remarkably evident in the letters and journals of these young men, was
due to the fact that they had arrived, for the first time, at a
comprehension of the unity of life. There is no tedious alternative of
choice in the active military career. All is regulated, all is
arranged in accordance with a hierarchical discipline, and war becomes
what dogmatic religion is to a weak soul that has been tossed about by
the waves of doubt. It must be also borne in mind that the incessant
dread of invasion, especially in the neighbourhood of the eastern
frontier, had kept the spirits of those who knew that responsibility
would fall upon them, in a state of unceasing agitation. It is a
paralyzing thing to exist under a perpetual menace which nothing can
precipitate and yet nothing can avert. Captain Belmont, in his
admirable letters, speaks much of the "romanticism" which attracted
many of his companions, and of the natural satisfaction which the
declaration of war gave to their restless faculties. The two
sentiments were probably one and the same, and to a poetical
temperament that might well seem "romantic" which filled a less vivid
mind with restlessness and languor.
It is noticeable, too, that when once the sickening suspense was
removed, and the path of pain and glory lay clear before these
youthful spirits, they grew very rapidly in intellectual stature. They
had found their equilibrium, and no more time and force were wasted in
useless oscillations. Each of them had, at last, the occasion, and
therefore the power, to fill out the lines of his proper
individuality. As M. Henri Bordeaux excellently says, "L'esprit
inquiet ne se contente de rien, le coeur inapaisé se croit incompris."
But now these men knew their vocation, and a precocious experience of
life developed in them a temper of meditation. It is extraordinary
what an intelligent philosophy, what a delicate study of nature, were
revealed at once in the writings of these heroic boys of twenty.
Lieutenant Belmont, who fought in Alsace, had spent his infancy and
adolescence in the neighbourhood of Grenoble, and his memory was full
of the rich Dauphiné valley, with its great river and its eastern
horizon of the Alps. In the misery of the September nights of 1914, in
the harshness of misty mornings among the Alsatian pines, his thoughts
return to the luminous twilights of his old home under the great oaks
of the Isère, and he expresses his nostalgia in terms of the most
exquisite and the most unstudied grace. Here is a fragment of one of
his letters home (October 1914):--
"Les journées sont exquises, tristes et pâles, également différentes
des crudités de nos idées et des ténèbres de l'hiver. L'imagination a
vite fait de s'envoler, à travers cette lumière adoucie, vers tous les
horizons familiers de la petite patrie, vers la vallée de Grenoble,
paresseusement allongée dans ce bain de léger soleil, au pied des
Alpes déjà engourdies, vers les terres rousses de Lonnes longées par
les futaies jaunissantes où s'abritent les gibiers, tranquilles cette
année."
No doubt, the reason why this war has been, for France, so peculiarly
a literary war, is that the mechanical life in the trenches,
alternately so violent and so sedentary, has greatly enforced the
habit of sustained contemplation based on a vivid and tragic
experience. This has encouraged, and in many instances positively
created, a craving for literary expression, which has found abundant
opportunity for its exercise in letters, journals, and poems; and what
it has particularly developed is a form of literary art in which
Frenchmen above all other races have always excelled, that analysis of
feeling which has been defined as "le travail de ciselure morale."
This moral carved-work, or chasing, as of a precious metal, revealing
the rarity and value of spiritual surfaces, is characteristic of the
journals of Paul Lintier, of the beauty of which we have already
spoken. His art expends itself in the effect of outward things on the
soul. He speaks of mysterious sights, half-witnessed in the gloaming,
of sinister noises which have to be left unexplained. He does not
shrink from a record of unlovely things, of those evil thoughts which
attend upon the rancour of defeat, of the suspicion of treason which
comes to dejected armies like a breath of poison-gas. That portion of
his "Souvenirs" which deals with the days of the retreat on Paris is
written in a spasm of savage anger; a whole new temper is instantly
revealed when once the tide turns at Nanteuil. Nature herself thus
endorses his new mood, as he writes "There are still clouds heaped up
to the west, but the blue, that cheers us, is chasing them all away."
Among the noble young poets whose pathetic and admirable fragments the
piety of surviving friends has preserved, it is difficult to select
one name rather than another. But in the rank of these Rupert Brookes
and Julian Grenfells and Charles Listers of France, we may perhaps
pause before the ardent figure of Jacques de Choudens. He was a
Breton, and was trained for the law on the other side of France, at
Lille. He found that the call of the sea was irresistible, and after
two years at a desk in that dreary and dusty city, he suddenly flung
up his cap and would have no more of such drudgery. To the despair of
his family, he started on the high seas, and explored the wonderland
of Haiti. After various adventures, he was about to return to France,
when the sea again took him by the throat, and he vanished, like
Robert Louis Stevenson, in the Pacific. Having sailed twice round the
world, "beyond the sunset and the baths of all the western stars," a
tired Ulysses under thirty, Jacques de Choudens had just come back to
France when the war seized him with a fresh and deep enchantment. He
entered into it with a profound ardour, and proved himself to possess
exceptional military qualities. He was severely wounded on the second
day of the battle of Charleroi, but slowly recovered, only to be
killed in an engagement on June 13, 1915. His poems, written since war
broke out, have been carefully collected and published by his friend,
M. Charles Torquet. They are few, and they suffer from a certain
hardness of touch; Jacques de Choudens had, as yet, a deeper
acquaintance with life than with literature; but they breathe a spirit
of high and romantic heroism. Let the sonnet called "Autre Prière" be
offered as an example:--
"_Terres, fleuves, forêts, ô puissances occultes,
C'est votre âme qui bat au bleu de nos poignets;
Notre orgueil s'est enfin cabré sous les insultes
Dont, depuis quarante ans, ô France, tu saignais.
Dans le livre où s'apprend le plus hautain des cultes,
Marque la page avec nos sabres pour signets;
Ceins la couronne d'or qu'en l'An deux tu ceignais,
Car c'est dans notre chair à nous que tu la sculptes.
France! France! Bénis chaque arme et chaque front;
C'est d'ardeur, non de peur, que tremble l'éperon.
Nous sommes tes martyrs volontaires, superbes,
Sous l'auréole d'or des galons du képi....
Nous allons préparer aux faucilles des gerbes,
Puisqu'où tombe un soldat pousse un nouvel épi._"
The poet, shortly before he fell, wrote to a friend "Nous
travaillerons mieux après la victoire, ce que nous ferons ayant été
mûri par la fatigue et les angoisses. La vie est bonne et belle et la
guerre est une chose bien amusante." This is the type of Frenchman who
fights for the love of fighting, who puts above all other happiness
the prize of military honour and glory won in a good cause. We meet
with it in the lyrical effusion of an adventurous poet like Jacques de
Choudens and in the straightforward evidence of a practised soldier
like Captain Hassler, whose "Ma Campagne" is a record extraordinary
alike for its courage, for its vivacity, and for its modesty.
The peculiar spirit of ardent gallantry to which we have dedicated
these few pages is illustrated, as will be observed, by examples taken
without exception from the first months of the war. It would be rash
to say, without a careful sifting of evidence, how much of this
sentiment survived the days which preceded the battle of the Marne.
France has, in the succession of her attacks up to the present hour,
continued and confirmed the magnificent tradition of her courage. But
it is impossible to overlook the elements which have taken the
romantic colour out of the struggle. No chivalry could survive close
experience of the vile and bestial cruelty of German methods. The sad
and squalid aspects of a war of resistance, fought in the very
bleeding flesh of the beloved mother-country, were bound to be fatal
to "cette bonne humeur bienfaisante" which so marvellously
characterized the young French officers of August 1914. Moreover, the
mere physical element of fatigue has been enough to quench that first
radiant flame. We find it deadening, at last, even the high spirit of
Paul Lintier, and we listen to his confession: "To sleep! to sleep! O
to live without a thought, in absolute silence. To live, after having
so often nearly died. I could sleep for days, and days, and days!"
These are considerations which belong to a heavier and a wearier time.
As a matter of history--so that in our hurrying times a gesture of so
much beauty may not, because it was so ephemeral, be forgotten--I have
endeavoured to catch a reflection of the glow which blazed in the
hearts of young intellectual officers at the very beginning of the
war. If in the inevitable wear and tear of the interminable struggle,
this beauty fades into the light of common day, so much the more is
there need that we should fix it in memory, since in a world which
savagery and treason have made so hideous, we cannot afford to let
this jewel of pure moral beauty be trampled into oblivion.
_breve et irreparabile tempus
Omnibus est vitae; sed famam extendere facti
Hoc virtutis opus._
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The writings of La Rochefoucauld were subjected to accurate and
detailed examination in the edition begun by Gilbert in 1868, and
brought to a pause at his untimely death in 1870. It was completed in
1883 by J. Gourdault. After the lapse of half a century, the short
biography by Gilbert, with which this edition began, naturally
requires some revision, and is open to several additions. An earlier
volume (1863), by E. de Barthélemy, is of a more technical character,
but may be referred to with advantage by those curious regarding
detail. The MSS of Rochefoucauld still in existence--one of these,
known as the Liancourt MS., is in the Duke's handwriting--are
numerous, and may still, no doubt, reward investigation. The best
recent summary is that by J. Bourdeau (1895), published in M.
Jusserand's charming series. There is not, so far as I am aware, any
English biography of the author of the "Maximes."
The complete works of La Bruyère were elaborately edited in three
volumes (1865-1878) by G. Servois. Much curious information is to be
found in Allaire's "La Bruyère dans la Maison de Condé" (1887), and an
excellent summary in the Life by M Paul Morillot, 1904. But the latest
and fullest account of La Bruyère's career is to be found in M. Emile
Magne's Preface to the selected works (1914). Editions of "Les
Caractères" are countless.
The writings of Vauvenargues were collected by the Marquis de Portia
in 1797, by Suard in 1806, by Brière in 1821, by Gilbert in 1857, and
again in 1874; each of these editions added considerably to knowledge.
The only recent Life is that by M Maurice Paléologue (1890).
The principal volumes referred to in "The Gallantry of France" are the
following:--
"Ma Pièce" Souvenir d'un canonnier de 1914. Par Paul Lintier. Paris:
Librairie Plon, 1916.
"Anthologie des Écrivains français morts pour la Patrie." Par Carlos
Larronde. Préface de Maurice Barrès. I-IV. Paris: Larousse. 1916-1917
"La Jeunesse Nouvelle." Par Henri Bordeaux. Paris: Librairie Plon
1917.
"En Campagne" (1914-1915). Impression d'un officier de Légère. Par
Marcel Dupont. Paris: Librairie Plon. 1916.
"Ma Campagne de jour de jour." Par le Capitaine Hassler. Paris:
Librairie Plon. 1917.
INDEX
Academy, French, 91
Addison, at Blois, 87,88
----compared with La Bruyère, 87
d'Ailly, Abbé, 22
Aix in Provence, 100
Alençon, 155
Allard, Jean, 136-138
Alsace, 162
Alsace-Lorraine, 132
Amelot, 118
Amyot, Jacques, 99
Anne of Austria, 11, 13
Anne of England, 88
Apemantus, 6
Argonne, the, 157
d'Argonne, Bonaventure, 61 _n_.
Arnauld (d'Andilly), 22
Augustine, St., 43
Barbier, Auguste, 150
Barrès, M. Maurice, xiii, xv, 153
Belgium, 146
Bellay, Joachim du, 148
Belle-Isle, Marshal de, 106-107
Belmont, the brothers, 140, 161, 162
Berkeley, Bishop, 125
Besnard, H A., 155
Blair's "Grave," 110
"Blue Room," the, 8
Bohemia, the campaign in, 98, 107, 109, 112
Bohemia, Queen of, 33
Boileau, xix, 47, 70, 82
Bordeaux, M Henri, 139, 157, 162
Bossuet, Antoine, 92
Bossuet (Bishop),35, 44, 47, 61, 62, 76, 91, 101 _n_. 110, 116
Bouillon, Godefroi de, 58
Bourbon, Duc de, 61
Brillon, 55
Brooke, Rupert, 131, 164
Brunetière, Ferdinand, 32 _n_.
Buckingham, Duke of, 11
Budgell, Eustace, 88
Burney, Fanny, 62
Bussy-Rabutin, 45, 70
Caen, 59, 60, 64
Calvin, 106
Casaubon, 70
"Chambre des Sublimes," 47
Champagne, 139
"Chanson de Roland," 132, 135
Chateaubriand, 153
Châtelet, Mme du, 112
Chevreuse, Mme de, 14
Choudens, Jacques de, 164-6
Clapiers, Luc de, 99 _see_ Vauvenargues
Coleridge, his "Table-Talk," 29
Commune, the, 121 _n_.
Condé, Prince de (the Grand Condé), 19, 61, 63, 64
Consenvoye, 152
Conti, Prince de, 14
Corneille, Pierre, 123, 124, his "Pulchérie," 48
Cousin, Victor, 32
Cromwell, Oliver, 129
Decourcelle, M. Pierre, 138
Descartes, 33, 122, 125
Détanger, Capt E J., 151, 152
Drouet, Marcel, 151-154
Dupont, Marcel, his "En Campagne," 143
Duryer, his tragedy of "Alcyonée," 18
Dyke, Daniel, his "Mystery of Self-deceiving," 28
Egra, 107
d'Enghien, Henri Jules, Duc, 63
Esprit, Jacques, 30-32, 50 _n_
Fénelon, 35, 91, 101 _n_.
Fontenelle, 61, 69 _n_.; described as "Cydias", 68
Fresnes, Château de, 36
Fronde, the, 13, 20, 24
Fuller, Thomas, 28, 74
Gilbert, 109
Gourville, 18
Grenfell, Julian, 131, 164
Grenoble, 162, 163
Grignan, Mme de, 39 _n_, 48
Guastalla, victory at, 102
Guienne, 15
Guillot, Léon, xv
Guyon, Mme, 91
Haldane, Lord, quoted, 149, 174
Halifax, Earl of, 77, 78
Haraucourt, M.E., 141
Hassler, Capt, his "Ma Campagne", 166
d'Hautefort, Mlle, 11
Helvétius, 42
Hobbes, his "Leviathan," 33, 34
Huet, Bishop of Avranches, 37
Jansenists, 27, 33, 127
Jeandelincourt, 141
Jesuits, 33
Johnson, Dr., 88
Jouy, Ernest, 28
Kipling, Rudyard, 152, quoted, 90
Konrad, the monk, 135-6
La Bruyère, 55-93; birth and parentage, 58; La Bruyère at Chantilly,
64; contrasted with La Rochefoucauld, 57, described as "Ménippe,"
65, in the House of Condé, 65, 90, at Fontainebleau, 64, Paris, 64;
at Versailles, 64; his "Caractères," 55-57; 66-72, 76, 78, 83, his
"Dialogues," 92
La Bruyère, Louis, 58
La Fayette, Mme de, 36, 37, 39, 45, 46, 48-50
La Fontaine, 47; "Fables" of, 49 _n_
Lagrange, Henri, xiv
Lamb, Charles, 58
Lantil, Léo, 139
La Rochefoucauld, Duc de, 3-52, birth and descent, 8, 9; marriage,
10; his "Letters," his "Maximes," xvi, 4-6, 33,47, 51, 52, 57, his
"Mémoires," 9-17, 21, 23-25; his portrait by himself, 22-25 by
Petitot, 19, by Cardinal de Retz, 17
Lauzun, Duc de, 80
La Vergne, Marie de, _see_ La Fayette, Mme de
Lille, 164
Lintier, Paul, 3, 4, 131, 140-149, 163, 169
Lister, Charles, 164
Locke, John, 74, 124, 126
Longeville-les-Metz, 147
Longueville, Mme de, 14, 18, 39 40 _n_
Lorraine, 146
Loti, Pierre, 152
Louis XIII, 8, 9, 13, 14
Louis XIV., 84
Louis XV, 84, 117, 123
Luxembourg (Palace), 23, 64
Lyons, 141, 155
Mademoiselle, La Grande, 17, 23
Maeterlinck, M., 160
Magne, M., Emile, 63
Mahon, Col Patrice, 151
Maine, Duc du, 46,47
Maine, Duchesse du, 116
Maintenon, Mme de, 46
Malebranche, 122
Malizian, 70
Manceau, Col. Emile, 149
Mandeville, Bernard, 42, 126
Marcillac, Prince de, 11, 12, 47, _see_ La Rochefoucauld
Mirabeau, Marquis de, 100, 103-105
Molière, 48
Nolly, Émile; _see_ Détanger
Paléologue, M., 105, 169
Paris, Gaston, 135
Parma, French victory at, 102
Pascal, xviii, 22, 23, 32, 33, 35, 55, 81, 113, 115, 122, 127, 128
Péguy, 146
Petitot, 19
Phélippeaux, Abbé, 87, 88
Picq, Col. Ardent du 147, 148
Pierrepont, 136
Pin, Abbé Elliès du, 92
Plessis, Mme du, 36
Plutarch's "Lives," 99, 100
Pompadour, Mme de, 114
Port Royal, 22, 23, 27, 28, 36, 86
Prague, capture of, 107
Quercy, 155
Quimper,157, 158
Racine, xix, 35, 47, 122, 123
Rambouillet, Hôtel de, 7
Regnier, Henri, 20
Retz, Cardinal de, 10, 16, 17
_Revue Critique_, 150
Rhine, Passage of the, 40 _n_.
Richelieu, 10-12, 14
Roë, Art, _see_ Mahon
Rousseau, J.J., 38
Ruffec, 19
Sablé, Mme de, 4, 5, 21, 23, 29, 31, 32. 36, 41 _n_.
Saint-Antoine, Faubourg, 18
Saint-Cyr, 137
Saint-Simon, quoted, 79, 91
Schomberg, Duchesse de, 7
Scudery, Mlle de, 39, 45
Sedan, 153
Segrais, 35, 50 _n_
Séguier (Chancellor), 30
Seneca, 43
Seven Years War, 106
Sévigné, Mme de, 34, 39 _n_, 40 _n_, 45 _n_, quoted, 48-50
Seyres, Hippolyte de, 107-110
Shaftesbury, Third Earl, 126
Shakespeare, quoted, 6, 30
Singlin, Antoine, 22
Société des Gens de Lettres, 138
_Spectator_, the, 88, 89
Spinoza, 33
Steele, Sir Richard, 89
Stephen, Sir Leslie, 34
Stevenson, R.L., 78, 101, 165
Suard, 99, 121
Sully, 129
Tailly-sur-Meuse, 143, 148
Tallemont des Réaux, 22
Temple, Sir William, 118, 126
Theophrastus, 69-71, 88
Thiange, Mme de, 46, 47
Torquet, M. Charles, 165
Turin, 102
Valincourt, 64
Vauban, Sebastien de, 84 _n_.
Vauvenargues, Marquis de, 97-132; birth and parentage, 99-101;
described as "Clazomène," 121; serves in the Bohemian campaign, 98,
107, 109, 112, in garrison at Arras, 113; in garrison at Metz, 106,
113, in Paris, 120, with Villars in Lombardy, 102; his "Éloge" on De
Seyres, 109, his "Discours sur la Gloire," 109, his "Introduction à
la Connaissance de l'Esprit humain," 124, his "Réflexions sur divers
Sujets," 104, 117, 121, 127
Verdun, 144
Vernulius, 28
Verteuil, 19, 20, 48
Vigneul de Marville, 60, 61 _n_.
Villars, Marshal de, 102, 129
Violand, Camille, 151, 155-160
Virton, Battle of, 144, 157
Vivonne, Andrée de, 10
Voiture, 8
Voltaire, 40, 84, 101 _n_, 111-114, quoted, 33, 52, 75, 122, 123
Vouziers, 155
Young's "Night-Thoughts," 110