FROM A PARIS WINDOW.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 52, 1 March 1919, Page 21

FROM A PARIS WINDOW.

('Special to '"Star.")

FARIS. December ft. ALBERT OF BELGIUM.

•P r i_ ha? welcomed many illustrious | •i r - but never nun crowned with a teAtex halo of --lory than the snvcrcipi I__ it acclaimed on Thursday last— ___. of Belgium, the "Horn Kin-.*' as r rlisle would call him. tho highest type ,J human greatness, the Chevalier Sans p_ r P t Sans Rcproche. The national Latitude for the immense role played by Seium in cheeking the Huns* invasion 7__ expression in the almost unprec.K_ warmth with which Paris greeted Ki n . Albert and his gracious consort. Until the end of history his memory •rill endure, and with him the memory j his magnificently gallant people. Steadfastness, bravery, and loyalty . been rewarded by complete victory. May, while the -.-Kaiser, the torturer ■Belgium, is cowering in exile a fugi- i L from justice, branded for eternity j ~ a murderet, perjurer, and physical; reward, the gallant Belgian army is tri_npaant.lv dominating over Germans n Herman' territory, and the Belgian King and Queen, the incarnation of course, honour, and charity, are enshrined fcjthe hearts of all free men. STRAFINT* KXCLAXn COXTIX-ES. U i s evident that the Germans do jot love the French: they honestly hate ,'nc British. They are even carrying out tbeir frenzied detestation to ridiculous !_■__. b.- leavina behind them in eva__t<'d centre:-, virulent anti-English pamphlets- printed in French. Apart from recapitulating all our "crimes against France since the burning of .Toau of Arc, the French are solemnly warned that they will. Ire long, be forced to become British, for Uoyd George means to annex the country. Tbe aim of the Hun propaganda is to divide, or at any rate unsettle, Allied oninion by calumniating each of the Allies in turn. The Huns, still hoping to flood the- American market with goods "Made in Germany.*' American prisoners receive more consideration than others, and. before being liberated, were piven a sanctimonious lerture on the affection of the Huns for Americans. The hypocrisy of the procedure is apparent, and the mere su_;ostion that they love our American allies, I nauseating insult to them. UNBEST IN" FRANCE.

The armistice has surely brought | about a division of ideas in French noli- I tical circles, which may find their solution and level in next year's general i elections. Meantime. France will remain under full military preparedness j for any untowatd emergency. Bolshe- j vbm is as infectious as cholera, or ( any other scourge. France seems very j much at peace just now. in the liope of a prosperous future, if only her own ! Bolshevists can be kept in hand. Unfortunately they are under the leadership of men whose pro-German political principles have been apparent since August. 1014. The Government's forthcoming peace efforts promise to he more arduous and more complicated than any it has had to overcome since its coming to power a year ago. THE PASSING OF A GREAT POET. One of the latest victims of the "jrrippe" is M. Bdmond Rostand, the ■.eat French poet and dramatist, who died mi Tuesday last from bronchojmeuni&nia. The greatest French poet nt his time began his career as a dramatist at the little Cluny Theatre in the Latin quarter, where hi- first play, a vaudeville, called "l.c fiant Rouge.'" was produced in August. 1888. _I. Rostand's poetic genius, however, soon attracted public attention. Much of the "Musardises." which appeared at that ppoch. is still constantly recited. "When M Rostand took his first seriou. play.

"l.es Romanesques." to the Conwdie Kraneaise the ruling powers of the French National Theatre decided that he -,vas too young for the honour of having a work produced there. Nevertheless, a year or so later they played "Leg Romanesques." and M. Rostand tasted the tirst sweets of fame. In 180.5 M. Rostand had his "Princess Lointaine"' produced at the Renaissance, where the young author was introduced to Sarah P.ernhardt. The "Divine Sarah" created in 1897. at her own theatre, the principal role in his next work. "La _unaritaine." a poet'.s amplification of the Biblical story. It was at the end of the same year that "Cyrano de Bergorae." Edmond Rostand's masterpiece, wan produced at the Porte _. Martin Theatre, with the frreat Coquelin in the title role. The play was an instant triumph, and its first performance marked an epoch in the annals of French drama. The sparkling wit, the pathos, the generosity of sentiment, the picturesque beauty and lightness of "Cyrano." the new spirit of confidence it breathes in tlie destinies of France, the calorification of the traditional heroic and chivalrous virtues of the French, all combined to "make the play famous immediately. Soon it crossed the frontier to score triumphs in cvctv quarter of the C'lobc. The author was only thirty years of age **'hen this wonderful success came to him.

'"l-'Aiglon." in 1!I00, was almost as great a success as "Gyrano." Ten years elapsed before M. Rostand's last 'play. "Chantecler." was produced at the ?orte St. Martin Theatre. Some of the poet's dramatic works fay lend themselves to discussion. M. ■Rostand is universally recojrnised. nevertheless, as bavin": added a new lnstre to the French sta-c and to French literature.