The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-11-21

w HdI is the chr lStlan attitude to-
ward Germany? Wherein should our
judgment of tho German nation differ
from our judgment Of an in iNidual
German What difference should
there be in the punishment inflicted
upon the German people for the
crimes committed by their govern
ment and their armies. and the pun
lshmeut which would be inflicted upon
an individ 1al for similar conduct
What punishment would be inflicted
upon individuals for the crimes which
have been committed? Such questions
must arise in the minds of many
Christian men and women, and they
call for Christian answer.
The thought of revenge must be
banished IT once from every Christian
heart, indeed it shoul5 never secure a
/ Judgment there. Eat revenge and jus
tice are entirely different, in their ORR
gin and in their purpose. Revenge
seeks to secure for itself personal sat-
iSfaction IA seeing or knowing that
persons. whom We dislike o. hate with
or without reason. are being made to
suffer physically or mentally or both.
Revenge longs fer and enjoys the suf-
terlng Of hated persons
Justice recognizes the evil done the
crime committed. and demands that
I such evil deeds he punished for the
good of the offender and the good Of
tho world. Justice does not rejoice in
the suffering caused by punishment,
but il 10 IS not hesitate TO punish be
cause Of the suffering of those persons
punished
When David yielded to his sensual
appetite and committed adultery with
! Bathsheba and then caused her hus~
! band TO he slain, God sent tho prophet
Nathan To condemn him fer his great
+ sin. When David convicted of his
| crime cried out in genuine pentinence.
| II have stnnod.' God recognized his
sincority and forgave him. bnl God
punished him severely for sin.
! And 50 today, the German people
/ led by heir emperor and his associate
war lords have sinned against the peo-
pie of tf3ss uax5ofRs> they laNe Attacked,
LAsd ravished and tortured and muir
| dered. The writer could not begin TO
realize the enorp7ity of the crime until
I his visit 70 Great Britain and France
/ last Spring and then ne enter
ed somewhat at least into
the experiences Of our allies, who
were living three thousand miles
closer to the horror than we were
The people of both England and
I France have suffered severely from
nervous strain. owing to their prox-
unity to The conflict. even when the
battles nave not hoer fought In their
midst, as has been the case in north
eastern France. TO i've In the possible
line or march of the great armies, when
those armies act in accordance with
the rules CT civilized warfare, is a
dangerous and trying experienced, but
when one Of those Grmies has follow
! cd the methods - Apache Indians,
J has II y
stolen property. MANNED or killed old
men and helpless children. and out
ragged and mutiliated women. young
and old, ii IS a horrifying experience
to realize that only n hundred miles,
more or less. lies between your home
and this brutal horde of savaCes and
| that unless they are defeated the same
experience awaits YOU that has already
befallen people as inoffensive, as CIV
ilized. and as worthy as yourself. Tho
refugees from Belgium and northeast
ern France had carried into England
and the othcr parts of France In their
own bodies the awful story of German
harbarity and cruelty. Robbed of
homes and property, some times beat
en- and wounded, they told their pitt
ful stories wherever they went. Young
Belgian girls gave birth TO children.
the product Of the shameful lust OF
Prussian soldiers. In some Of the VIII
lagos of France, swept over by the
Prussian army in it's first dash on
Paris in 1914, the women from twelve
TO seventy were violated time and
again. Thew remained in their homes
supposing that they would not he mo-
Tested. But after the treatment of Bel
GUM and of northcastern France, the
people of Great Britain and France
knew what German triumph would
mean to their homes and to their old
men and their women and their chill
dren.
When I arrived In England the
menace of this brute beast, crouching
for another great spring. was upon
both England and France, Russia had
fallen. The United States had come
into the war. hut he- army was still
small. not over three hundred thou
sand fighting men all told hal come
across The people realized that the
crisis of the war uad come. Would
the allied armies be strong enough to
hold back the enemy till the Ameri-
can army could be trained and trns-
ported? The atmosphere was tense
with the strain Of the suspense Of "a
nation whose heart was with its sol
diers on the fields of France. But there
was no weeping, no giving way 10
fear or dependency. Every public ut
terance in the press, in the pulpit.
in the house OF commons, on every
platform small and great. called upon
the people To pledge themselves anew
to give labor, money, sons, husbands,
and themselves that England should
ffot-cusn~ trnder- ttfc~tiprI1ran rule; for
as one splendid woman expressed it
in converse ton with the writer
What would life ne worth to me and
my daughters under German mas
iers?' And this determination OF