The New York herald., 1921-03-06
Paris Reads a Satire on Utopians

day to reconstruct society, after every
meal. Finally they attempt to realize
their visions by an experiment in Com
munism, and they found, near little
village of the Sarthe. the Kropotkin
| Colony.
| After the lamentable failure of this
attempt Pascal quits his friends and
goes to spread his gospel through Lon
don, where other failures await him.
| ..oisheartened, he returns to Paris to
give up his humanitarian dreams and
devote himself to Lucy alone and to
less visionary plans Of life.
| Those who are disturbed at the
menace of contemporary Communism
should find some comfort In the havoc
| worked in these novels among the
| ancestors of our present day revolu-
.ionists. 1t is true, to-day's Com
munism has not exactly the same look
and fails to proclaim either love for
humanity or justice. RI its grand
father was Fourier, it's father is Karl
Marx
But the Communists that appear in
"An Apostolate" belong to a very spe-
cial breed. Not that they are of an
imaginary type. Even to-day one
finds them In the cafes and wine
shops of the Montparnasse quarter.
1t is there that TStertevens found
them. in one OF those vegetarian res
taurants where fauna and flora
equally cosmopolitan and bizarre meet
and coalesce!
The patrons Of the Ceres restaurant
were old ladies' In spectacles and pale
cheeks, fitfully scratching down memo
randa in their notebooks; a few
Russian students devoid of elegance.
emaciated and silent: a Greek with
his bare feet thrust in sandals, a rib
bon In his hair like Alcbiades, who
conversed with nobody and gave or
ders like a German"
Pascal NORM came to nourish HIM
self upon hygienic fare and noble
revery. He was a gentle creature,
sensuous and mystical. brought up tied
to the apron strings of an English
mother. whose tender memory, like a
portrait by Lawrence. went with him
everywhere. Chapelle, his elder by ten
years, propagandist full OF authority.
quite free from useless prejudices and
knowledge OF the future.
Near him sits Firmin Thommel, "a
dark little fellow, apprehensive and
restless. all beard and eyebrows-his
trick was cutting bread into little par
ticles with his knife" There was
Krabelinks. a painter from Brussels,
who spoke in a thick, truculent voice
and could initiate the slide trombone.
He was always dressed In blue"
Later Norwegian theorist Joined
the group. dogmatic and cold. This
entire force of effective recruits turned
up when Pascal inherited his fortune
and founded the Kropotkin Colony.
The history of this enterprise is cx-
quisitely original and touched with a
delicate irony. II In the first contact
of our theorists with reality and with
the earth. They experienced all kinds
OF vicisstudes and unforeseen diff
cultics. DisiIlusions followed fast.
The selflshness of each member was
thin veneer Of brotherhood, which
cracked. The dishonesty OF a new
brother" brought the final stroke OF
ruin to the establishment.
Now begins the drama. Pascal Is
alone in London. There, In Hyde
Park, mounted on table. he tried to
communicate to the passersby what
was left OF his faith. The wheeze Of
aa ssthmatic organ mingled with the
tones Of his voice. r. stertevenss ac-
count OF these outdoor meetings sur