French fiction -- 20th century; World War, 1914-1918 -- Fiction
Only international greatness will at last permit the rooting up of the
stubborn abuses which the partition walls of nationality multiply,
entangle and solidify. The future Charter--of which we confusedly
glimpse some signs and which has for its premises the great moral
principles restored to their place, and the multitude at last restored
to theirs--will force the newspapers to confess all their resources.
By means of a young language, simple and modest, it will unite all
foreigners--those prisoners of themselves. It will mow down the
hateful complexity of judicial procedure, with its booty for the
somebodies, and its lawyers as well, who intrude the tricks of
diplomacy and the melodramatic usages of eloquence into the plain and
simple machinery of justice. The righteous man must go so far as to
say that clemency has not its place in justice; the logical majesty of
the sentence which condemns the guilty one in order to frighten
possible evil-doers (and never for another reason) is itself beyond
forgiveness. International dignity will close the taverns, forbid the
sale of poisons, and will reduce to impotence the vendors who want to
render abortive, in men and young people, the future's beauty and the
reign of intelligence. And here is a mandate which appears before my
eyes--the tenacious law which must pounce without respite on all public
robbers, on all those, little and big, cynics and hypocrites, who, when
their trade or their functions bring the opportunity, exploit misery
and speculate on necessity. There is a new hierarchy to make mistakes,
to commit offenses and crimes--the true one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account