If ever there was a struggle to keep men’s faces turned towards the
sun it is this in which we are engaged. Never were free men so bound
to enforce the decree that they who take the sword shall perish by
the sword. If we fail now the earth will enter upon a long era of
unrest and tumult for it is inconceivable that the nations which are
withstanding the German assault will ever surrender control over
their own destinies whatever be the cost in life and money now or in
the future. We must also remember how Germany makes war and steel
ourselves to suffer and endure until the despots who would master
the world are driven out of the lands they have seized and defiled
and beaten into submission. In “The Retreat from Mons,” by Major A.
Corbett Smith, there is this passage: “We have seen from the very
beginning that ‘chivalry’ and ‘fair play’ are words unknown to the
Germans. To them nothing matters but to win, preferably by foul means.
So, on the very first day, British soldiers were terribly undeceived.
They saw German infantry advancing to the attack behind a screen of
Belgian women and children, driven on at the bayonet point. From then
onward we lost hundreds of gallant men simply through their feelings of
humanity towards wounded enemies, being shot at by other Germans, or
being treacherously shot or stabbed by the very men to whose lips they
were holding a flask of water. And yet, with such examples before them
of their comrades’ fate, the sense of humanity and chivalry was never
dulled. Despite the stringent orders on the subject, the men, even now,
hesitate to fire when the enemy raises a white flag, and will always,
whenever possible, succor a wounded German lying before the trench.
These are the men who have only, as yet, learned of German treachery
by hearsay evidence. But there are others. There are companies and
battalions who know from ghastly experience. These men adopt other
methods.”