HOLLAND TO BELGIUM
“Outwardly, I must be neutral; inwardly, I am full of pity and sympathy.”
A Conflict of Testimony
Just so!
The Huns pay the price of lies by being constrained “to lie on still.” But, sooner or later—sooner, perhaps, than they think—their lies will come home to roost. The great gullible Hun public, the slaves of an iron discipline, will learn the truth. No people in the history of the world has been so consummately befooled, so systematically humbugged. One wonders what the awakening will be like? The army, if we may credit the testimony of some prisoners, is just beginning to ask questions; the women of Hunland are on the ragged edge of revolt. The Junkers, it is true, sit heavily upon public opinion, the safety-valve of every nation. Meanwhile, hidden forces are accumulating strength. A cataclysmic explosion must take place. And then the savage instincts of the great blonde beast, instincts fostered by an intelligence perverted to evil, will glut themselves to satiety. La Carmagnole will be danced in Berlin.
As with individuals, so with nations—the most terrible humiliations come from within.
HORACE ANNESLEY VACHELL
A CONFLICT OF TESTIMONY