New-York tribune., 1917-12-11

The cathedral of Rheims is IN ruins. We
all know it. We have grown accustomed
almost calous-to the fact The cathedral
Of Rheims, unedualled for its FACADE and
for its wealth of sculpture, Il de-
stroyed. We shall nevermore study the
wonderful glass Of the clcarstory with its
blazing scarlets and reds, the warmest, the.
most pulsatng, the most daring glasswork
in all France. The grave saints that lined
~. portals with faces so full of dignity and
Christian forttude are broken into bits
Even the wonderful angel of neyer-to-be-
forgotten genteEess, so solicitous, so tender,
was not spared. What two fires and the
wars Of six hundred years had left uninjared
our age has annihiated. German cannonad-
Ing was able to destroy monument the
equal of which fifteen centuries Of boasted
German culture have been unable TO pre-
duce.
Nor mas the destruction been limited 20 the
cathedral of Rheims. The region through
which the German armies have swept, level
ling all to the ground before them. was the
classic region, the Tuscany, the Attica OF
France.
What viii Never BE Forgotten
1t may be that in the centuries to come the
other wrongs OF this war will be forgotten.
We no longer ask whether the Huns did
or did not have justifable pretext for over
running Italy To-day We care very little
whether Alaric took or did not take Rome, or
how long he held it. We have forgotten
about the suferings of the vanquished, the
wrongs of the women, the death agony of
individuals and peoples. We hardly know
even the name Of the barbarians who over
ran Greece. Their conquests, their gains
and losses, are recorded only in the obscure
pages Of dusty histories. What We are
acutely conscious OF is the fact that Greek
art was in great part destroyed; that not
single Greek painting has come down TO
US; that the works OF Menander and Sappho
are lost; that the Greek temples arc in ruins
that masterpieces of Greek sculpture ended
IN the limekin. And so it shall be with
this war Other things, however atrocou.,
Hme, which heals almost everything, may
cure. But the wanton destruction Of Gothic
art must always remain TO the end OF time
an act which the civilized world can never
forgive, a wrong which the Germans have
committed. not only against France, but
against all humanity, against themselves.
For centuries still to come the German chill
dren must learn that their forefathers, in
wsntonness and cold blood, destroyed the
most beautiful Of arts, and they must realize
that their own lives have by this act been
deprived of source of happiness which they
might otherwise enjoy. The barbarans who
sacked Rome might plead one excuse-they
knew not what they did They had no con-
ception of art nor Of its value. The Germans
can plead no such excuse. The Germans
knew what they did. They knew the value
of what they destroyed.
When the war ends the question must in
evitably arise, What is TO be done with the
partially ruined monuments left by the Ger
mans? There is grave reason to fear that
the mistake of century ago may be re-
peated. French Gothic architecture, it will
be remembered, suffered terrible damage in
the Revolution, but worse than this were the
ill-advised restorations which followed. The
question of restoration is an exceedingly
delicate one. II is the friends, and the very
sincere friends. of the monuments who pro-
mote it. frequently at great sacrifices. Their
zeal and good intentions are undoubted II
therefore seems ungrateful TO point to them
dangers. Since, however, an agitation is
already being started TO restore the ruined
Gothic monuments, il is very necessary 70
come 70 a realization OF what may only too
probably result from misguided enthusiasm.
Destruction by Restoration
Gothic monuments are valuable from two
distinct points of view. In the first place.
they are historical documents, giving us in
formation about past ages, the philosophy.
the building methods, the character Of the
Middle Ages. This may be called their
archaeological value. Even more important
is their purely artistic value, the Joy they
are capable OF communicating as thing Of
beauty Both these values are liable 70. nav.
almost certain of, destruction by restoration.
From the point of view Of the arch9ologist.
a restoration puts in his hand falsified doe
ument. IL is impossible TO be certain Of
what is old, what is restored upon reliable
authority and what Is merely conjecture
liable 20 be entirely misleading The very
fact that restoraticns are generally cleverly
done makes IL impossible TO disentan9le the
cid from the new. Only one who has worked
for years upon medieval monuments can
realize the extent of the mischief wrought
by modern renovstions. Paradoxical "a the
statement may seem, the better these res.o.