It was enough if his
client purported to be oppressed; it did not matter if the victim had
been a would-be oppressor himself. His blundering generosity sometimes
made him ridiculous, but he was always liked. He did not object to the
ridicule, nor did he dread a little unpopularity, as long as he was
surrounded by his own group, whose approbation was necessary to him.
As a member of a group which was independent when they all held
together, he thought that he was an independent person, but this was
not the case. Union is strength they say, but it accustoms us to lean
upon it, as Alexandre Mignon found to his cost.
The death of Jaures had broken up the group; and lacking one
voice--the first to speak--all the others failed. They waited for the
password that no one dared to give. When the torrent broke over them
these generous but weak men were uncertain, and were carried away by
the first rush. They did not understand nor approve of it, but they
could make no resistance. From the beginning desertions began in
their ranks, produced largely by the terrible speech-makers who
then governed the country--demagogue lawyers, practised in all the
sophistries of republican idealogy: "War for Peace, Lasting Peace at
the End ..." (_Requiescat_) ... In these artifices the poor pacifists
saw a way to get out of their dilemma; it was not a very brilliant
way and they were not proud of it, but it was their only chance.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113