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167
full of p,lssionate intensity. So Ch:lI11bers t()Und himself at the center of the
immense hum,1I1 drama of standing t()J- the truth in the tace of gl'neral dis–
trust and contempt.
Something of a precl'licnt
exi~ted
in the scandal that has gone down in
history as the ])reyfus AfElir. Unlike Chambers, Captain Alfi-ed I)reyfus was
never a spy, and American justice tllrthermore delivered the right verdict
wi th the minimum of prevarication, whereas the authori ties delibl'rately
perverted French justice. Uut in the manner of Hiss, an ersatz aristocrat
known as Count Walsin-Esterh,lzy succeeded in muddying the waters with
such brilliant deviousness that
,111
innocent man was victimized.
Many French intellectuals were present at the public ceremony when
l)reytlls was strippl'd of his rank.
o
Ill'
of them, Maurice Uarres, typified
established prejudice when Ill' aftLTw,mis wrote of the victim: "Through
some fltal powcr he possesses, or the f()rce of the ideas associated wi th his
name, the wretch evoked in all ,)ssemblcd ,) measure of antipathy. His f()r–
eign physiognomy, his impassive stiHiless, the very atmosphere he exuded
revol ted even the most self-control kd of spectators."
Uy mL'.lIlS of this impressionistic ,1Ild superficial characterization, Uarres
was expressing the deep-set ft.'.lr of (;LTlllany that has haunted France ever
sincl' the Napokonic wars. R,)ther th,1I1 examine why Cermany was supe–
rior in so many fields, particularly Illilitary ,1Ild industrial, Frenchmen like
Uarres retreated into supersti tion and conspiracy.
The Chambers case obliged American public opinion similarly to
decide what view to hold of the power
011
the other side of the divide. Was
the Soviet Union an ally or an enemy, the source of hope or the source of
fear? In spite of the prejudice Chambers aroused and the innuendos and lies
directed against him in court and in the press, the evidence of Soviet sub–
version and espionage was incontrovenibk. Chambers gave Icgi timacy
to
anti-Communism, shifting public opinion as few individuals have ever
done. Fellow travellers, the entire Left indeed, never forgave him f()r sl1<1t–
tering their t;1Iltasies and self-perceptions.
Uurnt out by the experience, Chambers puzzled the few friends and
admirers th,1t he had by abstaining ti-Olll fighting the Cold War.
I~eferring
to the good of his soul, he rdllsed with some vehemence to be the pawn of
Nixon or Senator McCarthy. In
/lVillless
he was concerned
to
argue that a
more religious age would have understood him readily. Although in gener–
al agreemellt, Tanenhaus does not greatly care for that book, finding it full
of self-delusion and bolshevik in spirit. Still, he evokes very well the mood
of melancholy that gathered in the hour of victory. Chambers had devised
for himself a part of historic signific.lIlce, only
to
regret it.
Even the Soviet leadership in the end conceded that no good had come
from Communism and never could, writing off the whole experiment as a
