on the fighting
line," and I told him the story of Abbe Chinot, of Rheims, the young
priest in charge of the cathedral; how, when German shells were crashing
into the grand old pile which was being used as a hospital for German
soldiers, Chinot, aided by Red Cross nurses, dragged the wounded into
the street, where surged a mob, maddened that their beloved church was
in flames, and that their homes and five hundred of their folks had
been smashed with German shells. The sight of the grey uniforms on the
German wounded drove the mob into frenzied screams of revenge, but the
fearless Abbe placed himself between the uplifted rifles of the crowd
and the German wounded. "If you kill them," he said, "you must first
kill us"; and how the mob, struck with his perfect courage, moved away
in silence.

[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS.]

[Illustration: "Smashed with German Shells."

(The Rheims Cathedral Front.)]

"Yes, that is fine, very fine," he said--"yet it does not prove that
the war made the brave Abbe heroic.

"This war is unnecessary. It is the most unnecessary of all wars. It is
not a war of the people. It is a merchants' war. It is not a war of the
workers. It is a war for commerce--and four million or more lives will
go up to God in the interests of Trade.

"I fear the consequences of this war. I feel this war spirit will bring
on a sequel that will surprise humanity.

"A great writer[1] likened the war spirit to a carbuncle on the body.
The poison flowing through the blood localises itself, and a painful
lump forms in the flesh. Relief is sought in salves, ointments, and
poultices. But the lump continues to swell, and the pain to increase,
until at the very time when the soul is in mortal agony the carbuncle
bursts and spews out the poison. The pain ceases, the swelling subsides,
and the flesh regains its normal color.

"The poison of injustice flows through the veins of society. Men are
denied their natural rights; and when the oppression becomes
unendurable, their oppressors make all manner of excuses. The affliction
is due, they say, to the wrath of God, to the niggardliness of nature,
or to the encroachments of foreign nations. Ah, the encroachments of
foreign nations! When all other excuses fail, there is this to fall back
upon; and each ruling class of oppressors holds its victims in
subjection by charging the trouble to the others.

"But the people are awakening. A few already see their real opp