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Breathing an air such as this, surrounded by men who for their own advancement were obsequious and flattering, is it matter of wonder that the Kaiser should have become the swashbuckler of Europe? It is difficult for an ordinary man to wear a sword without a feeling of prideful elation and a desire at some time or other to test it on somebody else. How much more difficult must it be for a Kaiser, with millions of armed men and vast armouries at his command, to crush down the feeling of swelling pride, and not on occasion to ratile his sword and brandish bis "mailed fist" in the face of his neighbours to keep them in awe.
In no other country in the world have armies and armaments been allowed to hold premier rank as they do in Germany. No Czar of Russia, however great his army, has ever made war a religion as has the Kaiser. Indeed the Czars of Russia have sought to gain their end by peace rather than by arms, and it was the Czar who invited the Powers to form the Hague Conference for the securing of international peace.
The Kaiser's love of Military Power has descended to him from his ancestors, though none of them ever exhibited this love so theatrically as he has done. Indeed his own father, who saw the horrors of the Franco-Prussian War, came out of that struggle, victorious though he was, with a loathing of war that would have satisfied Chuang Tzn. But the present Kaiser glories in his armour. No one who visits the great garden at Berlin can fail to observe the long avenue of the Kaiser's ancestors, which he bas erected there, and which even by many of his own countrymen is considered as a vulgar display. In these statues of his ancestors, he has chosen to make the military element prevail over all others, ancestor after ancestor being represented in the glory of arms.
He has carried the same martial spirit into many of his public utterances. One of the most notable of these is the speech he uttered on sending off his troops to China, when the international forces went to the relief of the Legations during the Boxer outbreak. Here is what he said: "When you meet the foe, you will defeat them. No quarter will be given; "no prisovers taken, Let all who fall into your hands be at your mercy. Just as the Huns a "thousand years ago, under the leadership of Attila, gained a reputation in virtue of which they still live in historical tradition, so may the name of Germany become known in such a manner in China that no Chinaman will ever again dare to look askance at a German,""
The Huns were barbarians noted for their exterminating cruelty. Into such barbarism did the Kaiser seek to plunge China with his German troops. Can anyone doubt that the Kaiser is responsible for the lapse to barbarism of the Prussian army officers during the present war? How could any sovereign calling himself civilised give utterance to such commands as those? Yet the Kaiser calls himself a follower of Christ, who taught that mea should love one another, should save life and not destroy it, and should seek the welfare even of enemies. Can anyone wonder that the Kaiser is known in Europe as Attila, and his Prussians as Huns? Can anyone wonder that Prussia has not a friend in the world, except Turkey, a nation steeped in massacre,
No other European ruler gave utterance to any such barbarous sentiments to his troops as they left for China, or harboured such immoderate ideas in his breast. His dislike and distrust of what he calls the " Yellow Race" was such that all mercy, all pity, all the higher qualities of civilisation were swamped under his barbaric militarism. Innocent Chinese, men, women and little children, might be massacred along with the guilty, even as he has butchered incocent Belgians, men, women and children. The most revolting wickedness of it all is that he has the habit of associating himself with God, and assuring himself and his people that God is with him in all this murder. It cannot be that be is really so wicked by intention. What then has turned the blood of this man, who in private life is kindly and sympathetic, into gall? What is it that has drenched him from head to foot in blood, and made him so foul that all the four seas can never cleanse him? It is the curse of his blind militarism which has dulled his vision to the truth, so that he cannot see what his words mean nor understand the measure of woe that his swelling military pride involves. Christ whom he professes to worship, said, "He that taketh the sword shall perish by the sword." The nation that bases its glory on the sword will perish, for it is righteousness, not the sword which exalteth a nation. This is the law of humanity, this is the law of human progress, this is the law of God.
That the Kaiser has based his glory and his nation on the sword and his army is patent from his frequent sayings. Here are a few out of many others like them :- "The mighty German Army is the mainstay of the peace of Europe." disproof were needed surely the present war lamentably presents it to the full.
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"My eyes rest with gratitude and trust upon my Army, for I know that the Army, on which the anxious love of the great Emperor (William I.) was lavished from the years of his youth to the last moments of his long life, on which God had showered so many blessings will ever be mindful of its high mission, and that it will fulfil every tash entrusted to it."
Again: "I am firmly resolved to meet the heavy responsibility of the inheritance that has fallen to me, by devoting to it all my powers. This is best accomplished by fostering the army."
His distrust of democracy and his reliance on the sword may be seen from the following "It is the soldier and the army, not parliamentary majorities and votes, that have welded the German Empire together. My confidence rests upon the Army."
He elevates the soldier above the civilian, and the army above learning when he says to his soldiers: "You wear the Emperor's uniform, you have thereby been given a **preferance over other men." In other words, the military calling is greater than those callings which have created civilised life, the scholar, farmer, artizan and merchant.
He says again: "With deep sorrow did I take up the crown; on all sides men doubted "me; on all sides did I encounter misconceptions. One thing alone had contidence in me, "one thing alone believed in me--it was the Army, and supported by it, and relying upon