The point was argued for many days. Bich would not withdraw from his assertion that it was glorious to die for his country, but at the same time he could not disguise his distress at having done so.
“If I had died,” he said, “it would have been glorious.”
“Only in the eyes of your countrymen,” said Siebenhaar. “You already have that, and if you had died you would not have known anything about it.”
“There is a heaven above,” cried Bich.
“Which you could never have entered. Has not Heaven enjoined you not to kill and not to resist evil?”
“In the service of my country!”
“What does heaven know of your country? Heaven is eternal. Its laws are for eternity. Your country, your Empire are mere temporary arrangements for the convenience of a few millions of men and women who wish to profit by the labours of people less fortunate than themselves. You are therefore contending that it is glorious to die for a man’s material advantage, or, in other words, for political and financial vested interests.”
“I am prepared at any moment to die for my country.”
“You have died.”
“I have not.”