as to the attitude of England, of Ireland, of Belgium, Italy, India, and
so forth. It caused her generals to miscalculate and seriously
under-estimate the strategic forces opposed to them, both in France and
Russia; and in actual battles it has caused them to adopt, with
disastrous results, tactics which were foolishly inspired by contempt of
the enemy. Without insisting too much on the stories of
atrocities--which are still to a certain extent _sub judice_--it does
rather appear that even those excesses which the Commissions of inquiry
have reported (and which occurred, be it said, chiefly in the early days
of the campaign) were due to an intoxication, not merely of champagne
but of excited self-glorification and blindness to the human rights of
peoples at least as brave as themselves.[12]

However that last point may be, it is certainly curious to think
how--whether it be in the case of the German or the English or any other
people--a vein of temperament or character may decide a nation's fate or
colour its history quite as much as or even more than matters of wealth
and armament.

Personally one feels sorry for the great and admirable German
people--though I do not suppose it will matter to them whether one feels
sorry or not! And I look forward to the day when there will come a
better understanding between them and ourselves--better perhaps than has
ever been before--when we shall forgive them their sins against us, and
they will forgive us our sins against them, one of which certainly is
our meanness and shopkeeperiness in rejoicing in the war as a means of
"collaring their trade." I feel sure that the German mass-people will
wake up one day to the knowledge that they have been grossly betrayed at
home, not only by Prussian militarism but by pan-German commercial
philosophy and bunkum, as well as by their own inattention to, and