§ 5

The Germans in the late war thought to destroy the soul of France by battering down the precious casket whose every stone was a living symbol of her chivalrous, kingly history. Brute force, employing every engine of industrialism, every energy of materialistic science, was to prevail. The noblest craftsmanship employed in the flowering time of French history and for generations, being the expression of a sensitive people deeply attached to Beauty, was shivered to atoms recklessly and triumphantly by the cannon of a hypocrite nation which claimed the first place in the history of the modern world. If Matter could ever overcome Soul, Germany would have succeeded; Germany would have broken the pride of Flemish commerce and her traditions as an organiser of it by the destruction of Ypres. The priceless books in Louvain, written and illuminated by pious scholars and patient craftsmen, the brutes burnt or stole with as ignorant a rapacity as a herd of monkeys. Again, they sought to destroy the soul of France by turning thousands of acres of productive country and fruit gardens so essentially a vital part of the commerce of France, making a fruitful land a desert. They tried (but in vain) to kill the soul of France by subjecting villagers, men, women and children to torture; like wild beasts to smash the modesty of pure women, even those dedicated to spiritual lives; then, the lust satisfied, they slaughtered them.

The clumsy minded Teuton misjudged its prey. They judge according to their own low standard of honour; force, brute force, as against strength of character, chivalry and patriotism: a standard fit only to be carried in the ranks of savages, but this time carried under the disguise of “Kultur,” a word which now is a stigma, one which includes all that is most vile and reprehensible in a people who employed fine natural faculties to invent every possible device for the destruction of life. Not a stone did Germany’s scientific men leave unturned to discover the earth’s hidden sources of destructive elements. They abused their fine faculties, they perverted their invention, Industrialism ran riot. Scientific force was used in full measure by the Germans for annihilation. The Emperor—the worst of the horde of savages—gave his encouragement to every bestial act committed by his depraved people. If such depravity was to succeed or could succeed, Germany would have done so. First in science, first in organisation, she seemed invincible. Her Industrialism was perfected, her system organised with the precision of clockwork. If materialism at the expense of every other consideration can succeed, Germany would have done so. But no! A nation may kill its own soul, but God will not permit it to kill another. It is indeed a lesson. Germany had killed its soul. It had set up Moloch where God had been. Iron, steel, explosives, every poison upon the Pharmacy List, every evil pulsation of the heart were German weapons. The countries she laid waste will revive, their soul has been strengthened by tribulation, and the would-be conqueror will lick the dust for a century. France will grow strong again, she will recultivate her fields and orchards, and rebuild her villages, towns and churches.