In this time of destruction it is a relief to
know that Mont St. Michel has not shared the fate of Monte Cassino. The four Germans left on the mount appear to have surrendered to one French- man and an American war correspondent ; probably they felt them- selves lucky to be locked up in the local gaol. For spectacular beauty Mont St. Michel is the noblest monument in northern Europe. The fact that it is not a smoking ruin is largely due to the great speed of the American advance. For every reason one hopes that this advance will liberate with equal speed places like Chartres and Troyes and Bourges. The destruction in Italy is bad enough, but it must be remembered that most (not by any means all) of the greatest treasures of Italian art are movable. Archi- tecturally France is incomparably richer. Moreover, it is possible to reconstruct a good many buildings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries without giving the impression of mere copy-work, but, if Chartres cathedral were lost, it would be lost for ever. So one comes back to the fearful dilemma : ought those who are taking no part in the fighting go even the smallest distance towards suggesting that the preservation of any building, however unique, is of more importance than the saving of the life of a single soldier?
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