on earth. Thine is the kingdom, the German land; may we, by aid of Thy steel-clad hand, achieve the power and the glory.

"Here, however, the Germans themselves thought the poet had gone too far; the poem was denounced as blasphemous in a religious paper, and it did not appear in later editions of the book. "Another poet, Fritz Philippi, has written the following poem, entitled 'World-Germany':

"In the midst of the world war Germany lies like a peaceful garden of God behind the wall of her armies. Then the poet hears the giant strides of the new armor-clad Germany; the earth trembles, the nations shriek, the old era sinks into ruin. Formerly German thought was shut up in her corner, but now the world shall have its coat cut according to German measure and as far as our swords flash and German blood flows, the circle of the earth shall come under the tutelage of German activity.

We have become a nation of wrath; we think only of the war. We execute God's almighty will and the edicts of his justice we will fulfill, imbued with holy rage."

Dr. Bang quotes long passages from published war sermons, most of which proclaim the identity of Germanism and Christianity. This is from a volume of sermons published by Pastor H. Francke, Liegnitz:

They envy us our freedom, our power to do our work in peace, to excel in virtue of ability, to fulfill our appointed task for the good of the world and humanity, to heal the world by the German nature, to become a blessing to the people of the earth. Wherever the German spirit obtains supremacy, there freedom also prevails.

Here we come upon the old, intimate kinship between the essence of Christianity and of Germanism. Because of their close spiritual relationship, therefore, Christianity must find its fairest flower in the German mind. Therefore, we have a right to say: "Our German Christianity-the most perfect, the most pure."

German craving for truth and German strength of faith, working along Biblical paths, have attained to the true faith, the pure religiousness, whose first and greatest spokesman is Jesus Christ. Thus the Germans are the very nearest to the Lord, and may claim for themselves that they have "continued in His Word."

We fight, then, not only for our land and our people; no, for humanity in its most mature form of development; in a word, for Christianity as against degeneration and barbarism. Therefore, as surely as the history of mankind moves onward and not backward, and truth is higher than lies and hypocrisy, God must be with us, and victory ours.

"The German God"

In the report of an address by a German theological professor, in the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger for Nov. 13, 1914, we read as follows:

But the deepest and most thought-inspiring result of the war is "the German God." Not the national God, such as the lower nations worship, but "our God," who is not ashamed of belonging to us, the peculiar acquirement of our heart. Max Lenz has already testified to the revelation of the "German God," and Luther's hymn, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott," merely expresses the same idea in other words.

In a sermon preached Sept. 6, 1914, Pastor Karl Koenig said:

Not fear, but strength! Since the days of the Morocco affair, the most painful thing for us who hold Germany's strength and greatness to be a neccessity for the history of mankind, was the fact that the inevitable weakening in our policy at that time-inevitable because our fleet was not yet ready, because the Kaiser Wilhelm canal was not yet completed, because Heligoland was not yet fully fortified, and because the whole Morocco business was not a matter for the sake of which the conscience of our people would have approved a war-the fact that this weakness of our policy, to which necessity compelled us, led foreign nations to suspect our Kaiser of timidity. William the Timid! Thus they mocked in France, thus they hissed in England, and the Muscovites rubbed their hands in glee.

*

Must we not, even now, be thankful that Russian thirst for power, and French ambition, fostered and encouraged by English egoism, did not let the shots fired at Serajevo lead to a stern chastisement of Serbia, as moral earnestness demanded, but allowed them to swell into the thunder rolling through this, the greatest war which has ever shaken the world. Two years too early for our enemies, but an act of grace from God for ourselves and our allies! For now we have the lead in the iron game of war; and though England may lurk in the background, waiting for her turn in the game-so be it, England-we know exactly what trumps you hold, but whether you know ours, coming days will show. *

Our German power shows its nature precisely in this, that it can wait until God, through its conscience, commands: "Now is the time to strike and defend thyself." The time had not come in the days of the Morocco episode. But it has come now, and German power, deliberate and calm, now faces a world of foes. Conscience commands, and then there is neither wavering nor political wrangling, no ambiguous Anglicizing, no ambiguous Muscovitizing, but one thing only: Yes or no, and "German blows, German

power."

In a pamphlet entitled "War Devotions," which has run through several editions, Pastor J. Rump, Berlin, thus outlines Germany's mission:

We stand facing the decisive hour for Europe; nay, we must even say, for Asia and Africa. On Germany, which, contrary to all human calculation, has in this war been guided to victory, the Lord will confer the duty of heralding the progress of His Kingdom throughout humanity. On the paths of commerce and intercourse we shall go forth to all nations, and, after the fierce fight is over, carry Jesus to them, in the quiet, peaceful work of a true Kultur. England, in these paths, has lowered herself to become a nation of hucksters, who have long abandoned the service of God for that of Mammon. Let England's doings be a warning to us, Christians!

Pastor Goesch of Bustrow delivered a discourse on war and Kultur, which conIcludes with these words:

We Germans, reviled as Huns and barbarians, having through the war been taught the value and benignant power of our Christian-German Kultur, will become the missionaries of Kultur to the people of the earth. As a nation which knows and wills, which strives and achieves, we will conquer that place in the sun which is due to us, and will become bearers of light to the other nations, so that their eyes may be opened to the deed of infamy, the Kultur-murder, to which they have stooped, blinded by hatred and envy. This German war against the whole world shall break the way for German Kultur to the whole world!

Dr. Bang, in conclusion, points out that a systematic campaign of chauvinism and incitement to war had long been carried on in Germany. He quotes from "a remarkable book," published in 1913 by a German-American, Professor O. Nippold:

Chauvinism has grown enormously in Germany during the last decade. This fact makes the strongest impression on those who have returned to Germany after living a long time abroad. I, myself, can say from experience how astonished I was, on returning to Germany after a long absence, to

see this psychological transformation. Hand in hand with this outspoken hostility to foreign countries there goes a one-sided war enthusiasm and war mânia such as would have been thought impossible a few years ago. One can only deplore the fact that today there is so much irresponsible agitation against other States and so much frivolous incitement to war. It cannot be doubted that this agitation is part of a deliberate scheme, the object of which is gradually to win over the population, and if possible the Government, no matter by what means-even by the distortion of fact and malicious slander-to the program of the chauvinists.

These people not only incite the nation to war, but systematically stimulate the desire for war. War is pictured not as a possibility that may occur, but as a necessity that must come, and the sooner the better. The sum and substance of the teaching of the chauvinistic organizations, such as the PanGerman League and the German Defense Association, is always the same; a European war is not merely an eventuality for which we must be prepared, but a necessity at which, in the interest of the German Nation, we should rejoice.

One of the leaders of the association known as Young Germany wrote in its official organ for October, 1913, according to Dr. Bang:

War is the noblest and holiest expression of human activity. For us, too, the glad, great hour of battle will strike. Still and deep in the German heart must live the joy of battle and the longing for it. Let us ridicule to the utmost the old women in breeches who fear war and deplore it as cruel or revolting. No, war is beautiful. Its august sublimity elevates the human heart beyond the earthly and the common. In the cloud palace above sit the heroes Frederick the Great and Blücher, and all the men of action-the Great Emperor, Moltke, Roon, Bismarck are there as well, but not the old women who would take away our joy in war. When here on earth a battle is won by German arms, and the faithful dead ascend to heaven-a Potsdam Lance Corporal will call the guard to the door, and " "Old Fritz," springing from his golden throne, will give the command to present arms. That is the heaven of Young Germany.

J. P. Whitaker, a young Englishman, was at Roubaix in Northern France on business when the Germans unexpectedly invaded that region in September, 1914. After passing two and a half years there under German military rule, he escaped in March, 1917, by way of Belgium and Holland, and wrote an interesting account of his experiences for The London Times. His observations regarding the changed policy of the Germans in Belgium revealed some things hitherto unknown to the outside world. Mr. Whitaker found the rule of the invaders in Roubaix and Lille comparatively humane at first, but he continues:

T

OWARD the end of March, 1915, a distinct change became noticeable in the policy of the German military authorities, and for the first time the people of Roubaix began to feel the iron heel. The allied Governments had formally declared their intention of blockading Germany, and the German Army had been given a sharp lesson at Neuve Chapelle. Whether these two events had anything to do with the change, or whether it was merely a coincidence, I do not know; the fact remains that our German governors who had hitherto treated us with tolerable leniency chose about this time to initiate a régime of stringent regulation and repression.

The first sign of the new policy was the issue of posters calling on all men, women, and children over the age of 14 to go to the Town Hall and take out identification papers, while all men between 17 and 50 were required also to obtain a control card.

Up to this time I had escaped any interference from the Germans, perhaps because I scarcely ventured into the streets for the first two months of the German occupation, and possibly also because, from a previous long residence in

Roubaix, I spoke French fluently. Strangely enough, though I went to the Town Hall with the rest and supplied true particulars of my age and nationality, papers were issued to me as a matter of course, and never during the whole two years and more of my presence in their midst did the enemy molest me in any way.

Methods of the Invaders

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The only incident which throws any light on this curious immunity occurred about the middle of 1915. Like all other men of military age, I was required to present myself once a month at a public hall, in order to have my control card, which was divided into squares for the months of the year, marked in the proper space with an official stamp Kontrol, July," or August," or whatever the month might be. We were summoned for this process by groups, first those from 17 to 25, then those from 25 to 35, and SO on. Hundreds of young fellows would gather in a room, and one by one, as their names were called, would take their cards to be stamped by a noncommissioned officer sitting at a table on the far side of the room. On the occasion I have in mind the noncommissioned officer said to me, "You are French, aren't you?" I answered, “No.” "Are you Belgian?” "No," again. "You are Dutch, then?" A third time I replied "No."

At this stage an officer who had been sauntering up and down the room smoking a cigarette came to the table, took up my card, and turning to the man behind the table remarked, "It's all right. He's an American." I did not trouble to enlighten him. That is probably why I enjoyed comparative liberty.

Enslavement is part of the deliberate policy of the Germans in France. It