^ Kovalcvski was a historian, sociologist and j urist. Bccausc of his libcral views he lost his post as profcssor at Moscow Univcrsity and cmigratcd to Paris, whcre hc taught and lcctured.
Yes, Zola is not Voltaire, nor are any of us Voltaires, but life sometimes produces such a chain of circumstances that it is very much out of place to reproach us for not being Voltaires. Think of Korolenko, who defended the M ultan pagans and saved them from penal servitude. Nor was Doctor Haas a Vol- taire, yet his wonderful life ran along to a good end.
I am acquainted with the affair from the stenographic report and it certainly is not what you read in the newspapers. I can see Zola plain. The important point is that he is sincere, i.e., he builds his judgments solely on what he sees, and not on spectres, as others do. Sincere people can certainly make mistakes—no doubt about that—but such mistakes cause less harm than well- advised insincerity, prejudices or political considerations. Sup- pose Dreyfus is guilty: Zola is right anyway, because it is the writer's business not to accuse and not to persecute, but to champion the guilty, once they are condemned and suffer pun- ishment. People will say, what about politics and the interests of the government? But great writers and artists should engage in politics only to the extent necessary to defend themselves against politics. Even without political considerations there are plenty of accusers, prosecutors and policemen, and in any case the role of Paul suits them better than that of Saul. And no matter what the verdict may be, Zola nonethelesss will expe- rience a vibrant joy after the trial is over, his old age will be a good old age and when he dies it will be with a serene or at any rate eased conscience.
The French people have sickened and they grasp at every word of comfort and at every well-intended reproach coming from without; that is why Bjornstern's letter was so popular here, along with our Zakrevski's article (which people read in the "News"), and why the abuse of Zola was so obnoxious, i.e., the stuff the yellow press, which the French despise, dishes up for them every day. No matter how neurotic Zola may be, in court he still represents French common sense, and so the French love him and are proud of him, although they applaud
To OLGA HERMANOVNA CHEKHOVA [l8g8]
the generals who, simple-minded as they are, frighten them first with the honor of the army and then with the threat of war.
See what a long letter this is. It is spring here and the mood is that of a Little Russian Easter: warmth, sunshine, the peal of bells, memories of the past. Do come! By the way, Duse will be playing here. . . .
Yours,
A. Chekhov
To OLGA HERMANOVNA CHEKHOVA
February 22, i8g8, Nice
My dear daughter and protegee,
I congratulate you on the addition to the family and hope your daughter will be beautiful, clever, interesting, and to cap it all will marry a good man, if possible, a tender and patient one, who won't jump out of a window because of his mother- in-law. I had received word of this happy event in the family some time ago and heartily shared your joy, but haven't offered my congratulations until now because I haven't been up to it, I myself felt I had a young one in my belly, I've been having such acute pain. The dentist broke a tooth, took three sessions to extract it and probably caused an infection, as an infectious periostitis set in in the upper jaw, my countenance became dis- torted, and I crawled up the walls with the pain. I had a fever like typhus. The day before yesterday I had an operation and now the pain has eased. So saying, everything below concerns your husband. . . .
. . . You ask my opinion regarding Zola and his trial. I reckon first of all with the obvious facts: on Zola's side is the entire European intelligentsia and opposed to him is everything that is vile and of doubtful character. This is the way things are: just suppose a university administration expelled one student instead of another in error, you started protesting and people shouted at you, "You are insulting knowledge!" although the university administration and knowledge have only one thing in common, that both the administering officials and the profes- sors wear blue frock coats; then you swear, assure, accuse, and people shout, "Proofs!"
"See here," you say, "let's go into the administrative office and have a look into its books."
"That's not allowed! That's an administrative secret! . . ." Now, this is the wild-goose chase going on here. The psychol- ogy of the French government is transparent. Like a decent woman who has deceived her husband once, commits a number of gross mistakes, falls prey to insolent blackmail and finally kills herself—and all in order to conceal her initial fall from grace—so the French government, too, will stop at nothing, but shuts its eyes and reels to left and right, just to avoid acknowl- edging its mistake.
"New Times" is conducting a ridiculous campaign; on the other hand the majority of Russian papers, even though they are not for Zola, are against his persecution. The Court of Cassation will settle nothing, even with a favorable outcome. The question will resolve itself, in some casual fashion, as a result of the explosion of the steams now storing up inside of French heads. Everything will tum out all right.