§ 6

In their vulgar vanity the Germans said: “What would matter the destruction of Rheims Cathedral, of Ypres Town Hall, of Laon, indeed, of all that the world esteems as Art in France? We, the only nation of Kultur, can build better. What does the destruction of the library of Louvain matter? We can create a fresh one; anyhow, we can steal all the best books therefrom.” Poor deluded people! A people without taste, possessed of no artistic genius, devoid of the sense of beauty! All the cathedrals in Germany put together are not worth one bay of Chartres, one tower of Rheims, or one arcade of Ypres Town Hall. German architecture is as hard as steel, as unemotional as iron, and, like her people, dull and soulless. Art is the mirror of a nation. German Art at its best is brutal as her people have been. The nineteenth century Minotaurs are in a direct line from the hordes of barbarians who laid Italy waste, who burned Rome, and spread horrors wherever their footsteps trod. William II. hates England more than France. As long as England holds the sea Germany cannot master the world. After France, England’s turn would have come had German materialism succeeded.