Another month of revelations and reticences, of carnage and destruction, loss and gain, with the miracle of the Marne as the first great sign of the turning of the tide. On September 3 the Paris Government moved to Bordeaux, on the 5th the retreat from Mons ended, on the 13th Joffre, always unboastful and laconic, announced the rolling back of the invaders, on the 15th the battle of the Aisne had begun. What an Iliad of agony, endurance and heroism lies behind these dates--the ordeal and deliverance of Paris, the steadfastness of the "Contemptibles," the martyrdom of Belgium! Day by day Germany unmasks herself more clearly in her true colours from highest to lowest. The Kaiser reveals himself as a blasphemer and hypocrite, the Imperial crocodile with the bleeding heart, the Crown Prince as a common brigand, the High Command as chief instigators to ferocity, the rank and file as docile instruments of butchery and torture, content to use Belgium women as a screen when going into action. THE TWO GERMANIES Marvellous the utter transformation Of the spirit of the German nation! Once the land of poets, seers and sages, Who enchant us in their deathless pages, Holding high the torch of Truth, and earning Endless honour by their zeal for learning. Such the land that in an age uncouther Bred the soul-emancipating LUTHER. Such the land that made our debt the greater By the gift of _Faust_ and _Struwwelpeter_. Now the creed of Nietzsche, base, unholy, Guides the nation's brain and guides it solely. Now Mozart's serene and joyous magic Yields to RICHARD STRAUSS, the haemorrhagic.[A] Now the eagle changing to the vulture Preaches rapine in the name of culture. Now the Prussian _Junker_, blind with fury, Claims to be God's counsel, judge and jury, While the authentic German genius slumbers, Cast into the limbo of back numbers. [Footnote A: Great play is made in Strauss's _Elektra_ with the "slippery blood" motive.] The campaign of lies goes on with immense energy in all neutral countries, for the Kaiser is evidently of opinion that the pen is perhaps mightier than the sword.