_"
The poet, shortly before he fell, wrote to a friend "Nous
travaillerons mieux apres la victoire, ce que nous ferons ayant ete
muri par la fatigue et les angoisses. La vie est bonne et belle et la
guerre est une chose bien amusante." This is the type of Frenchman who
fights for the love of fighting, who puts above all other happiness
the prize of military honour and glory won in a good cause. We meet
with it in the lyrical effusion of an adventurous poet like Jacques de
Choudens and in the straightforward evidence of a practised soldier
like Captain Hassler, whose "Ma Campagne" is a record extraordinary
alike for its courage, for its vivacity, and for its modesty.
The peculiar spirit of ardent gallantry to which we have dedicated
these few pages is illustrated, as will be observed, by examples taken
without exception from the first months of the war. It would be rash
to say, without a careful sifting of evidence, how much of this
sentiment survived the days which preceded the battle of the Marne.
France has, in the succession of her attacks up to the present hour,
continued and confirmed the magnificent tradition of her courage.
Pages:
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219