The fundamental fact, however, is the absence of the reciprocal idea.  The Prussian is not sufficiently civilised for the duel.  Even when he crosses swords with us his thoughts are not as our thoughts; when we both glorify war, we are glorifying different things.  Our medals are wrought like his, but they do not mean the same thing; our regiments are cheered as his are, but the thought in the heart is not the same; the Iron Cross is on the bosom of his king, but it is not the sign of our God.  For we, alas, follow our God with many relapses and self-contradictions, but he follows his very consistently.  Through all the things that we have examined, the view of national boundaries, the view of military methods, the view of personal honour and self-defence, there runs in their case something of an atrocious simplicity; something too simple for us to understand:  the idea that glory consists in holding the steel, and not in facing it.

If further examples were necessary, it would be easy to give hundreds of them.  Let us leave, for the moment, the relation between man and man in the thing called the duel.  Let us take the relation between man and woman, in that immortal duel which we call a marriage.  Here again we shall find that other Christian civilisations aim at some kind of equality; even if the balance be irrational or dangerous.  Thus, the two extremes of the treatment of women might be represented by what are called the respectable classes in America and in France.  In America they choose the risk of comradeship; in France the compensation of courtesy.  In America it is practically possible for any young gentleman to take any young lady for what he calls (I deeply regret to say) a joy-ride; but at least the man goes with the woman as much as the woman with the man.  In France the young woman is protected like a nun while she is unmarried; but when she is a mother she is really a holy woman; and when she is a grandmother she is a holy terror.  By both extremes the woman gets something back out of life.  There is only one place where she gets little or nothing back; and that is the north of Germany.  France and America aim alike at equality; America by similarity; France by dissimilarity.  But North Germany does definitely aim at inequality.  The woman stands up, with no more irritation than a butler; the man sits down, with no more embarrassment than a guest.  This is the cool affirmation of inferiority, as in the case of the sabre and the tradesman.  “Thou goest with women; forget not thy whip,” said Nietzsche.  It will be observed that he does not say “poker”; which might come more naturally to the mind of a more common or Christian wife-beater.  But then a poker is a part of domesticity; and might be used by the wife as well as the husband.  In fact, it often is.  The sword and the whip are the weapons of a privileged caste.