The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1922-09-10
The World of Foreign Books
FRENCH BOOKS
Surveyed by A. G. H. .SPIERS.

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true. always existed. but at no time, per-
haps. in the history of civilization has II
been SO ubiquitous, and consequently so
important, as in our own day when, with
the spread of democratic doctrines in every
domain. business, politics and art, effect of
the will of the individual has been con-
stantly reduced in favor of the growing
power of the will of large groups of men.
Familiar with the lectures and writings
of such observers of this force as Gabriel
Tarde and Gustave LIE Bon, the Unani-
mists were justly impressed with its in
fluence in our modern life. To quote the
words of Jules Romaines himself: 1--WE
enjoy the great good fortune of being
present at the beginning of a reign, at the
start of an organic series which, like 9TH
ers, will last for thousands of centuries
before the earth grows cold. This is not
progress: it is creation the first press
Ing forward of something new. Groups are
not destined to continue the work of ami
mails and of man. They will begin at the
beginning for the satisfaction of their own
needs. and. while acquiring consciousness
of their own nature, will change the aspect
of the world Those men who can to-day
get into touch with the soul of groups
may enjoy a presentiment of what the
future has in store and, in addition, reap
certain intuitions of use to themselves as
men,"
The most striking attempts made nv
Jules Romans to use the group soul as
the subject Tor literary works are his play
"L'Armee dams la Vile" (the Army in the
TOWN. and little volume entitled LES
Puissances de Paris" (the Powers of Paris)
In the former he treats of the presence in
the same town Of two great souls" made
up of the corporate existence of a large
garrison on the one hand and of the
native population on the other; he shows
or at least desires to show. the o;.position
Of these two bodies of men due to the
collective consciousness" of each In the
''Puissances de Paris" his study is more
curious, and. to US. more agreeable. Taking
divers groups of human beings as they
naturally form in Paris. he seeks to set
free the particular soul of each group
describing It as having a separate activ-
ity and existence of its own. Especially
successful are his descriptions of streets
as their aspect changes at different times
of the day. of the people sitting on the top
of omnibuses, of the passengers on the
batedur mouches. and of certain waiting
lines or queues. AS Jules Romains de-
scribes 1t. the crowd round the steps of an
omnibus or outside the Opera Comique
becomes a living being conscious of its
own existence. AT first" the crowd wait.
ing at the omnibus station "is but a line
of figures bordering the sidewalk and nc
broader than it. Every face is. turned
toward the street The crowd waits with
hope and restlessness. Yet its desire does
not completely absorb it: 1t has enough
freedom Of mind to dream. =" The
omnibus arrives. 1.-THE line presses for
ward to the curb like tent fly torn from
its pegs by the wind. 1t thickens and
closes in. assuming the shape of a bean
It's hollow presses closes abort the rear OF
the bus, sticking to it like a surgeons cup
Impulses from within modify 1t; even be-
fore the conductor speaks 1t begins to ar
range itself according TO the organization
of the numbers i. :" which. held high
in the air. determine the order in which
the passengers win be admitted
Such experiments in rendering the psy
chology of groups can hardly be called
more than literary curiosities. They ar,
not sufficiently convincing to be considered
works Of permanent literary value. The
effort spent upon them by Jules Roman.
was not, however, by any means fruitless
Besides contributing indirectly to the sue