s and Dixmude, numbered the purest souls, the greatest
idealists, those most possessed by the dream of universal brotherhood.
If I say that for many among them the war has been a laceration, "a
horror, a failure, a renunciation of every ideal, an abdication of the
spirit," as one of them wrote on the eve of his death--if I say that the
death of Peguy has been mourned by many young Germans, no one would
believe me. But belief will be a necessity the day I publish the
documents which I have collected.

It is somewhat better understood in France how this German nation,
enveloped in the network of lies woven by its Government, and abandoning
herself thereto with a blind and obstinate loyalty, is profoundly
convinced that she was attacked, hemmed in by the jealousy of the world;
and that she must defend herself at all costs or die. It is among the
chivalrous traditions of France to render homage to the courage of an
adversary. One owes it to that adversary to recognize that in default of
other virtues the spirit of sacrifice is, in the present instance,
almost boundless. It would be a great mistake to force it to extremes.
Instead of driving this blind people to a magnificent and desperate
defense, let us try to open their eyes. It is not impossible. An
Alsatian patriot, to whom one could not impute indulgence for Germany,
Dr. Bucher of Strasbourg, told me not long since, that even though the
German is full of haughty prejudices carefully fostered by his teachers,
he is at any rate always amenable to discussion and his docile spirit is
accessible to arguments. As an example, I would instance the secret
evolution that I see in progress in the thought of certain Germans.
Numbers of German letters that I have read this month begin to utter
agonized questionings as to the legitimacy of the proceedings of Germany
in Belgium. I have seen this anxiety growing, little by little, in
consciences which at first reposed in the conviction of their right.
Truth is slowly dawning. What will happen if its light conquers and
spreads? Carry truth in your hands! Let it be our strongest weapon! Let
us, like the soldiers of the Revolution, whose hearts live again in our
troops, fight not against our enemies, but for them. In saving the
world, let us save them too. France does not break old chains in order
to rivet new.

Your thoughts are fixed on victory. I think of the peace which will
follow. For however insistently the most militarist among