1900] Kaiser IVilhclm's Rescript 343 



" Percy Wyndham writes : ' In this terrible struggle in South Africa 

 we see a picture in little of what will be the close of the present dis- 

 pensation, to use the language of those who believe in prophecy, when 

 the survivors of Teutonic blood will fight for the mastery of the world 

 — in that struggle the Dutch, South African or Native, will have a 

 look in.' 



" Two young British officers were here this afternoon. They are 

 both agog to join the fighting, looking at the whole thing entirely from 

 the professional point of view. ' If we are not in this show,' they said, 

 emphatically, ' we may as well hang up our hats.' 



" 1st Jan., 1900. — The Emperor William, the papers say, has issued 

 a rescript, ordaining that the new Christian Century is to begin in Ger- 

 many to-day. This, if true, goes one better than Carlyle's Emperor, 

 who was super grammaticani. I find the Moslem centuries go down to 

 the end of the hundreds, and begin again with the year one. 



" Mohammed Abdu, our Mufti, was here this afternoon. And to 

 him I read Herbert Spencer's letter, which immensely interested him, 

 and afterwards described to him my poem. He considers Spencer the 

 first of living philosophers, and has translated his book on Education 

 into Arabic. I also explained to his brother Hamouda my views of the 

 rights of animals, which was one absolutely new to him. Though on 

 reflection he said that it was strictly in accordance with the Koran and 

 Moslem teaching, which enjoins respect to animals, and even to inani- 

 mate objects. So that it is forbidden wantonly to deface so much as 

 a stone. In truth, it is Christianity that is really responsible for the 

 brutal attitude of modern man towards animals. No other religion that 

 can be called a religion tolerates it, but our Christian doctors have laid 

 down the atrocious doctrine that beasts and birds were made solely for 

 man's use and pleasure, and that he has no duties towards them. It is 

 only in the last hundred years that Europeans, having partly freed 

 themselves from Christian teaching, have begun to take a humaner 

 view. The doctrine of evolution has pushed it a bit forwarder, for 

 though it has injured the cause of savage or coloured man as having 

 equal rights with the white man, it has established our far away kinship 

 with the beasts, which was formerly denied. So that there are a few 

 amongst us who begin to doubt our right to bird and beast slaughter. 

 My own view is that wild birds and beasts who do no harm to man 

 have a right to be left in absolute peace. But that those whom we 

 help to breed by giving them protection may fairly pay a certain tribute, 

 just as our tame beasts are made to do, though the higher law would 

 be to let all live. We argue these things nightly at dinner. 



" $th to 10th Jan. — We were occupied with a desert excursion to 

 within sight of Ismalia on the Suez Canal and back, our furthermost 

 point being a prominent dark brown rock, which stands some hundred 



