The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories

ves, and thus degrade society to a condition worse than pagan, to a state of primeval savagery-Uncertainty of the attitude of our leading men toward war, universal armament, and general military consc

business they pursue-Those who regard war as a cruel inevitable phenomenon-Maupassant-Ro

ways: by change of life, or by change of consciousness; and it woul

to check for a season, the progress of knowledge in regard to that which is evil, and which ought not to exist. One would think that the alternative of a change of life to accord with consciousness might be settled with

law defined in the gospel by the words: "Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John iii. 19). Most persons, in conformity to this principle, do not use their r

d yet neither of them perceived this, because the disavowal of slavery must have d

injustice, is opposed to all those moral principles which our society professes, a

from others and from himself its inconsistencies, chief among which is the necessity of adopting the Christian ideal, which is subversive of the very structure of

wealth of imagination, what form and color, what erudition and art, but what a lack of serious purpose, what reluctance to face any exact thought! Ambigu

res with certain advantages, men must of necessity return to the pagan life-conception and to the doctrines to which it gave rise. Not only are patriotism and the rights of the aristocracy preached at the present time as they used to be 2000 years ago, but also the coarsest epicureanism and sensuality, with this difference only,-that the teachers of old believed in the doctrines they taught, whereas those of the pr

n as in their attitude toward that phenomenon in which at present all the inconsistency

of affairs, which has sprung from the peculiar political situation of Europe, and believe it to be susceptible of adjustment by diplomatic and international mediation, without injury to the structure of nations.

r to do; therefore they do not even admit the natural question which presents itself to most men; viz., "Is it my duty to take part in it?" In the opinion of these judges th

national mediation, is well defined in the results of the London Peace Congress, and in an article, together

e results of

l, the Congress, opening with a Te Deum in the cathedral, and closing with a dinner and speec

nations, in which, the true interests of all are acknowledged to be identical. The Congress is convinced that the true basis

ers of the gospel and other teachers of religion and morality the duty of setting forth these principles of Peace and Good-will, which occupy such a central place

attention of the young to the grave evils inflicted on mankind in all ages by war,

ation of brigades for saving life rather than any of quasi-military character; and it urges the desirability of impressing on the Board

r liberties, and their property, and that they shall be shielded from the vices which are so prevalent among the so-called advanced races of men. It further expresses its conviction that there should be concert of action among the nations f

ess, are not infrequently indirect causes of war. The Congress is therefore of opinion that these ends should be counteracted by the publication of accurate statements and information that would tend to the removal of misund

oject for the unification of weights and measures, of coinage, tariffs, postal and telegraphic arrangements, means o

that make for peace, as otherwise she incurs grave responsibilities for the continuance of the systems of war and militarism, which not only desolate but corrupt the home-life of t

the reduction of import duties as a step toward Free Trade. The Congress feels that it can affirm that the whole of Europe desires Peace, and is impatiently waiting for the moment when it shall see the end of those crushing armaments which, under the plea of defense, bec

ral interest, of those questions which now must divide States, expresses the wish that a Congress of Representatives of all the States of

the Government which should first dismiss any considerable number of soldiers would confer a signal benefit on Europe and mankind, because it would oblige other Governments, urg

e Societies here represented, and all friends of Peace, to carry on an active propaganda among the people, especially at the time of Parliamentary ele

hich it was recommended that arbitration should be obligatory in all controversies concerning diplomatic and consular privileges, boundaries, territories, indemnities, right of navigation, and the validity, construction

smen of Europe, and expresses the ardent desire that treaties in simila

tiate general or special treaties of arbitration for the settlement of all disputes, except those relating to the independence and internal government of the

mical, labor, and peace organizations in civilized countries, requesting them to send petitions to the governmental authorities of their respective countri

by all Peace Societies is the establish

itutes a step toward this juridical state, and lessens

extension of the rule of neutral

ed in a manner to render the neutrality more effective, either by extending neutralization to the whole of the State, of which a part

with the wishes of the populations concerned, be conclu

mmittee Secti

re or immediately after the next session of the Int

an international Peace Em

n of the follow

es of America, addressed to the highest representatives of each church organization in Christendom, inviting the same to unite wi

to express its profound reverence for the memory of Aurelio Salfi, the great Italian

opted by this Congress, and signed by the President, should, so far a

owered to make the needful verbal emendati

llowing resolut

o the Presidents of the vari

hairman, the secretary, and the mem

o the conveners and members

r their pulpit addresses before the Congress, and that they be requested to furnish copies of the same for p

Her Majesty for permissi

y Mayoress, to Mr. Passmore Edwards, and other friends who ha

the Assembly, in which so many men and women of varied nations, creeds, tongues, and races have gathered in closest co?peration; and in the conclusion of the labors of

ng all men the belief that war is not advantageous for mankind, and that peace is a great benefit; an

to teach people, every third Sunday of December, the evils of war and the benefits of peace; to accomplis

evils of war are so well known to men, that from the earliest

thousands of years ago, so that the advice to the ministers of the gospel to preach against the evi

the advice to governments to disband armies and have recourse to International Courts of Arbitration. Governments know very well all the difficulties and burdens of conscription and of maintaining armies, and if in the face of such difficulties and burdens they still continue to do so, it is e

ould imperil the very existence of nations; it would be bloody, atrocious, desperate. This consideration, and the consideration of the terrible nature of the engines of destruction at the command of modern science, retards its declaration and

ave sought for means to arrest, or at least to diminish, t

gress of Universal Peace to be held in Rome, which have already

lations in regard to these international duels would at least tend to limit their horrors. It is equally Utopian to build one's hope on projects of disarmament, whose execution, owing to considerations of a national character, which exist in the minds of all our readers, is practically impossible." (This probably me

also contribute to lessen the military expenses that now crush European nations, to the great detriment of the solution of social questions, the necessity of the

t military organization, which is maintained for the purpose of invading a foreign terr

ion of its territory within twenty-four hours. This practical sentiment was e

ffers the follow

c Congress, to as

s in determining the nature of the incident that kindled the war-that is, every declaration of war is caused by

ed until the vote of the pe

t begin until a month aft

ons. But all the other nations are in the very same position, requiring to be restrained and kept within bounds, in other words, coerced. And who will coerce them? And how is it to be done?

ons to restrain themselves. This very experiment has been and is still bein

d agree to this, then wars would cease, and there wo

h pronounced on the Alabama claims. The Pope has been requested to decide the question concerning the Caroline Islands:

a pity that Germany, Russia, Austria, and France ha

ly men can deceive themsel

d Poland, England and Ireland, Austria and the Czechs, Turkey and the Slavs, France and Germany, will be settled by mutual consent. This is very much

d selling dear, and therefore the suggestion to sell at cost price and th

ue in regard t

and the one which is to be held in Rome), they read essays, hold banquets, make speeches, edit journals devoted to the subject, and by all these means they endeavor to prove that the strain upon nations who are obliged to support millions of soldiers has become so severe that something must be done about it; that this ar

f the birds, but I saw at once that if I could sprinkle salt on their tails I could catch them, and that what I had been told was

t to be put on its tail, for it is the nature of a bird to fly. Likewise it is the nature of a government not to be ruled, but to rule its subjects. And a government rightly is named such only when it is able to rule its subjects, and not be

e gone on repeating this to others so long that they have ended by believing it themselves, and they really seem to think that justice is one of the duties of governments. History, however, shows us that governments, as seen from the reign of C?sar to those of the two Napoleons and Prince Bismarck, are in their very essence a violation of justice; a man or a

eir sole reply will be a shrug of the shoulders; they will not even deign to give a thought to your question. Their way of solving the difficulty is to make speeches, write books, choose their presidents, vice-presidents, and secretaries; assembled in a body, to hold forth in one city or another. They think that the result of their efforts will be to induce governments to cease to recruit soldiers, on wh

they pretend to support temperance, while they actually derive the larger part of their income from intemperance; just as they pretend to maintain liberty of the constitution, when it is the absence of liberty to which they owe their power; ju

ng-man which will never liberate him from slavery; they have established a Christianity which serves to prop the government rather than destroy it. And now another interest is added to their cares,-the promotion of peace. Governments, or rather those rulers who are going about at present with their ministers of state, making up their minds on suc

y way of diverting observation from that radical question: When a m

on your uniforms, and be prepared to worry and harass each other for our benefit, say the gove

d so advantageous for the State that

ve men of genius, who see and realize all the horror, folly, and cruelty of war, but by some strange turn of mind never look about them for any means of escape, but who seem to take a morbid delight in realizing to the utmost the desperate conditi

ps over me, as though I were listening to stories of witchcraft, or tales of

to the slaughter-house. Those men will fall on some battlefield with a sabre-cut in the head, or with a ball through the heart. Yet they are young men, who might have done useful work. Their fathers are old and poor; their mothers, who have idolized them for twenty years as only mothers can idolize, will learn after six months, or perhaps a year, that the son, the bab

egree of philosophy to which the human spirit has attained, we have schools where the art of murder, of aiming with deadly accuracy and killing large numb

nts. What difference is there between monarchies and republics? It is stupefy

inal prejudices, and the ferocious impulses of our barbarous ancestors, for we are beas

e been banished when he uttered hi

res the accusation against the victors and the generals. The nations begin to understand that the magnitude of a crime cannot lessen its wickedness; that if it be crimin

absolute truths, let us

poet are all in vain," continues Maupa

the art of murder, Von Moltke, once made to a p

le sentiment in the human heart: honor, self-sacrifice, virtue, courage, an

ennial state of stupidity, plundering cities, burning villages, ruining whole nations; then to encounter another mountain of human flesh, rush upon it, cause rivers of blood to flow, and strew the fields with the dead and the dying, all stained with the muddy and reddene

cientists and philanthropists, who devote their whole lives to benefit their fellow-men, seeking to improve their condition. They pursue their efforts tirelessly, adding discov

e results of twenty years of patient labor and of human

an when they speak of man

xists no longer, and law is dead, where all sense of justice has been lost, we have seen innocent men shot down on the highway, because they were timid and thus excited suspicion. We ha

all saving men from the

dwellings of starving wretches, to ruin or plunder a man's household goods, to drink the wine found in the cellars, to vi

by saving men from the m

the smallest degree of intelligence? Nothing whatever. What

practical contrivance of a wheel and a couple of boards, a

she great because she conquered, or because she produced? Was it the Persian

f the Barbarians sav

ellectual movement started by the philo

urp the rights of life and death over the people, that the people from

thers. It is allowable only when it promotes the welfare of the governed. It is as much the d

een careless or even incompetent, he is convicted. As soon as war has been dec

slay their fellow-men, if they refused to allow themselves to be needlessly slaughtered, if they were to turn their weapons against

n there is no need for it; he realizes that the men who make up the armies might turn their weapons against the government and demand a reckonin

ble; assuming that the never ceasing requisition of soldiers on the part of go

ce he fails to offer a solution, it is evident that he feels that such a contradiction must exist, and regards it as a contribution to the romantic tragedy of life. Another and an equally gifted writer, Edouard Ro

h our feet, and threatening clouds hang low on the horizon. Ah! if we had nothing more to fear than the bugbear of the Revolution!... Unable to conceive a society worse than our own, I am more inclined to distrust than to fear the one that may replace it, and if I should suffer in consequence of the change, I should console myself with the reflection that the executioners of

e each other; during conscription their time is stolen from them in order to steal their lives with more certainty. By way of stimulating a thirst for blood mutual animosities are excited, and gentle, kind-hearted men allow themselves to be deluded, and it will not be long before they attack each other with all the ferocity of wild beasts; multitudes of peace-loving citizens will obey a foolish command, God only knows on what pretext,-some stupid frontier quarrel, perhaps, or it may be some colonial mercantile interest.... They will go li

e most approved methods.... The fate of a whole generation hangs on the hour when some saturnine politician shall make the sign, and the nations will rush upon each other. We know that the noblest among us will be cut down, and that our affairs will go to destruction. We know this, we tremble in anger, yet are powerless. We have been caught in a snare of bureaucracy and waste paper from

e of a single generation! But ma

a race: one of the component parts of the modern world is threatened; the vanquished nation will morally disappear; it matters not which chances to be the victim, a power will disappear (as though there had ever been one

ered a quarter of an hour before his execution. Anxiety paralyzes our thought, and the utmost we can do is to wonder, as we con the vague utterances of ministers, or construe the meaning of the words of monarchs, or turn over those ascribed to the diplomatists, retailed at random by the newspapers,

rate individuals who compose the mass; that the root of all evil is the State. It would seem as if the contradiction

led description of the horror of this state of things, he perceives no reason why human life should not be spent in the mids

eld by men who have lost all conscience, and are c

s cruel superstition, who are supported by it, and who naturally regard war not only as an inevitable evil, but as a necessary and ev

of the Revue des Revues in regard to his opinions on war, replies

izan of war, his reply is already given. Unfortunately you yourself classify the peacefu

ng against this shocking custom of international carnage. Al

. Against war and duelling the congresses of the two hemispheres vote in vain. Superior to all arbitrations, conventions, and legislations will ever remain human honor, which has always demanded the duel, and

lle D

the interest of nations that they should attack and destroy one an

presses himself i

a dream perhaps, yet certainly is the most delightful of dreams. The vision of the land of promise is ever before the eyes, and upon the soil of the future the harvest will ripen, secure from the plowing of the projectile, or the crushing of cannon-wheels. But, alas!... Since philosophers and phil

s Cla

hat no one intends to do, and what ought not in any event to be do

Europe, gives utterance to his views on t

am regarding the subject from the universal standpoint, and am not hinting at our unfriendly relations with Germany, which are but a trifling incident in the world's history. I affirm that war is useful and necessary, since it is one of the conditions of human existence.

ation, assuming the form of a widespread effeminacy which would impede the progress of humanity. Warlike nations have always been vigorous. The military art has contributed to the development of other arts. History shows us this. In Athens and Rome, for instance, commerce, industry, and literature r

is u

l the writers of this tendency, is the academician Vogüé, who, in an arti

of a golden age, caressing it with fond hopes. We have no objection; but should it ever be realized, it would very soon become an age of corruption. History teaches us that the former has been accomplished by the means of the latter, that blood is necessary to hasten and to seal the confederacy of nations. In our own time the natural sciences have strengthened the mysterious law which revealed itself to Joseph de Maistre through the inspiration of his genius and meditation on primordial dogmas; he saw how the world would redeem its hereditary fall by offe

found in the writings of De Maistre and of Darwin, two great thin

the issue of this law, the more primitive races would execute it against us; in these races the voice of nature would prevail over human intellect. And they would succeed, because the certainty of peace-I do not say peace, but the absolute certainty of peace-would in less than half a century produce a corruption and a decadence in men more destructive than the worst of wars. I believe that one should act in regard to war-that criminal law of humanity-as in regard to al

. de

f all absurdities), and woman without a fight. It is odd that people meet in congresses and hold forth as to the best method of catching birds by putting salt on their tails, although they must know that this can never be done! It is astonishing that men like Rod, Maupassant, and others, clearly realizing all the horrors of war, and all the cont

ly unavoidable, but even useful, and therefore desirable,-such men are fairly shocking, horrible in their moral aberrati

What, then, can I do? I am an educated man,-I am familiar with the doctrine of evolution; hence it follows that I shall work evil. "Entrons au palais de la guerre." There is a law of evolution, and therefore there can be no r

have built up on them can go no further. They lie, and by their specious arguments de

try by every means to befog and to silence it. But the li