... He declared that a soldier
who, by force of mind and a sentiment of honour and patriotism, was
able to conquer the instinct of fear, should not merely "fulfil" his
military duty with firmness, but should hurl himself on death, because
it was only at that price that success could be obtained over a
numerical majority."
This is a revelation of that individualism which is characteristic of
the trained French character, a quality which, though partly obscured
by the turn the great struggle has taken, will undoubtedly survive and
ultimately reappear. It is derived from the admonitions of a series of
moral teachers, and in the wonderful letters which M. Maurice Barres
has brought together with no less tact than passion in his series of
volumes issued under the general title of "L'Ame Francaise et la
Guerre," we have an opportunity of studying it in a great variety of
situations. This is but a portion, and it may be but a small portion,
of the multiform energy of France, and it is capable, of course, of
being subjected to criticism. That, in fact, it has had to endure, but
it is no part of my business here, nor, if I may venture to say so, is
it the business of any Englishman to criticise at any time, except in
pathetic admiration, an attitude so beautiful, and marked in its
self-sacrifice by so delicate an effusion of scrupulous good taste.
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