"CONDEMNED BY THEMSELVES."

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 223, 3 November 1916, Page 8 (Supplement)

"CONDEMNED BY THEMSELVES."

(From the London Daily Mail.)

Now that the ring of steel ». tightening round the German imck, we may | measure, vaguely it ils true, the agon/ which German pride will presently sillier, i'or many a long year Germany lias prepared herself ior victory. I-ik? (.no in a trance, she has seen the whito path of glorv stretching before her, and thought t impossible that th; path of glory shoudl lead to th.i grave. Kvcr since the time of Frederick thes ; Groat the Germans have believed them- | selves supreme, heroic, inv ncibJe, be- ; yond the reach of sorrow or defeat. Not even when Napoleon bent them to his imperial will did the} admit failure, and to-day at any rate they remember only the truinnh of the liberating war Anil when nt last the momont of settlement comes they will he forced to accept it in such a spirit of alnect humility as hitherto has been unknown to the. sons of men. For those who do not icalisc the. ciazv arrogance of Germany I commend a Ittle book recently compiled by M B. Francois, entitled "(jondamnes par Kux-inomcs" (Condemned by Thorns'. Ives), which has collected into a small compass the best (.samples of Germany's magniloquence and vainglory. It is a strange, disquieting book. It is not a pleasant experience, to look upon madness. naked and unashamed, and 31. Francois' well-chosen anthology is the plain revelation of a nation's folly and a nation's cynicism. Tho Germans pretend to be men of action, to be happiest when th?.v gr«?n their swords in their hands, .ind yet in this condemnation of themselves they nro revealed th.> mere slaves of vaunting speot-h. the victims of a hoastfulnoss which has surely brought them to destruction. And' in this conspiracy of praise all classes are nnvolved. Kings and Kmp:rors, professors and soldiers, journalists and philosophers, have outdone one another in the dangerous sport of flattery. Self-criticism has been thrown aside as a thing useless and outworn. Tho Germans have gazed in a mirror, and seen therein nothing but a reflection of virtue and heroism. "We hre t'ie most famous warriors ; n tho world." cries one ostaotic gentleman. "Wo are the people the most advanced in the domains of line art and knowledge. We are tfTo most skilful colonisers, tho best sailors, and the most renowned men of busyness.'' So all Germany shouted " Hoch ! hoch !" in chorus, and no one had tho courage to recommend that a pinch at least of the bitter herb of modesty should be thrown into tlw dish of arrogance.

THE PIT OF CYNICISM

Before all things Germany is sure that she was marked out by a special providence for the execution of loftv deeds. '"The Germans are the chosen people ol the earth/' we are gravely told by one professor. "The : r destiny is to govern the world and to direct the. otner nations for the happiness of humanity." Upon this text unnumbered sermons have been preached, and liie professors regard it as consonant with good senso and with the humanity oL which they babble so often to recommend pdlago and rapine as the easiest methods of civilisation. It s not strange, therefore, that they fall rapidly into the pit of cynicism. If Frcderck the Great was the most eminent of their cynics, Bismarck did not lag far behind the master. When Jules Favre, in the famous conference at Versailles, assured Bismarck that the e were still women and children to be seen on the boulevards of e;,s, the Gcminii Chancellor replied: " 1 am astonished: I thought you had eaten than all.*' And the spirit of Bismarck's words is aflame in every page (I .\l. Francas' anthology. The professors m their noisy class-rooms sing pa.,:lls of praise to the gods of cruelty and lust, and the German people listen to limn without humour and without disdain. Ihe K.iiser h nisei! stands upon the highest plane, \atinting his intimacy with Heaven, "(lod demands the destnu tioii of our enenivs," he pnci.iiins. "God by my mouth commands you to execute His order-.' And agiin : "The spirit of the Lord has descended upon me, because 1 am tin German Emperor. lam the instrument of the Most High. I am His sword. His representative." Thus it is that, following their Emperor, the Germans pretend to believe themselves in capable of doing wrong. To them the last enormity is allowed. Woe to the enemy who permits Ivmsolf an equal free doni I

When til.- Germans entered Belgium, n small and neutral Sfrite, with fire and sw< rd their spokesman was prepared with an instant denial and excuse. "It is not we who threaten small States,"

Mid lie. 'We w>h to be end to remain tho gmrdans of peace and liherly ef nations great and smr.lt." And not even the memory of Belgium and Serbia disturbs his nappy, self-com-placent dream.

RAID OX FKEXCH GI'XS. Envy goes always hand in hand with pride, and Germany cannot bear to think that any other country than herself should he the nur-e of heroes and poets . To make up her own manifest insufficiency she claims the men and women of' Franco and England win seem to chime with her vanity as < f true German birth. Thus she would annex genius as she annexes countries, and do; s not recognise in her humourIt >s jealousy that she is a laughingstock for all wise men. Lon>>; ago she, lard an impious, dohling hf.nd upon Shakespeare, whose works she has befogged with notes and obscured with ccniim utarv.

Hut it is up-,n the French that she has made the most impudent raid. Heir Liuhvi;; '■• oltmann. more groatlv d.irinjr thai: lis follows, boldly declare-; that everybody born in France with fair complf -;ion an dblond hair is a ('•- rniau and no less. Of come, in in eyes ;he (larieails are the- ";n istocracv d'i humanity,'' and >■ > he picks and i hoe i , whomever lie wills i > add to iii> gallery of heroes. Itscine tho poet of Latin 'cljjce .nice and Latin order, i,,;i || s list. It i- true that he was not i.ill. a- a ij;ood Herman sho'i 1 1 be, but bis features were agreeable, his eyes limpid, liis psysiegnomy amebic an I liwiy. Incontestibly, thereli re, he is of Hie chosen i.ice.

Nor is there any doubt as to Voltaire's nat : on..:.!y.' This master ot French irony and French prose, this treat apo-t! • of justice and "ood sense, this humanitarian who coul 1 not en time that the death ol Cabs should no uiinii'.-she!. he 100 v.as ot Hunnis;i

d ■'.:■ in. Hi- iiiiMH 1 would betray him. oven l h s nonius had secured hi.u tile fr-e lorn of Fraii-e. Whit, iu-do-d could .'■ '.-.in: t be save a (nrruntion o! Arv.iii? And the K.-uior Voltnir- - port: ait htii's in Merlin as on • of thtrue bi-ed the better. Afier tha-o claims it will came no sur; r .-o thai Montague, Diderot, and .lean r.f Are are compatriot* also of YYilkun II.: nor need we <:rud<.'o the Germans, p or ;:s they are in spirit, the vaiii lihantasy that La Fayette, Danton, tud Mirabvui were also of thcr h'oad cad bane. IndmL Hi< foolish fpir ncmlism expressed in this \mthinking vanity recoils upon themselves. It is plain that tliey will an-

nex no foot of territory, and if they attempt to steal the brains their country kicks no harm s done to others. AVo wonder only how, in tho xaoment of detent, they will explain away their preposterous arrogance. Cynicism and cruelty might havo seemed the best companions of a German victory. Thay will be revealed in all their ugliness b ythc triumph ot the Allies. And even the Germans may \w found lamenting, when disaster overtakes them, that with ther own liands tlk-y piled up so vast a monument of pndv from which to fall. AX ENGLISHMAN.