Here are two German children’s school songs, that are being sung daily.  Both of them are creations of the war:  both written by schoolmasters.  The particularly offensive song about King Edward and England is principally sung by girls—­the future mothers of Germany:—­

  O England, O England,
  Wie gross sind Deine Lugen! 
  Ist Dein Verbrechen noch so gross,
  Du schwindelst Dich vom Galgen los. 
  O Eduard, O Eduard, du Muster aller Fursten,
  Nichts hattest Du von einem Rex,
  Du eitler Schlips—­und Westenfex.

[Oh, England, oh, England, how great are thy lies!  However great thy crimes, thou cheatest the gallows.  Oh, Edward, oh, Edward, thou model Prince!  Thou hadst nothing kindly in thee, thou vain fop!]

  Da druben, da druben liegt der Feind,
  In feigen Schutzengraben,
  Wir greifen ihn an, und ein Hund, wer meint,
  Heut’ wurde Pardon gegeben. 
  Schlagt alles tot, was um Gnade fleht,
  Schiesst alles nieder wie Hunde,
  Mehr Feinde, mehr Feinde! sei euer Gebet
  In dieser Vergeltungsstunde.

[Over there in the cowardly trenches lies the enemy.  We attack him, and only a dog will say that pardon should be given to-day.  Strike dead everything which prays for mercy.  Shoot everything down like dogs.  “More enemies, more enemies,” be your prayer in this hour of retribution.]

The elementary schools, or Volksschulen, are free, and attendance is compulsory from six to fourteen.  There are some 61,000 free public elementary schools with over 10,000,000 pupils, and over 600 private elementary schools, with 42,000 pupils who pay fees.

Germany is a land of civil service; to enter which a certificate from a secondary school is necessary.  Some authorities maintain that the only way to prevent being flooded with candidates is to make the examinations crushingly severe.  Children are early made to realise that all hope of succeeding in life rests upon the passing of these examinations.  Thus the despair which often leads to suicide on the one hand and knowledge without keenness on the other.

Hardly any class has suffered more heavily in the war than the masters of the State schools, which are equivalent to English Council schools and American public schools.  The thinning of their ranks is an eloquent proof of the heaviness of the German death toll.  Their places have been taken by elderly men, but principally by women.  It is a kind of Nemesis that they should have fallen in the very cause they have been propagating for at least a generation.