Page:Great Speeches of the War.djvu/297

 epopée of Liege, Louvain, Antwerp, the banks of the Yser, where for a fortnight it held fast in the mud and under the devastating fire! What a tragic sight is that of the phalanx now hanging on to a shred of territory, which after all is still the Fatherland!

What splendid men have sprung from Belgian soil; to whom history will pay homage! Leman, the heroic defender of Liege, who barely escaped death under the ruins of his fort. Adolphus Max, who, by his brave and firm stand, subdued Teutonic arrogancy; Cardinal Mercier, clothed in his purple, grave and dignified, the personification of Christian grandeur; King Albert, who does his duty simply and nobly, and symbolizes in all eyes the heroism of integrity; and last our Queen, the good fairy of Belgian hospitals, who showers on the wounded her gracious and kindly acts.

Germany, carried away by her monstrous selfishness, has torn up treaties, has proclaimed the law of might; we Belgians stand to defend the right and civilization. What could be higher than that?

What would become of the modern world if the first place was given to the perfection of material power, the technique of homicide? The aim of civilization is to curb physical cravings, to discipline intellectual energies, to spiritualize and moralize life. What would happen if instincts were allowed to be unbridled without any restraint, if good faith disappeared, if the great lights of justice and fraternity were extinguished? The world would then be only a chaos of abject materialism, it would sink into the abyss of barbarism, the work of centuries would have to begin again.

Belgium represents the right of existence of small nations. In the name of what principle does a nation powerful in numbers and in armament seek to destroy or absorb a neighbouring nation less strong and smaller? Is it because small nations have no spiritual qualities? Belgium by her customs, her institutions, her social progress, by the radiancy of her art and poetry fills a special niche in the concert of civilized nations. What right has this German Kultur to wish to impose itself on other cultures? The doctors beyond the Rhine, in the intoxication of their pride, declare that it is the mission of their country to subdue other nations. But in this German Kultur, there is lacking the respect, the care of the individual, the sense of individuality. The German idea of the State is a formidable machine, managed by a privileged caste, and of which man