removed from danger, at the contact of profound and fearful verities and realities they are already beginning to discern something that we cannot yet perceive; and their obscure instinct is probably anticipating the judgment of history and our own judgment, when we see more clearly.  Let us learn from them to be just and to distinguish that which we are bound to despise and loathe from that which we may pity, love and respect.

Setting aside the unpardonable aggression and the inexpiable violation of treaties, this war, despite its insanity, has come near to being a bloody but magnificent proof of greatness, heroism and the spirit of sacrifice.  Humanity was ready to rise above itself, to surpass all that it had hitherto accomplished.  It has surpassed it.  Never before had nations been seen capable, for months on end, perhaps for years, of renouncing their repose, their security, their wealth, their comfort, all that they possessed and loved down to their very life, in order to accomplish what they believed to be their duty.  Never before had nations been seen that were able as a whole to understand and admit that the happiness of each of those who live in this time of trial is of no consequence compared with the honour of those who live no more or the happiness of those who are not yet alive.  We stand on heights that had not been attained before.  And if, on the enemies’ side, this unexampled renunciation had not been poisoned at its source; if the war which they are waging against us had been as fine, as loyal, as generous, as chivalrous as that which we are waging against them, we may well believe that it would have been the last and that it would have ended, not in battle, but, like the awakening from an evil dream, in a noble and fraternal amazement.  They have made that impossible; and this, we may be sure, is the disappointment which the future will find it most difficult to forgive them.

2

What are we to do now?  Must we hate the enemy to the end of time?  The burden of hatred is the heaviest that man can bear upon this earth; and we should faint under the weight of it.  On the other hand, we do not wish once more to be the dupes and victims of confidence and love.  Here again our soldiers, in their simplicity, which is so clear-seeing and so close to the truth, anticipate the future and teach us what to admit and what to avoid.  We have seen that they do not hate the man; but they do not trust him at all.  They discover the human being in him only when he is unarmed.  They know, from bitter experience, that, so long as he possesses weapons, he cannot resist the frenzy of destruction, treachery and slaughter; and that he does not become kindly until he is rendered powerless.