Evening Spiders
The King

"Does France want a king?" This is the subject of the investigation currently being conducted by our colleague Mr. Louis Latzarus. Asking this question to any figure in politics, society, or literature is tantamount to asking them: "Do you want a king?" For each of us naturally confuses our own aspirations with those of the entire nation. That France desires a monarch is beyond doubt for Mr. Léon Daudet; that it does not want one at any price is self-evident for Mr. Gustave Téry...
Mr. Louis Latzarus did not ask me to tell him if France wants a king; I regret that; that would have provided me with the opportunity to reply: "But, certainly, I want a king, that is to say, a responsible director, or, if you prefer, a manager. Only, this king must be found, and he is not the most convenient." In good administration, the man called upon to govern a people of 40 million souls must be, among all, the best, the most intelligent, the most skillful, the most energetic, the most honest, the most far-sighted, the most devoted, the most selfless, the most educated... The king of my dreams is a prodigious genius whose powerful gaze embraces the entire universe, probes the past, and plunges into the future; a quick and infallible mind, capable of instantly solving the most difficult problems; an enormous brain ceaselessly secreting new ideas; a demigod capable of knowing everything, understanding everything, daring everything!... As soon as we have discovered this phenomenon, let us not hesitate to seat him on the throne of France. In the meantime, let us retain Mr. Doumergue.

Bernard GERVAISE.