Chapter XXII: Appendix: B

DR. KUYPER'S ADMISSION.

I. Offer to Dr. Kuyper to reproduce his article.--II. Dilatory reply of Dr. Kuyper.--III. Withdrawal of Dr. Kuyper.--IV. M. Brunetière's refusal.--V. The Queen of Holland and Dr. Kuyper's article.

OFFER TO DR. KUYPER.

On March 25th I addressed the following registered letter to Dr. Kuyper:

_March 25th, 1900._

SIR,

I have the honour to send you the numbers of _Le Siècle_ containing
a criticism of your article, "La Crise Sud-Africaine," which
appeared in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_.

In order to present the _pros_ and _cons_ to the reader at one and
the same time, I ask you to agree to the following proposition: _I
offer to publish in one pamphlet your article and my reply._ I
undertake to pay the cost and if there should be any profits to
divide them with you.

By accepting this proposal you will show that you are as convinced
of the solidity of your arguments as I am of the solidity of mine.

YVES GUYOT.

II. REPLY OF DR. KUYPER.

I received the following letter, March 29th:

AMSTERDAM,
_March 28th, 1900._

TO M. YVES GUYOT.

SIR,

Only having received one number of your paper (23,381) I do not
know whether your criticism is finished. As soon as I have it all
before me--with references to the documents cited, if you please,
otherwise it is difficult to follow--I will see whether it calls
for a detailed reply on my part, in which case I might, according
to American precedent, republish my article, inserting, with your
permission, your reply. This was done by the New York _Outlook_,
when it published in the same number, "the Case of the Boers," and
"the Case of the British."

At the same time the copyright of my article belongs to the Editor
of the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, without whose permission I can do
nothing. As I shall be in Paris before long I will ask him for it,
should your polemic attack seem to me to require a reply.

With regard to your proposal to leave the risks of a fresh
publication to you, while sharing the profits, although I
appreciate the delicacy of such a suggestion, I could not accept
it.

KUYPER.

The following remarks on his letter were published by me in _Le Siècle_, March 30th.

"With regard to the first point, I regret that, at the time of
writing, Dr. Kuyper should only have received one number of _Le
Siècle_; each of my replies having been sent to him under
registered cover on the day of publication. It is unfortunate for
me that Dr. Kuyper's Article should have appeared in the _Revue des
Deux Mondes_, for that brings me again into contact with M.
Brunetière, and it is well-known that M. Brunetière who, last year
for fifteen days burdened _Le Siècle_ with his prose, does not wish
this discussion to be presented to the reader in its entirety. I am
greatly afraid of his desiring the same isolation for Dr. Kuyper's
article.

"As far as I am concerned, having began my reply to Dr. Kuyper I
shall continue it. If it is not M. Brunetière's wish that our
articles should be published together he will thereby acknowledge
anew the force of my replies. Were they not documented and
convincing, he would not fear their proximity."

III. ANOTHER LETTER.

On April 6th I sent the following letter to Dr. Kuyper (registered).

_April 6th, 1900._

SIR,

In a few days I shall have finished my replies to your article;
they will then be published in pamphlet form. I have the honour to
ask you definitely whether you accept my proposal to precede them
with your article in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_.

YVES GUYOT.

In answer to this I received the following letter from Dr. Kuyper written from the Grand Hotel, Paris:

GRAND HOTEL,
12, BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES,
_April 12th, 1900._

SIR,

My last letter informed you to what extent I could meet your
wishes.

Now that, without regard to my reply, you simply ask for the
authorisation to print my article in a pamphlet which you propose
to publish, I can only refer you to the person who has the power to
dispose of the copyright.

KUYPER.

I was under the impression that I had acted in accordance with the reply of Dr. Kuyper, who in his letter, March 28th, wrote: "The copyright of my article belongs to the Editor of the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, without whose permission I can do nothing. As I shall be in Paris before long I will ask him for it should your polemics seem to me to require a reply."

But since Mr. Kuyper withdrew from the correspondence I wrote the following letter to Mr. Brunetière, Editor of the _Revue des Deux Mondes_:

_April 13th, 1900._

TO THE EDITOR, SIR,

In the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, February 1st, an article was
published by Dr. Kuyper under the title of "La Crise
Sud-Africaine."

I have published a criticism upon it in _Le Siècle;_ and in order
that both sides of the question may be presented to the reader, I
have asked Dr. Kuyper's authorisation to reproduce his article in a
pamphlet in which I purpose to collect my own.

On March 28th, Dr. Kuyper wrote me: "The copyright of my article
belongs to the editor of the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, without whose
permission I can do nothing. As I shall be in Paris before long I
will ask him for it, should your polemic attack seem to me to
require a reply."

To-day Dr. Kuyper writes to me from the Grand Hotel, Paris: "I can
only refer you to the person who has the power to dispose of the
copyright." Since I am asked by Dr. Kuyper to make the request
which he had undertaken to make himself, I will do so. I have the
honour to ask you for the authorisation to publish Dr. Kuyper's
article which appeared in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ under the
title of "La Crise Sud-Africaine," and to inform me of your
conditions for the reproduction.

YVES GUYOT.

IV. M. BRUNETIÈRE'S REFUSAL.

The next day I received the following from M. Brunetière:

PARIS,
_April 14th, 1900._

SIR,

You ask me for the authorisation to publish in a pamphlet Dr.
Kuyper's article which appeared in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_,
under the title of "La Crise Sud-Africaine." I hasten to refuse you
the authorisation.

I am, Sir, etc.,
F. BRUNETIÈRE.

In this reply I trace M. Brunetière's habitual courtesy. If I do not thank him for his refusal, I yet thank him for the promptness with which it was signified by him.

It had been my desire to enable the reading public to judge for themselves the value of the arguments put forward by Dr. Kuyper and myself; but it was evidently M. Brunetière's wish that Dr. Kuyper's article should be known only to the readers of the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, and that they should remain ignorant of my reply. This is in itself a confession; for undoubtedly had Dr. Kuyper been convinced that it was impossible for me to refute his arguments he would have requested M. Brunetière to give me the authorisation to reproduce his article.

V.

On April 26th a telegram from the Havas Agency announced that the Queen of Holland had received the journalists of Amsterdam, of whom Dr. Kuyper is President.

I therefore wrote the following letter to Mr. W.H. de Beaufort, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs:

PARIS,
_April 27th, 1900._

TO H.E. THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

SIR,

The Havas Agency, in a telegram, April 26, gives the following
information:

"Replying to a speech made by Dr. Kuyper, President of the
Society of Journalists, the Queen said she had read with
interest his article on the South African crisis, published in
a Paris review. The Queen expressed the hope that the article
would be circulated abroad, adding that she considered it
important that it should be widely distributed in America."

That the Queen of a constitutional government, such as that of
Holland, should have spoken in this way, proves that the Cabinet is
of the same mind. I trust, therefore, that I am not too bold in
asking your assistance to carry out Her Majesty's intentions.

I had asked Dr. Kuyper's authorisation to reproduce his article at
the beginning of a pamphlet; he referred me to M. Brunetière, who
with the courtesy of which he has given me so many proofs, replied:
"I hasten to refuse your request."

M. Brunetière's views are evidently opposed to those of the Queen
of the Netherlands.

It is true that the article would have been followed by my
criticism, but if the arguments therein contained are irrefutable,
why fear the proximity of my refutation? I beg you, therefore, to
be kind enough to ask M. Brunetière to give me permission to second
the views of Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands by assisting
to circulate Dr. Kuyper's article.

YVES GUYOT.

I have published my pamphlet while awaiting M. Brunetière's reply to the Dutch Government which can hardly do otherwise than make the request, agreeing, as it does, with the views of Her Majesty. Should M. Brunetière by any chance cease to fear the proximity to Dr. Kuyper's assertions of the facts and documents published by me, I will issue a new Edition.