Mr. G. K. Chesterton, having been blamed by the Nation
for hating the enemy, made a very conclusive reply in the Illustrated London News of the 16th inst. We all, he said, had hated the enemy for their cruelty to Belgium, and he for his part had seen no reason as yet to think that they had become less hateful. If the Nation had changed its view, either the Germans had grown better or the Nation had grown worse. Mr. Chesterton went on to distinguish between hate and spite, which differ as much as love and lust. What we wanted was to convince the Germans that they had made a horrible mistake. That was not revenge but expiation. To the charge that he did not want the typical Prussian to " become liberal, moderate, and sensible," but to be " down in the dust," Mr. Chesterton retorted very aptly that if the typical Prussian were to become liberal, moderate, and sensible, he would be down in the dust in sheer horror at his own crimes.
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