THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 295 



this your cleverness ; we call it your magic. Ordinary 

 minds do not understand the seduction exercised by 

 great minds. The fascination of the magician escapes 

 the vulgar mind ; the qualities of enchantment are a 

 gracious gift, and because they are imponderable 

 mediocrity denies that they exist, whereas it is the 

 imponderable which does in reality exist. Humanity 

 will always be led by the secret love-philters of which 

 the crowd sees only the superficial effects, just as the 

 illuminant of the physical world is in the invisible 

 fluids which the ordinary eye cannot discern. 



"Your eloquence has captivated the whole world, 

 and has surely entitled you to a place in our midst. 

 The programme of our company is not a purely literary 

 one, carried out with no ulterior aim, and ending in 

 the frivolities which proved the ruin of Oriental litera- 

 tures. It is things or deeds which are beautiful; 

 words in themselves have no beauty outside the noble 

 or true cause which they serve. What matters it 

 whether Tyrteus was a man of talent or not. He 

 succeeded, he was as good as an army. The Marsel- 

 laise is, whatever musicians and purists may say, the 

 greatest song of modern times, inasmuch as it leads 

 men on to combat and to victory. "When we reach 

 these altitudes personal merit is of small account ; all 

 depends on predestination, or on our success, if that 

 word be preferred. It is no use saying that a general 

 ought to have won a battle if he loses it. The great 

 general and this applies equally to politics is the 



