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The Frogs Who Demand a King *
The ‘yes’ vote will be large, very large. But to what will they be saying ‘yes’? The
Constitution? People could not care less about it. A political programme? Rare are the
inscrutable oracles that descend from the lofty firmament about the General’s head. No,
this election is about the man himself. In this compartmentalized country bristling with
barriers, divisions and obstacles, where everyone squabbles with their neighbour over a
bone, the man of unanimity suddenly appears. We all know that if he were to win on 28
September, even with only a narrow margin, he would not consider himself to be leader
of the government, but claim to unite all French people in his person. He is very careful
not to offer anything: and interests down here on earth remain fragmented and
conflicting. But when the electors raise their eyes, they descry beyond the clouds the
fascinating mirage of unity. If we vote for him, Left and Right will be united just like his
left ear and his right; major capital and roadmenders like the top of his head and the soles
of his feet. Many French people hate their neighbours; they will love them in de Gaulle;
everyone will commune in this great entity whose organic indissolubility wishes to
symbolize the highest degree of social integration.
How can people not see, after so many dictatorships, that this mystic communion
would paper over the cracks of our discords
* L’Express, No. 380, 25 September 1958.
without resolving them? How is it that people do not know that a nation projects its
painful desire for unity onto a single man when the contradictions of the moment have
made this very unity impossible? It is as if the elector were dozing. Look around you: the
‘yesses’ and the ‘noes’ are on display everywhere: on walls, in provincial newspapers, in
L’Express. The ‘no’ vote states its reasons, explains its choice, it is impassioned
geometry. The ‘yes’ votes are sighs: they abandon themselves to grand dreams, to grand
sentiments, to grand words, to that flood of tears which has often preceded the setting up
of dictatorships. A dismal enthusiasm: against Reason,‘yes’ invokes the reasons of the
heart that the Reason knoweth not – but their heart is not in it.
This should not surprise us if we were only dealing with de Gaulle’s first supporters,
loyal to their companion of heroic times, the leader they have never ceased to respect.
And in another way, it is natural that a number of people, badly treated by life, should
need to believe in God and, particularly in His Incarnation. How many solitary and
betrayed women have extended their resentment to the whole of the human race: they are
horrified by all things human, they love dogs and supermen.
But young people and young men will cast their vote for the future monarch: active, in
some cases happy, intelligent people who regard themselves in good faith as republicans.
Many are technicians, work in a team, know why a problem occurs and how to resolve it;
in the face of infallibility, they have discovered through practice the importance of