country cooking or a Mussolini rallyrnthan a clever remark or French nouvellerncuisine or a volume of Nietzsche. Whyrnelse would all happy families look alike?rnWhy else would anybody come to Fregene?rnThe lumping of truth with beauty is arncharacteristically northern, cold-bloodedrnplatitude. In reality they could not bernfarther apart, those two, like Moscow andrnSt. Petersburg in the last century: one intimate,rncloistered, spontaneous, untidy,rnthe other public, designed, perfumed,rnsplendid. A writer who says to himself, “Irnthink this and find it to be true becauserneveryone else does” is a fool and an insultrnto philosophy, but a lover who thinks “Irnlike her and find her beautiful becausernothers do” is part of the natural order ofrnthings and will probably make a goodrnhusband. This is because truth lives inrncobwebs and musty corners, in intersticesrnand even underground, comingrnout of a maze of cobbled streets to speakrnwith the tongues of sometime carpentersrnand country doctors. Beauty is handsomelyrngreying senators and opulentlyrnuniformed policemen; it is church bellsrnand brass bands disturbing the non-conformist’srnsleep; it is spectacularly laid-outrnthoroughfares, parade grounds, and publicrngardens; in short, it is everything thatrnall the imperial capitals of the world havernalways done so well. Truth is so originalrnthat it resists publication and courts onlyrnmartyrdom, remaining intensely personalrneven when of necessity it must becomernuniversal. Beauty is an endlesslyrnfascinating exhibition of itself, depersonalizedrnand objective like a set ofrnX-rays marked “Venus,” inviting all whornwould succumb to its open-air, sunlit,rnand crowded, impossibly crowdedrnvernissage.rnA Russian writer I know used to say ofrnBotticelli’s allegorical representation ofrnthe pagan goddess of love that she lookedrnlike a Soviet factory worker, and I wouldrnhate to hear what he thought of JaynernMansfield. I recently watched on ItalianrnTV a clip of Mussolini addressing arnbeautifully laid-out and splendidly decoratedrntown square, in Turin if I’m notrnmistaken, on the war in Spain; “Our enemiesrnvow. No passeranl But I tell you,rnwe have passed and are passing!” Andrnthen the camera panned the crowd ofrnthousands upon thousands, and I saw thernsame scene I witnessed in Fregene, andrnevery woman factory worker was nornmore sad or sickly than a Hollywood starrnof the 1950’s, and every man was as fitrnand alert as a U.S. Marine. And 1 amrnsure that each and every one of themrnsaid, as they were getting dressed to arrivernin the square no earlier and no later thanrnanyone else in town, that the troublernwith these fascist rallies is that there arerntoo many people.rnTroppa gentelrnAndrei Navrozov, formerly Chronicles’rnpoetry’ editor and London correspondent,rnis now Chronicles’ European correspondent.rnOnly You CanrnHalt the .rnSilent Invasion! Y trnAmerica is now experiencing the greatest wave ofrnimmigration in its history. Three Presidential Commissionsrnhave warned that unless the trend is slowed it will have therngravest consequences for the future of America. Theirrnwarnings have been ignored. Why?rnWhy do the multinational corporations want America torntear down its borders?rnHow can a country of 270 million people have a “laborrnshortage”?rnWhy is America importing millions of the world’s poor whenrnwe already have 36 million Americans in poverty?rnHow has excessive immigration depressed wage rates andrnjob opportunities for America’s poor?rnWhat is the impact of today’s unprecedented immigrationrnlevels on education, crime and taxes?rnThe Midwest Coalition to Reform Immigration (MCRI)rnhas the answers and a strategic plan to save America’srnfuture. But we must act fast and we can’t win without yourrnhelp. Just 30 minutes a month of your time canrnreverse the trend that threatens the future of allrnAmericansrnCall MCRI at 1-800-709-0711 for a free copy of ourrnnewsletter or contact us by e-mail at mcri2000@aol.comrnAccess our Web page www.enteract.com/~mcri97rnSEPTEMBER 1998/43rnrnrn