The critics kept this, but cut it out when it occurred further on
dissociated from such flattering expressions. The word, awkwardly
concealed under this extinguisher, shone all the more brightly in the
mind of the reader--but this they were too dull to perceive, and
great importance was thus given to writings which had not much in
themselves. It must be added that all minds were then in a passive
state, in which the slightest word of liberal humanitarianism took on
an extraordinary importance, particularly if signed by a well-known
name.
The "_Pardon Asked of the Dead_," was more effective than the other
ever could be; its sadness touched the mass of simple hearts, to whom
the war was agony. The authorities had been indifferent up to now, but
at the first hint of this they tried to put a stop to it. They had
sense enough to know that rigorous measures against Clerambault
would be a mistake, but they could put pressure on the paper through
influence behind the scenes. An opposition to the writer showed
itself on the staff of the paper. Naturally they did not blame
the internationalism of his views; they merely stigmatised it as
_bourgeois_ sentimentality.
Clerambault furnished them with fresh arguments by a new article,
where his aversion to war seemed incidentally to condemn revolution as
well.
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