THE BATTLE OF FRANCE
reservistes. . * . Reservistes. . . . You know what it
means?'
The song is amusing and profound. It describes
one of our reservist regiments. The colonel is a
royalist, the commandant a moderate, the captain
devout, the lieutenant a radical, the adjutant a
socialist, and all those ingredients go to make
excellent soldiers with one idea only: to be victorious
together and find peace again. In its simple way it
is a faithful portrait of France, of its superficial
differences and its real solidarity. Would that it
could be sung in all the cities of the countries that
know nothing of ours!
And its effect on the audience of soldiers is
startling. French and English alike clap, shout, and
stamp for joy. It is more than enthusiasm: it
amounts to adoration. 'Encore, Maurice!' And he
comes back gracefully. What has made him
successful is not only that with the moderation of all
great artists, he remains always natural and never
overloads his personality: it is also and primarily,
that he has no vulgarity of soul. In the widest
possible sense of a beautiful word, he is generous: he
believes in goodness, courage, love.
The artists of pessimism depict perhaps, do depict
indeed, aspects of human nature that are true
enough, but they forget that man is after all a noble
animal and that one does better to dwell on his
liberty than on his slavery* The greatest of them,
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