"The fight for the village had been particularly fierce and bloody; the inhabitants had no time to flee. Half-burnt men and animals, soldiers and civilians, filled the houses and streets, or lay buried under the ruins--awful sacrifices to the war Fury! We must thank God and our brave soldiers that they have preserved our hearths and homes from such horror and misery."[176] [Footnote 176: Ibid., pp. 78-80.] It is cheering to find a growing feeling of respect for the French in German war literature. One of many such expressions will be sufficient to quote here. The writer of it is a German author who enjoys much esteem in his own country, and was a guest at the German Crown Prince's headquarters in May, 1915. "In conversations with numerous French prisoners I have found no traces of hate and rage either in their looks or words. The most are glad to have escaped in an honourable manner from the nerve-racking, trench warfare. In an honourable manner? Yes, for I have heard on all sides--from the highest officers and the simplest soldiers--that the French have fought well. For the most part they are well led--and always filled up with lies."[177] [Footnote 177: Rudolf Presber: "An die Front zum deutschen Kronprinzen" ("At the Front with the German Crown Prince"), p. 33.] "Then we dined with the Crown Prince; soup, roast goose, fresh beans and dessert. The conversation was lively. In our small company--although the bravery of the enemy and his excellent leadership receives full recognition--there is not one who does not reckon with absolute conviction on complete victory on both fronts."[178] [Footnote 178: Ibid., p. 61.] Herr Presber's book is free, neither from adulation nor hero-worship. He is a poet, sentimentalist, and evangelist for Greater Germany. His book is a collection of incidents, reflections, and conversations, carefully assorted and arranged, so as to allow the limelight to glare on the statuesque figure of a mighty Germanic hero, fresh from Walhalla--incarnated in the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince's birthday dinner-party affords an excellent opportunity for the German nation to see the mighty one replying to the toast of his health. Presber affirms that the moment when his royal host raised his glass and uttered the words: "Ein stilles Glas den Toten!" ("A glass in silence to the memory of the fallen") will for ever be "most solemn and sacred" in his memory.