At page 12 of the pamphlet, he closes the first paragraph with the following words:—"since the fatal days when peoples supposed to be Christian hurled themselves at one another in a foolish rage of destruction, of revenge and hatred." In French, it reads thus:—"depuis le jour fatal ou les peuples soi-disant chrétiens se sont rués les uns contre les autres, dans une rage folle de destruction, de vengeance et de haine."
Read as a whole, with the full meaning they were intended to convey, those words constitute a daring falsehood. Historical events of the highest importance cannot be construed at will. There are facts so positively true, and known to be such, that they should preclude any possibility of deceit.
It is absolutely false that, on a fatal day of mid-summer, 1914, peoples hurled themselves at one another. What really took place, in the glaring light of day, was that Germany, fully prepared for the fray, hurled herself at weak Belgium, throwing to the waste basket the scraps of the solemn treaties by which she was in honour bound to respect Belgian neutrality. She had first opened the disastrous game by hurling her vassal, Austria, at weak Servia.
Rushing her innumerable victorious armies over Belgian trodden soil, she hurled herself at France with the ultimate design to hurl herself at England.
That in so doing, Germany was raging with a foolish thirst of destruction, of revenge and hatred, is certainly true. But Mr. Bourassa's guilt is in his assertion that the victims of Germany's sanguinary fury were actuated by the same criminal motives in heroically defending their homes, their wives, their children, their all, against the barbarians once more bursting out of Central Europe, this time bent on overthrowing human freedom.
Is the respectable citizen who bravely defends himself against the ruffian who hurls himself at his throat, to be compared with his murderous assailant?
But England was not alone in hurling herself at Germany, as Mr. Bourassa so cordially says. Without a word, even a sign, by the only momentum of her furious outburst of foolish destruction, she was followed by the whole of her Empire. How much we, Canadians, were, for instance, deluded, the Nationalist leader is kind enough to tell us in his ever sweet language.
When the Parliament of Ottawa unanimously decided that it was the duty of the British Dominion of Canada to participate in the war; when Canadian public opinion throughout the length and breadth of the land, almost unanimously approved of this loyal and patriotic decision, we, poor unfortunate Canadians, thought that we were heartily and nobly joining with the mother-country to avenge "outraged Justice," to rush to the rescue of violated Belgium, of France, once more threatened with agony under the brutal Teutonic ironed heels, of the whole world—Mr. Bourassa's commanding personality included—menaced with the HUNS' DOMINATION.
How sadly mistaken we were, Mr. Bourassa tells us. According to this infallible judge of the righteousness or criminality of historical events, we were labouring under a paroxysm of passion—of a rage of foolish destruction, of vengeance and hatred.
Once overpowered by this vituperative mood of calumnious accusations, the Nationalist leader slashes England, as follows,—page 18—:—