[Footnote 118:  Charles Gounod, "Ascanio” de Saint-Saens, 1890.]

[Footnote 119:  Id., ibid.]

[Footnote 120:  C. Saint-Saens, Problemes et Mysteres, 1894.]

[Footnote 121:  Harmonie et Melodie.]

And he has proved it by the absolute fearlessness of his judgments on art; for not only has he reasoned soundly against Wagner, but dared to criticise the weaknesses of Gluck and Mozart, the errors of Weber and Berlioz, and the accepted opinions about Gounod; and this classicist, who was nourished on Bach, goes so far as to say:  “The performance of works by Bach and Haendel to-day is an idle amusement,” and that those who wish to revive their art are like “people who would live in an old mansion that has been uninhabited for centuries."[122] He went even further; he criticised his own work and contradicted his own opinions.  His love of liberty made him form, at different periods, different opinions of the same work.  He thought that people had a right to change their opinions, as sometimes they deceived themselves.  It seemed to him better boldly to admit an error than to be the slave of consistency.  And this same feeling showed itself in other matters besides art:  in ethics, as is shown by some verses which he addressed to a young friend, urging him not to be bound by a too rigid austerity: 

    “Je sens qu’une triste chimere
    A toujours assombri ton ame:  la Vertu...."[123]

and in metaphysics also, where he judges religions, faith, and the Gospels with a quiet freedom of thought, seeking in Nature alone the basis of morals and society.

[Footnote 122:  C. Saint-Saens, Portraits et Souvenirs, 1900.]

[Footnote 123: 

    I know that a vain dream of virtue
    Has always cast a shadow on your soul (Rimes familieres).
]

Here are some of his opinions, taken at random from Problemes et Mysteres: 

     “As science advances, God recedes.”

     “The soul is only a medium for the expression of thought.”

     “The discouragement of work, the weakening of character, the
     sharing of one’s goods under pain of death—­this is the Gospel
     teaching on the foundation of society.”

     “The Christian virtues are not social virtues.”

     “Nature is without aim:  she is an endless circle, and leads us
     nowhere.”

His thoughts are unfettered and full of love for humanity and a sense of the responsibility of the individual.  He called Beethoven “the greatest, the only really great artist,” because he upheld the idea of universal brotherhood.  His mind is so comprehensive that he has written books on philosophy, on the theatre, on classical painting,[124] as well as scientific essays,[125] volumes of verse, and even plays.[126]

[Footnote 124:  C. Saint-Saens, Note sur les decors de theatre dans l’antiquite romaine, 1880, where he discusses the mural paintings of Pompeii.]