s one might think
from an article in the _Temps_ (though I gladly pay a tribute to its
honesty), merely a small group as narrow as that of our symbolists. They
count among them writers who appeal to a large public and who do not set
out in any way (except for the group of Stefan George) to write for a
_select few_--they wish to write for all. I stated, too, that the
boldest review of all, Wilhelm Herzog's _Forum_, was read in the German
trenches and received approbation thence.

But what is more astonishing, this spirit of criticism has possessed
some of the combatants and even made its appearance among German
officers. In the November-December number of the _Friedens-Warte_,
published in Berlin, Vienna, and Leipzig, by Dr. Alfred H. Fried, there
occurs "An appeal to the Germanic peoples," addressed, at the end of
October, by Baron Marschall von Biberstein, Landrat of Prussia and
captain in the 1st Foot Guards reserve. This article was written in a
trench north of Arras, where on the 11th of November, Biberstein was
killed. He expresses unreservedly his horror of the war and his ardent
desire that it may be the last: "_That is the conviction of those at the
front who are witnesses of the unspeakable horrors of modern warfare._"
Even more praiseworthy is Biberstein's frankness when he decides to
begin a confession and a _mea culpa_ for the sins of Germany. "_The war
has opened my eyes_," he says, "_to our terrible unlovableness
(Unbeliebtheit). Everything has its cause; we must have given cause for
this hatred; and even in part have justified it.... Let us hope that it
will not be the least of the advantages of this war that Germany will
turn round on herself, will search out and recognize her faults and
correct them._" Unfortunately even this article is spoiled by Germanic
pride which, desiring a world peace, sets out to impose it on the world.
Herein it recalls in some respects the bellicose pacifism of the too
celebrated Ostwald.

But another officer (of whom I spoke in my last chapter) the poet Fritz
von Unruh, first Lieutenant of Uhlans on the western front, has written
dramatic scenes in verse and prose. These have appeared recently under
the title _Before the Decision (Vor der Entscheidung)_. It is a dramatic
poem in which the author has noted his own impressions and his moral
transformations. The hero, who like himself, is an officer of Uhlans,
passes through various centers of the war and remains everywhere a