his associates say, "He is not only the equal but the superior of
Napoleon." But the great hero throughout Europe to-day is the King of
the Belgians, of that little country that grew daily bigger in the eyes
of the world as it grew daily smaller in possessed territory. There
are those who believe that France and Belgium will be hereafter closer
together than before, and that--stranger things have happened--the King
of the little Belgians might be no greater miracle for France than the
little Corsican more than one hundred years ago.




CHAPTER VI

THE POSITION OF FRANCE

The Iron Hand of War--Paris offered in Sacrifice--Faulty
Mobilization--The French Army--The Joffre Strategy--The German Retreat.


The position of France to-day cannot be compared with that of any other
country in the war. The French people have a distinctive genius all
their own. They are still the greatest people in art in the world.
Nothing in sculpture or painting in the outside world yet rivals the
skill of France. Politically the French are trusting children,
vibrating between empires and republics, and following only the rule of
success. In finance they were accounted great a generation ago. In
savings they have been regarded as world-leaders.

When the stern reality of military necessity suddenly confronted France