[29] France has suffered from similar calumny. We alluded above (note, p. 37) to the declaration of a German army doctor that orders were given to amputate, as a reprisal, "all wounded limbs." So _we_ are said to have done that? A monstrous lie, which will be spurned indignantly by all who know the honourable traditions of our ambulances and of our French doctors. The _method of systematic lying_ has been shown to the life in connection with the use of asphyxiating gas. The Boches made immense preparations for the use of this gas. When their organization was complete, they took care, before acting, to publish each day for a week in their communiques, little notes announcing that the enemy were "making wide use of this new method of warfare,"--a statement contrary to fact, and known by them to be so, but one that was calculated to mislead public opinion. When they considered that public opinion was sufficiently "prepared," they launched their deadly gases and their flaming liquids; and we needed a long time, needed also to overcome our moral hesitation, to make sure of our defence and our reply. _Cynical lying_ with the Germans is not only admitted, but _gloried in_. When it was completely proved that, in order to start the war of 1870, Bismarck had committed _forgery_. Professor Hans Delbrück exclaimed, "Blessed is the hand that forged the Ems despatch." [30] Who, except the specialist in mental diseases, can deal with this proclamation of the Kaiser to his Army of the East?: "Remember that you are the chosen people! The Spirit of the Lord has descended upon me as Emperor of the Germans! I am the instrument of the Most High. I am His sword. Woe and death unto those who resist my will! Woe and death unto those who believe not in my mission!" THE GERMAN APPEAL APPEAL TO THE CIVILISED WORLD Now that we have reached the close of this book of horrors, let us impanel the 93 Germans of light and learning, and confront them with the words of their own manifesto: "As representatives of German Science and Art, we the undersigned, declare that:-- "It is not true that Germany provoked this War.... "It is not true that we have criminally violated the neutrality of Belgium.... "It is not true that our soldiers have made any attack on the life or property of a single Belgian citizen without being forced to it by sheer necessity.... "It is not true that our troops brutally destroyed Louvain.... "It is not true that we have conducted warfare in defiance of International Law. Our soldiers commit neither undisciplined acts nor cruelties.... " ... In this struggle we shall continue to the end to act as a civilised nation, to whom the heritage of a Goethe, a Beethoven or a Kant is as sacred as our own hearth and home. We answer for that in our own name and on our honour."[31] And since irony is more powerful than abuse, let us set down here, without a word of comment, a few German utterances:--