an
attache at the Embassy in Madrid. I was much impressed by their quiet
dignified bearing, so typical of the chivalrous heroism of France, and
so unlike anything which we could look for in the officers of the
German Army. I could not help observing that the French were much
depressed and filled with anxiety as to the issue of the war. A French
lady said to me "How can we go on much longer; our man-power is nearly
exhausted?" It is a supreme delight to me to think that that wonderful
nation, which suffered and bled so deeply and bore its wrongs so
nobly, has now been avenged on the ruthless enemy, and that the
tricolour once more floats over Alsace and Lorraine. Profoundly
patriotic though we of the British Empire are, there is something in
the patriotism of the French which goes down into the deepest roots of
the human soul. I remember once in the private burying place of a
noble family who owned a chateau not far from our front line, seeing a
little child's grave. The child had died in Canada at the age of two
years, and its body had been brought back to its ancestral resting
place. On the tombstone, under the inscription were the words:--

"Petit ange
Priez pour
la France."

I was very much struck by the prayer. That the sorrow for a (p. 189)
child's death should be coupled with the love of country seemed most
strange and pathetic. I venture to say that it would be impossible to
find a parallel instance of such a blending of emotions in any English
churchyard. The present owner of the Chateau, which was at least two
or three hundred years old, was away fighting for his country, and
long grass and weeds filled the uncared for corner by the side of the
old church. In past history, we have fought with the French again and
again, but we always felt that we were fighting with gentlemen, and
were sure that every courteous deed done by us would meet with an
equally courteous response. One of the saddest things in the war was
that, while we often admired the military efficiency of the Germans,
we had absolutely no respect for their officers or men, nor could we
regard them as anything but well-trained brutes. The ties which bind
us to France now are very intimate and personal, and it is a matter of
thankfulness to all who love human idealism and true culture, that the
reproach of the defeat of 1870 has been washed away in blood, and that
France will emerge from her fiery trial a purer and a loftier nation.