Civilization in the old world is smashed. I have traversed the ruins; and my feet are still dirty with mud and blood. But I can tell you what is going to come out of that welter of ruin. There will come a sane and righteous hatred of militarism. What will be surely destroyed is Cæsarism. Prophecy? This is not prophecy; I am stating an assured fact. Even at this hour of hysterical and relentless warfare there lies deep in the heart of the democracy of Europe a consuming hatred of militarism. Drops of water (or blood) do not more naturally flow into each than did the English hatred of Cæsarism blend with the high French hatred of the evil thing; and when the palaces have done fighting, the cottages of Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and from the Black Sea to the Hebrides, will proclaim its destruction. And you will see it; you will see Cæsarism drowned in the very blood it has shed. And the German, mark you, will not be the least bitter of the foes of militarism. He will be indeed a relentless foe. Reversal to barbarism, say you? A shuddering lapse into savagery? Quite true; that is the state of Europe over the fairest and most highly civilized provinces. The picture of Sir John French strolling up and down the battle line smoking a cigarette does not give a fair idea of it; nor do you get it from the Kaiser on a hilltop surveying his massed war bullocks surging forth patiently to battle; all that belongs to the picture books of war. The real thing is dirtier. CHAPTER XI BELGIUM’S BITTER NEED BY SIR GILBERT PARKER THE MARTYRDOM OF BELGIUM -- ABYSS OF WANT AND WOE -- NO WORK AND HEAVY WAR TAXES -- PATIENCE OF BELGIANS -- CRYING NEED OF FOOD -- BELGIAN PEOPLE WARDS OF THE WORLD. [Sir Gilbert Parker went abroad at the request of the American Committee for the Relief of Belgium, and the following graphic statement and appeal to the American people, dated December 5, 1914, appeared in the New York Times.] Since the beginning of the war the hearts of all humane people have been tortured by the sufferings of Belgium. For myself the martyrdom of Belgium had been a nightmare since the fall of Liège. Whoever or whatever country is to blame for this war, Belgium is innocent. Her hands are free from stain. She has kept the faith. She saw it with the eyes of duty and honor. Her government is carried on in another land. Her king is in the trenches. Her army is decimated, but the last decimals fight on. Her people wander in foreign lands, the highest and lowest looking for work and bread; they cannot look for homes. Those left behind huddle near the ruins of their shattered villages or take refuge in towns which cannot feed their own citizens. ABYSS OF WANT AND WOE