London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1916. Pp. xi+ 350. 1
The New Statesman, 8 (11 Nov 1916), 141
For thirteen years M. Jusserand has been French Ambassador in Washington. His Literary History of the English Peopleis well known in England, and the present volume of scattered essays also deserves recognition here. Three papers deal with the rôleof the French contingent in the War of Independence; the rest are addresses delivered in America on Lincoln, on Franklin, on H. H. Furness (the Shakespearean scholar), and one on the prospect of universal peace. 2
The three first essays contain interesting material from unpublished documents, letters and journals of some of Rochambeau’s aides. 3 Few Americans, and perhaps fewer English, appreciate the chivalry of the French enthusiasts for freedom who took part in the American Revolution. M. Jusserand points out that France was at the time distinctly Anglomaniac, and that the spirit which led a French army to America was not hatred of England, but passion for a political ideal as expressed by Turgot, “an experiment of the utmost importance is about to begin, and should succeed” [13]. 4 Even by Washington himself, the disinterestedness of the French was not at once accepted without suspicion, and under the influence of old English prejudice, many leading Americans were opposed to a French alliance. 5
The last paper in the book, “From War to Peace,” was delivered in 1910 before the American Society for the Judicial Settlement of International Disputes, and has received no alteration in the light of recent events. 6 M. Jusserand looks forward to a time when public opinion will render impossible even those grounds for waging war (“to defend their own country,” and “to drive out of their friends’ land the enemies that have invaded it”) for which Sir Thomas More declared armament to be necessary [344-45]. 7
