4 THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE ch.

ing catastrophe overhung the frivolous scene; thefutility and smallness of man before the greatevents confronting him; the mingled significanceand unreality of the decisions; levity, blindness,insolence, confused cries from without,— all theelements of ancient tragedy were there. Seatedindeed amid the theatrical trappings of the FrenchSaloons of State, one could wonder if the extra-ordinary visages of Wilson and of Clemenceau, withtheir fixed hue and unchanging characterisation,were really faces at all and not the tragic-comicmasks of some strange drama or puppet-show.

The proceedings of Paris all had this air of extra-ordinary importance and unimportance at the sametime. The decisions seemed charged with conse-quences to the future of human society; yet theair whispered that the word was not flesh, that itwas futile, insignificant, of no effect, dissociated fromevents; and one felt most strongly the impression,described by Tolstoy in War and Peace or byHardy in The Dynasts, of events marching on totheir fated conclusion uninfluenced and unaffectedby the cerebrations of Statesmen in Council:

Spirit of the Years

Observe that all wide sight and self-commandDeserts these throngs now driven to demonryBy the Immanent Unrecking. Nought remainsBut vindictiveness here amid the strong,And there amid the weak an impotent rage.