The German Emperor has made a grave mistake. Address- ing
the troops which left Bremerhaven on Friday week for China, his Majesty ordered them to give no quarter and take no prisoners, but use their weapons so that, like the Hans under Attila, they might be remembered in history, and that for a thousand years no Chinaman should dare to look a German in the face. The imprudence of the words struck his Ministers, who made efforts to suppress them, but there seems no doubt that they were uttered. They have elicited strong remonstrances even in Germany, on the ground that such teaching is un-Christian and uncivilised. It is both, and it is also unwise. The modem rule against refusing quarter has two justifications in policy, one that men refused quarter wear down the fighting strength of those who refuse it, and the other that soldiers so encouraged to display ferocity grow impatient of discipline and ultimately disobedient. The object of war is submission, not slaughter, and the "Scourge of God," as Attila called himself, was defeated in his greatest battle, and left behind him nothing but the name of the greatest foe that had ever threatened civilisation. It is not for Europe to remove Mongol cruelty by becoming as merciless as the Mongol.
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