Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-01-09
MACLACHLAN ON
FUT|L|TY OF WAR
Draws Lesson From Ibancz'
-Four Horscmcn of
Apocalypse"
MUST GET BACK TO GOD
Application Of Golden Rule
Will Make Conflict
Impossible.
MUST GET BACK TO GOD

IIorscmcn Of tho Apoca lypsc." basiny
his remarks on the book by Nindcnio
Biasco- lbancz. and the photoplay Of
the same name. DIR. Macla chian said
In part:
Al! works Of Imagination are gifts
OF God. This Is prc-cmincntly true
az these which compel us by means
OF their art. to face the great spirit
uhl realities. which are the only Ill
Inmate realities OF life. or this con
Spicuously is the photoplay. which
many OF you have hal III. privilcrr,
~ witnessing during the past week
taS"d on what IL perhaps the great.
est novel OF this Eeneration-"Thc
-Four Iiorscmcn OF the Apocalypse"
Great as the work Of art and in its
him form. as spectacle. II liz greater
sull. az "A challenge to the conscience
OF mankind
rms ~ no new role for it's author
-Ninccnto i!lnsco- lbancz with
scarcely an exception. his novels are
written for purpose Under the
fair rniment of the story-teller. he
hides the sackcioth and ashes Of the
Inoralist. ihancz would force his
generation To face the facts Of Ger.
tam universal follis and injusticcs
In The -Four Horscmcn." he plays tho
Same part b. war.
u has been my privilege 10 read
j suppose. most rf the outstanding
war books. but not ono of them
leaves the Impression on my mind
"f the horror. futility and scnsclcss-
ness ~ war az this book does How
unforgcttably does Blasco-Ibancz
Tying the glamour o. IN. marching
troops. the rampant patriotism. the
singing Of the "Marxeiliaisc. RICH,
mp against the Uncomfortable hor-
r"rs OF that night in Dcsnoycrs cas-
lc-nut there ar. depths OF human
d"prhvity that even art can only
hint at when Sherman said war IL
he'll" h" was uttcring more than an
"riHram. war IN hell triple distilled
not merely murder but murder
win all the conceivable and incon-
c"iEahi" torturcs Of the damned; not
only lust. hut lust quintcsscntial and
ahNsmic: not only destruction. bu,
destruction scnsclcss insane. not only
frenzy. but the frenzy as o! an arch
gel Son" insane: not only fear but
Tear mat makes SibbcrinS idiots GU,
al strong men. Louvain Rheims
poison gas. flame throwers-mu
ti"ii. torture. crucifiHion famine.
p.''IIencc-al'h Of the trenches. NTH
al the body. nth OF the mind An
That and more Blasco-I bancz makes
US sce--io what purpose? That a
rt"Hp ~ diplomats should meet in
washington and Jockey for position
In an International chess game? Sure
~ not mat do not undcrrate what
Is hcing done there. do not under
value the day OF small things. But
surely the common people %. the
world suffered enough In the four
years OF the war. surely they are suf
icrinc enough from It's aftermath
now, for them 10 rise in their might
and say with one voice TO their rulers
ana representatives: "IienCeforth we
mean To abolish tina, particular Kind
OF hell"
Pictures Honors or Wnr.
But BlascoIbancz Is not chiefly
concerned with picturinG the horrors
OF war. Others have done that. His
unique contribution is that he un-
covers It's sccdhed. The -Four Horse
men ar" under the orders OF the
beast. They issue out of his mouth
Long ago the Apostle John saw it,
and forctold the horrors OF a Goddess
civilization. TO him i, was tho civ
a'2ation OF Rome: TO us IL is the
civilization OF Europe and America
he Beast is not In some .ar-off
realm OF space. He IL here in our
own hearts, in our own institutions
In the very progress and cultur. we
were Boosting OF before the war and
tiNiHe toaa! because we can't get
rack to speedily enough-thc beast
oi animality and sclhshncss How
hncIy does Rlasco IhancZ picture the
r"'tenncss, the futility. the misCuid-
g" effort of the socicty-not French
merely. but intcrnational-wh was
brewing the hcll-broth of war. Dane
ing ana singing on the lin of the
volcano. The elder Dcsnoyer nlav.
Ing at Medieval Castcl and art
collecting; his son. Julio. playing at
hrt ana the one thing that will not
ne played at with impunity-lovc:
Madame Lauricr playing with The
fire that reduces hearts To ashes. The
German cousins playing at the goose
step and the kingspiei-while the
forgotten God of righteousness
brooded over all with the drawn
sword of justice in His hand.
You remember that scene in tho
play where DcSnoycr's Castle. with
all Its priceless treasures goes I'M In
flames under the pounding OF the
guns-not German guns. observe, but
FRENCH. IT is a parable of the fate
OF every civilization that is not built
on truth and righteousness. The cas-
tie falls under the impact of Its own
destructive forces. Its walls are
lath and plaster to the high cxDlo-
sive of the broken laws of God. Its
treasures are melted in the fame of
the divine wrath. The thing that has
taken years and centuries to build,
becomes heap of smouldcring ashes.
over and over again ii has happened
The hanging gardens Of Babylon arc
no more; the great empire OF the Hit
tites Is represented by single seal
In the Ashmolian Museum at oxford:
the grandeur of Rome and the glory
or Grecce-where arc they?; the
colossus OF Spain that once domi-
mated tho councils of the Old World
ana owned more than half of the
New. Is n trophy OF Deweys guns:
Germany and Russia are in ruins: the
whole civilization of Europe is bank
rupt. And the warning is to our own
halon In which the hegemony Of the
world now rests. lest 1t, too, forget
ana share the fate Of all those other
empires that buildsd without God.
tremendous Lesson OF Books.
And this is the tremendous lesson
Of the book-that the moral universe
IS under law in exactly the same
sense as tho physical: that Just as
burning Is the inevitable result of
thrusting ones hand into the fire,
es mansled corpse is tho result of