The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1914. AN INCONTESTABLE VICTORY ’

New Zealand Tablet, 17 September 1914, Page 33

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1914. AN INCONTESTABLE VICTORY ’

have sufficient facts before us now to be *E assured that facts before us now to be assured that these words, from the French General’s despatch, are a sober, , unexaggerated, and absolutely truthful account of the momentous Battle of the Marne. .The -battleor, rather, as General Joffre terms it, the first phase of the battle— commenced on the 6th and lasted until the 12th inst. The fighting, which was hot and keen on both sides, was for some time indecisive, but gradually the enemy gave way and in the end the Germans have been driven back to a distance of something like sixty miles, many prisoners and a large number of guns have been captured, a heavy loss in killed and wounded has been inflicted, and a decisive and most opportune victory has been gained. It is not necessary to be an expert to realise the immense importance of this success. It means that the investment of Paris has now been indefinitely postponed, with a very. remote prospect of ever eventuating and that the whole German plan of striking a swift and crushing blow at France has been frustrated. The truth is that the- German forces have attempted what was from the outset an almost impossible task; with the delay occasioned by Liege the task became wholly impossible. It is no derogation of the prowess of the Germans as fighting units that they h&,ve been defeated in this historic contest; and we hope we shall not have some wild-eyed enthusiast writing ■to the papers to accuse us of being pro-German if we pay an ungrudging tribute to the magnificent courage shown by the enemy when disaster after disaster fell upon them. It is tolerably evident that too much has been asked of the German machine in the way of continuous fighting; and this, coupled with , shortage .of rations and of ammunition, has doubtless been the dominant factor in bringing about this colossal and to us most welcome debacle. - , *

We are all the more eager to say what good we can of the enemy in that he has so far left us so little opportunity for the exercise of the spirit of generous foemanship. We have hitherto refrained from commenting on the stories of diabolical outrages which have reached us, for we could not bring ourselves lightly to believe that such things were possible on the part of a people who, as well for their intellectual and scientific attainment as for their industrial and commercial enterprise, have deservedly been held in high honor amongst the nations. But making all allowance for partisanship and exaggeration, and for the irresponsibility

which attaches to isolated outbreaks of brutality, the evidence for the trail of savagery which has marked the march of the marauder is now irresistible. Churches destroyed, paintings and historic monuments of priceless value reduced to nothingness, unoffending civilians murdered in cold blood, nuns fired upon when leaving their convents, priests shot down when saying Mass, girls violated, and boys subjected to unnameable barbarities and mutilations—it is a tale of horror too ghastly to contemplate. It recalls Moore’s lines in ‘ Lai la Rookh ’ :

‘ ’Tis he of Ghazna— in wrath He comes, and India’s diadems Lie scattered in his ruinous path, His bloodhounds he adorns with gems, Torn from the violated necks Of many a young and loved Sultana Maidens within their pure Zenana, Priests in the very fane, he slaughters, And chokes up with the glittering wrecks Of golden shrines the sacred waters!’

- The excuse given for these revolting crimes against God and man is that it was necessary to terrorize the peoplethe one and certain result will be to produce in the hearts of the injured race a feeling of execration against Germany that will endure for generations to come. *

And how fares it, it may now be asked, with the Kaiser—the real cause of the conflagration and the foils et oritjo of all our troubles ? In the fancy flight of his vast ambition he beheld a subjugated Continent, and himself acclaimed the Emperor of Europe. In the pride of his arms and armaments he had said :

1 Realms of the globe, submit! adore my power ! Mine the red falchion, practised to devour ! Mine, dark destruction’s torch of lurid light; Mine, her keen scimitar’s resistless might! Chiefs ! patriots ! heroes !■ kneeling at my shrine, Your arms, your laurels, and your fame, resign ! Bend, ye proud isles ! my dread behest obey ! Yield, prostrate nations! and confess my sway! Lo ! the bright ensigns of supreme command, Flame on my brow, and glitter in my hand ! Lo! at my throne what vanguished myriads wait, My look, decision! and my sceptre, fate! Ye lands, ye m’onarchs ! bow the vassal knee! World, thou art mine ! and I alone am free.’

Such was the dream. The Marne is the waking reality • —and may it be the beginning of the end !