BOOKS.

DR. SVEN HEDIN WITH THE GERMAN ARMY.* Ma. JOHN LANE need not have apologized in a special preface for publishing this book. It is a book which Englishmen will do well to read for several reasons. They will learn therein a good deal about the thorough organization of the German Army, and about the resolution and confidence which run, not merely through the German military caste, but through the whole German nation. We are struck by the instances of gaiety in the German ranks. These seem more characteristic of our own men, but it is evident that there are other moods in the German Army than distilled hatred of Britain. Wellington used to say that before you can beat your enemy you must understand him. It is good for us to learn all we can about the Germans. If in doing so we have to face the annoy- • With the German Armies in the West. By Sven Hedin. Authorized Translation from the Swedish by H. G. de Walteratorff. With 119 Illustra- tions and 4 Maps. London: John Lane. [10a. 6d. nett ance of reading, as we do in this book, a good deal of mis- directed platitude and much laudation of an Army which allowed Dr. Sven Hedin, the distinguished Swedish traveller, to see only what it wanted him to see, that seems to na to matter little or nothing. Dr. Hedin calls himself a "Northern Teuton," and he frankly adopts the German point of view. He writes as though Britain in fighting against Germany were guilty of an anti-European and even anti-Christian act. He foretells that if Russia should be successful "culture" would be set back and the fate of Scandinavia would be sealed.

Since this is his opinion it is important to know exactly what grounds he has for believing that the victory of Germany would be a good thing for the world—what evidence he offers that Germany is fighting for civilization. At this point we are bound to say that the reputation of Dr. Hedin will suffer a. grave injury from this book. Onr reason for saying this is not, of course, that the book is written against Englishmen. Englishmen do not mind that. Indeed, if we may judge others by ourselves, we should say that they distinotly like reading the opposite opinion, for they find it more novel and more instructive. The reason why we shall never be able to read Dr. Hedin's books again with the old respect for his

judgment is that he has allowed himself to be bamboozled by the Germans. Or if he has not been bamboozled ho accepts in his heart the German doctrine of necessity. In either case our respect for him must be greatly diminished.

The strange thing is that he writes with the same air of circumstantiality as in his other books, so that if we did not know for a fact what deeds Germany has committed in the war we should be an easy prey to what in other books we have judged to be his power of close observation. We believe that he is sincere in this book. But the more we believe in his

sincerity the less do we esteem his independence and his reasoning powers. He was evidently flattered by a succession of distinguished hosts on the western front; the glory of their

names and the simplicity of what they ate—all duly recorded —mounted to his head. He can scarcely keep calm in the presence of the Emperor for wonder and admiration. Accord- ingly he tells us that he never saw a cruel deed committed, and he does not believe that cruel deeds were committed, with the isolated exceptions that are likely to occur among all large armies. Every one was so charming, amiable, and fascinating. How could such people be cruel P He writes down every- thing that was told him on authority, never doubting that he has arrived at the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. An interesting question arises out of all this.

On the strength of what he saw, Dr. Hedin whitewashes the German nation. He does not exactly argue that frightfulness was justified. He tells us that, so far as he was able to ace, it

did not exist. In other words, he bases his case for Germany largely on a claim to humane qualities. We very much want to know, therefore, what he would say now that Germany has

murdered the passengers in the Lusitania ' and has resorted to the typical expedient of savages in poisoning her enemies. We hope that he will write another book, and that Mr. Lane will not be too timid to publish it. To judge by the book before

us, it will be much more likely to aid the cause of the Allies than that of Germany.

Dr. Hedin spent a little leas than two months on the western front. He started from Berlin armed with an " open sesame " pass and driven in a motor-car of the Volunteer Corps. The Staff were determined that this valuable witness should have everything made comfortable for him. At Luxemburg he dined with the Emperor. We quote from Dr.Hedin's ecstatic description :- "Not even the little black and white ribbon of the Iron Cross adorns his breast. But it is nevertheless a fascinating and com- pelling personality, an urbane and courteous man of the world, that wo see entering tho room. It is a man whose quick intuition and superb powers of description reveal the observer and the artist, whose wise speech betrays the statesman, whose kindly manner betokens humility and sympathy and whose military, commanding voice indicates the master, accustomed to be obeyed.. Happy is the people which especially in troubled times possesses such a loader, a chieftain round whom all gather in confidence and whose ability no one doubts. But it is also his eyes that possess a singular magnetic power, and which fascinate all when the Emperor enters. It is as if the whole room suddenly became lighter, when one meets the glance of the Emperor's calm, blue eyes. They are wonderfully expressive. They bespeak first and foremost an iron will and unconquerable energy. They betray a certain melancholy at the thought that all may not understand that he is actuated absolutely by the will to do what is pleasing unto God and beneficial to big people. They also betray a sparkling wit, an intellect to which nothing humau is foreign and a spirit of humour which is irresistible. They betoken honour, love of truth and a steadfast sincerity, firm and indomitable, the spirit of which penetrates to one's very marrow as one meets his glance."

From this august presence Dr. Hedin was passed on to the Crown Prince. We are duly informed that he slept in a bed- room next to that of the Crown Prince, and for some days he watched the Fifth Army at Varennes. He next saw the Fourth Army, visited Sedan and Brussels, and arrived at Antwerp the day after its fall. He continued to Ostend, and visited Lille and Bapaume, where he saw a good many British prisoners.

As for Louvain, Dr. Hedin says :—

" The wave of vandalism which passed over a part of Louvain was let loose by the inhabitants themselves. The anger felt by the German soldiers at the treachery of the civil population is justified. The treacherous firing of franctireurs from behind bushes and windows, in the dusk and dark, is bound in the end to bring about reprisals, for the soldier reasons something like this : `The war must be conducted between soldiers, and when either party is defeated and the conqueror marches into the vanquished town, the civilians must not fire from windows on the troops entering. And if the nuisance cannot be checked in any other way, then the town must be punished.' Such was the case with Louvain, which is an unfortified town and where not a single window-pane would have been broken, had not the franctireurs themselves brought about the destruction. Things actually went to such lengths that German soldiers who tried to extinguish the fire in the burning houses next to the Townhall, in order to save this valuable building, were shot down during their work by franctireurs. The German conduct of the war is severe, but it is not cruel. During the first stage of the war, when the troops had entered a town and burnt or demolished those houses from which civilians had been shooting, solitary houses were often to be seen which remained untouched in the midst of the desolation. The doors of such remaining houses often bore, written in chalk and in a soldier's hand, some such inscription as : 'Here lives an aged couple,' or : 'Here lives an invalid who must be spared,' or: 'There has been no firing from this house '; or again: 'The inhabitants of this house are friendly people.' Such houses are then spared by the troops who come after. In the course of my narrative I shall have frequent occasion to mention traits of kindliness on the part of the German soldiers towards the local population. On the other hand, I have never either seen or heard of a single act of cruelty."

Dr. Hedin's account does not, in short, vary from the German official explanation which was long ago exploded. The shooting of innocent persons because others are assumed to be guilty is a hideous barbarity, and is expressly forbidden by the laws of war. But then Dr. Hedin calmly writes—not, we ought to say, in respect of Louvain—that the war has " demonstrated the impotence and futility of all conferences and conventions of Geneva, the Hague, and other places." He looks on com- placently when " jurisprudential sophistries are silenced" by the thunder of the guns.

When Dr. Hedin tells us that prisoners in Germany are well treated we are painfully unimpressed. He bases his con- viction on the conversations he had with a few prisoners and on what he was told. Nowhere in the book does he speak of a German defeat, though he has heard of the Marne, since he mentions it. He is certain that Germany will win, and he sees nothing but humiliation ahead for Britain. Here are his reflections on the news that Mr. Asquith was about to start a campaign to educate public opinion on the issues of the war and the need for more men :-

"And what is this new popular education going to turn out like ? The answer to this question is given in the English press every day. It consists in a systematic suppression of the truth. Tho fatal and momentous reality which is slowly bringing England to the brink of a catastrophe must be concealed under an exceed- ingly severe press and telegraph censorship. Of Hindenburg's victories the English people have not the remotest idea. The realisation of tho German operations in Poland is distorted into futile attempts to stop the victorious Russian march towards Berlin. The most shameful lies and malevolent calumnies are disseminated concerning the German Emperor. The Teutons are barbarians who must be crushed, and this laudable enterprise must be shared by the cultured peoples of Serbia, Senegambia, Monte- negro and Portugal. The whole war is conducted on the English side on a foundation of distorted information and conscious untruths. The truth is as rare in the English press as lies are in the German. But do the people really believe all that is said in the English papers ? They do, blindly and absolutely. Of this I have been convinced by letters received from England."

If the German Staff will kindly pass Dr. Hedin round again now that be necessarily knows more of the German conduct of war, and he will oblige us by writing another book, we shall be able to determine more exactly whether we ought to con- demn his sincerity or his morals,