sword; and again, 'Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.' How are these contradictory statements to be reconciled? I seek not of myself to penetrate or explain the hidden meaning of our Saviour's words, but I believe that unjust, aggressive war, is as contrary to His divine wish and command, as it is to commit secret murder or any other sin. Unjust war seems to me to be only worthy—if it is worthy even of them—of yahoos, of gorillas, of the evil spirits of the infernal and for ever cursed world. If the great men of the earth are not madmen, they should remember by whose hands they were made, and put away the accursed thing from them. My business, however, is not to moralize, but to tell my story.
Once more the earth shook: the brigades and squadrons and batteries swept over us as we lay helplessly on the ground; shouting dragoons, whiskered pandoors, fierce lancers, and artillery wheels, and masses of blaspheming infantry, trampled and crushed us into the gory clay; but at last—all in a moment—the darkness of death covered us with its friendly mantle.
