GAULLE Charles de. Autograph manuscript, [Du patriotisme, 1913]; 9 pages small in-8 (pag. 1-10, 2nd f. missing). A fine early text on patriotism. The title was given by Admiral Philippe de Gaulle when it was published in Lettres, notes et carnets, with this note: "This lecture was probably given in 1913". The manuscript contains erasures and corrections; it is paginated 1-3 to 10, but the 2nd page must have been deleted and replaced by an addition at the top of page 3; the end is missing, or the text has been left unfinished. As the first paragraph indicates, this lecture on patriotism was one of a series of "oratorical essays" given to fellow students. De Gaulle emphasised that he was not drawing his ideas from books, but "from the depths of my own convictions". Patriotism is first and foremost "a sort of racial heritage, which leads man to prefer one people over another; it can then be attributed to the natural love of each person for the soil in which he was born and grew up, for the objects that surrounded his childhood and his life, for the earth that contains the ashes of his forefathers; another reason is the preference of each person for men whose character, language, customs and traditions are the same as his own. Finally, especially for those who, like you, have the privilege of studying more than others the great examples of history, our patriotism is a deep love for a nation which, in every age, has drawn its sword, given birth to its scholars and its theosophists, shed the purest of its blood for all the great causes and overthrown the obstacles that peoples and individuals had thrown in the way of civilisation. It is a truly generous and disinterested sentiment, which has inspired some magnificent examples: Joan of Arc, Duguesclin or Montcalm... De Gaulle quotes Michelet, before asserting: "In all societies where moral value decreases, love of country dulls, because it is impossible for a sentiment capable of producing heroes to germinate and develop in the hearts of corrupt men. This is the story of the Persians, the Egyptians, the Greeks and even Rome. Can we think without shuddering that tomorrow perhaps it will be the history of France, if we, who represent the most enthusiastic and generous of youth, do not each day develop in our souls the sacred faith of patriotism, in order to kindle it in others"... Chauvinism must certainly be fought. "But we still need to know whether we will ever love our homeland enough, whether we will cherish our mother enough. And let us not forget that it was this ardent love, judged excessive by some, that created France and has defended it for fourteen centuries. Vercingetorix, Joan of Arc and Villars had to be chauvinists to have accomplished the feats that history has handed down to us; and it was certainly not reasoned and discussed patriotic feelings that directed the arm of Duguesclin or Bayard. Patriotism is a true faith, it cannot be increased by discussion, it must not be commanded but it is our duty to obey it"... Etc. De Gaulle castigated the anti-militarists in passing: "Of course, war is an evil, I am the first to agree, but it is a necessary evil. War is one of those great laws of society from which societies cannot escape and which burden them with chains while burdening them with benefits. Nothing is more capable of awakening in a people male virtues and noble enthusiasms than the feeling of a fatherland in danger. Nothing is more damaging to a nation's moral values than a long peace, and these blows are all the more terrible for being less sudden and less certain. This is the story of the Persians, effeminate and weakened by their contempt for the profession of arms and among whom vices reigned supreme. It is not difficult to explain these historical facts. The virtues of a warrior, while they may seem brutal to some, are nonetheless absolutely generous and selfless. When a citizen sees his country threatened by ambitious enemies, he immediately understands the need to remain virile in order to defend it more effectively. A prolonged peace, on the other hand, provokes a love of gain and a desire for vice. It is true that war brings with it many evils; it is true that it would be a great crime for a people to unleash it for no reason, but it would be another crime to seek to destroy it [...] War is a law of nature, and nature does not want us to infringe its laws"... LNC, I, p. 70-77.