New-York tribune., 1919-08-30
Was Villon yellow ,?
Rupert Hughes Defends His Attack
On the Character Of the French Poet
By Rupert Hughes

Mr.. Richard Desmond objects to my
regrettably inelegant remark that
Francois Villon. though presumably a
greater poet than George Sylvester
Viereck, was "as yellow a dog as ever
lived.'
was lambasting Mr.. Viereck for
two apparent assumptions: That he was
very great poet, and that he was
therefore, above the reach of criticism
for his personal conduct and his pseudo
Americanism. I made q passing jibe at
Nillon. The remark was ncautious. but
| find it hard to be calm when discuss
ing Mr. Niereck.
Mr.. Desmond approves my criticism
of Nereck and sneers at my own liter
ary shortcomings.
To defend Vllon, however, he hurls
a boomerang.
He assumes that I based my COM
ment "on Stevenson's essay or possibly
the fact that Villon was once in jail
place reserved in Mr.. Hughes's mind
Tor German spies, white slavers and
food profiteers. AS an estima-
tor of poets and men he is lust what
the author of The Unforgivable Sin
might be expected to be. Please spare
U.S. your readers, any more of his moyen
age psychology.
If Mr.. Hughes is not too busy turn
ing out pot boilers, he might care to
learn the true case of Villon from the
essays of De We're Stacpoole or John
Payne. two men whose clean wind of
thought might blow the monochrome ed
mlsts of Stevenson and other talented
prigs out Of his mind"
This is really delicious. In the first
place based my opinion OF Villon's
character on Villon's own words, which
l have been very familiar with fol
twenty years. When | was taking 6
post graduate course at Yale for 8
Masters degree, | read a great deal OF
| the literature and the literary history
of early French and Of what Mr. Des-
mond calls "moyen age psychology.
still read it.
have always adored Villon as {
marvellous poet, q quite miraculous
technician who devoted his astounding
gifts to exploiting the loathsomt
caverns Of his own outrageous life.
Mr.. Desmond. by his own showing
knows little of Villon and has forgotten
what he knew of Payne. He misquote;
the title Of my novel. "The Unpardon
able SIM" and evidently knows nothing
fit; for when ne spoke so contemptu
ously OF my opinions Of Nillon as beins
what might be expected of the autho
of that book he surely did not know
that it was as veracious a piece o
fiction as | could compose after tn
most careful investigation and docu
mentation.
If Mr. Desmond had taken one
thousandth part of the pains to verif,
his facts that I did to document M
fiction he would not have quoted TO
my annihilation John Payne, who con
firms my comment on Villon and multi
plies its vigor.
The defntive book on Vilon thu
far is the huge two-volume work
"Francois Villon, sa Vie ct son Temps.
published in 1913 and written b.
Pierre Champion, the pupil and sue
cessor of Longnon and the complete
of Marcel Schwob's researches. Their
is also study, just published, by ]. NJ
Bernard, laureate of the French Acad
emy, mort pour la France" Thes
all repeat the vile things Villon said o
himself Mr. Desmond alone stand
sponsor for him, but his "clean wind o
thought" blows through the empty gar
ret of his own ignorance, not out o
Payne's book, nor across the manure
heap of Villon's life
Stacpoole's work l could not secure
but he is, like me, only a novelist
and I am sure that he cannot prevail
against history. l doubt that he trie
to. Mr.. Desmond has probably forgot
, ten him as utterly as he forgot Payne
Furthermore, as Champion says, no
one fact of Importance has come t
light concerning Villon's life sine
Longnon published his "Etudes Bioe
raphiques" in 1877, the work on whic
, both Stevenson and Payne based thei
essays.
In blunt contradiction of Mr.. Des
mond and his sneering references t
Stevenson | call attention to the easil
demonstrabe fact that Stevenso
treats Villon with far more sympath
and mercy than Payne does.
Here are few puffs from PAYNE
clean wind of thought" concernin
Villon: "His companions and a,
qualntances were of the lowest an
most disreputable class, and he hin
self wasted his youth in riot and de
bauchery and scrupled not to resol
to the meanest and most revolving e,
I pedients." His family with the e,
ceptlon of his mother) utterly an
consistently refused to recognize hin
Decent people might we'll be allowe
to consider their connection wit
Master FRANCOIS Villon of brawlin
wenching, lock-picking and cheatin