And since irony is more powerful than abuse, let us set down here, without a word of comment, a few German utterances:—­

The Kaiser:  “We are the salt of the earth.  God created us to civilise the world.”

The Cardinal-Archbishop of Cologne:  “It is with God that our soldiers set out for this war that has been inflicted upon us, and in which we are fighting for the sacred treasures of Christianity, and for its own particular gift, Kultur.”

Dryander, a Protestant Minister, and preacher to the Royal Court at Berlin:  “On our side we are fighting with a self-control, a conscience, and a gentleness unexampled perhaps in the history of the world.”

Professor Lasson:  “Our characteristics are humanity, gentleness, conscience—­the Christian virtues.  In a world of evil, we stand for love, and God is with us.”

And, finally, this older and memorable saying of their great philosopher Hegel:  “The destiny of the German race is to supply the sustaining pillars of Christian teaching.”

FOOTNOTES: 

[31] Speaking of honour, it is as well to recall here the reply made by a German officer to the schoolmaster at Chanteheux.  The schoolmaster quite simply pledged his word of honour that no inhabitant had fired:  “You French pig,” the brute shouted, “don’t talk of honour—­you have none.”

APPEAL BY BELGIAN WORKMEN

800,000 copies of this pamphlet had already been sent out when the world rang with the tragic appeal of the Belgian workmen to their brother workers in other lands.  This appeal ought to be fixed on the door of every factory and workshop.  Every worker, every citizen, should study it.  We regret that we cannot reprint it here in full, but the following extracts will at least give an idea of this new crime committed by Germany:—­

“Workers,—­In the name of the international bonds that unite all workmen, the working classes of Belgium—­threatened, without exception, with slavery, deportation, and forced labour for the enemy’s gain—­send to the working classes in other lands a supreme appeal.

    “Germany, as you know, attacked and terrorised Belgium
    in 1914 for having defended her right to neutrality and
    her faith and honour.

“Germany has been martyrizing Belgium.  She has from that moment onwards turned the land into a prison:  the frontiers are armed against Belgians like a battle front..  All our constitutional liberties have been abolished.  There is no longer safety anywhere; the life of our citizens is at the mercy of the policeman,—­arbitrary, limitless, pitiless ...  Belgian industrial idleness has been the creation of the Germans, maintained by them for their own profit.[32] To these 500,000 unemployed they have for the last month been saying:  ’Either you will sign a contract to work for Germany, or you will be reduced