A revolution diary
Sir: I was deeply shocked to read of the troubles of Nancy Mitford in Paris, her cosy little world of tea-parties having been disturbed by the troubles. It is indeed an unhappy world we live in, with millions dying of starvation, thou- sands being massacred in Biafra, and an entire nation suffering in a futile Asian war.
On top of all this we now hear a tale of woe from Miss Mitford—highlighted by that dread- ful incident in which she was forced to borrow money from the maid. It is all very sad, but are there not events of greater importance in the world? Do we really have to pay 2s in order to read pages of selfish, arrogant and meaningless drivel? Is it indeed now possible for writers to make a living by writing biased, barren diatribes about their petty misfortunes, pathetically claiming status as serious observers of the French political scene'? The SPECTATOR of 7 June would appear to indicate that it is.
Your writers would be well advised not to celebrate the restoration of their lovely 'democracy' too soon. The, broken old man's cardboard throne has been propped up, not by any positive support, but by fear of anarchy and bloodshed. Soon he will be too old, and only one of his 'democratic' alternatives will be left.
When they attempt to build the sixth Repub- lic from the rubble I hope they will make it a democracy in which ideals and policies are chosen rather than men. They will, I think, abolish the present constitutional knock-out contest for autocrats. A stupid system which demonstrates the lunacy of tailoring a constitu- tion to fit the personality of one man, especially when he is a. megalomaniac who believes (together with Nancy Mitford) that he is France Incarnate.
The Mitford teacups will soon be rattling again, methinks. And a good thing too. If she is representative of the French bourgeoisie my sympathies are with the students.
-David Hughes Vice-Chairman, Tynemouth Constituency Con- servative Association, 17 East Parade, Whitley Bay, Northumberland
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