The sculptor wrinkled his brow in the effort
to find metaphysics in Rodin and Beethoven; and Dr. Verrier had a
streak of the marvellous in his disposition. This he satisfied by the
hypotheses of biology, and the wonders of modern chemistry, though he
would glance at the paradise of religion with the disenchanted smile
of the man of science. He bore his part in the sad trials of the time,
but the era of war with all its gory glory faded for him before
the heroic discoveries of thought made by a new Newton, the German
Einstein, in the midst of the general distraction.
These men all differed in the form of their minds and in their
temperament; but they all agreed in this, they belonged to no party,
each thought for himself, and each respected and loved liberty in
himself or in others. What else mattered? In our day, all the old
framework is broken down; religious, political, or social. It is but
small progress if we call ourselves socialists, or republicans, rather
than monarchists, if these castes accept nationalism of State, faith,
or class. There are now only two sorts of minds: those shut up behind
bars, and those open to all that is alive, to the entire race of man,
even our enemies. These men, few though they may be, compose the true
"International" which rests on the worship of truth and universal
life.
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