ere
peculiarly their own, and which have not been duplicated in any other
country on the globe.... Every man of letters was under suspicion. The
government of Russia treated every author as its natural enemy, and
made him feel frequently the weight of its heavy hand. The wreath of
laurels on the brow of almost every poet was turned by the tyrants of
his country into a crown of thorns." (From the present writer's essay
"The Gloom and Glory of Russian Literature" in _The Open Court_ for
July, 1918.)

THE DEVIL AND THE OLD MAN

BY JOHN MASEFIELD

_POSTCRIPT_

For the benefit of the gentle reader, who is about to shed a tear or
two over the demise of the devil, the following episode from Anatole
France's _My Friend's Book_ is retold here:

Pierre Noziere (Anatole France) takes his baby-girl to a Punch and
Judy show, the culmination point of which always consists of the duel
to the death between Punch and the Devil. The terrible battle ends, of
course, with the death of the Devil. The spectators applaud the heroic
act of Punch, but Pierre Noziere is not happy over the result of the
fight. He thinks that it is rather a pity that the Devil has been
slain. Paying no heed to Suzanne sitting by his side, he goes on
musing:

"The Devil being dead, good-bye to sin! Perhaps Beauty, the
Devil's ally, would have to go, too. Perhaps we should never
more behold the flowers that enchant us, and the eyes for
love of which we would lay down our lives. What, if that is
so, what in the world would become of us? Should we still be
able to practise virtue? I doubt it. Punch did not
sufficiently bear in mind that Evil is the necessary
counterpart of Good, as darkness is of light, that virtue
wholly consists of effort, and that if there is no more any
Devil to fight against, the Saints will remain as much out
of work as the Sinners. Life will be mortally dull. I tell
you that when he killed the Devil, Punch committed an act of
grave imprudence.

"Well, Pulchinello came on and made his bow, the curtain
fell, and all the little boys and girls went home; but still
I sat on deep in meditation. Mam'zelle Suzanne, perceiving
my thoughtful mien, concluded that I was in trouble.... Very
gently and tenderly she takes hold of my hand and asks me
why I am unhappy. I confess that I am sorry that Punch has
slain the Devil. Then she puts her