DOCS.
375,
376
AUGUST
1917 371
In
fact,
it
seems
to
me
that
one can
also
obtain
from
(1)
the
behavior
at
oo,
by making
use
of
the
fact
that the
divergence
of
Aik
vanishes
identically;[6]
this
is
thus
also
the
case
for
the
divergence
of
Tik
which,
with
guv
approaching
Euv,
reduces
asymptotically to
3
Ek
dTjk
dxk
=
0.
Please
accept my
best
wishes for
a
pleasant
vacation and
my
warm
regards.
P.S. An indication in favor of
my
(1)
seemed to
me
the
negative
value
that
results
from
it
for
the
energy density
A00
of
the
gravitational field
(assuming
T00
0).
This
is
in accordance
with the
old
attempts
to localize
the
potential
energy
of
a
Newtonian
body,
and
it
explains
the
minus
sign
as
connected to
the
unique
position
of
gravitation
vis-à-vis all
other
physical phenomena.
376. From
Romain Rolland
[Villeneuve,
canton of
Vaud,] Thursday,
23 August 1917
Dear
Sir,
Thank
you
for
your
letter.[1] I
see
how much
you
are
suffering,
and
I
sympa-
thize
with
you.
You know
Germany,
and
I
have
no
difficulty believing
that what
you say
about
it
is
sadly
true.
However,
you
do not know
the
sufferings
“on
the
other
side.” Evil
spreads
like
a
splotch
of oil. All
the
nations show
solidarity
even as
they
fight one
another;
and
a
way
has not
yet
been found to
halt the
moral epidemics-just
as
the others-at the
borders. The current
war
looks to
me
like
a
fight against
the
Hydra
of
Lerna. For
every
head
chopped
off,
two
other
ones
spring
back to
life.-[2]
That
is why I
do
not
believe
in the
effectiveness of
these clashes
of
armies.
I
am
awaiting
salvation
(if
it
is
meant to
come)
from
other-social-forces; and
if
it
does not
come,
...
by
God!
it
will not
have been
the
first time
that
a
powerful
civilization has crumbled.
Life will
know
very
well
how to blossom
again
from
the
ruins.
Very affectionately yours,
Romain Rolland
Do
you keep up
with
Bertrand
Russell’s
publications,
and
are
you
familiar
with the
recent American
opposition?[3]
-You
see,
I
am
perfectly
convinced
that
there shall
never
be
more
than
a
handful of
us
in
the
world. In
the
order
of
events,
we
shall
always
be
the
con-
quered,
but what
of
it? The soul
is
never
conquered-except
when
it
consents to
it.
It
is
ahead
of
its times.