painful to her admirers. She is taken
with unreasoning fears. aud these lead
to violence both Of feeling and Of action
which strikes the observer as unworthy
and exaggerated. Two very dissimllaI
episodes, having their rise In these
nervous telTors, appear especially IN
Fortunate refer to the 'Affalre Drey-
fus' and the expulsion of the religious
4 orders. In the first ease there was i
fear of abstract justice, in the second
a fear Of religious liberty. AS a Catho
lie and Liberal alike, it Is inconeeiv-
4 able to me that the highest interests
of any nation can ever be served by Che
+ Reputation Of such fundamental prin-
ciples of social existence ana Of prog
ress. Such Reputation. ike all Other
u recourse 10 artificial and arbitrary rem.
edies, suggests i lack Of faith in her
self, and IN her splendid destiny, which
might be alarming, did one not remen
Der that she still bears the scars o.
the tremendous adventures Of the later
years Of the eighteenth and nearly the
h whole &c the nineteenth century. Hoi
convaiescence must Of necessity b
long. but there are surely already
signs that her restoration to health viii
be complete and lasting. There arc
perhaps nations IN Europe whom We
could do without, but France very
certainly IS not among thesei Indeed