have capitulated to the
madness of the terrible year through which we have passed, Rolland has
remained firm, and has surpassed himself. He was prepared. As the
extract placed at the beginning of this volume shows, he was one of the
few who realized only too well the horror he was powerless to prevent.
Yet he made every effort to open the eyes of Europe and especially of
the young, so many of whom had learned to look up to him as a leader. To
these young men, one of the finest essays in the present collection is
primarily addressed--_O jeunesse heroique du monde_....

Eighteen months have passed and they still endure the terrible ordeal,
the young men of Germany and France, whom he had striven so hard to
bring together; on whose aspirations and failings _Jean-Christophe_ is a
critical commentary. The movements and tendencies of society were there
given a dramatic embodiment, permeated for Rolland by the Life
Force--that struggle between Good and Bad, Love and Hatred, which makes
life worth living. All is set down with the clear analysis of feeling
natural to a musical critic. But in spite of his burning words on the
destruction of Rheims, Rolland, as is clear from his other critical and
biographical writings, is more interested in men than in their
achievements. And the men of today interest him most passionately.
"Young men," he has said, "do not bother about the old people. Make a
stepping-stone of our bodies and go forward."

And above all it is the permanent things in life with which he is
concerned. As Mr. Lowes Dickinson puts it, "M. Rolland is one of the
many who believe, though their voice for the moment may be silenced,
that the spiritual forces that are important and ought to prevail are
the international ones; that co-operation, not war, is the right destiny
of nations; and that all that is valuable in each people may be
maintained in and by friendly intercourse with the others. The war
between these two ideals is the greater war that lies behind the present
conflict. Hundreds and thousands of generous youths have gone to battle
in the belief that they are going to a 'war that will end war,' that
they are fighting against militarism in the cause of peace. Whether,
indeed, it is for that they will have risked or lost their lives, only
the event can show."

The forces against such ideals are powerful, but Rolland is not
dismayed. "Come, friends! let us make a stand! Can we not resist this
contagion, whatever