StudienVerlag - Oapen

and even at places where you are not deeply moved you are greatly impressed by
the vastness of its lay-out, by its good order, by its sincerity. There is in my mind no
doubt that this is a work that will last for some considerable length of time.
As to this man’s megalomania, I called it straightforward. Now, I am not going
to indulge overmuch in tempting quotations. He possesses, so he says, particular
qualifications to take a hand in free lance diplomacy because almost all statesmen in
Europe knew of course „Men of Good Will“; and speaking of a particular man – no. I
must read this one: „He was one of the members of a kind of order of chivalry which
was recruited little by little in Europe. The name Men of Good Will they sometimes
used for themselves. They were in sympathy though far apart. Occasionally they met
and lent one another a hand“. This particular man of the Secret Order being Henri de
Man, who later established a Belgian government under German rule. He has come
to see Romains to confide to him – I quote – „a vast plan the existence of which only
three men in the whole world knew at the time. He stopped short, looked me over
from head to foot, and exclaimed with a strange laugh: You know, Jules Romains,
your position is absolutely unique in Europe and even in the world!“ – One day he
invites Prime Minister Daladier with some people to his place – I quote – „to give
him the feeling that the finest elements of the intellectual elite of France are with
him“. Oh yes, just one more instance. About postcards. He likes writing postcards.
The business in hand is the crushing of a strike. Romains walks into a tobacco shop,
buys a carte pneumatique, on one side he writes M. Edouard Daladier, and on the
other – listen: „My dear Premier, your energy is admirable. All the measures you
have taken are excellent. Now hang on and don’t give in on a single point. I think
the blackest moment will come at 11 o’clock tomorrow morning. I wish to be with
you at that time – so that you will feel you are not alone. At 11 I shall knock at the
door of your office!“
So much about megalomania. Now, why am I talking about this in detail? Only
because this man’s case lends itself, by its plainness, so particularly well to analysis?
Again it would be insincere to pretend this. I am doing it because this is just
the point where this man’s megalomania is linked to this man’s politics, and I am
going to say that this man’s politics are our concern. If Hamsun sides with Hitler,
you will deplore it, but there is just a chance that you might think it to be a very
old man’s own business. If Maurois, a busy admirer of this country for many years,
thinks fit now to put his money on the old horse of Vichy, we might like to make
a mental note of it for a later date that will come, but it is his own business. But
Romains, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the International President of the P.E.N., chosen
to be the Speaker of World Literature, my voice, your voice. Are we or are we
not entitled to watch out with whom our Speaker is siding? Once more, therefore:
where does he stand? You heard of that friend of his, de Man. You heard of his
postcard to Daladier. Do you want to hear his opinion on some other Frenchman?
Listen. „He has been most unfairly criticized; I can bestow nothing but praise on
him. On whom? On M. Georges Bonnet! Listen to this passage out of a dialogue:
„I have a feeling he, too, has remained a Man of Good Will and can be trusted.“
Who? Otto Abetz. Listen: „Needless to say the game Russia was playing seemed
to us most ambiguous, and part of our work lay in keeping the government from
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