n, and because we shall be
able to "stick it" longer.'

'Have you been to Ypres?' he asked quickly.

'No,' I replied.

'I have. I was there for months. I read the accounts of the Ypres
battles while I was there, and I was able to study the _terrain_, the
conditions. And Germany ought to have won. Germany _would_ have won
too, if force was the deciding power. Why, think, they had four men to
our one, and a greater proportion of big guns and munitions. Humanly
speaking, the battle was theirs and then Calais was theirs and they
could dominate the Channel. But it is "Not by might, nor by power; but
by My Spirit, said the Lord of Hosts." I tell you, Sir, no one can
read the inwardness of the battles of Ypres without believing in
Almighty God. By the way, did you ever read Victor Hugo's _Les
Miserables_?'

'Years ago. What has that to do with it?'

'He describes the battle of Waterloo. He says that Napoleon by every
human law ought to have won it. But Hugo says this: "Napoleon lost
Waterloo because God was against him." That's why Germany didn't take
Ypres, and rush through to Calais. That's why they'll lose this war.'

'And yet the Germans are always saying that God is on their side. They
go to battle singing--

"A safe stronghold our God is still."'

'Yes, they are like the men in the time of Christ who said "Lord,
Lord," and did not the things he said. I tell you, sir, if we had
fought in God's strength, and obeyed God's commands, _the war would
have been over by now_. German militarism would have been crushed and
the world would be at peace.'

'Nonsense,' I replied with a laugh.

'It's not nonsense. This, as it seems to me, is the case: We are
fighting God's cause, but God counts but very little. We are not
laying hold of His Omnipotence; we are trusting entirely in big guns,
while God is forgotten. That is why the war drags on. I tell you,'
and his voice quivered with passion, 'what I am afraid of is this.
This ghastly carnage will drag on, with all its horrors; homes will be
decimated, lives will be sacrificed all because we believe more in
material things than in spiritual things. More in the devil than in
God. I think sometimes that God will not allow us to win because we
are not worthy.'

'Come now,' I said, 'it is very easy to speak in generalities about
such a question; but tell me how, in a practical way, faith in God, and
religious enthusiasm would help us to win this war