" EXCEPT HONOUR."
ITo THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—After the battle of Pavia, Francis I. sent the well-known message, "Tout est perdu fors l'honneur," thereby implying, not only that all was not lost, but that the most priceless thing of all was saved from the wreckage. What could the Kaiser Wilhelm, and with him the whole German nation, say in the event (to me unthinkable) of "a good German Peace," such as they seek and proclaim? They could say " Tout est gagne," but they would have to add " fors l'honneur," and there would be none who could or would gainsay. For, in the preparation of this war, in its incep- tion, and in its conduct from the beginning up to the present moment, the Germans have so besmirched their reputation by their duplicity, broken faith, and (when force of arms failed them) by the low cunning of their secret intrigue and propaganda, as also by the bestial violence and cruelty which they have shown towards the weak, the defenceless, and the wounded, that even though they should gain possession of the whole material world, it should profit them nothing; they would stand dishonoured, spiritual outcasts. But the ultimate triumph of malignity is unthinkable—as William Blake has written, " The arrows of
Almighty God are drawn! "—I am, Sir, Sze., H. S.
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