The same thing happened
at the time of the Dreyfus Case; all the well-meaning people of
Europe--I among them--seemed never to have heard before of the
condemnation of an innocent man. They were terribly upset by it, and
they turned the world inside out to wash off the impurity. Alas! this
was done, but both washers and washed grew discouraged in the process,
and when it was all over, lo,--the world was just as black as ever! It
seems as if man were incapable of grasping the whole of human misery;
he dreads to see the extent of the evil, and in order not to be
overwhelmed by it, he fixes on some one point, where he localises all
the trouble, and will see nothing further. All this is human nature,
and easy enough to understand, my friends; but we should have more
courage, and acknowledge the truth that the evil is everywhere; among
ourselves, as well as with the enemy. You have found this out little
by little in our own country, and seeing the tares in the wheat, you
want to throw yourselves against your governments with the same fury
that made you see incarnate evil in the person of the enemy. But if
ever you recognise that the tares are in you also, then you may turn
on yourselves in utter despair. Is not this much to be feared, after
the revolutions we have seen, where those who came to bring justice
found themselves, without knowing why, with soiled hands and hearts?
You are like big children.
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