its nature and virulence be--whether moral epidemic
or cosmic force." And he appeals not only in the name of humanity but in
the name of that France which he loves so dearly--"la vraie France" of
which Jaures wrote (in the untranslatable words which Rolland has
quoted), "qui n'est pas resumee dans une epoque et dans un jour, ni dans
le jour d'il y a des siecles, ni dans le jour d'hier, mais la France
tout entiere, dans la succession de ses jours, de ses nuits, de ses
aurores, de ses crepuscules, de ses montees, de ses chutes, et qui, a
travers toutes ces ombres melees, toutes ces lumieres incompletes et
toutes ces vicissitudes, s'en va vers une pleine clarte qu'elle n'a pas
encore atteinte, mais dont le pressentiment est dans sa pensee!"

But though his love for France inspires every word that Rolland has
written, the significance of the present volume is not less apparent to
English readers. Some of the articles and letters now collected have
already appeared in English, for the most part in the pages of _The
Cambridge Magazine_, from which they have been widely quoted in the
press. For help in rendering the translations as adequately as possible
I may also take this opportunity of acknowledging my special
indebtedness to Mr. Roger Fry,[1] who has just issued through the Omega
Workshops a striking translation of some of the most recent French
poetry inspired by the war; to Mr. James Wood, who has himself done part
of the translation, particularly "pro Aris"; and to Mr. E. K. Bennett,
of Caius College, whose version of "Above the Battle" has already been
quoted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and others. For the most part,
the articles here collected have not appeared in English before; and
they have been almost inaccessible even in French, as their author
explains in his Preface.

C. K. OGDEN.

MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, _January, 1916_.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION BY THE TRANSLATOR 7

PREFACE 15

I. AN OPEN LETTER TO GERHART HAUPTMANN 19

II. PRO ARIS 23

III. ABOVE THE BATTLE 37

IV. THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS: PANGERMANISM,
PANSLAVISM 56

V. INTER ARMA CARITAS 76

VI. TO THE PEOPLE THAT IS SUFFERING FOR JUSTICE 93

VII. LETTER TO MY CRITICS