In 'Three French Moralists and The Gallantry of France', Edmund Gosse explores the origins of the spirit of gallantry that inspired young French officers at the beginning of World War I. Through his essays, Gosse aims to shed light on the many different strains of the French soul and to understand the source of their idealism. In this book he examines the historical context of the war, through exploring the ideas of the moralists La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère, and Vauvenargues.

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Excerpt from Three French Moralists: And the Gallantry of France The object of these essays is to trace back to its source, or to some of its sources - for the soul of France is far too complex to be measured by one system - the spirit of gallantry which inspired the young French officers at the beginning of the war. We cannot examine too minutely, or with too reverent an enthusiasm, the effort of our great ally, and in this theme for our admiration there are many strains, some of which present themselves in apparent opposition to one another. The war has now lasted so long, and has so completely altered its character, that what was true of the temper of the soldiers of France in November 1914 is no longer true in April 1918. Confidence and determination are still there, there is no diminution in domestic intensity or in patriotic fervour, but the long continuance of the struggle has modified the temper of the French ofiicer, and it will probably never be again what it was in the stress and tempest of sacrifice three years and a half ago, when the young French soldiers, flushed with the idealisms which they had imbibed at St. Cyr, rushed to battle like paladins, with a pure heart, in the rapture of chivalry and duty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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