The Washington times., 1922-01-22

iuIy, ! am forced to offend my
modesty. For deem that too.
~ well a. the illustrious citizen
whom his treaty Of war has innrnor-
talized. deserve the title OF great
Frenchman.' !, too. have found the
means to accomplish the sacred
union over my name. and those who
know the passions of the Cite ies
Lettres do not ignore that It IL even
harder to build up an alliance be-
tween the literary chapels than be-
tween the political parties. For
indeed those writer's who still obey
the laws Of our grammar, and the
Jeunes who are deliberately false to
thcm. bow before my work with
equal respect. The former honor me
for the vesture OF my thought; the
latter for that thought itself.
Why don't. they understand, these
young iconoclasts. that I am, for all
that. the last rampant against their
barbarism7 They do not know vet
that agitation is sterile and that TO
destroy false idols there is nothing
like a delicate action which envelops
them. as In a caress. This explains
why 1t is unsafe to build on the
ardent words of agitators. They give
US the Sermon on the Mount, or the
Chanson des Gueux, and they end
up on the cross or at the academy.
The most turbulent ones are some
times Gained by being made the head
OF the government or even president
or the republic-for we have learned
by the famous precedent Of the
Pisistratides, and by more recent ex-
amples, that those who do not -Iiks
to be governed want only to govern
others. Whether they are bound by
the chain Of a penitentiary or by
that Of honors. we cannot deny that
these men end up just as badly.
And that should not surprise us. 1T
Is not well to reproach them their
recantation. The revolutionary char
acter Of youth is not a sign of its
intelligence, it denotes its lack of
discipline; it is not yet experienced
enough to distinguish between law,
which Is sometimes oppression, and
moderation, which is always har-
mony. At this juncture will point
out to the young people of today
how different the line of my life was
from theirs. ...~
STUNNED WILD FETES.
kept away from all law1ess
manifestations in my early days.
My verses, modelled after the best
Parnassian pattern, were Of an I'm
peccable structure, and my first
novels were witty without being bit
ing. The Temps welcomed me. In
1t 1 reproached the author Of La
Debacle for his antipatriotism; and
the other good marks which my
exemplary conduct brought me made
their impression on the academy.
which received me in its generous
bosom. / am not ashamed to con
fess these errors; they were for me
the necessary steps Of my emancipa.
ton. Converts are always the most
dangerous destroyers of the temple
which they have denied. And IL
wished to seek shelter behind a
similar case, just as illustrious per.
haps, I should cite that of jean
Jaures. who died a martyr OF his
new faith. ass
1t was my love for the French
language which induced me to think
freely. There is no paradox in mis-
affirmation. I passed my childhood
among the old octavos which filled
my fathers house, and 1 breathed
early, with delight, their venerable
dust. And so, learned to know
life. not through contact with~ne
but through contact with books.
The passion for them has never left
ME. When my tastes had been, re.
fined by years, followed the in
Of my temperament, which
is at once peaceful and combatirs
and which led me to The study rof
the eighteenth century. .t,.
Diderot delighted NE infinitely;
myself With the ideas OF
those thinkers who brought the
church to grief at time when 1t
was almost as powerful as today
for I forgot to mention that phiIo.
sophical works alone interested me.
The tragedies Of NJ. Arouet de Vol.
taire made me yawn; but was
by his Melanges Philoso
phiques. I have made very ju.
dicious use of the latter. as well as
Of the works of that other writer.
happily forgotten, La Mothe ,Ie
Vayer. I will not mention tho
others. read them all
with rapture. and l have been able
to adapt their sentiments to the
taste of my century. have eyer
delved into those licentious little
plays which were being given in tho
small cla pdastina thaaters nf nrlpcas