,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,the ,,war  ,,life
  ,,matter ,,in ,,conflict  ,,by ,,henri
 ,,bergson    ,,with ,,an ,,introduction
 ,,by ,h4 ,,wildon ,,carr    ,,london   
,t4 ,,fisher ,,unwin ,,ltd4 ,,adelphi   
,,terrace  ,english translation first   
published ,june #aiae ,second           
impression1 ,july #aiae ,third          
impression1 ,august #aiae  7,all rights 
reserved7     ,,contents                
,,page  ,,introduction                  
#i  ,,life ,,and ,,matter ,,at ,,war    
#ae  ,,the ,,force ,,which ,,wastes     
,,and ,,that ,,which ,,does ,,not       
,,waste      #da     ,,introduction     
,,introduction   ,this little volume    
contains the discourse delivered by ,m4 
,bergson as ,president of the ,acadmie  
des ,sciences ,morales et ,politiques at
 its annual public meeting on ,december 
#ab1 #aiad4 ,it is the address which    
preceded the announcement of the prizes 
and awards bestowed by the ,academy4 ,it
 is now issued in book form with the    
consent of the author1 and his full     

appreciation of the object1 to give it  
the widest circulation4 ,although it is 
brief1 it is a message addressed        
directly to the heart of our people in  
the crisis of war4 ,to it is added a    
short article on the same theme1        
contributed to the ,bulletin des ,armes 
de la ,rpublique1 ,november #d1 #aiad4  
,it has been said that war1 with all its
 terrible evils1 is the occasion of at  
least one good which humanity values as 
above price3 it inspires great poetry4  
,on the other hand1 it seems to crush   
philosophy4 ,many may think that in this
 message it is poetry to which ,m4      
,bergson is giving expression4 ,it is1  
however1 from the depth of his          
philosophy that the inspiration is      
drawn4 ,the full significance of the    
doctrines he has been teaching1 and     
their whole moral and political bearing1
 are brought into clear light1 focussed1
 as it were1 on the actual present      
struggle4 ,yet is there no word that    
breathes hatred to any person or to any 

race4 ,it is by the triumph of a        
spiritual principle that philosophy may 
hope to free humanity from the          
oppression of a materialist doctrine4   
,the opposing principle has had1 and    
still has1 philosophers to defend it1   
and they belong to no particular nation 
or race4 ,one of its most brilliant and 
influential exponents was a ,frenchman1 
the diplomatist1 ,comte ,joseph ,arthur 
de ,gobineau 7#ahaf-ahhb74 ,a brief word
 on this remarkable man may help the    
reader to understand the mention of his 
name on page #cj4 ,his ,essai sur       
l'ingalit des races humaines 7#ahee7 was
 the first of a series of writings to   
affirm1 on ethnological grounds1 the    
superiority of the ,aryan race1 and its 
right and destiny by reason of that     
superiority to rule all other races as  
bondsmen4 ,he was the friend of ,wagner1
 and also of ,nietzsche4 ,madame        
,frster-,nietzsche in her biography of  
her brother has spoken of the almost    
reverent regard which he entertained for

 ,gobineau1 and it may be that from him 
,nietzsche derived the idea which he    
developed into his doctrine of the      
non-morality of the superman4  ,were the
 discourse of ,m4 ,bergson no more than 
the utterance of a philosopher stirred  
by deep patriotic feeling to uphold his 
country's cause and denounce his        
country's foes1 then1 however eloquent  
its appeal1 it would have no            
significance or value beyond its present
 power to inspire courage in the hearts 
of his comrades4 ,and it would not      
differ from equally earnest appeals     
which other philosophers have addressed 
to the world on behalf of their         
fellow-countrymen4 ,it has a much deeper
 meaning4 ,it is no mere indictment of  
modern ,germany's rulers or people4 ,it 
goes to the very heart of the problem of
 the future of humanity4 ,shall the     
splendid material progress which has    
marked the scientific achievement of the
 last century be the forging of a sword 
to destroy the freedom which life has   

won with it from matter8  ,as these     
words are written the conflict is       
raging1 and the decision seems still far
 off4 ,death is striking down the young 
in all the nations1 and among them many 
on whom our highest hopes were founded4 
,but whatever be the price of victory1  
so writes ,m4 ,bergson to me1 it will   
not have been too dearly bought if      
humanity is finally delivered from the  
nightmare which weighs on it4    ,h4    
,,wildon ,,carr    ,,london1 ,may #aiae 
,,life ,,and ,,matter ,,at ,,war        
,,life ,,and ,,matter ,,at ,,war        
,comprendre et ne pas s'indigner3 this  
has been said to be the last word of    
philosophy4 ,i believe none of it2 and1 
had ,i to choose1 ,i should much prefer1
 when in presence of crime1 to give my  
indignation rein and not to understand4 
,happily1 the choice has not to be made4
 ,on the contrary1 there are forms of   
anger which1 by a thorough comprehension
 of their objects1 derive the force to  
sustain and renew their vigour4 ,our    

anger is of that kind4 ,we have only to 
detach the inner meaning of this war1   
and our horror for those who made it    
will be increased4 ,moreover1 nothing is
 easier4 ,a little history1 and a little
 philosophy1 will suffice4  ,for a long 
period ,germany devoted herself to      
poetry1 to art1 to metaphysic4 ,she was 
made1 so she said1 for thought and      
imagination2 she had no feeling for the 
reality of things4 ,it is true that her 
administration had defects1 that she was
 divided into rival states1 that anarchy
 at certain times seemed beyond remedy4 
,nevertheless1 an attentive study would 
have revealed1 beneath this disorder1   
the normal process of life1 which is    
always too rank at the first and later  
on prunes away its excess1 makes its    
choice and adopts a lasting form4 ,from 
her municipal activity there would have 
issued at length a good administration  
which would have assured order without  
suppressing liberty4 ,from the closer   
union of the confederated states that   

unity in diversity1 which is the        
distinguishing mark of organized beings1
 would have arisen4 ,but time was needed
 for that1 as it always is needed by    
life1 in order that its possibilities   
may be realized4  ,now1 while ,germany  
was thus working out the task of her    
organic self-development there was      
within her1 or rather by her side1 a    
people with whom every process tended to
 take a mechanical form4 ,artificiality 
marked the creation of ,prussia2 for she
 was formed by clumsily sewing together1
 edge to edge1 provinces either acquired
 or conquered4 ,her administration was  
mechanical2 it did its work with the    
regularity of a well-appointed machine4 
,not less mechanical--extreme both in   
precision and in power--was the army1 on
 which the attention of the             
,hohenzollerns was concentrated4        
,whether it was that the people had been
 drilled for centuries to mechanical    
obedience2 or that an elemental instinct
 for conquest and plunder1 absorbing to 

itself the life of the nation1 had      
simplified its aims and reduced them to 
materialism2 or that the ,prussian      
character was originally so made--it is 
certain that the idea of ,prussia always
 evoked a vision of rudeness1 of        
rigidity1 of automatism1 as if          
everything within her went by clockwork1
 from the gesture of her kings to the   
step of her soldiers4  ,a day came when 
,germany had to choose between a rigid  
and ready-made system of unification1   
mechanically superposed from without1   
and the unity which comes from within by
 a natural effort of life4 ,at the same 
time the choice was offered her between 
an administrative mechanism1 into which 
she would merely have to fit herself--a 
complete order1 doubtless1 but          
poverty-stricken1 like everything else  
that is artificial--and that richer and 
more flexible order which the wills of  
men1 when freely associated1 evolve of  
themselves4 ,how would she choose8      
,there was a man on the spot in whom the

 methods of ,prussia were incarnate--a  
genius1 ,i admit1 but an evil genius2   
for he was devoid of scruple1 devoid of 
faith1 devoid of pity1 and devoid of    
soul4 ,he had just removed the only     
obstacle which could spoil his plan2 he 
had got rid of ,austria4 ,he said to    
himself3 ,we are going to make ,germany 
take over1 along with ,prussian         
centralization and discipline1 all our  
ambitions and all our appetites4 ,if she
 hesitates1 if the confederate peoples  
do not arrive of their own accord at    
this common resolution1 ,i know how to  
compel them2 ,i will cause a breath of  
hatred to pass over them1 all alike4 ,i 
will launch them against a common enemy1
 an enemy we have hood-winked and       
waylaid1 and whom we shall try to catch 
unarmed4 ,then when the hour of triumph 
shall sound1 ,i will rise up2 from      
,germany1 in her intoxication1 ,i will  
snatch a covenant1 which1 like that of  
,faust with ,mephistopheles1 she has    
signed with her blood1 and by which she 

also1 like ,faust1 has traded her soul  
away for the good things of earth4  ,he 
did as he had said4 ,the covenant was   
made4 ,but1 to ensure that it would     
never be broken1 ,germany must be made  
to feel1 for ever and ever1 the         
necessity of the armour in which she was
 imprisoned4 ,bismarck took his measures
 accordingly4 ,among the confidences    
which fell from his lips and were       
gathered up by his intimates is this    
revealing word3 ,we took nothing from   
,austria after ,sadowa because we wanted
 to be able one day to be reconciled    
with her4 ,so1 then1 in taking ,alsace  
and a part of ,lorraine1 his idea was   
that no reconciliation with the ,french 
would be possible4 ,he intended that the
 ,german people should believe itself in
 permanent danger of war1 that the new  
,empire should remain armed to the      
teeth1 and that ,germany1 instead of    
dissolving ,prussian militarism into her
 own life1 should reinforce it by       
militarizing herself4  ,she reinforced  

it2 and day by day the machine grew in  
complexity and power4 ,but in the       
process it yielded automatically a      
result very different from that which   
its constructors had foreseen4 ,it is   
the story of the witch who1 by a magic  
incantation1 had won the consent of her 
broomstick to go to the river and fill  
her buckets2 having no formula ready to 
check the work1 she watched her cave    
fill with water until she was drowned4  
,the ,prussian army had been organized1 
brought to perfection1 tended with love 
by the ,kings of ,prussia1 in order that
 it might serve their lust of conquest4 
,to take possession of neighbours'      
territory was then the sole aim2        
territory was almost the whole of the   
national wealth4 ,but with the          
nineteenth century there was a new      
departure4 ,the idea peculiar to that   
century of diverting science to the     
satisfaction of men's material wants    
evoked a development of industry1 and   
consequently of commerce1 so            

extraordinary that the old conception of
 wealth was completely overthrown4 ,not 
more than fifty years were needed to    
bring about this transformation4 ,on the
 morrow of the war of #ahgj a nation    
expressly made for appropriating the    
good things of this world had no        
alternative but to become industrial and
 commercial4 ,not on that account1      
however1 would she change the essential 
principle of her action4 ,on the        
contrary1 she had but to utilize her    
habits of discipline1 method1 tenacity1 
minute care1 precise information--and1  
we may add1 of impertinence and         
spying--to which she owed the growth of 
her military power4 ,she would thus     
equip herself with industry and commerce
 not less formidable than her army1 and 
able to march1 on their part also1 in   
military order4  ,from that time onwards
 these two were seen going forward      
together1 advancing at an even pace and 
reciprocally supporting each            
other--industry1 which had answered the 

appeal of the spirit of conquest1 on one
 side2 on the other1 the army1 in which 
that spirit was incarnate1 with the     
navy1 which had just been added to the  
forces of the army4 ,industry was free  
to develop in all directions2 but1 from 
the first1 war was the end in view4 ,in 
enormous factories1 such as the world   
had never seen1 tens of thousands of    
workmen toiled in casting great guns1   
while by their side1 in workshops and   
laboratories1 every invention which the 
disinterested genius of neighbouring    
peoples had been able to achieve was    
immediately captured1 bent from its     
intended use1 and converted into an     
engine of war4 ,reciprocally1 the army  
and navy which owed their growth to the 
increasing wealth of the nation1 repaid 
the debt by placing their services at   
the disposal of this wealth3 they       
undertook to open roads for commerce and
 outlets for industry4 ,but through this
 very combination the movement imposed  
on ,prussia by her kings1 and on        

,germany by ,prussia1 was bound to      
swerve from its course1 whilst gathering
 speed and flinging itself forward4     
,sooner or later it was bound to escape 
from all control and become a plunge    
into the abyss4  ,for1 even though the  
spirit of conquest knows no limit in    
itself1 it must limit its ambitions as  
long as the question is simply that of  
seizing a neighbour's territory4 ,to    
constitute their kingdom1 kings of      
,prussia had been obliged to undertake a
 long series of wars4 ,whether the name 
of the spoiler be ,frederick or         
,william1 not more than one or two      
provinces can be annexed at a time3 to  
take more is to weaken oneself4 ,but    
suppose that the same insatiable thirst 
for conquest enters into the new form of
 wealth--what follows8 ,boundless       
ambition1 which till then had spread out
 the coming of its gains over indefinite
 time1 since each one of them would be  
worth only a definite portion of space1 
will now leap all at once to an object  

boundless as itself4 ,rights will be set
 up on every point of the globe where   
raw material for industry1 refitting    
stations for ships1 concessions for     
capitalists1 or outlets for production  
are seen to exist4 ,in fact1 the policy 
which had served ,prussia so well passed
 at a bound from the most calculating   
prudence to the wildest temerity4       
,bismarck1 whose common-sense put some  
restraint on the logic of his           
principles1 was still averse to colonial
 enterprises2 he said that all the      
affairs of the ,east were not worth the 
bones of one ,pomeranian grenadier4 ,but
 ,germany1 retaining ,bismarck's former 
impulse1 went straight on and rushed    
forward along the lines of least        
resistance to east and west3 on the one 
side lay the route to the ,orient1 on   
the other the empire of the sea4 ,but in
 so doing she virtually declared war on 
the nations which ,bismarck had managed 
to keep allied or friendly4 ,her        
ambition looked forward to the          

domination of the world4  ,moreover1    
there was no moral restraint which could
 keep this ambition under control4      
,intoxicated by victory1 by the prestige
 which victory had given her1 and of    
which her commerce1 her industry1 her   
science even1 had reaped the benefit1   
,germany plunged into a material        
prosperity such as she had never known1 
such as she would never have dared to   
dream of4 ,she told herself that if     
force had wrought this miracle1 if force
 had given her riches and honour1 it was
 because force had within it a hidden   
virtue1 mysterious--nay1 divine4 ,yes1  
brute force with its train of trickery  
and lies1 when it comes with powers of  
attack sufficient for the conquest of   
the world1 must needs be in direct line 
from heaven and a revelation of the will
 of ,god on earth4 ,the people to whom  
this power of attack had come were the  
elect1 a chosen race by whose side the  
others are races of bondmen4 ,to such a 
race nothing is forbidden that may help 

in establishing its dominion4 ,let none 
speak to it of inviolable right6 ,right 
is what is written in a treaty2 a treaty
 is what registers the will of a        
conqueror--that is1 the direction of his
 force for the time being3 force1 then1 
and right are the same thing2 and if    
force is pleased to take a new          
direction1 the old right becomes ancient
 history and the treaty1 which backed it
 with a solemn undertaking1 no more than
 a scrap of paper4 ,thus ,germany1      
struck with wonder in presence of her   
victories1 of the brute force which had 
been their means1 of the material       
prosperity which was the outcome1       
translated her amazement into an idea4  
,and see how1 at the call of this idea1 
a thousand thoughts1 as if awaked from  
slumber1 and shaking off the dust of    
libraries1 came rushing in from every   
side--thoughts which ,germany had       
suffered to sleep among her poets and   
philosophers1 every one which could lend
 a seductive or striking form to a      

conviction already made6 ,henceforth    
,german imperialism had a theory of its 
own4 ,taught in schools and             
universities1 it easily moulded to      
itself a nation already broken-in to    
passive obedience and having no loftier 
ideal wherewith to oppose the official  
doctrine4 ,many persons have explained  
the aberrations of ,german policy as due
 to that theory4 ,for my part1 ,i see in
 it nothing more than a philosophy      
doomed to translate into ideas what was1
 in its essence1 insatiable ambition and
 will perverted by pride4 ,the doctrine 
is an effect rather than a cause2 and   
should the day come when ,germany1      
conscious of her moral humiliation1     
shall say1 to excuse herself1 that she  
had trusted herself too much to certain 
theories1 that an error of judgment is  
not a crime1 it will then be necessary  
to remind her that her philosophy was   
simply a translation into intellectual  
terms of her brutality1 her appetites1  
and her vices4 ,so1 too1 in most cases1 

doctrines are the means by which nations
 and individuals seek to explain what   
they are and what they do4 ,germany1    
having finally become a predatory       
nation1 invokes ,hegel as witness2 just 
as a ,germany enamoured of moral beauty 
would have declared herself faithful to 
,kant1 just as a sentimental ,germany   
would have found her tutelary genius in 
,jacobi or ,schopenhauer4 ,had she      
leaned in any other direction and been  
unable to find at home the philosophy   
she needed1 she would have procured it  
from abroad4 ,thus when she wished to   
convince herself that predestined races 
exist1 she took from ,france1 that she  
might hoist him into celebrity1 a writer
 whom we have not read--,gobineau4      
,none the less is it true that perverse 
ambition1 once erected into theory1     
feels more at ease in working itself out
 to the end2 a part of the              
responsibility will then be thrown upon 
logic4 ,if the ,german race is the      
elect1 it will be the only race which   

has an unconditional right to live2 the 
others will be tolerated races1 and this
 toleration will be precisely what is   
called the state of peace4 ,let war     
come2 the annihilation of the enemy will
 be the end ,germany has to pursue4 ,she
 will not strike at combatants only2 she
 will massacre women1 children1 old men2
 she will pillage and burn2 the ideal   
will be to destroy towns1 villages1 the 
whole population4 ,such is the          
conclusion of the theory4 ,now we come  
to its aim and true principle4  ,as long
 as war was no more than a means to the 
settlement of a dispute between two     
nations1 the conflict was localized to  
the two armies involved4 ,more and more 
of useless violence was eliminated2     
innocent populations were kept outside  
the quarrel4 ,thus little by little a   
code of war was drawn up4 ,from the     
first1 however1 the ,prussian army1     
organized as it was for conquest1 did   
not take kindly to this law4 ,but from  
the time when ,prussian militarism1 now 

turned into ,german militarism1 had     
become one with industrialism1 it was   
the enemy's industry1 his commerce1 the 
sources of his wealth1 his wealth       
itself1 as well as his military power1  
which war must now make the end in view4
 ,his factories must be destroyed that  
his competition may be suppressed4      
,moreover1 that he may be impoverished  
once and for all and the aggressor      
enriched1 his towns must be put to      
ransom1 pillaged1 and burned4 ,above all
 must the war be short1 not only in     
order that the economic life of ,germany
 might not suffer too much1 but further1
 and chiefly1 because her military power
 lacked that consciousness of a right   
superior to force by which she could    
sustain and recuperate her energies4    
,her moral force1 being only the pride  
which comes from material force1 would  
be exposed to the same vicissitudes as  
this latter3 in proportion as the one   
was being expended the other would be   
used up4 ,time for moral force to become

 used up must not be given4 ,the machine
 must deliver its blow all at once4 ,and
 this it could do by terrorizing the    
population1 and so paralysing the       
nation4 ,to achieve that end1 no scruple
 must be suffered to embarrass the play 
of its wheels4 ,hence a system of       
atrocities prepared in advance--a system
 as sagaciously put together as the     
machine itself4  ,such is the           
explanation of the spectacle before us4 
,scientific barbarism1 systematic       
barbarism1 are phrases we have heard4   
,yes1 barbarism reinforced by the       
capture of civilization4 ,throughout the
 course of the history we have been     
following there is1 as it were1 the     
continuous clang of militarism and      
industrialism1 of machinery and         
mechanism1 of debased moral materialism4
  ,many years hence1 when the reaction  
of the past shall have left only the    
grand outline in view1 this perhaps is  
how a philosopher will speak of it4 ,he 
will say that the idea1 peculiar to the 

nineteenth century1 of employing science
 in the satisfaction of our material    
wants had given a wholly unforeseen     
extension to the mechanical arts and had
 equipped man in less than fifty years  
with more tools than he had made during 
the thousands of years he had lived on  
the earth4 ,each new machine being for  
man a new organ--an artificial organ    
which merely prolongs the natural       
organs--his body became suddenly and    
prodigiously increased in size1 without 
his soul being able at the same time to 
dilate to the dimensions of his new     
body4 ,from this disproportion there    
issued the problems1 moral1 social1     
international1 which most of the nations
 endeavoured to solve by filling up the 
soulless void in the body politic by    
creating more liberty1 more fraternity1 
more justice than the world had ever    
seen4 ,now1 while mankind laboured at   
this task of spiritualization1 inferior 
powers--,i was going to say infernal    
powers--plotted an inverse experience   

for mankind4 ,what would happen if the  
mechanical forces1 which science had    
brought to a state of readiness for the 
service of man1 should themselves take  
possession of man in order to make his  
nature material as their own8 ,what kind
 of a world would it be if this         
mechanism should seize the human race   
entire1 and if the peoples1 instead of  
raising themselves to a richer and more 
harmonious diversity1 as persons may do1
 were to fall into the uniformity of    
things8 ,what kind of a society would   
that be which should mechanically obey a
 word of command mechanically           
transmitted2 which should rule its      
science and its conscience in accordance
 therewith2 and which should lose1 along
 with the sense of justice1 the power to
 discern between truth and falsehood8   
,what would mankind be when brute force 
should hold the place of moral force8   
,what new barbarism1 this time final1   
would arise from these conditions to    
stifle feeling1 ideas1 and the whole    

civilization of which the old barbarism 
contained the germ8 ,what would happen1 
in short1 if the moral effort of        
humanity should turn in its tracks at   
the moment of attaining its goal1 and if
 some diabolical contrivance should     
cause it to produce the mechanization of
 spirit instead of the spiritualization 
of matter8 ,there was a people          
predestined to try the experiment4      
,prussia had been militarized by her    
kings2 ,germany had been militarized by 
,prussia2 a powerful nation was on the  
spot marching forward in mechanical     
order4 ,administration and military     
mechanism were only waiting to make     
alliance with industrial mechanism4 ,the
 combination once made1 a formidable    
machine would come into existence4 ,a   
touch upon the starting-gear and the    
other nations would be dragged in the   
wake of ,germany1 subjects to the same  
movement1 prisoners of the same         
mechanism4 ,such would be the meaning of
 the war on the day when ,germany should

 decide upon its declaration4  ,she     
decided1 he will continue1 but the      
result was very different from what had 
been predicted4 ,for the moral forces1  
which were to submit to the forces of   
matter by their side1 suddenly revealed 
themselves as creators of material      
force4 ,a simple idea1 the heroic       
conception which a small people had     
formed of its honour1 enabled it to make
 head against a powerful empire4 ,at the
 cry of outraged justice we saw1        
moreover1 in a nation which till then   
had trusted in its fleet1 one million1  
two millions of soldiers suddenly rise  
from the earth4 ,a yet greater miracle3 
in a nation thought to be mortally      
divided against itself all became       
brothers in the space of a day4 ,from   
that moment the issue of the conflict   
was not open to doubt4 ,on the one side1
 there was force spread out on the      
surface2 on the other1 there was force  
in the depths4 ,on one side1 mechanism1 
the manufactured article which cannot   

repair its own injuries2 on the other1  
life1 the power of creation which makes 
and remakes itself at every instant4 ,on
 one side1 that which uses itself up2 on
 the other1 that which does not use     
itself up4  ,indeed1 our philosopher    
will conclude1 the machine did use      
itself up4 ,for a long time it resisted2
 then it bent2 then it broke4 ,alas6 it 
had crushed under it a multitude of our 
children2 and over the fate of this     
young life1 which was so naturally and  
purely heroic1 our tears will continue  
to fall4 ,an implacable law decrees that
 spirit must encounter the resistance of
 matter1 that life cannot advance       
without bruising that which lives1 and  
that great moral results are purchased  
by much blood and by many tears4 ,but   
this time the sacrifice was to be rich  
in fruit as it had been rich in beauty4 
,that the powers of death might be      
matched against life in one supreme     
combat1 destiny had gathered them all at
 a single point4 ,and behold how death  

was conquered2 how humanity was saved by
 material suffering from the moral      
downfall which would have been its end2 
while the peoples1 joyful in their      
desolation1 raised on high the song of  
deliverance from the depths of ruin and 
of grief6     ,,the ,,force ,,which     
,,wastes ,,and ,,that ,,which ,,does    
,,not ,,waste     ,,the ,,force ,,which 
,,wastes ,,and ,,that ,,which ,,does    
,,not ,,waste   ,the issue of the       
struggle is not doubtful4 ,germany will 
succumb4 ,material force and moral      
force1 all which is sustaining her1 will
 end by failing her1 because she is     
living on provision she has accumulated1
 is spending it1 and has no way of      
renewing it4  ,of her material resources
 all is known4 ,she has money1 but her  
credit is falling1 and one does not see 
where she is to borrow4 ,she needs      
nitrates for her explosives1 fuel for   
her motors1 bread for her sixty-five    
million inhabitants1 for all of which   
she has made provision2 but the day will

 come when her granaries will be empty  
and her tanks dry4 ,how will she refill 
them8 ,war1 as she practises it1 makes  
frightful havoc of her warriors4 ,yet   
here again replenishment is impossible1 
no aid will come from without1 because  
an enterprise launched with the object  
of imposing ,german rule1 ,german       
culture1 ,german products1 only         
interests and ever will only interest   
what is already ,german4 ,such is the   
situation of ,germany confronted by a   
,france who is keeping her credit intact
 and her ports open1 who is procuring   
herself victual and munitions as she    
pleases1 who reinforces her armies with 
all that her allies bring to her        
support1 and who can count on the ever  
more active sympathy of the civilized   
world because her cause is that of      
humanity itself4  ,still this is only   
material force1 the force which is seen4
 ,what can we say of moral force1 the   
force which is not seen1 which yet      
matters most since it can in a certain  

degree make good what is lacking of the 
other1 and without which the other is   
worthless8  ,the moral energy of        
nations1 as of individuals1 is only     
sustained by an ideal higher than       
themselves1 and stronger than           
themselves1 to which they cling firmly  
when they feel their courage waver4     
,where is the ideal of the ,germany of  
to-day8 ,the time when her philosophers 
proclaimed the inviolability of right1  
the eminent dignity of the person1 the  
duty of mutual respect among nations1 is
 no more4 ,germany1 militarized by      
,prussia1 has cast aside those noble    
ideas1 ideas she received for the most  
part from the ,france of the eighteenth 
century and of the ,revolution4 ,she has
 made for herself a new soul1 or rather 
she has meekly accepted the soul        
,bismarck has given her4 ,to him has    
been attributed the famous maxim ,might 
is right4 ,but in truth ,bismarck never 
pronounced it1 for he had well guarded  
himself against a distinction of right  

from might4 ,right was simply in his    
view what is willed by the strongest1   
what is consigned by the conqueror in   
the law he imposes on the conquered4 ,in
 that is summed up his whole morality4  
,germany to-day knows no other4 ,she1   
too1 worships brute force4 ,and because 
she believes herself the strongest1 she 
is altogether absorbed in               
self-adoration4 ,her energy comes from  
her pride4 ,her moral force is only the 
confidence which her material force     
inspires in her4 ,and this means that in
 this respect she is living on reserves 
without means of replenishment4 ,even   
before ,england had commenced to        
blockade her coasts she had blockaded   
herself morally1 in isolating herself   
from every ideal capable of giving her  
new life4  ,so she will see her forces  
waste and her courage at the same time4 
,but the energy of our soldiers is drawn
 from something which does not waste1   
from an ideal of justice and freedom4   
,time has no hold on us4 ,to the force  

which feeds only on its own brutality we
 are opposing that which seeks outside  
and above itself a principle of life and
 renovation4 ,whilst the one is         
gradually spending itself1 the other is 
continually remaking itself4 ,the one is
 already wavering1 the other abides     
unshaken4 ,have no fear1 our force will 
slay theirs4       ,,printed ,,at ,,the 
,,ballantyne ,,press ,,london           
,,edinburgh