though the way of their manifestation be through much of enmity and
ignorance. And one may fairly suppose that similar results are traceable
in the other nations concerned. Wounds and death may seem senseless and
needless, but those who suffer them do not suffer in vain. All these
shattering experiences, whether in a nation's career or in the career of
an individual, cause one--they force one--to look into the bases of life
and to get nearer its realities. If, in this case, the experiences of
the war, and the fire which the nations are passing through, serve to
destroy and burn up much of falsity in their respective habits and
institutions, we shall have to admit that the attendant disasters have
not been all loss--even though at the same time we admit that if we had
had a grain of sense we might have mended our falsities in far more
economical and sensible fashion.

If in the following pages--chiefly concerned as they are with Germany
and England--I have seemed to find fault with either party or to affix
blame on one or the other, it is not necessary to suppose that one
harbours ill-feeling towards either, or that one fails to recognize the
splendid devotion of both the combatants. Two nations so closely related
as the Germans and the English cannot really be so hopelessly different
in temperament and character; and a great deal of the supposed
difference is obviously artificial and class-made for the occasion.
Still, there _are_ differences; and as we both think we are right, and
as we are unable to argue the matter out in a rational way, there seems
to be nothing for it but to fight.

War has often been spoken of as a great Game; and Mr. Jerome K. Jerome
has lately written eloquently on that subject. It is a game in which the
two parties agree, so to speak, to differ. They take sides, and in
default of any more rational method, resort to the arbitrament of force.