Ah! let us proclaim these absolute truths; let us dishonor war!'

“Vain wrath,” continues Maupassant, “a poet's indignation. War is held in more veneration than ever.

“A skilled proficient in that line, a slaughterer of genius, Von Moltke, in reply to the peace delegates, once uttered these strange words:

“'War is holy, war is ordained of God. It is one of the most sacred laws of the world. It maintains among men all the great and noble sentiments — honor, devotion, virtue, and courage, and saves them in short from falling into the most hideous materialism.'

“So, then, bringing millions of men together into herds, marching by day and by night without rest, thinking of nothing,