They say so. 'France', they say,
'we can understand. She is out for vengeance, she is out for
territory--Alsace Lorraine. Russia, she is fighting for mastery, she
wants Galicia.' They can understand vengeance, they can understand you
fighting for mastery, they can understand you fighting for greed
of territory; they cannot understand a great Empire pledging its
resources, pledging its might, pledging the lives of its children,
pledging its very existence, to protect a little nation that seeks for
its defence. God made man in His own image--high of purpose, in the
region of the spirit. German civilization would re-create him in the
image of a Diesler machine--precise, accurate, powerful, with no room
for the soul to operate. That is the 'higher' civilization.
What is their demand? Have you read the Kaiser's speeches? If you have
not a copy, I advise you to buy it; they will soon be out of print,
and you won't have any more of the same sort again. They are full of
the clatter and bluster of German militarists--the mailed fist, the
shining armour. Poor old mailed fist--its knuckles are getting a
little bruised. Poor shining armour--the shine is being knocked out
of it. But there is the same swagger and boastfulness running through
the whole of the speeches. You saw that remarkable speech which
appeared in the _British Weekly_ this week. It is a very remarkable
product, as an illustration of the spirit we have got to fight. It is
his speech to his soldiers on the way to the front:--
Remember that the German people are the chosen of
God.
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