o dust. These are some of the penalties that
would have gladdened the heart of the gallant Beresford and his Albert
Hall comrades of our time had they been carried out against the
Germans, who have excelled the Spaniards of Philip's reign in cultured
murder and other brutalities in a war that has cost William II his
throne and brought the period of civilization perilously near its end.
It may be that the instability of petty statesmanship is to disappear,
and that Providence may have in unseen reserve a group of men with
mental and physical powers capable of subduing human virulence and
re-creating out of the chaos the Germans have made a new and enduring
civilization; and when they shall appear their advent will be
applauded by the stricken world.

Incidentally, it may be added that the German nation, which has
endangered the existence of civilization, would never have been
despised or thought ill of on account of its defeat by the Allies. It
is their unjustifiable method of beginning the war, and the dirty
brutal tricks by which they sought to win it, which have created
enduring mistrust and animosity against them. The law of human
fairness is no more exacting to small communities or individuals than
it is to nations.

Drake continued his relentless reprisals against San Domingo. The
burning of British sailors as heretics possessed his mind. The
distracted governor would have given his soul to get rid of him, but
Drake demanded money, and this the governor pleaded was not available,
but he was ultimately forced to provide 25,000 ducats, equalling
L50,000. This was accepted after the town had been shattered to pieces
and the shipping destroyed. The cathedral was the only important
building left intact, the probable reason being that the remains of
the great navigator, Columbus, were entombed there. Already the
mortality amongst Drake's crew had been alarmingly heavy, and he was
too wise a man to gamble with their lives until the bad season came
on, so he settled up and hurried away into the fresh sea breezes,
determined to give many more Spanish possessions a thorough shaking
up. The news that the freebooters were near at hand, and that they
were committing shocking deeds of theft and destruction on the way,
had filtered to the Carribean Sea, and struck the somnolent
population with terror. Carthagena, a magnificent city and the capital
of the Spanish Main, was Drake's next objective. He had large hopes of
doing wel