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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..69439b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63621 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63621) diff --git a/old/63621-0.txt b/old/63621-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6579e0c..0000000 --- a/old/63621-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8524 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of My "Little Bit", by Marie Corelli - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: My "Little Bit" - -Author: Marie Corelli - -Release Date: November 3, 2020 [EBook #63621] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY "LITTLE BIT" *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - MY “LITTLE BIT” - - MARIE CORELLI - - - - - MY “LITTLE BIT” - - - BY - MARIE CORELLI - - AUTHOR OF “THE YOUNG DIANA,” “THE LIFE EVERLASTING,” - “INNOCENT,” “ROMANCE OF TWO WORLDS,” - “BARABBAS,” ETC. - - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK - GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY - - - - - _Copyright, 1919, - By George H. Doran Company_ - - - _Printed in the United States of America_ - - - - - DEDICATED - TO - MY FRIEND - - A. R. M. L. - - AND HIS FELLOW-MEMBERS - OF THE CARLTON CLUB - - - - -PREFACE - - -The articles in this book, with the exception of the first two, were -all written during the war at the request of the various editors by -whose courtesy they are now reproduced in volume form. Most of them, -notably those which appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, were, by my -own desire, gratuitous, though payment for them was offered. But, being -unable to handle sword or gun, I was glad to offer the free service of -my pen whenever such service was desired, or considered useful, just -as I would have been glad, had I been a man, to fight voluntarily for -Great Britain, without any thought of other recompense than that of -the personal pride and joy such action would have given me. The first -two articles: “Savage Glory” and “The Great Unrest,” were published -some considerable time before the outbreak of war, and while the editor -of _Nash’s Magazine_ was generous to a fault in his praise of “Savage -Glory” he was so doubtful as to the accuracy of the indictment conveyed -in “The Great Unrest” that he felt himself compelled to preface it by -a note, stating that he, or rather “we,” could not be held responsible -for any agreement with or endorsement of the author’s ideas. Readers -can now judge for themselves whether those ideas were fairly prophetic -or otherwise. Naturally, no heed was paid to them, except by a huge -silent public, the press apparently making it a rule not to notice in -any one paper what their rivals print in others, unless it happens -to be by one of their own special clique, or the utterance of a -Cabinet Minister, which they generally misquote. But, such as they -are, these various contributions to English and American sections of -journalism indicate the straight and loyal road my pen has travelled -during the wickedest and stupidest war that ever devastated the world. -The stupidity of it was even more glaring than the wickedness of -it--especially in the case of Germany. Germany was an advancing and -prosperous nation, chiefly through the industrial progress of her -hard-working people, and her “peaceful penetration” was conquering -every quarter of commerce. She has, for the time being, ruined -everything by a blind faith in and following of her scoundrels of -finance, for whom the Krupp and other dividends were not sufficiently -high or secure; the work of years has now been destroyed and every gain -has to be discounted as loss, though there is not the slightest doubt -that her cleverness and cunning will enable her to mend the hole in -her wall far more rapidly than our dilly-dally statesmen imagine. For -the immediate time, her degradation and ruin involve more than her own -position; other nations, even our own, are deeply affected, and, like -ships in unsafe anchorage, sway from their moorings--all are tormented -by a spirit of turbulence which will not let them rest, and men with -weak brains and vacillating purpose are playing with the destinies of -peoples in a wholly unforseeing and nerveless way, heedless of the -fact that there are other more powerful players behind them who are -about to make an end of their game and push them far away from the -goal. In what I have written, however slight and inadequate, I have -had but one aim in view: to hold up to the public as far as I can or -may, the greatness of this beloved land of ours--its splendid ancient -history and tradition, and to resent, as much as a mere pen can do, -the disloyal and agitating influences which seek to disrupt unity and -belittle the achievements of the noble British people. Of the wicked -waste of that people’s money by the most obtuse Government methods, and -the iniquitous premium on idleness foolishly given in the “Unemployment -dole,” I could say much, notwithstanding that I am told it is “a sop -to check Bolshevism.” One does not offer a sop to a mad bull--one -kills it. And it is not credible that the sane, sound men of Great -Britain, with an Empire of glorious renown at their backs, will ally -themselves with Red Riot which means ruin to themselves as well as to -its instigators. True it is that Stupidity is the present order of the -day among our blind leaders of the blind--that very Stupidity which -Voltaire affirmed to be the only crime--and there is little else for us -to do in our extremity but “wait and see” whether Stupidity will prove -more than a blundering guide to “where the rainbow ends.” - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - ENGLAND, 1918 15 - - SAVAGE GLORY 16 - - FOR BELGIUM! 30 - - THE GREAT UNREST 31 - - THE WHIRLWIND 46 - - THE KAISER’S HARVEST OF DEATH 53 - - THIS AMAZING WAR 61 - - “ALL WE LIKE SHEEP” 67 - - WANTED--MORE WOMEN! 73 - - THE QUALITY OF MERCY 79 - - STARVING BELGIUM 83 - - “THE TIME OF OUR LIVES” 92 - - THE WORLD’S GREATEST NEED 99 - - HAS CHRISTIANITY FAILED? 114 - - SNOOKS’S OPINION 116 - - SEA POWER, 1805–1918 122 - - THE SPLENDID SERVICE OF THE SEA 124 - - THE LILIES OF FRANCE 131 - - “WHOSO SHALL RECEIVE ONE SUCH LITTLE CHILD!” 133 - - APPEAL FOR THE FRENCH RED CROSS 139 - - GLORY OF THE WORCESTERS 145 - - EYES OF THE SEA 156 - - IS ALL WELL WITH ENGLAND? 171 - - THE WORLD IN TEARS 189 - - GOD AND THE WAR 200 - - TRIUMPH OF WOMANHOOD 205 - - IN PRAISE OF ENEMIES 209 - - RECRUITING SPEECH 215 - - SPLENDID CANADA 219 - - SHELLS; AND OTHER SHELLS 222 - - DARKNESS AND LIGHT 227 - - SWEEPING THE COUNTRY 230 - - TO SAVE LIFE OR DESTROY IT? 236 - - THE WAR LOAN 240 - - FOOD PRODUCTION 244 - - OUR FORTUNATE “RESTRICTIONS” 248 - - “HIS PAINFUL DUTY” 252 - - THE POTATO “SCREAM” 256 - - “HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF” 260 - - “SHODDY CHIVALRY” 264 - - “HINDENBURG’S EYE!” 268 - - “HOARDING” 271 - - THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF FAME 288 - - SHAKESPEARE’S WAR BIRTHDAY IN 1917 294 - - “DON’T TRAVEL” 298 - - “TE DEUM LAUDAMUS” 302 - - THE WOMEN’S VOTE 306 - - A “HAPPY THOUGHTS” DAY 311 - - WHY DID I----? 313 - - IN THE HUSH OF THE DAWN 316 - - - - -MY “LITTLE BIT” - - - - -ENGLAND - -1918 - - - Lift up thine eyes, Queen Warrior of the world! - Stand, fearless-footed, on Time’s shifting verge - And watch thine everlasting Dawn emerge - From clouds that break and boom in thunderous War! - Lo, how thy broad East reddens to thy West, - The while thy thousand-victoried flag, unfurl’d, - Waves to thy North and South, in one royal fold - Of tent-like shelter for an Empire’s rest; - O Queen, sword-girded, helmeted in gold, - Strong Conqueror of all thy many foes, - Look from thy rocky heights, and see afar - The coming Future menacing the Past - With clamour and wild change of present things, - Kingdoms down-shaken with the fall of kings; - But fear not Thou! Thou’rt still the first and last - Imperial wearer of the deathless Rose-- - Crown’d with the sunlight, girdled with the sea, - Mother of mightiest nations yet to be! - - - - -SAVAGE GLORY - -AN APPEAL AGAINST WAR - - (_This article was written for “Nash’s Magazine” in February, 1913, - without any other than instinctive premonition of the coming Great - War._) - - EDITORIAL NOTE.--_Marie Corelli’s remarkable article should be - read by every man and woman at all mindful of the welfare of their - fellow-sojourners on this little swinging ball of ours, which we - call the earth. This contribution is far and away one of the most - brilliant pieces of writing Miss Corelli has ever achieved; it is - thought-compelling and in the larger sense inspirational; it is - wellnigh epoch-making in its new view, its virile logic, its sane - and forceful plea for the peace of the world--peace on a basis of - common sense, broad humanity, and the honour of nations._ - - -Civilisation is a great Word. It reads well--it is used everywhere--it -bears itself proudly in the language. It is a big mouthful of -arrogance and self-sufficiency. The very sound of it flatters our -vanity and testifies to the good opinion we have of ourselves. We -boast of “Civilisation” as if we were really civilised--just as we -talk of “Christianity” as if we were really Christians. Yet it is -all the veriest game of make-believe, for we are mere Savages still. -Savages in “the lust of the eye and pride of life”--savages in our -national prejudices and animosities, our jealousies, our greed and -malice, and savages in our relentless efforts to over-reach or pull -down each other in social and business relations. If any confirmation -of such a statement be needed it is found in the fact that War is -still permitted to exist. War is unquestionably the thrust and blow -of untamed Savagery in the face of Civilisation. No special pleading -can make it anything else. We may if we like call it “Patriotism” in -our perpetual life-comedy or tragedy of feigning, but in sane moments -we must surely realise that we are wilfully deceiving ourselves. -Patriotism is understood to be that virtue which consists in serving -one’s country; but in what way is this “Patria” or country served -by slaying its able-bodied men in thousands?--the very men whose -peaceful and progressive toil makes the country worth living in? Can -any adequate answer be given to this question? Is “Honour” justly due -to the heads of Government who, themselves safely out of the fray, -send such men like sheep to the shambles--men innocent of all personal -or national offence, but who in their fine obedience to duty and the -preconceived idea of conquest which has its root in old barbaric -periods, consent to be shot down under the murderous fire of unseen -guns miles away, simply because their rulers have so ordained it? Is it -“civilised” to spread ruin and devastation through the land?--to leave -homes desolate?--and to create a wretched surplus population of widows -and orphans for no other reason than that one nation refuses to comply -with what is demanded of it by the other? Is it not possible to deal -with even a difficult and refractory subject of quarrel in the way of -reason and argument, brought to bear upon it by the soberly judging -powers of all nations? And if reason and argument should fail, then, -instead of consigning troops of blameless men to the scientific but -cruelly treacherous methods of modern warfare, would it not be more -normal and humane simply to--Stop Supplies? - -Here we touch a vital centre of the question. No nation can go to war -without Money. In most cases a very great deal of this same money is -required. Who provides it? The nation itself? One may doubt whether -any nation could raise sufficient funds to carry on a serious war for -any length of time without borrowing. Supposing this to be the case, -what financial force behind the scenes so obligingly lends the cash for -the purpose of carrying out schemes of wholesale murder? Wherever such -cash is obtained we know it must be weighted with an exorbitant rate -of interest, so that the price of human blood fills the pockets of the -lenders with a certain guaranteed overflow. To stop War, therefore, it -should be made impossible to borrow the sums required for warfare; and -any loan started with the object of War in view, whether suggested or -avowed, should be considered by a National Agreement of United Powers -illegal and even criminal, as conspiring against the peace and progress -of the world. If, by what is called diplomacy or political subterfuge, -this law were cheated, and vast sums were loaned ostensibly for other -purposes than War, and it could afterwards be proved that War _had_ -nevertheless been, secretly and all along, the actual purpose of such -loans, then the lenders should be compelled to forfeit all claims to -repayment. For talk fine sentiment and pious platitudes as we will, -the brutal truth is that no war can be carried on without money--money -fully guaranteed--and if we would strike at the root of the evil, then -these guaranteed supplies must be cut off. - -A well-known journalist who, through his birth and family connections, -may be presumed to have more than common knowledge of the various -financial games of chess played by the “Chancelleries” of Europe, is -responsible for the statement that “War is popular.” This is one of -those brisk surface sayings that shine with apparent candour, like -the sparkle of light in the ice on a puddle, but which have no more -depth than the puddle itself. War is temporarily “popular”--so long -as it is confined to its own pomp and panoply--its martial music, its -flying banners, its glittering array of armed men--its marching and -countermarching--its sensation and “show,” in fact--sensation and show -which appeal to the multitude who are not brought face to face with -the disease and death of its darker side. The elemental passions of -a mob can be roused as easily by the “savage” beating of a tom-tom -as by the “civilised” roll of the drum, or by the fussy cackling of -an excitable Hen-Press. That Hen nowadays is always laying eggs of a -curiously abnormal nature, in fact so surprising is its daily product -that the maternal bird is for ever getting off the nest to look at -results, with an evident expectation that mere chicks may turn out to -be swans, though, as a rule, they are generally geese. To judge from -the incessant cackle and scream, one would imagine them responsible -for European opinion, and occupied in raising “nation against nation,” -with “men’s hearts failing them for fear,” in startling confirmation -of the New Testament prophecy, and some of us are disposed to ask: -Why are sinister and disturbing suggestions constantly thrown out by -the Press as baits to catch the always restless, dissatisfied and -uneasy minds of the populace? Is Finance the fisherman behind the -tree, angling with a long line and a devil’s hook at the end of it? -No one with a grain of common sense would call it Patriotism! Our men -of science, our pathologists and physicians have of late years been -studying to some purpose the mysterious power of “Suggestion”--and if -we have sufficient intelligence to understand the discovered facts -which have rewarded their researches we shall acknowledge that ideas, -started and persistently fostered in the minds of the million by -constant reiteration, frequently develop into actions. With how much -care and earnestness therefore should we see to it that the suggestions -impressed on the brains of Nations are sane, pure and noble, moving -all progress forward, with that firm gentleness which is the truest -strength, into the ways of wisdom and of peace! - -As “civilised” peoples we continue to exhibit the strangest barbaric -inconsistency in our manners and methods of justice. If one man or -woman is murdered in our midst our laws are set into instant operation -to find the murderer, and if the crime is brought home to him he is -sentenced to death. But in War thousands are murdered at the mere -signal of “brave” commanders, and instead of the wrath and horror -aroused by the slaying of a single life, an uproar of jubilation and -triumph breaks out over the poor festering corpses that strew the field -of so-called “glorious victory.” The “civilised” State protests against -the murder of one individual, but looks upon the ghastly holocaust of -slaughtered lives in battle as something almost noble and inspiring! Is -this reasonable? Is it reconcilable with sane judgment? Is it any proof -that our “Education” is of real worth?--or does it not rather testify -to the amazing fact that in our greed of possession, our thirst of -conquest, and our curious conceptions of religion and humanity, we have -progressed scarcely a step ahead of our “barbarian” ancestors and their -“savage” customs! - - “Alas, for men that they should be so blind! - That they should laud the scourges of their kind-- - Call each man glorious who has led a host - And him most glorious who has murdered most!” - -It is said by certain special pleaders that War is a Necessity. We -are referred for verification of this to the world of nature, where -it would certainly seem that various tribes of animals and insects -do make war upon each other. These wars, however, occur much more -frequently among the low grades of nature-life than the high. One may -doubt whether eagles as a tribe make war upon eagles, lions upon lions, -and so forth. That every animal should fight or work individually for -food is the natural law--the spirit of prey is one from which Man -himself is never exempt. But has any one ever heard of several thousand -lions or bears taking up a stand against each other and slaying each -other wholesale for a disputed portion of territory? Ants and emmets -make continual war among themselves, but “Civilisation” is supposed -to have set Man a trifle higher than the ant or emmet; he is even -believed to be superior in mental capacity to the eagle or the lion. -He is accredited with fine faculties of reason, and is more or less -conscious of high spiritual impulses--and in Christian countries he -professes a humane creed, and assumes to teach the ethics of a divine -moral code. During the far-off periods of his evolution from embryonic -animalism towards the higher potentialities of his being, he was -doubtless forced to fight his way against such opposing obstacles as -threatened to stay or overwhelm him in his progress, but now--now when -he stands, or thinks he stands, on a height of intellectual power and -attainment which enables him to discard old barbarisms, surely it would -be possible for him to control the lurking remains of his original -savagery! War may be, as the before-quoted journalist declares, -“popular,” but it might be as well, considering the ruin and misery -which follow in its train, to inquire into the inward working of its -asserted “popularity,” apart from its deceptive outward display. - -First then, as already hinted, there are floaters of a War Loan. -With them it is undoubtedly “popular,” for it opens several channels -for the rapid making of money. Roughly speaking, most of the money -advanced at interest for all important purposes comes from the Jews. -All nations are more or less under the thumb of Israel, disguise it -as we will, or may. No great scheme, either in peace or war, can be -started without Jewish gold and Jewish support. The Jews are the -cleverest commercial people on the globe; they are also charitable and -benevolent to a degree that often shames Christianity. They could, -as a race, do much to stop War in its very beginnings if they once -unanimously and resolutely decided on such a course of action. But it -is not likely that they will ever pronounce their “veto”; the idea -would be too Utopian and unbusinesslike. Therefore, as things exist, -it is scarcely unkind to say, that with their race all over the world -War is “popular.” Its commencement, progress, and continuance are in -their hands. And they will, from a purely commercial point of view, -continue to lend cash for the furtherance and encouragement of National -Savagery, so long as National Savagery exists, and is willing to borrow -money at a high rate of interest. For with them the God of Israel is -still a God of Battles. - -Secondly, War is “popular” with the Press. Unctuous newspaper articles -lamenting the “horror” of War, and disclaiming all responsibility -for fermenting and agitating the motives of quarrel, are only so -much meaningless “copy.” Useful “copy,” too, because it conveys to -the ingenuous and child-like mind of the man in the street that the -intelligent editors and journalists who “manage” his news for him are -really peace-loving, unselfish folk, and pious withal. Whereas the -very suggestion of War is a paying “sensation” for press-men; it gives -plenty of opening for big “headlines” and attractive “posters,” which -help to sell their penny or halfpenny sheets to the best advantage. -Whatever rumour is abroad, whatever whisper of a “conference of the -Powers” flies on the wind, the Press makes more than the most of both -rumour and whisper--and if it can only work up a national “Scare” -it is as happy as a monkey with a banana. Such a Press as that of -America and Great Britain could not exist without “sensation.” Even in -“piping times of peace” it resorts to the most ludicrous methods of -producing mild excitements, such as “Sweet Pea” or “Giant Carnation” -or “Photographic” competitions, or a “Symposium” as to whether milk -or fish diet is best for the brain. A murder is life to it!--while the -useful, brilliant, beautiful or noble work done in Art or Literature -gets scarcely a helpful mention. How often we see great space given -to the description of a public dancer!--her jewels, her dresses, her -opinions!--while a fine poem or picture is dismissed in a flippant -paragraph. The reason of this is obvious: it is that many of the -persons who assist in the work of daily journalism are only educated -up to the public dancer standard--the poem or the picture is lost on -the limited area of their abilities. And it may really be said again -without either prejudice or unkindness that so far as the press is -concerned War is “popular,” because it provides just that particular -“sensation” which in its turn commands sales. Therefore if press-men, -directly or indirectly, do foster national bitterness or help to -stir up strife, we must remember that they are only serving their -own interests, and that blame is chiefly due to ourselves if we give -credence to their often exaggerated statements. Bismarck is reported to -have said on one occasion, “The windows which our Press breaks we shall -have to pay for!” This is true enough. Indeed, it is just possible that -if there were no Press at all for a few years many dissensions would -die out, and many unfortunate happenings would never happen! - -But setting aside the two chief forces behind the scenes, Usury and the -Press, with all other commercially concerned parties in the quarrels of -nations, who _can_ or who _dare_ say that War is “popular”? Let wives -and children answer! Let us try to understand what we ourselves mean -by our conflicting theories and arguments--we who make such ado about -a “declining birth-rate,” and fall into hysterical raptures over a -family of “soldier sons”! Let us realise clearly that the slaughter of -able-bodied men materially assists towards the “declining birth-rate,” -and that where there are “soldier sons” they have been brought into the -world apparently for no other reason than to be mangled out of it! This -is War! Glorious War! Is it sane? Is it truly “glorious” to shoot down -thousands of human beings who have committed no fault of their own, but -are simply commanded by their Governments to serve as marks for the -bullets of an enemy who might never have been an enemy at all but for -mischief arising out of idle and often erroneous report, based on what -is perhaps only a temporary and trivial misunderstanding? The best of -friends are sometimes parted by the stupid gossip of stupid persons -who, envious of happiness and grudging it to those who possess it, -never rest till something has been done to undermine and destroy it. In -the same way nations are set against each other by some persistently -irritating and ill-founded rumour--some difference of opinion, which, -if taken in hand reasonably and at once, could be satisfactorily -settled, provided there be not too much talk, “red tape,” and -officialism employed for the purpose of creating general vacillation -and muddle. The conventional “ifs” and “buts” exchanged among the -Powers may be looked upon with considerable doubt and foreboding under -certain circumstances--an overflow of fine words not unfrequently means -an outbreak of treacherous deeds. - -Unhappily, and in flat contradiction to that “humane” spirit, which we -so frequently profess, treachery strikes the dominant note in modern -warfare, and this is one of the chief reasons why War should no longer -be permitted. The new long-range quick-firing gun is as dastardly as -it is powerful, for surely to shoot down men miles away who cannot see -their enemies is as reprehensible and cowardly as to stab a man in the -back unawares. Another instrument of treachery is the submarine--a -truly devilish invention devised for the avowed object of destroying -war-vessels by murderous action from the hidden depths of the sea. No -one ever seems to pause and consider what an amount of fiendish cunning -in the mind of man has evolved the construction of this deadly engine -of warfare--still less does the question ever appear to suggest itself -as to whether such a perfidious way of compassing slaughter is humane -(we will not shame the word “Christian”) or truly “civilised.” If we -refer back to what we are pleased to call the “dark ages” or ages of -barbarism, we read much concerning “instruments of torture,” such as -the rack, the thumb-screw, and other inventions brutally designed by -man to injure his fellow-man, but these things for the most part avowed -their murderous intention in open daylight--the doomed creatures knew -what they had to expect and prepared to die accordingly. But modern -science has sharpened our wits to a more merciless edge--we are cunning -enough to hide ourselves and our instruments of death from our intended -victims after the fashion of assassins lurking in ambush--therefore -by the very law of compensation it is scarcely to be wondered at -that we are sometimes “hoist with our own petard,” of which the many -appalling submarine fatalities are proof and warning. And now, not -satisfied with attack from the secret depths of the ocean, Zeppelins -and aeroplanes shower bombs upon open towns and innocent civilians, so -that even the hitherto neutral skies will be made spaces of vantage for -pitiless assault. All these “civilised” inventions for the practice of -barbarity ought to give so-called “Christian” empires food for serious -thought--yet, strange to say, it would seem that every new and more -murderous weapon for warfare is hailed with columns of praise in the -press, and such general acclamation as may truly be called “savage”--as -no “civilised” community educated according to all that we boast of -in our advanced state of progress, could or _would_ rejoice over the -construction of mere killing-machines for the slaughter of their -fellow-creatures! Therefore, it may be asked: Are we truly “civilised” -or is it all a Sham? Are we really humane?--or as bloodthirsty as when, -in our aboriginal savagery, we cracked the skulls of our enemies open -with flint axes? - -The continued existence of War is, in the face of all faith and -feeling, a shame to the world! So long as nations are slaves to the -barbarous idea that Blood and Carnage alone can keep them in their -places as authoritative forces for the higher progress and welfare -of Humanity, so long will Civilisation be more or less a farce. No -one denies the self-sacrifice, the endurance, the patience, and the -courage which makes men military heroes--the pity of it all is that -such splendid qualities of character should be wasted on the mere -consummation of slaughter and conquest. What good to the world has -ever come out of Napoleon’s many massacres? Looking down upon the -sarcophagus containing that Imperial Murderer’s ashes in the gorgeous -tomb consecrated to his memory in Paris, one wonders sadly why he was -ever permitted to live. We may with the great poet Byron say:-- - - “To think that God’s fair earth hath been - The footstool of a thing so mean!” - -If War is still to confirm us and other nations as Savages, we must -behave accordingly. We must train our men and youths to kill, and to -use the newest and surest weapons for killing. When we are offered -Dreadnoughts, we accept them with salvos of rejoicing and thanksgiving. -Yet without War these Dreadnoughts will, in ten years’ time from the -date of their completion, be useless, and the millions they cost will -be sunk into waste material. Must we have continuous War, then?--just -for the sake of employing Dreadnoughts--and proving to our own -satisfaction that we can slaughter as many innocent thousands as other -Savages if we like? Why should any cause arise for the visitation -of such a scourge upon us or any nation! If we have foes who show a -threatening front we are naturally bound to be on the defensive--and -we should be prepared to guard our kingdom and coast from Savages -more savage than ourselves. But when we can get rid of our Savagery -we shall lay down our arms. We shall realise that Civilisation means -Unity; Unity in all high purpose and progress towards the betterment of -mankind. - - “Sheathed be the sword for ever--let the drum - Be schoolboy’s pastime--let your battles cease! - And be the cannon’s voice for ever dumb - Except to celebrate the joys of Peace! - Are ye not brothers?--God, whom we revere, - Is he not Father of all climes and lands? - Form an Alliance holy and sincere - And join your hands!” - -Surely it is not too much to hope for this--to pray for this!--if our -Faith means anything more than mere lip-service and false show! - - - - -FOR BELGIUM! - -THE PRAYER OF THE ALLIES - -(_Written for “King Albert’s Book”_) - - “What shall we do for our Sister in the day when she shall be - spoken of? - If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver.” - _Song of Solomon._ - - - Maker of Heaven and Earth, - Thou, who hast given birth - To moving millions of pre-destined spheres, - Thou, whose resistless might - Resolves the Wrong to Right - Missing no moment of the measured years-- - Behold, we come to Thee! - We lift our swords, unsheath’d, towards Thy throne-- - Look down on us, and see - Our Sister-Nation, ruined and undone! - Martyred for nobleness, for truth and trust; - Help us, O God, to raise her from the dust! - - Be Thou our witness, Lord! - We swear with one accord - Swift retribution on her treacherous foe! - Her bitter wrong is ours - And heaven’s full-armèd powers - Shall hurl her murderer to his overthrow! - Upon her broken wall - A silver palace of sweet peace shall rise - At that high Festival - When Victory’s signal flashes through the skies-- - But--until then!--welcome the fiercest fray! - We fight for Freedom! God, give us “The Day”! - - - - -THE GREAT UNREST - - _(This article was written for “Nash’s Magazine” two years before - the War, and was on its appearance prefaced by the following - Editor’s Note.)_ - - EDITOR’S NOTE.--_While “Nash’s Magazine” cheerfully presents the - following very radical and profoundly interesting article from the - brilliant pen of Miss Marie Corelli, this Magazine should not in - any sense be held accountable for either the Author’s views or her - expression of them._ - - -“Ye hypocrites! Ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, -but how is it that ye do not discern this time?” - -Such was the question put to the people by the Founder of the -Christian Faith two thousand years ago--a question not yet answered. -Lack of discernment is still as much as ever one of humanity’s chief -attributes, or is it perhaps less a lack of discernment than an -unwillingness to discern? “Ye hypocrites!” said the Christ. Is it not, -after all, sheer hypocrisy which, in the form of social convention, -does so obsess Man that, though conscious of approaching storm, he -prefers to bury his head, ostrich-like, in a sand-heap of his own -delusions in order that he may be as blind and as deaf as possible to -the lurid glare and wild uproar of coming disaster? He instinctively -knows disaster is imminent--even at his very doors--and that it will -presently swoop relentlessly down upon him, perhaps tossing him with -other fragments of creation into a chaos from which he shall scarcely -emerge with a sound skin; yet knowing, he pretends _not_ to know, and -plays the fool with himself and destiny! - -To-day, now, at this very moment, all over the civilised world, this -terrible game of “playing the fool” is going on with reckless speed -and continuity. I use the word “terrible” advisedly, for nothing more -pregnant with all the elements of positive terror was ever seen than -the present-time spectacle of Human Humbug set face to face with that -Eternal Equity which has existed always, and which ever will exist -without any change in its Divine Source, Cause and Intention. Man, -endowed with splendid gifts of reason, imagination and psychic power, -is everywhere gambling away his highest birthright for gold; Man, whom -the celestial forces have led step by step through carefully measured -gradations of intellectual evolution till he has arrived at the open -gateways of Science, there to behold the infinitely marvellous benefits -he may possess and enjoy, still insults the Giver of all his good by -his fumbling forms of faith and worship suited only to barbaric minds -in a state of embryo--Man, semi-apathetic and in many cases wholly -indifferent to the higher roads of progress and to the steady unfolding -of that endless perspective of order and beauty intended for the -individual happiness of every individual soul, still makes wilful havoc -of his own carefully organised civilisations, like a child who builds -a house of cards and blows it down with a breath--and this because his -civilisations are mostly of a flimsy structure, having no foundation on -any fundamental Law which Nature can or will tolerate for more than -a very brief time. All history teaches this with stern and pitiless -repetition; and the signs and portents which gave warning of the -downfall of the Roman Empire were of precisely the same character as -the signs and portents which warn us of similar downfalls impending for -great nations to-day. The scheme of Creation is plainly meant to be a -perpetual movement towards perpetual advancement--this truth is clearly -demonstrated in all natural evolution, and Man is perforce compelled, -despite himself, to move with the onward and upward process--but he -invariably “hangs back” and tries to put a stop on the wheel, with the -result that he is himself crushed and ground to powder in the wheel’s -relentless revolving. He makes religions, laws and morals for himself -which have no prototype in the order of Nature, and he thereby stands -rebelliously opposed to the Supreme Intelligence, whose design of life -being exact mathematics, swerves not by so much as the shadow of a hair. - -Hence arises, and always will arise, trouble. Trouble and unrest! The -sum of things never comes right, add it up, subtract, or multiply as we -will. We persist in our childish efforts to fit in figures which have -no place or part in the Divine quantities. Now and then in some sudden -flash of higher consciousness, we see the folly of our actions--but -seeing, we pretend to be blind. Some of us devote ourselves to a study -of the sciences, and we peep through a hundred loop-holes into a vista -of shining truths, any one of which would help us to draw closer to -God--yet presently we turn away and talk of predestination and original -sin, and feign to believe in a Deity whose rage against His own -Creation is so insensate and barbaric as only to be pacified by Blood! -Blood--blood! The cry of the vengeful, the murderous, the cruel, the -tyrannous in all ages of the world!--yet we do not hesitate to insult -the Creator of the whole Cosmos by endowing Him with this animal and -un-God-like craving! He, who holds the starry heavens in the hollow -of His Hand--from whose expressed Thought solar systems are born like -blossoms in the fields of ether--He, whose vast love broods tenderly -over all that He hath made, even to the nesting bird hidden under a -bunch of green leaves--“not one shall fall to the ground without your -Father”--even He it is whom daily we wrong and blaspheme by our social -methods of life and forms of worship, by our deliberate opposition to -His Laws, and by the amazingly insolent indifference we exhibit to His -inviolate Will as shown through the reflection of His Mind in visible -Nature. - -And so it happens that, after a certain space of time in which we -are offered fresh chances of amendment or betterment which we seldom -take, things begin to go wrong. We know not how or where the mischief -first started, because it has stolen upon us by gradual and insidious -degrees, and we never dream of looking for the root of the evil in -ourselves or in our ancestry. But we do become slowly and reluctantly -aware that we are not on the right track--that “something” is about -to happen which will upset all our most cherished plans and push us -off our present road of what we are pleased to call “progress” in a -sufficiently disastrous manner. We have no time to retrace our steps -and look for the way we have missed, for we find that we are running -down hill with a singular self-imposed velocity which would make any -sort of a stop almost impossible--while to go back would mean to climb -a very steep and difficult ascent, an exercise for which we are neither -prepared nor willing. We have no idea how we managed the muddle in -which we find ourselves, but muddle it is and muddle it remains. - -And then we enter upon the doubtful period--the kind of period in -which the whole world is living to-day--a period of vague uneasiness, -restlessness, and feverish suspense, looking for we know not what, -dissatisfied with things as they are, yet unable to decide how they -ought to be. Then is the hour of the brazen-mouthed religious ranter -and the political demagogue. The nations of the earth are disquieted -mentally and spiritually--the pulpit braggart assumes to teach them, -and the upstart in politics offers to reform them. And like the waves -of the sea before a storm breaks, the people surge to and fro in -billowy masses, with here and there a gleam of hope among them like -light on spraying foam, but for the most part moving in darkness and -deep unrest. For the time is past when the balm of old tradition can be -applied as a soothing salve to the spiritual wounds of humanity. Men do -not want to be soothed, but roused--fired to noblest energy, greatest -aims and splendid achievement--and they need to feel that their efforts -to reach the Highest are worth the making, and that the fight which -they enter upon means victory in the end. - -This, most unfortunately, is not made plain to them by either the -faiths or followings of modern society. The Churches have in a great -measure lost their hold upon the people, and the consolidation of -family life is a thing of the past. When England was truly great, the -love of home and country was the chief foundation of her greatness, as -it should be with all nations seeking to hold high place and power--but -in our present modes of living, both in England and America, “home” -is voted hum-drum and a bore--sons and daughters openly profess the -gad-about principle of what they term “pleasure,” and are more or less -indifferent to the interests or convenience of their parents, showing -no more reverence or consideration for them than is necessary to obtain -financial “supplies.” They snap the chain that should bind them to -filial tenderness and duty, and follow their own particular forms of -enjoyment with a cool selfishness which can but astonish any thoughtful -beholder--yet even this reprehensible attitude of the rising generation -is but a phase of the general “Unrest” pervading all classes and all -ages--the vague sense that nothing is going to last very long--that -some dire mischief threatens the world--and that one must try to enjoy -oneself while one can, because there is no time left to do anything -else. And well-meaning fathers and mothers, especially those of the -upper classes, adapt themselves more or less compassionately and with -regret to the new and often exceedingly bad manners of their children, -who, in nine cases out of ten, resemble the Biblical “daughters of -the horse-leech,” crying “Give! Give!” and regard their progenitors -merely as human banks on which they expect to draw _ad libitum_ till -the coin gives out. All this is wrong, hopelessly wrong. Fathers should -be supported by their sons, if support is needed--not sons supported -by their fathers. And in such strange times as these, when women are -so ready to throw off their womanliness and become mere roughs in the -general fray, they too must be expected to put themselves in harness -and earn the right to live. They have wilfully destroyed the ideal of -woman, so long and lovingly cherished by man in the days of sentiment -and chivalry--and now they can hardly wonder if husbands prove -difficult to secure. Men will think a hundred times before entering -into marriage with possible window-smashers. - -Yet it is all part and parcel of the one thing--the Great Unrest -which, like a storm atmosphere, envelops all our modern civilisation. -There is no country that does not feel it--no nation that is not -uneasily conscious of being on the verge of change. The disruption -of family life--the revolt of Woman against her own nature, and the -frenzied ultra-stupidity she exhibits in the efforts she makes to -reverse her own God-ordained position in the scheme of creation--the -pathetic bewilderment and weariness of Man himself, left without any -of his old ideals of faith or love, and clinging to gold as the only -seemingly tangible good which may procure him some bodily comfort -and ease, though feeling in his own soul that even this is little -worth--all these things are forerunners of coming trouble to which we -are as yet unable to give a name. Most notable and most tremendous -of all portents, however, is the earthquake tremor that is shaking -the Churches to their foundations, and the growth and extension of -what is called the “New Thought.” The New Thought is really the Old -Thought--the Thought which was the underlying germ of the mystic -religions of the East, and the foundation of the Platonic philosophy. -The “Thought” has become overlaid by a multiplicity of differing human -opinions, forming, as is their habit, into useless and mischievous -systems--but in its pure beginning it is the Christ in embryo--the -God-in-Man. In simplest truth it is an eternal Thought which by Divine -inspiration teaches us that the Soul or spirit of every human being -is an individual portion of the Spirit of God--and that as such it -is an immortal creature, whose destiny is glorious, whose splendid -faculties are for the purpose of evolving itself through phases of -wide advancement to wider attainment, and for whom there is and can -be no such thing as death. This Earth is its present school and -playground--Nature is its teacher, as well as its subject and servant. -It is to learn what it can and will by patient study and grateful -experience--it is to use what it finds in all things pleasant, helpful, -joyous, noble, and gracious--it is to breathe in an atmosphere of love; -and with the Supreme Intelligence of which it is a part, it may feed as -it will among the lilies of life, and may say, “My Beloved is mine and -I am His.” - -This spiritual tie between man and his Maker has never been -sufficiently emphasised by the Churches. Their religious forms of -worship impress upon us that we are miserable sinners whatever we do, -that we must try to save our souls, and that we must put as much as -we can into the collection-plate. In great sorrow or difficulty these -instructions are not very helpful. Sometimes indeed we doubt whether -God meant us to consider ourselves such “miserable sinners” after all. -Our perpetual whinings and lamentations cannot make sweet music on the -Divine records. God gave us our bodies, not to chastise and mortify, -but to care for and make healthy and beautiful; and the laws He has -framed for our guidance and maintenance are such that if one be broken, -punishment is bound to follow. There is no forgiveness, because there -simply _cannot_ be any deviation in the mathematical precision of the -universal plan. And the punishment is measured exactly to the fault. -If we refuse to go forward, we must go back--we are not allowed to -stand still. If a man elects to throw himself headlong from a steeple, -not all the prayers of the saints could alter the law of gravitation -which causes him to fall and break his neck. What is true of physical -law is equally true of spiritual law, since Matter is simply Spirit -substantiated and made temporarily visible in endless temporary forms. -And all God-ordained laws, whether physical or spiritual, are framed -for the guidance, benefit, and advancement of creation--whereas we, by -devising other laws which pull contrary to Divine ways and means, find -ourselves “in darkness and the shadow of death” instead of in light and -the splendour of life. In our day Science has come to our rescue, and -like a great Angel stands at the open door of the Kingdom of Heaven; -she shows us the “many mansions” of worlds upon worlds in the Father’s -House--she points out the loving care with which even the tiniest -organism of life is protected--she instructs us how we may press the -lightning into our service and use the waves of the air to convey our -messages from one land to the other--and she impresses upon us, even as -a loving mother impresses a beautiful truth upon her child, the fact -that we--even we--are permitted to be the rulers of this wonderful -planet, so full of exquisite beauty and joy--and that we are expected -to use the endless gifts bestowed upon us with love, wisdom and -courage, developing ourselves into a noble race of creatures worthy of -ever nobler and higher issues. - -Thus it has come to pass that with Science leading us ever onward -and upward, we cannot any longer in reason look upon “Our Father” -as a capricious tyrant, needing a sacrifice of blood to pacify His -wrath against us. Instead of this barbarous conception, we realise -that Perfect Justice cannot possibly be angry with what it has Itself -ordained--and we are overpowered and brought to our knees in devout -adoration before the Great Spirit of Love which is the Generator of -the universe, and which out of smallest beginnings works to greatest -ends--work in which we are permitted, nay, expected and commanded, to -take an active part, our disobedience always resulting in disaster to -ourselves. - -It is the contemplation of these truths which Science hourly and daily -demonstrates to the glory of the Creator that the “New” or “Old” -Thought has arisen in all its strength, like Christ from the grave, -“walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Hence the earthquake -tottering of the Churches, and the ever-spreading great wave of -religious unrest. There is, among many deeply thinking people, an -uneasy sense that we have insulted the real and ever present God by -our narrow and more or less selfish systems of faith, and that we must -hasten to make amends. Therefore, putting the question of the mentally -unfit aside in the general sorting of the sheep from the goats, it -seems evident that the time is ripening towards a New Revelation of -the Divine in Man--a “sign from heaven” for the better guidance of the -human soul towards ultimate perfection, and a surer means of obtaining -peace and happiness in this life as well as in the life to come. But -before the sign be given there must and will be heavy tribulation; -“nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes and -divers troubles”--and the very beginning of these “divers troubles” is -upon us now. - -Hence the Great Unrest. People scurry to and fro all over the earth, -like ants disturbed on their hill by a burning match thrown in among -them. They do not know what is the matter, but they feel that they must -keep moving. The sensation of inexplicable haste is upon them. There -is no time for anything. Pleasure easily palls, and the most agreeable -society develops into boredom. The days of reposeful leisure, in which -the greatest works of art were created, are ended. Everything must be -got through quickly nowadays--“scamped” as a matter of fact. Sweetness -and harmony in music are no longer admired--it must be discordant and -odd to suit the spirit of the age. Fine painting is a drug in the -market unless it be the work of an “old master”--a picture must be -“sensational” in colour and in execution to suit the perverted taste -of the day. Literature and the drama must present “problems” of a -questionable nature before their productions can be pronounced “great” -by the very few critics who are more than ordinary paragraphists--while -Poetry, the highest of all the arts, is practically dead. The abnormal -condition of the human mind displays itself in costume, manners, and -social observances and over all things hangs the deepening mist of a -universal dissatisfaction for which there seems to be no cause, and -for which we can find no name. - -Do we mean to go on blindly, pretending we do not see? “Ye hypocrites! -Ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that -ye do not discern this time?” - -How is it indeed! For “this time” is one of the most fated and historic -times in the history of the world--a time when we may perhaps be called -upon to witness the commencement of the downfall of the greatest of -Empires--the British;--when we may have to watch its magnificent -fabric, once the envy of all other nations, crumbling before our very -eyes--its pillars of state pulled down by riotous demagogues--its -splendid traditions put to shame by both parties in its Parliament--by -the one in sheer outlawry, by the other in no less disgraceful -inaction. We can look on at this and wonder what new power will arise -from its ruins, but we may not dare to prophesy till after the event! -For this is but “the beginning of sorrows.” It little matters that -the fools and jesters of the hour make mockery of all those who seek -to warn off the misguided people from the quicksands whither they are -rushing--fools and jesters there have always been and always will be, -ready to toss ribaldry in the face of Deity itself without compunction. -But the evil which darkly threatens modern civilisation is too near -and too evident to be lightly “laughed down.” Every student of history -knows that when the foundations of religious faith are shaken--when -it becomes “a house divided against itself,” then national disaster -is close at hand. Man, deprived of any high spiritual ideal of life, -quickly reverts to mere selfish savagery. The Dean of St. Paul’s, -called “the gloomy Dean” by a halfpenny daily, because he dares to -speak truths which are not altogether pleasant hearing, must have -thought long and deeply, and fully made up his mind as to what he meant -when he said: “It is the duty of the clergy to maintain that it is -‘other worldliness’ which alone had transformed and could transform -this world”--which means that it is only spiritual progress which can -make material progress valuable and lasting. The inward enlightenment -and uplifting of the soul or spirit of each individual man and woman -towards the highest and bravest ideals of life and love, and conformity -to the laws of creation as made plainly visible in Nature, is the only -true civilisation. This lesson is taught by every scientific truth we -are permitted to investigate. It is not preaching or platitudinism--it -is an incontestable eternal Fact. Our lives on this planet were -intended to be lives of joy, health, beauty, love, and mutual -helpfulness--and where we depart from this intention we insult and -disobey the Creator, whose design is one of gradual development towards -ultimate perfection. We wrong Him when we call this beautiful world “a -vale of tears”--for our misfortunes and diseases are chiefly our own -fault, and certainly are not His doing. It is time we stood up with a -glad courage, giving thanks for all the benefits He has showered upon -us without asking for more. Any creed that is selfish and whining is no -creed for the soul that aspires to the highest progress. If we invite -evils upon ourselves we must expect them to come--nothing will hold -them back if we are trespassers against natural and spiritual laws. -The Reverend H. Mayne Young, preaching in Westminster Abbey itself, -pronounced the following words with a noble daring:-- - -“The day is not far distant when, unless the Church of England freely -re-states and re-models her creeds so as to meet the requirements of -the age, she will be left stranded on the shores of time, while the -tide of this modern life will leave her for ever farther and farther -behind--a sad warning of the inevitable results of an iron-bound system -of worn-out dogmas and lifeless traditions.” - -“Worn-out dogmas and lifeless traditions!” A bold utterance, but true! -And what is true of the Church of England is equally true of all the -Churches in the world to-day, notably that of Rome. Man, walking in -a darkness of destroyed illusions, is at that point when he may well -exclaim with the Apostle--“Who will deliver me from the body of this -death?” - -It needs no gift of prophecy and no special intuition to see that -we are on the brink of some tremendous change in the destinies of -the human race. Everything points to it--our tottering creeds, our -fluctuating standard of manners and morals. What it is, what it may be -no one tries to imagine. People instinctively feel they would rather -not think too much about anything, or analyse the condition in which -they find themselves. There is “no time” for it, they say. Why is there -no time? Is the clock of the universe running down and are the works -giving out? Materially speaking, we know that the slightest tilt of -the earth on its axis would cause a complete redistribution of its -continents and seas, sweeping away every vestige of civilisation as we -now know it. We never consider this, imagining that such a catastrophe -is not possible. Yet God has willed it so before, and may will it so -again. Every physical movement is preconceived by a mental or spiritual -one. The Great Unrest is at present one of Spirit which will gradually -dominate Matter and move it to equal but louder disturbance. We spin -on our earth in a gathering storm-cloud between two fathomless gulfs, -the Past and the Future--our Present is the result of the past, and -our future will equally be the work of the Present. We know that there -is a God of Love to serve, and his Nature-laws to obey, and knowing -this, Ourselves alone must decide whether we _will_ do as we should, or -whether we shall be _forced_ to do as we would not! - - - - -THE WHIRLWIND - - -It has come at last--that great Storm foretold by national weather -prophets--it has come with all the devastating force of a fury long -suppressed; and the black cloud has gathered over our heads while yet -we drowsed in a dream of sunshine. With a sudden thunderous rush, as -though a god or a demon should tread the spaces of the air, heaven -has let loose the whirlwind--the whirlwind of War, and far more than -War--the whirlwind of Destiny. It has come because it was bound to -come, by the Unwritten Law and Code Invisible. Men of the world -who form governments, make civilisations, and build up empires are -always forgetting this Unwritten Law--the Hand behind the scenes--the -inexorable and eternal forward movement of the Cosmos, which in its -pre-determined progress overrides their best laid plans and makes -chaotic havoc of their most sagacious intentions. Yet it is a perfectly -straight and simple Law after all--one that has existed from the -beginning of things, and that will ever exist--the law of Nature, -visibly expressing the Mind of God, and immutably set against the -predominance of evil. It is an output of the Divine Will, resolving -itself easily into common, even domestic forms, adapted to the needs -of individuals and nations alike. Nature often conducts herself like a -practical housewife bent on spring cleaning. - -“Where there is dirt,” she says, “it shall be removed; where there is -confusion there shall be order.” - -And her “cleaning-up” day is invariably a frightful thing. The noise -of her sweeping and scouring resounds like thunder through the world. -It occurs periodically, marking epochs of history, and we read of -its results in the past with placid incredulity, setting down much -to exaggeration and more to deliberate lying, idly amused meanwhile -at the ridiculous notion, suggested by certain fools, that any such -uproar and disaster should ever be experienced by Ourselves who have, -so we consider, “advanced” in civilisation and wisdom, and thereby -in self-control--Ourselves whose “culture” seems to our own judgment -a finer and more perfect attainment than divine justice. The tornado -of the French Revolution, the pitiless ravages of the Napoleonic wars -have appeared to us like a tale that is told, “full of sound and -fury, signifying nothing”--and we have lazed the time away, getting -and spending, in the peaceful high noon of national prosperity and -contentment, feeling confident that we should never in our day be -shaken from our centre-poise of complacent self-satisfaction by -anything of larger disturbance than occasional family quarrels gotten -up more for the sake of varying the monotony of peace than with any -serious intent. And now, lo!--the bolt falls--the vials of wrath and -judgment are opened and poured forth over land and sea--the whirlwind -is upon us, and we who slept are awakened by its sweeping rage, its -rattling rain, its lightning flashing against our windows of security, -and we leap to our feet, startled but not alarmed--unprepared, maybe, -but not unready. We realise what the storm means, and we know how to -weather it; we are not afraid--we only wish we had not slept quite so -long! - -Nevertheless, though our sleep may have been heavy, it has refreshed -our forces and has not diminished our energies. Our waking is to good -purpose. The very shame we feel at the length of our slumber is an -excellent tonic and invigorates us. Sleep shall no more weigh down our -eyelids--we are alert, strong, and resolute, even in the midst of the -whirlwind. For it is a storm in which we alone are not involved. It has -swept over a smaller nation than our own, all undeservedly--a little -sister nation with the heart of a thousand heroes beating in her small -bosom--and her unmerited sorrow has served as the keynote to strike all -that is in us of Character and Conduct. We see her defaced with blows, -insulted and outraged by ravening cruelties; and the chivalry born from -centuries of martial glory rises strong and full-armed in every man -that claims justice for her wrongs. We of Britain have not warred for -ourselves--our fight is for the better, broader freedom of the whole -world. The whirlwind has caught us up in the swoop of its revolving -wings solely that we may take our part in the purifying of the House of -Man. And our victory will be made manifest in the open response to our -inward intention. - - * * * * * - -The militarism of Prussia is a crime, springing from old roots of human -savagery and barbarism which should have died long ago. The brutal -War, made treacherous and bloody by new devices of destruction, the -inventions of fine science misapplied, was an outbreak of stupidity on -the part of an obtuse and stupid set of men, sodden with selfishness -and delirious with a drunken dream of World-Power. The teachings of -Treitschke and Nietzsche are the teachings of egotists with unsound and -ill-balanced brains. Nietzsche went mad, and howled his philosophies to -the walls of the padded room. Treitschke was covertly insane; like the -“secret drinker” who in public pretends he cannot touch strong liquor, -he assumed to be proud and sagacious when he was no more than crazily -self-obsessed. He preached the doctrine of Hate, and no sane man -ever did that. The German nation, accepting this sort of “Kultur” as -gospel, accepted the ravings of the mentally deficient, and, plunging -breast-high into a sea of brothers’ blood, proved itself infected -by the same madness as that which poisoned the veins of its mad -instructors. To any thoughtful student, looking on at such a frightful, -wicked, and overwhelmingly stupid slaughter of men by machinery there -can be nothing more terrible, more lonely or more accursed in all the -realm of fact or fiction than the figure of the Kaiser--the miserable -epileptic who is responsible for shrouding his “Fatherland” in the -black veil of mourning, and for drowning its peace and progress in a -flood of widows’ and orphans’ tears. Mentally unbalanced, physically -inefficient, and morally lacking--living as one pursued by the Furies -in an armoured cage, and surrounded by guards on earth and in air, -lest by chance his “Gott” should kill him, he moves one to amazement -and pity--for the whirlwind has him in its centre, twirling him round -and round like a veritable mannikin of sport for the dread gods of -destiny--a mannikin who hardly knows how he came to be where he is, or -where he will find himself when the storm is past. Meanwhile his voice -is heard above the storm shouting “To England! England! The one foe! My -Mother’s land, which I hate! Would that every drop of British blood in -my veins might be drained out of me!” - -Well, why not? A calf has been bled before now, and not a drop of -its mother’s blood has been left in its carcase--there is nothing to -prevent this desirable consummation for the Kaiser since he so devoutly -wishes it. The whirlwind may strip him yet, and perform this required -kindness! But in the interval the arrogant and half-crazed “War Lord” -has sacrificed the best flower and strength of Germany’s manhood to -his criminal and insatiable lust of power. The German people have not -yet realised the mercilessness of this military despot--but when they -do--when they count the desolate homes, the ruined trades, the lost -commerce, the ravaged lives and broken hearts which mark the “triumph” -of the stagey and spectacular “hero” they have worshipped, there will -be an end of the blind credulity with which they have followed a vain -ideal. - - * * * * * - -For us British, the Whirlwind is a grand thing. It is blowing -us fiercely clean of Self--it is tearing away from us the silly -sophistries of fashion and frivolity and showing us things in their -true light. Our ape-like jesters of the press, of the Bernard Shaw -type, who have mocked at all things holy, serious, and earnest, are -finding their proper level, and shrinking into corners where they -are scarcely seen--where it is to be hoped they may be peaceably -forgotten. Our “sex-problems,” our “advanced” women, our screaming Doll -Tear-sheets of militant suffrage--these trouble the air no more with -the hysterics which are engendered by having nothing useful to do. We -have no time for trifling. We are face to face with the long-despised -Obvious--“Life is real, life is earnest”--and we are casting off the -slough of political humbug and social sham, and are as one in the -splendid bond of patriotism and love of country. We may trust the -Storm; we may welcome the Whirlwind. It has come to clear the sky -of miasma and vapour--it is making light to show us where we truly -stand. If we are honest with ourselves we shall admit that in latter -years we have given ourselves over-much to the pursuit of material -gain and personal pleasure, we have neglected our faith in divine and -high ideals, and Self has been more or less our god; it was time that -we received a wholesome check and a warning before we lost all that -has made us great. We have responded swiftly to the goading spur--our -crust of selfishness was but thin after all, and has broken and melted -away in a flood of magnificent generosity and practical sympathy--for -never had nation a nobler Cause than ours, when, as brothers in arms -with our brave allies, we fought to right the unspeakable wrongs of -unoffending Belgium, and to aid in defending France from the invader -and usurper. Should the enemy conquer in this mighty struggle the whole -world will be the impoverished loser; should we and our allies win, -the whole world will gain by our victory and share with us a wider, -nobler freedom than before. It is for this cause that the Whirlwind -has come upon us--to cleanse a cancer from our midst, and to put away -from ourselves and our neighbours the dread contamination of a disease -involving the whole trend of civilisation. We may thank God for it, -despite all its terrors, its rain of blood, its thunders of the air -and sea, its swift death dealt to thousands of innocent souls--it is a -storm that was needed to clear the air. And when it is past, and the -sun shines once more, we shall realise that its causes were to be found -not in one nation only, but in many--in ourselves as well as in our -foes--and that some great and forceful movement of destiny was urgently -called for to sweep away from humanity the accumulating mass of its own -self-wrought evil. And if victory should be ours, it will behove us to -take it with all humility, giving thanks to God--“_lest we forget_!” - - - - -THE KAISER’S HARVEST OF DEATH - -A CRIME OF STUPIDITY - -(_First published in the “Sunday Times”_) - - -In every great national crisis, when war or revolution brings havoc -on existing civilisation and works sudden and violent change in all -social, political, and diplomatic relations, we are invariably able to -discover One Man--or at the most, perhaps, two or three men--primarily -responsible for the general upheaval. - -History is impressively explicit concerning these personages. She -never fails to show us how, by some strange lack of the most ordinary -foresight and common sense, they stumble when apparently on the -height of success, and commit irreparable blunders which hasten their -careers to a disastrous close. Such was the case with Napoleon and -many other would-be Alexanders of ambition; but of all the tragic -blunderers of time surely none can equal or surpass the “War Lord” of -Germany. Here is a man who had the splendid chance of securing for -his country and people the largest share of the commerce of Europe; -it lay easily within his grasp. Yet he has let it go, like a handful -of sand and shells dropped by a child at play on the seashore. To -satisfy the personal cravings of a vaunting, blustering Egoism for -blood-and-thunder “effects” he has lost the peaceful conquest of a -world! - -Amazing, deplorable, and incredible folly!--when such conquest could -have been gained without a blow, without the boom of a single gun, -without the explosion of a single shell! It could have been attained -in the only way by which any truly “civilised” nation should ever seek -supremacy--through the development of industry and commerce, and the -quiet assumption of the power that industry and commerce give. All -that we call “progress” should fortify the stand of human resolution -on this basis. It is not necessary, it is not even sane or decent that -any peoples should tolerate what Carlyle describes as “the spectacle of -men with clenched teeth and hell-fire eyes hacking one another’s flesh, -converting precious living bodies and priceless living souls into -nameless masses of putrescence, useful only for turnip manure”--which -is a rough but accurate picture of war deprived of all its devilish -excitement and glamour. - - -WASTED OPPORTUNITY - -To Kaiser William more than to any other monarch of his time was given -the glorious chance of becoming the greatest benefactor of Germany -which that realm had ever known. He could have created for his people -such conditions of peace, happiness, and prosperity as were almost -incalculable. He stood in the broad sunshine of ripening trade--the -markets of the world were open to him--fields of wealth were spreading -around him on all sides, and his cheerfully working millions had but -to reap the grain their industries had sown and gather in a rich and -plenteous harvest. Why, then, in the name of all that is great, noble, -and pitiful, did he choose to make a harvest of death instead of life? - - -A TRAGIC WITNESS - -During the grim and ghastly struggle at Verdun we are told the Kaiser, -standing “at safe distance,” watched through his field-glasses the -fiery mowing down of his countrymen to the number of forty-five -thousand! Does any one, reading this, take the trouble to pause and -consider what it means? Forty-five thousand strong, brave men in the -flower of manhood (for let us hope we are none of us so unjust as to -deny our enemies their strength or their courage); forty-five thousand -capable human beings fit for every sort of industrial labour--the -blood and bone of future generations--slaughtered like vermin; and -their Emperor, their sworn Defender and Protector, within sight-range, -looking on! - -What a “Harvest Home”! Are we able to conceive the nature and -temperament of a monarch who _could_ so look on at this massacre of his -subjects and not rush among them to stop the advance of their serried -ranks and “massed formations,” resulting in such a wanton and wicked -waste of life? The crazy antics of Nero were mere child’s play compared -with this callous attitude of William of Hohenzollern; an attitude -which even his French foes cannot maintain. For, fired with vengeance -for old wrongs as they are, and bent on victorious justice, they have -declared themselves “sick with slaughter.” - -“Such hecatombs,” writes Colonel Rousset, “cannot last. Our adversary, -while carrying his disregard of human life to the point of madness, -cannot go on throwing his soldiers into the charnel-house without -thinking of to-morrow.” - -The losses of the Germans at Verdun have been estimated at 10,000 per -day! “I dream at night,” writes one French artillery officer, “of those -ghastly crumpled heaps of shattered gray-green bodies! Germany’s wives -and mothers must curse the Kaiser in their prayers!” - - -THE CRIME OF STUPIDITY - -Voltaire is accredited with the saying that “the only crime is -stupidity.” According to this dictum one must come to consider the -“All-Highest War Lord” the greatest criminal of an epoch, his stupidity -being almost without parallel in history. What man, not entirely mad, -seeing a world of prosperity within reach of his hand would clench his -fist and knock the whole splendid sphere away from him at one blow! The -proposition seems absurd and untenable, yet it has been and continues -to be the Kaiser’s policy, or the policy of his ministers and advisers; -clear to all save those who remain perversely and wilfully blind. - -For it is not too much to say that before the war Germany was pushing -quietly but surely through every branch of commerce. From triumph to -triumph she moved easily onward; everywhere her ramifications were -spreading like the vigorous roots of a fast-growing tree. In Great -Britain she had possessed herself of many of our trades; her goods -were everywhere; her cutlery, her glass, her woollens, her linens, her -dyes, her silver and copper ware, her chemicals--why, even our very -window-frames were “Made in Germany”! She was at work in our mines and -coal-fields; she was ahead of us in science, in invention, in industry -and general “thoroughness.” - -And let us not forget that we were, or appeared to be, supinely -indifferent to her inroads on all that we used to claim as our “special -line” and particular property. We were, like Hamlet, “growing fat and -scant of breath.” We were disposed to indolence and self-indulgence, -and, when we saw Germans working _for_ us, and _by_ us, and _through_ -us, taking the very tools out of our listless hands, we were agreeably -convinced that they saved us a deal of trouble. They worked so cheaply, -too!--and cheapness in necessary goods appealed to us, because it gave -us more to spend on racing and football. The “Space for Special News” -in our Press was not reserved (as intelligent foreigners conceive it -ought to be) for serious information on world’s business; but for -“Football Results” or cricket, in the respective seasons of these -gamesome athletics--and the very word “patriotism” was laughed out -of court as “Jingoism.” We gave the honours of heroes to our tennis -champions, and played about while the Germans worked. They worked--as -many of the British refuse to work; they saved--as many of the British -decline to save; they gained their ends, because by our very inertia we -gave them every opportunity to do so. - - -BRITISH APATHY - -Mr. Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia, said in a recent speech -that Germany “had abused our foolishly generous hospitality.” -This is not quite accurate, since we were neither so generous nor -hospitable as careless and lazy. We allowed our trades to slip through -our fingers--the State did nothing for native work, science, or -invention--and ambitious men of hope and endeavour left the country -in shoals to make fortunes in other lands, _many firms establishing -themselves in Germany in order to win the rewards denied them in their -native home_! - -Germany held a more tenacious grip on every corner of the earth than we -in our latter “go-as-you-please” way ever realised. All over the United -States, Canada, and Australia her people have spread; you find them -in India, in Persia, in Egypt, in Africa; as a matter of fact, there -is no country where German influence has not been actively at work -while other nations looked on. Antwerp itself was wellnigh possessed -by German commerce before its military bombardment; it was already a -centre of German trade and German shipping, and in many of its business -houses more German was spoken than either French or Flemish. Great -Britain was lagging behind in the race; and had peace been maintained -for another twenty-five years Germany might easily have mastered the -world; and we might have lost all leading hold on commerce. - -For let us not delude ourselves on the subject of our own inertia! -It is owing to the magnificent stand made for justice and right by -the hero-King of Belgium that we have been awakened from long apathy; -had it not been for his resolute example, both France and England -would have suffered far more than they are suffering now! Friend and -Defender of both nations, he stands out as the noblest figure in the -struggle--the one who, when victory sits upon our helm, must be the -first to receive that which is due to him: the restoration of his -country and his throne. - - -LOSS AND GAIN - -And now the rivers of gold that were flowing into Germany through her -trade are stopped, “damned up” as the sensational special correspondent -would say--by British, French, and German dead! The latest estimate -of German losses at Verdun is two hundred thousand! Does the Kaiser, -at safe distance, still “look on”? What blessing has this monarch -of a great and productive realm brought upon his people? Mourning, -desolation, and irremediable misery! No triumph, no victory can atone -for such a deluge of blood and tears! That capricious Personage -“somewhere in Heaven,” whom Wilhelm calls “Unser Gott,” may possibly -resent the deliberate casting away of golden opportunities on the -part of his crowned earthly “familiar,” to whom a peaceful world was -offered, only to be kicked aside for a battered helmet and broken sword! - -“Thrust in thy sickle and reap!” O Emperor of a brief and bitter -day! The harvest of death, not life!--the harvest of curses, not -blessings! The thousands of dead men--dead in the very strength -of manhood--sacrificed in a holocaust on the flaming altar of the -wickedest war the world has ever seen, may have their own story to -tell to “Unser Gott”; so may the bereaved and wretched women whose -husbands and sons have been torn from their arms for ever. May the true -God help them all!--for in the unspeakable hell of iniquity around us -man is wellnigh powerless; though, like every evil thing, war has its -good side. It shows us with each day heroism of the finest, courage -of the strongest, self-sacrifice of the noblest, existing among us -all; and it has reawakened the higher spirit of England. For this we -have cause to be devoutly thankful! In a certain sense it has saved us -from ourselves; and from the enervating love of pleasure and personal -avarice which was slowly undermining our better qualities. - -And even the Kaiser, “looking on” at the legions of his own subjects -falling like withered leaves in a whirlwind of fire, may one day shake -off his frenzied nightmare of battle, and repent--exclaiming with -Judas:-- - -“I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood!” - - - - -THIS AMAZING WAR - -A WOMAN’S POINT OF VIEW - -(_Reprinted by special request from the “Sunday Pictorial” of March 28, -1915_) - - -What can be said or thought of it? This wonderful massing of -nations--this appalling slaughter of men--this relentless rolling on -of a Divine Elemental Force, too vast and powerful and resolute for -humanity to resist! It is a War so terrible, yet withal so grand, -and so pregnant with infinite issues that we, who are swept by the -dust and carnage of its fighting millions--we, who are stunned by the -clash and clamour of the frightful weapons of modern science which -it uses on land, under sea, and in air, are more or less incredulous -and stupefied, and we have been only with difficulty aroused to try -and understand its fateful import. It is Destiny in labour; and the -pangs and throes of her child-birth will give us a New World! For the -Old World is fast crumbling and crushing down upon us like an ancient -ruin struck by lightning-flash and thunderbolt; the old vices, lusts, -and littlenesses are being torn away from us as a storm-wind tears -away the parasite ivies from mouldering walls--and we shall presently -see a break in the clouds and light through the darkness. This thing -of terror and confusion Was To Be; it Had To Be! It has been coming -upon us slowly, but steadily, for years--and if we are honest with -ourselves we shall admit that we have felt its approach instinctively -in a general sense of insecurity--in a feverish impulse of haste to -live lest we should suddenly die! - -Something--we know not what--a cloud or a blight--has visibly lowered -over the face of European civilisation, and in order to set aside -certain strange and perplexing inconsistencies of such conduct among us -as might induce us seriously to Think--we have flung ourselves eagerly -into a vortex of “sensations” new and old, bad and good, virtuous and -vicious, with a kind of furious recklessness, bordering on insanity. -Any lapse of morals, any bizarre or weird “craze” in art, any indecency -in literature, has been acclaimed and encouraged as “new” and “strong” -instead of being condemned for being old and weak as such things truly -are--and in many vital matters the nation has been moved by a petulant -spirit of selfish, restless irritability, like that of a querulous old -man who has neither the grace nor the courage to accept his age with -wisdom, sweetness, and dignity. And among various mad things we have -done, one stands out pre-eminently as the maddest--and that is the -tacit encouragement given by a section of society and the press to a -brood of Atheists, who have trailed their poisonous slime along the -pathways of peace where the youth of this - - “Happy breed of men, this little world. - This precious stone set in the silver sea,” - -have wandered unsuspectingly, gathering the ugly stain on the innocent -white of their souls’ garments. Never did a sin of this nature occur -in the history of nations without Divine punishment inflicted, not so -much to destroy as to purify. The chronicles of every civilisation ever -known or heard of bear unswerving testimony to the truth that whenever -a nation or a people assumes to itself Divine right, dismissing from -its mind and conscience the idea of any higher Supreme Power before -Whom it should humiliate itself daily with thanksgiving and prayer, -that nation or people has been allowed to follow the lure of its own -intellectual pride and self-sufficiency to inevitable disaster. - - -IDEAL WORTH FIGHTING FOR - -This is, and this will be, the case with Germany. For years her people -have willingly listened to the teachings of egoists and madmen such as -Treitschke and Nietzsche--for years they have scoffed at Christianity, -its Founder and its ethics; and they have tempted the Divine Spirit in -Man with the devil’s whisper, “All these things will I give thee if -thou wilt fall down and worship me!” But that Divine Spirit is stronger -than all Germany and its rulers; and “Get thee behind me, Satan!” -is the keynote of this great War. The Satan of ambition, greed, and -cruelty embodied in the creed of Prussian militarism must be driven -“hence”; and it is for this holy Cause that we and our Allies are -fighting. We must have a free world!--free in the sense of highest, -purest freedom--a world of ideas, thoughts, and deeds built up on the -golden law of Christ, “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” As a statesman -has so nobly expressed it: “We wish the nations of Europe to be free to -live their independent lives, working out their own form of government -for themselves, and their own national development, whether they he -great nations or small States, in full liberty. This is our ideal.” - -An ideal worth fighting for--worth dying for!--this “glorious liberty -of the free!” None of us would grudge life or fortune to attain the -splendid goal in sight--a radiant vision of the true “Holy City,” where -as we are told--“the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the -light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour -within it.” - - -POISONOUS TEACHING - -Glory and honour never accompany the creed of selfish Materialism, -which is the “Kultur” of Germany. What a miserable man was he who wrote -down in cold blood these words: “I condemn Christianity. To me it is -the greatest of all possible corruptions. I call Christianity the one -great curse, the one great intrinsic depravity, the one immortal shame -and blemish in the human race!” This was Nietzsche--poor, sickly, -egoist, Nietzsche! He died mad--yet he was the “guide, philosopher, -and friend” of modern Germany! How has his teaching worked? Let the -slaughtered thousands of his countrymen on the battlefields reply. And -let us take heed that we in our turn be not infected by the poisonous -breathings of such insanity! Our nation--our Imperial Britain--has -been dangerously far along the road to similar madness--let us hope -devoutly that we have been pulled up in time! But--“we have done those -things which we ought not to have done”--as, for example, we have -thrown the sneer of “Jingoism!” contemptuously in the face of many an -honest patriot--and now we are loud in our expressions of wrath and -astonishment at the “want of patriotism” displayed by certain tribes -of working men who “strike” for more pay, indifferent to the country’s -needs! What have these working men been taught for the last twenty -years? Why, that Money is the only god, and Self the only master! When -we reproach them for unpatriotic conduct, we should reproach ourselves -still more for the encouragement and applause we have systematically -given to every new or revived doctrine of selfishness and materialism -that ever infected the world with its sickly symptoms of decay. -Patriotism is a mental and spiritual attitude--as heroism is--as love -and faith are. Such things cannot be taught; they are the result of -ennobling influences brought to bear on life and its environment. -Considering how little our educational system holds of such subtle and -delicate training, we have reason to be proud of the splendid response -of our men throughout the Empire to the call of “King and Country,” and -of the real national “grit” which in every Briton underlies his surface -show of levity and indifference. - -But have I, as a woman, nothing to say of the war, save in its ethical -aspect? Oh, yes! I, as a woman, could say much, in a woman’s way. Of -the agony of parting from men dearer to us than life, and seeing them -disappear behind a veil of impenetrable silence for weeks or months, -their fate or fortune all unknown! I could weep all day and night for -the cruel loss of young and gallant lives crushed out and left bleeding -and festering on the awful fields of contest--and I long to speak -words of consolation and hope to the dear women who wait in strained -suspense for news of their husbands, fathers, lovers, and sons! I know -all they feel; and the aching throb of their unuttered misery strikes -on my own heart with keenest pain! But with all the sorrow and all the -suffering, I would not, if I could, hold back one man from taking his -share in the noble struggle for the betterment and future peace of -the world! One can die but once; and “Greater love hath no man than -this--that a man lay down his life for his friends!” - - - - -“ALL WE LIKE SHEEP” - -A PEOPLE’S PATIENCE - -(_First published in the “Sunday Times”_) - - -The words “people” and “popular,” viewed by academic dark-lanterns -of literature, are opprobious epithets. Any person designated as -“popular,” or favoured by “the People,” falls at once outside the pale -of mutual-admiration societies--_ergo_, is not an academic dark-lantern -for the blind to lead the blind, so that both fall into the ditch. Yet -it is well understood that those who affect to despise the People and -“popular” opinion are the very ones most influenced by both, inasmuch -as not one among them but knows that in the long run the People alone -are the arbiters of national destiny. Sometimes it hardly appears as if -it were so--yet so it is. Though at this present fateful moment of time -it would seem that the People of the British Empire are stricken dumb. -They are a voiceless multitude, rendered inert by the knowledge that if -they speak every effort will be made to silence them, and that though -they have much to ask they will not be truthfully answered. For they -are only “the People”!--the ruck of taxpayers--the grist that goes to -the mill! - -But what a People! Consider them as they are to-day, straining every -nerve and sinew in the work necessary for the carrying on of a wicked -and barbarous world-war, wherein they truly, _as_ a People, sought -and desired no part, but into which they were plunged unsuspectingly, -without fair warning or honest preparation; and now, being involved in -the struggle for justice and right, do most nobly acquit themselves--a -People who are giving up their sons, their life-blood, their All -for which they have worked through years of anxious toil--a People -who, when their little harmless children are torn to shreds by enemy -bombs falling from hitherto beneficent skies, are told by a fatherly -Government that “no material damage was done by the raid”--a People -who are cozened with lies and flattered by false news--a People who in -the gallant thousands of their slaughtered men are dying that Britain -may live!--or, shall we venture to say, that Cabinet Ministers may -“take their salary and continue to take it!”--an historic utterance -which will ring through the vault of posterity like Nelson’s “England -expects”--only with something of a difference! How long will this -splendid People endure in sheep-like patience what the Press justly -calls “Waste and Muddle” in high places, without giving vent to their -forcible but natural outburst known as “popular” feeling? - -We read in one of the columns of a sane and non-party daily journal -the following:--“No one can say that the nation is satisfied with the -way it is governed.” This expresses in one clear phrase the apparent -situation. The word “apparent” is used advisedly, for in many spectral -things of recent statesmanship some of us feel with Macbeth that -“Life’s but a walking shadow.” The present Government, being of a -sometimes severe, sometimes indulgent parental character, seems to -look upon the public, or “the People,” as a sort of promising Child, -that sits quietly waiting to be told things, no matter whether the -things are false or true. Wedged in a nursery chair with a bar across -its bulgy waist to prevent it tumbling out on the floor, this Child -is supposed to smile and suck its finger all day long in a state of -blissful belief in nonsense rhymes and fairy tales. It is a wonderfully -good Child, and Papa Government is pleased to find how easily it can -be played with. Its simplicity is delightful! Things printed in large -type catch its eye and tickle its fancy, because occasionally (though -more in the past than in the present) it fancies that large type means -something of national importance. But with all its guilelessness it -has a vast amount of natural intelligence, and it begins to understand -that it is not, and never will be, allowed to learn the drift of -Governmental tactics, or the true state of parties in politics. It -is hazily becoming aware that it is kept in its nursery chair to be -gulled, not to be enlightened. In happier moments it has shown that -it likes to be amused, thrilled, startled, horrified, or moved to -indignation, and, so far as the “Censor” permits, the gagged and -bound Press tries to do its best on these lines, and dances for its -entertainment as well as a poor bear in chains _can_ dance, though -growling _sotto voce_ all the while! But, considered as a Child, the -public is not thought fit to be told the truth. Its opinion on national -affairs is neither sought nor wanted; all that is required of it are -Silence and Obedience. These it gives, with what result? Why, as Mr. -Asquith said, “Wait and see!” - -Yet surely the waiting is long? “All we like sheep are gone astray;” -but possibly we have been led astray more than we have gone of our -own accord. All peoples have a certain sheep-like tendency; they -follow a lead. Where the leader goes the flock goes likewise. This is -sometimes set down as evidence of weakness, but with the British people -it marks both duty and discipline, obedience to law and order, love -and maintenance of home and country. Yet--let us suppose NO leader! -That is--NO leader capable of leading anywhere save into quagmires and -pitfalls of “Waste and Muddle”! - - “The hungry sheep look up and are not fed, - But swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw, - Rot inwardly.” - -Rumour has it that on our East Coast the inhabitants have been -“prepared” for a “German landing,” and have been told where to go -inland as “refugees.” Whether true or false, such a report should -never have gained currency; the word “refugees” should never be even -whispered as likely to be applicable to British subjects. Similarly on -the East Coast it is openly said that during the last enemy air-raid -two Zeppelins were “within easy gun-shot” and could have been brought -down, but that our anti-aircraft men were “_forbidden to fire_.” By -whom? Ah! There we touch upon secrets not to be disclosed by Papa -Government to any inquiring Child! Though when half a secret comes to -light the other half is not far behind! Let us not forget the warning -given by the greatest of all Teachers:-- - -“A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” - -It is idle to deny that there are traitors in our own camp; men of -position and influence who are more pro-German than British--who would -not scruple to pave the way to any dishonour provided they could serve -their own personal ends. Is any one so intellectually blind and bereft -of common sense as to suppose that even with certain of our statesmen -financial interests do not outweigh their patriotism? Time is a -merciless revealer of facts, and in its record of this war some strange -things will be written! - -To those who have eyes to watch and brains to understand, the advent -of Mr. Hughes, Premier of Australia, is a wonderful, almost touching, -circumstance. Here is a Man at last!--a man who loves his country and -is not afraid to say so--a man who appeals to the right spirit of the -nation straightly and truly, with courage and conviction. “The People” -answer to his voice: that “People” whom snobs abhor! Snobbery is apt -to speak of the fine Younger Race of Imperial Britain as “Colonials,” -with a touch of contempt, as though they represented something small -and negligible, instead of embodying as they do the future power and -stability of the Empire. This “Colonial” Prime Minister shows strength, -boldness, and sincerity; he is a leader, and “All we like sheep” are -disposed to follow him, if he can show us a way out of the thickets -where we wander, torn and bleeding. Pray Heaven he be not wearied -by specious talk, or repelled by still more specious hypocrisy! or -hampered and discouraged by the working of the “wheels within wheels” -which move with such secret and perplexing intricacy, crushing honest -effort and smothering honest speech! Surely the British people can be -trusted to know what their foes know, what their Allies know, what -America knows? Are they alone to be deceived?--even into purchasing -goods “from America” which are German? Mr. Hughes needs to speak yet -more forcibly; he must rouse the slothful and the unthinking, and tell -them that if they would conquer their skilful and insidious Teuton foe, -they must equally conquer themselves; and that when the markets are -open for British labour, British labour must not fall back in energy -or stint its output. Business must go hand-in-hand with industry and -quickness, for “the race is to the swift and the battle to the strong!” - -“All we like sheep” are waiting, not for compromise, but for conquest; -conquest full, splendid and lasting! The “People” are patient and -submissive enough, but they seek to put their confidence in a -Government that shows confidence in itself. If they feel that they -cannot do this, what then? Should not the following words of Carlyle be -remembered?:-- - -“Urge not this noble, silent People. Rouse not the Berseker rage that -lies in them! Do you know their Cromwells, Hampdens, their Pyms and -Bradshaws? Men very peaceable, but men that can be made very terrible! -Men, who like their old Fathers in Agrippa’s days, have a soul that -despises death; to whom death, compared with falsehoods and injustices, -is light! Yes, just so godlike as this People’s patience was, even so -godlike must its impatience be!” - - - - -WANTED--MORE WOMEN! - -AN APPEAL - -(_Written for the London “Daily Chronicle”_) - - -Women! You are wanted by the Nation! In the words of the recruiting -posters “Your Country calls!” It calls even YOU--you, who for centuries -have been the “weak vessels” of man’s passion and humour, are now -needed to strengthen man’s hands in the terrific business of a world’s -battle. You have helped them already; but you must help them still -more. Now is the day and hour to prove your “undaunted mettle,” and -not only your mettle but your generosity, your magnanimity, your -forgiveness! For in peace times man has denied you the very possession -of ordinary common sense; he has thrust you out of intellectual and -academic honours; he has grudged you any place in art, literature or -science, and he has made you the butt of every cynic, comedian, and -caricaturist ever since he arrogated to himself the “everything” of -life. You have been and are the grist to the mill of the comic press; -your fathers have often been glad to sell you in the marriage market to -the highest bidders; your lovers have played with you and deserted you -as bees the flowers whose honey they have stolen; your husbands have -often been faithless and perjured; and in certain of man’s legal forms, -you have been classed with “children, criminals, and lunatics,” but -now!--now, you are wanted! - -You, so often despised, are prayed not to return scorn with scorn; -you, with your patience, doggedness, and strongly determined zeal -for attainment, are asked to come forward in your willing thousands, -and let the men go! For the cry is “havoc!--and let slip the dogs of -war!”--war, bitter, merciless, bloody and more savage than the crudest -wars of ancient days; war in the air, on the earth and under seas--war -that is as stupid, as blind, as criminal and as selfish as are all the -acts which men commit when they have so far brutalised woman as to -check and restrain her highest impulses, kill her idealism, obstruct -her intellectual aspirations, and treat her as the slave and tool of -a degrading animalism. Had they from the first dawn of civilisation -made her their mental and spiritual equal, by this time there would -have been no wars. Her love would have constrained and educated them, -her instincts guided them, her inborn maternity shielded them from -the wrongs their ambitions and jealousies persuade them to wreak upon -each other. Now, in the very midst of the combat which they have -brought upon themselves, they are caught within a black cloud of -almost superhuman disaster, where but one ray of the veiled sun shines -through--that Divine sense of Justice for which all true peoples are -bound to fight if indeed they be not wholly given over to the devil of -Materialism. - -In this, women are, and must be, with them; they, who from the legended -days of Eve have laboured under the sense of utter injustice, will be -eager to help in any struggle for the Right against Might, because it -is their own cause--the very essence of their own existence. - -Right against Might, women! Be with the men now in their manliest, most -pressing time of action! Forget their petty carping and cavilling at -“the female element” in workmanship and endeavour; laugh at the rough -and childish hands that beat and batter the woman’s breast with all -the petulance of spoilt children; fling every other thought aside but -the will and intent to help them on to victory! Make, and buckle on -their armour--let your hands prepare them for both attack and defence. -Nothing nobler will you ever find to do than this! - -In old Arthurian legends, many were the fair women eager to buckle -on the armour of the peerless Knight Lancelot; but to-day there -are a million and more Lancelots in the field--young, brave, -dauntless--heroes all! Arm them, women!--and by arming them, defend -them! Thousands of you, strong and willing, are already at work--but -we want thousands more! Even you “toy-women” who dance half-nude o’ -nights at restaurants and in basement saloons of “fashionable” hotels, -wreaking a sly vengeance on men by poisonous lure and seduction, -even you can be brave and helpful if you will! Give up your foolish -sensualities, and take to sturdy, sensible Work; wash the paint from -your cheeks, the dye from your hair, and clothe yourselves as fit women -who mean to help, and not to destroy men. - -And you, too--you who turn your private homes into “Bridge Clubs” -where “officers on leave” may become members “without the payment of -a fee”--rookeries, where silly young subalterns are “rooked” indeed, -of every penny, losing not only cash but honour--can you not give up -this unprincipled and unwomanly “way of doing business” and come out -of your dens? You have hands deft enough for something better than -“Bridge”--and eyes that can see how to make shells for killing the -enemy, which is better than studying how to change a card that shall -cheat a friend! Put these ephemeral nothings of an ephemeral “society” -aside, and WORK! Work is the saviour of both body and soul! - -I admit that as Women, we have long and old scores to settle with the -men who have denied us any place in their counsels, and who elect of -themselves to treat us merely as “toys” and fools. We shall have our -revenge upon them, but not now. Now is the time when we have the chance -to show our ability, our powers of organisation, our reasonableness, -our courage, our industry, and patience. Let us not fail! The curse of -the Jew who wrote Genesis and swore to Eve “I will greatly multiply -thy sorrow” has been upon woman ever since the days when courteous old -Abraham yoked her with his cattle and drove her with his sheep; but -there are evidences nowadays that the modern Abraham will not always -triumph, even though every true son of Israel who attends religious -service in his synagogue still says with Pecksniffian fervour:-- - -“Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast not -made me a woman!” (See Authorised Jewish Daily Prayer Book.) - -But, despite this most manly thanksgiving, it is paramount that now, -whether Jew or Gentile, men want the women!--not for pleasure, not for -fooling, not for seduction, not for betrayal, but for work! Man’s work -must be done in the absence of men. For men must be set free, like -uncaged wolves and lions, to fly at the throat of the foe and strangle -him for good and all! Therefore, man’s work must be accomplished by -women. O women, be glad and proud of this! Lady Frances Balfour, who -has a brain sufficing for three of our modern statesmen, has recently -written on “The Discovery of Women,” describing it wittily as similar -to “the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.” She reminds us -of Lord Lansdowne’s “early Victorian” pronouncement that “the place -for women is the home.” But the worthy peer forgot to mention that it -is not given to every woman to have a home, or to run the cooking, the -child-bearing, and general washing-up business for any special one of -the male sex. On the other hand, there are thousands of women who not -only earn the money to make a home and keep it, but who also have the -affectionate unwisdom to keep a lazy loafer of a man also; some drone -who finds as many plausible excuses for idleness as he does for living -on the woman’s work. He, by the way, is generally the sort of fellow -who speaks of woman with sniggering contempt, and while taking her -earnings with the left hand stabs her in the back with the right. But -even such rogues as these have to go forth to the battle to-day; so let -us not grudge the buckling on of their armour if we can inspire courage -in cowards! Just now, when omens and portents are thick in the air, and -unnatural threatenings hover above us like shapeless spectres of evil, -our Ministers and statesmen are chattering for all the world like the -feeblest “patriarchs of the village” that ever waggled grey pates over -pipes of tobacco. They who complain of women’s “talk” are talking the -heads of the nation off into impatience and fury; let women not talk, -therefore, but act! Come to work, women of all classes!--the more the -better!--the more silently, the more swiftly! There is a great climax -at hand; the “push” is about to begin. EVERY ABLE-BODIED MAN IS NEEDED -TO ENSURE VICTORY. Let us make no mistake about that! Every woman is -likewise needed, to put her hand to the plough, and NOT look back. -Munitions must not fail us. Show your resolve, brave women of England, -Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and nerve your slender hands to the task -of turning out the weapons of attack and defence that shall flame our -conquest of the foe on land and sea and in the air! And--when the war -is over--when “Peace with Honour” shines once more above us like a -glorious rainbow after storm--shall we--we Women who have worked, sink -to our old footing of debasement and exclusion from the counsels of -men? No! To paraphrase a famous Asquith utterance: “We have taken our -place, and we shall continue to take it, and to keep it!” - - - - -THE QUALITY OF MERCY - -AN APPEAL TO AMERICA FOR SUFFERERS IN THE GREAT WAR - -(_Written by special request for the American “Committee of Mercy”_) - - -There is no greater virtue in the human character than mercy; it is the -nearest attribute and approach to the Divine Perfection towards Whom -all creation instinctively moves. We, the offspring of that infinite -Thought and Will, are still far away from such sweet and strong -attainment of power as can find infinitude of joy in the infinitude -of Giving--but we can in some measure bless and purify our brief poor -lives with somewhat of that everlasting plenitude and beauty by an -effort, no matter how feeble, towards a God-like perpetuity of grace -and pity. The golden opportunity for that effort is Now and Here; we -may never have so great a chance again. For Now and Here, in the fair -days of spring and summer, when singing, blossoming Nature breaks out -in its Te Deum of thankfulness for yet another space of time wherein -to express the gladness and glory of life, we are confronted with the -hideous, ravaging spectacle of War; War, in its most cruel, pitiless, -and appalling shape--War, to the grimmest death! The groans and -shrieks of wounded, tortured, and dying men are forced upon our ears; -a monstrous Devil of Self, black with the crimes of treachery, lust, -and murder, stalks abroad seeking what it may devour of faith, freedom, -and civilisation--a demon possibly born of mankind’s own neglect of the -highest ideals, and indifference to countless blessings long bestowed. - -And the most evil part of this evil visitation is that the terrific -whirlwind of disaster sweeps over the innocent as well as the guilty, -and men of valour and worth in all the nations now at war with one -another are driven by the force of a barbarous necessity into the agony -of wounds and death for no fault of their own, but for the mistakes and -aggressions of their governmental rulers. They are as falling leaves -blown before a storm--as smoke before fire--drifting into darkness! Yet -every one of them is moved by the inspiration and love of liberty--by -the sense of right and justice--and by the desire to help in doing what -is good and true for the larger benefit of the whole world. And in -this sense every one of them is noble; each life is worth our grateful -care. We, who appeal for them, take no part in the contest. To us they -are all our brothers in humanity; _their_ mothers, wives, sisters, -children, and lovers are ours also! We wish to lift them in our helping -arms out of the blood and mire of battle, and by our impartial love and -tenderness, to comfort them as much as we may, and relieve their bitter -need. - -We want every American citizen to help us in this great, this divine, -work; for so best shall we prove the largeness of our thought, and the -wideness and scope of the civilisation of the Republic and it ideals; -so shall we best display the spirit of the young New World, uprising on -the waters of this deluge like another ark of the covenant, sending -forth the dove of hope and promise to those who are struggling for -life in the overwhelming waves. We would like to write the noble words -of Man’s universal Poet, Shakespeare, across the doors of all our -fellow-countrymen upon whom we now call for aid, convinced of their -generous response:-- - - “The quality of mercy is not strained; - It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven - Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed; - It blesseth him that gives and him that takes; - ’Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes - The thronèd monarch better than his crown-- - ... We do pray for mercy; - And that same prayer doth teach us all to render - The deeds of mercy.” - -In this mind and mood we appeal for help: for ungrudging, tenderest, -quickest help!--the help that brave persons would instantly give if -they saw children drowning. For every man disabled, sick, or deprived -of his strength is as a struggling child in the flood of adversity, -and indeed more pitiful than a child, for the child’s day may be -yet to come, while his is past. Moreover, he has been snatched from -all that made life pleasant and useful to himself, to fight his -country’s battle, for which he, personally, is not responsible, but -which he enters upon for the sake of a duty which is purely heroic -self-sacrifice. Let us therefore accept this free gift of his manhood -in the cause of Right and Justice and Freedom, with no less cheerful -and willing gifts and self-sacrifices of our own; let us give and -still give, in the all-beneficent spirit of the daily sunlight which -pours itself out unasked over the fields and pastures to bless and -fructify them! And let us never weary of giving! From every man and -woman of the teeming population of the United States we ask a donation -for our Holy Cause--our new Crusade of the Lord’s Sepulchre--for -such it is, inasmuch as we seek to raise from the grave of silence -and despair those who have been giving the best of their lives in -suffering the horrors of this terrific War. Be the gift small or great -it will add to the sum of what we hope to make the most wonderful and -munificent gift and act of homage to martyred heroes that has ever -been known in the world! We are a Committee of Mercy, and we make this -Appeal to all the merciful, in God’s Name, and for the sweet uplifting -of a Star of Hope in the darkness! - - - - -STARVING BELGIUM - -AN APPEAL - -(_Written by request for Mr. Hoover’s “Belgium Relief Fund,” and -circulated through the United States Press_) - - -“_Six million of people are on the verge of starvation in Belgium!_” - -Such news as this writes itself across the brain in letters of fire! -Great Goddess of Liberty, think of it! You, America!--you, who -represent that goddess, with the light of an ever-widening glory on her -brow, think of this shame to the very name of Freedom!--this blot on -civilisation--this degrading result, as it were, of our long-boasted -intellectual supremacy and scientific advancement! _Six million -people on the verge of starvation!_--through no fault of their own, -an industrious, peaceful, marvellously heroic little nation, deprived -of its honestly-earned right to live, and dragged from its altars of -prayer to weep in the dust of beggary and famine! You, America!--you, -Star-crowned States of Freedom that have already done so much and -_are_ doing so much for this broken and bleeding victim of bitter -circumstance--you cannot stay your hand now!--you cannot--you will not! -You will do _more_!--and still _more_! You cannot see a brave nation -die of sheer hunger!--it is not in your heart to look on at such a -frightful thing unmoved; therefore you will listen to all unprejudiced -appeal--even to mine, though I have little claim to your hearing save -that of the affection freely given to me by thousands of my readers -in your country--an affection gratefully accepted and as warmly -reciprocated! I have naught to do with the quarrels and murderous -onslaughts of men filled with blind fury and lust of world-power; all -that I can see or hear is the sorrow and suffering befalling those who -are innocent of any quarrel--the wives, the mothers, the young girls -and boys, the little children--the helpless and bewildered old people! -Cruel famine is already torturing these piteous and patiently enduring -souls, on whom such a black cloud of unmerited disaster has fallen that -it seems as if it would never lift! All who have power to visualise -their unparalleled distress _must_ and surely _will_ take every -possible means to soften and mitigate the horrors of their situation. -Generous America!--you have done and are doing much!--you have worked -and are working strenuously to relieve the burden of Belgium’s heavy -affliction, but work to you is the very pulse of your large life, -and bigness of conception in noble deeds is your breathing power! -Therefore, no hesitation need be felt in asking you to go on _Working_ -and _Doing_ all you can for the tortured, half dying people of a -devastated country--a people whose magnificent heroism has blazoned -itself in a chronicle of glory for the wonder of the future years--a -nation that has faced her foes unflinchingly in the simple defence of -her freedom, and whose noble King, a hero to the manner born, has not -uttered one undignified word of complaint against the sudden and harsh -calamities meted out to him by the cruel caprices of a cruel destiny. -To America all grand things are possible--America, as yet aloof from -combat, can accomplish what other nations, involved in difficulties at -this juncture, can barely attempt: America can approach Germany with -the ease of one at peace in the midst of strife, and can with humane -forethought and certainty secure such distribution of food supplies -to the Belgian civil population as may save them from the sufferings -which now confront them every day. This is what America can do and with -all our hearts and souls we pray that it may be quickly done! _We_, in -Great Britain, are never weary of helping, to the best of our ability, -those exiles who have lost their homes and means of livelihood--we -strive to make their hard lot less bitter--and to one and all we -accord a welcome as to those of our own blood and kindred. But we are -at war, and though our Government is using all the means available to -prevent the threatening disaster of millions of non-combatants, women, -children, and the aged, being sacrificed to what is called “military -necessity,” such means are not enough, being perforce obstructed by -the difficulties of the situation. The grim idol of Militarism must -have its burnt offerings--that pitiless god of Battle so aptly and -magnificently described in Lord Byron’s _Childe Harold_:-- - - “Lo! where the Giant on the mountain stands, - His blood-red tresses deep’ning in the sun, - With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands, - And eye that scorcheth all it glares upon; - Restless, it rolls, now fix’d, and now anon - Plashing afar--and at his iron feet - Destruction cowers, to mark what deeds are done; - - * * * * * - - All join the chase, but few the triumph share, - The Grave shall bear the chiefest prize away, - And Havoc scarce for joy can number their array!” - -Time presses! The wolf of famine is at the very doors! Our hearts grow -cold with terror and with pity as we see once prosperous and happy -Belgium, a land of prosperous and happy people, shadowed by the fearful -spectres of Hunger and Disease. And while we do all we can and all we -may to keep back these menacing destroyers of the innocent, we clasp -hands across the sea with America, and look to her reasonableness, -her boundless compassion and benevolence, for wider, more continuous -help, feeling that she can, and will, most assuredly move the German -administration in Belgium to see to the free distribution of food, and -to guarantee that such distribution shall be made for the benefit of -the Belgian civil population. I believe the Germans would willingly -consent to this, if they have not already consented, for it cannot be -even to their own advantage that disease should be sown broadcast in -Belgium, and the entire industrial population decimated by famine. -Indeed, as a matter of fact, Mr. Whitlock, the American Minister at -Brussels, has made definite and official statement to the effect that -he is satisfied by close investigation on the spot that not an ounce -of food sent in by the Commission for Relief is being appropriated -by the Germans. It should, perhaps, be considered that Germany has a -heart somewhere! There are natural emotions in the mortal composition -of a German as well as in a Frenchman or a Briton--differently strung, -no doubt, and differently placed--but no man of any nationality -whatsoever is made solely of “blood and iron,” according to that -hackneyed catch-penny phrase which seems to have been coined by some -tall-talking journalist. I am not one of the many who “thrill” over -the various and sensational reports gotten up by the world’s press, -whether such reports emanate from Great Britain or the “Wolff Bureau.” -I am as doubtful of statements circulated by British journalism as -of those which are unblushingly “made in Germany.” Each newspaper -proprietor has his own axe to grind, and not always does honesty or -unsullied patriotism have much to do with the grinding. More mischief -than can be easily calculated is caused by irresponsible journalists -who are allowed to print their wholly useless and unnecessary personal -opinions on some great world-crisis in leading newspapers. When Edward -the Seventh ascended the British Throne he had something to say on one -occasion to “the gentlemen of the Press,” and he expressed the hope -that they would “do their best to foster amity and good-will between -the British Empire and other nations.” That the “gentlemen” have not so -acquitted themselves is a sad and sober fact; and in these very days of -the most terrific contest the world has ever seen, many of them show -an unworthy eagerness to “work up” suspicion and ill-feeling between -the combating parties, rather than to hold the balance equably and -with dignity. Insult, cheap sneers, and vulgar jesting are all out of -place in the present tremendous clash of conflicting powers; when the -gods grasp their thunderbolts it is no time to listen to the chattering -of apes. And when we are told by the Irresponsible Journalist of more -battle horrors and outrages than seem humanly possible of occurrence, -it does us good to learn through plain, unvarnished fact conveyed in -simply-written, straightforward letters from brave men at the front -and in the “firing line,” that, left to themselves, the Germans and -their Allied foes would be glad enough to play football together, if -allowed, like healthy schoolboys, and that even as it is they give each -other cigarettes across the trenches, proof positive that when not -acting “under orders,” they are human, normal, and friendly, and have -no thirst for each other’s blood. I quote the following from the letter -of a brave young Englishman serving in the Third Battalion of the Rifle -Brigade:-- - - “On Christmas morning some of us went out in front of the German - trenches and shook hands with them, and they gave us cigars, - cigarettes, and money as souvenirs. We helped them to bury their - dead, who had been lying in the fields for two months. It was - a strange sight to see English and German soldiers as well as - officers shaking hands and chatting together. We asked them to play - us at football, but they had no time. I got into conversation with - one who worked at Selfridge’s in London, and he said he was very - sorry to have to fight against us.” - -Reading this and various other letters of similar tone from men in the -very thick of battle, all bearing ample testimony to the same truth, I -cannot believe that the foe is so utterly a monster as to wish to see -six million innocent people slowly starved to death; for such a dire -business would serve his purpose little, while strongly intensifying -his immediate unpopularity. War is war; and if, after all, civilisation -is so poorly advanced that war must still play its barbarous part in -the world’s policy, then of course there must be exigencies of war -which can neither be ameliorated nor minimised. But the deliberate -starvation of six million innocent human beings, more or less useful -to their kind, does not and cannot come under the head of “military -necessity.” Therefore, it should be the proud privilege and duty of -“neutrals” to do all that is possible to soften and mitigate the -fearful conditions of life as at present lived in unhappy but undaunted -Belgium. The Commission for Relief, acting in London, and comprising -representatives of the Spanish, Dutch, and Italian Embassies as well -as the American, has undertaken a task which is almost herculean. -Work as they will--and there is no pause and no shirking--it is like -coping with the waves of an engulfing sea. The needs of the people -become more urgent every day that the fierce tug-of-war grows closer -and more insistent: Great Britain has found it imperative to stop the -importation of grain into Belgium, and all this is coupled with the -fact that under the Hague convention the German army has the right to -requisition food supplies, and is not bound (save morally) to feed the -enemy’s population. Nevertheless, common sense and diplomacy, as well -as mercy and justice, may here step in and show that starvation and -sickness may breed evil among the Germans themselves as well as among -the Belgians, by sheer force of contagion--evil of a kind which might -just as conveniently be avoided. Any starving nation claims instant -help and compassion--the sufferings it is compelled to undergo are too -awful to contemplate with any degree of calmness, and may make even -the sternest “Teuton” shudder. Therefore, if any of us can, or dare, -call ourselves Christians in the face of this un-Christian warfare, -which neither religion, science, nor “New Thought,” spiritual or -intellectual, has been deep or sincere enough to hinder, let us gather -up the fragile fragments of our faith and try to piece them together -in one heart-whole, soul-strong effort to save from impending misery -the brave little nation, rich in historical splendour of renown, -artistic beauty, and industrial progress, whose hard-working people -have desired nothing but peace and freedom to attend to their own -business unmolested. If Christianity is worth anything in the world we -would not let _one_ starving creature go unfed from our doors--shall we -leave six million to such an undeserved fate? If we do, then well may -the great Powers Invisible chastise us to our own doom, and vengeful -Furies whip us to a hell of shame and oblivion! Let us hold out rescue -at once with no uncertain hands, and let our practical aid be swift, -and “of good measure, pressed down and running over.” In all such deeds -of love and sympathy and charity Great Britain and America have led the -world by their splendid example. There has been no grudging, no paltry -personal discussion as to ways and means. For every good and worthy -cause gold pours out as from a magical horn of plenty; the more the -demand, the greater the supply. And now? Now--when a nation starves! -Shall not a veritable argosy of gold make its way across the miles -of ocean which divide the Fortunate from the Unhappy, and bridge the -gulf of tears and sorrow, striking light from darkness, and hope from -despair? This can be so if America wills it! Shall not a radiant Angel -of Consolation appear within the deepest gloom of battle, stretching -out hands of blessings and sustenance, lifting the fallen, cheering -the desolate, soothing the dying, and shedding heavenly sunshine on a -sorrow-clouded land? This can be so if America wills it! Shall not the -true brotherhood of humanity be re-affirmed and strengthened in the -rescue of one nation by another?--in the succour of the smaller by the -greater?--in the full acknowledgment of a brave fight for freedom by a -power that is more than free? This can be so if America wills it! - -“O Liberty! what crimes are committed in thy name!” were the last -words of Madame Roland, heroic victim of the French Revolution--but -we would say: “O Liberty! what love is perfected in thy name!” when -starving Belgium is fed!--because America wills it! Hear my appeal, O -Star-crowned States of Freedom!--hear me!--hear all!--Let no pleading -voice pass you by _un_-heard! For the brave Nation that is dying must -live!--_shall_ live!--if America wills it! - - - - -“THE TIME OF OUR LIVES” - -OUR WOMEN IN WAR - -(_An answer to an American misjudgment_) - - -“You women over here seem to be having the time of your lives!” said -an American friend to me the other day. “You lunch and dine at all the -restaurants with whatever men ‘on leave’ you can pick up; you go with -them to music-halls and theatres and supper dances, and ‘peacock’ about -in extravagant clothes as if there were no such thing as a war on!” - -My American friend, being a man, took, as is often the case with men, -rather a one-sided view of things; but what he said is true, and -I fully endorse his statement. I am proud and eager to assure our -American sisters “on the other side,” that most surely we _are_ having -“the time of our lives”! No doubt about it! But, do you understand, you -women of New York, Boston, Chicago, and every other great and growing -city in the United States, what that “time” exactly is? Are you able -to measure it and give it your true understanding? I think not! It is -easy to sit as spectators in your vast amphitheatre of across ocean -and watch from comfortably-cushioned points of view the struggle in -the world’s arena between Men and Beasts; the contest is terrific, -revolting, yet sensational--and provides “thrills” for those who are -not actively engaged in combat. But for women whose husbands, lovers, -and sons are being mauled and crushed and torn by the teeth and -claws of ravening and unreasoning brutes, it is a spectacle demanding -“nerve,” to say the least of it. This “nerve”--this power of valiant -endurance is what Great Britain’s women are displaying in “the time of -their lives”--the time of loss and sorrow, danger and difficulty; and I -doubt whether the true history of this indomitable pluck, cheerfulness, -patience, and resignation will ever be rightly known! They have been, -and still are--magnificent!--a glory and an honour to their sex! -“The time of their lives” will be recorded in the country’s annals -as among the most sublime things witnessed and proved in a century. -They have grudged no sacrifice, no pain; they have sent their best and -dearest to the great slaughterhouse of Flanders with smiles on their -lips, restraining the sobs of agony in their hearts--they have not -shrunk in one single instance from any clear duty, however difficult -or apart from their own ways of life. Where men’s places have needed -to be filled, they have filled them most ably, conscientiously, and -loyally, without grumbling or complaint; and though some of their -male employers, too old to fight, but never too old to “bully,” have -occasionally made things uncomfortable for them by coarse words and -coarser actions, they have held their peace for the sake of their -men at the front, and are content to bear with insolence and insult -in silence rather than interrupt the routine of the work they have -undertaken in order to “release” the men, such “release” often meaning -for themselves sheer heart-break and desolation. Oh, yes!--we are -having “the time of our lives”!--a time such as this world never saw, -and which we all pray it may never see again!--a time when wives -toil in munition works to “release” their husbands, knowing that such -“release” may mean their own widowhood--when mothers part bravely -from their sons, conscious that they are going into such a hell of -barbarous slaughter as never was known even in the days of the Roman -butcher, Nero--when girls “release” their lovers, and bend their own -slight bodies to the heavy toil usually undertaken by the physically -stronger sex, and say nothing of their own fatigue, suspense, and -sorrow! There are thousands of such splendid women to set against -the few hundreds who “dine at restaurants” and “peacock about,” and -even these latter are not so abandoned to self and vainglory as they -seem. True, there are women who push their own ends under cover of -professing charity, and are never so happy as when they see their own -portraits in the lower grade press--this class has always existed -in every country and will no doubt continue to exist. And there are -plenty of female “decoys” for men “on leave”--who dine and dance at -public restaurants in _un_-dress that would disgrace a savage; but, -again, these have always existed, and will probably continue to exist. -The good Bishop of London seems to have only just discovered them, -which is a great testimony to his guilelessness. Then there is a -particularly unfortunate section of the pictorial press which seeks -to attract the public eye by indecent pictures of half-nude “women of -the town”--dancers, actresses, and titled dames who are equally at one -in a voluntary outrage of morals and modesty, and though the public -Censor might very well put a stop to these offensive illustrations, -he is apparently one of those “blind who will not see.” But you, our -sisters in America, do see, and rashly pass judgment accordingly! Then -there are the ridiculous fashion-plates used as advertisements in -newspapers and in the catalogues of leading drapers, which represent -women as the merest caricaturess of womanhood, looking more like -cockatoos and chimpanzees than feminine humanity, in costumes presented -as “the fashion,” but which no decent woman ever dreams of wearing. -All this is “the scum of the pot” which rises to the top, thereby -becoming noticeable--but it does not represent the actual Womanhood of -Britain--the great, Silent Force of patient, brave, unwearying workers. -These are scarcely heard of, for they give no chance to the tongues -of Rumour, and the press cannot get at them either for portraits or -personalities. As noble and exclusive as that noble and exclusive -lady, the Duchess of Portland, whose good works are legion, they make -no clamour--they are too busy to contend with the already opposing -masculine spirit which is beginning to demand of them, “Are you going -to _dare_ do our work after the war?” The main fact with them is not -the Afterwards but the _Now_--the resolve to hold together the working -necessities of Commerce and Agriculture in Britain--Now!--in time of -need--thinking nothing of themselves or of the pleasant little vanities -and frivolities dear to them in days of peace, but bracing up all -their energies to oppose trouble with valour, patience, and faith. No -women in all the world’s history have ever risen to confront a world’s -crisis so splendidly and cheerfully as the British--except the French! -French women are superb in their magnificent patriotism!--superb in -their steadfast hate of the foe. We are often told that the British -do not “hate” enough--and that if we were better haters we should be -better lovers. It may be so, but the general tendency among us is more -to despise than to hate. A “Tommy,” for example, would hardly think -it worth while to “hate” anybody. Good-nature is the Briton’s strong -point; good-nature and a cool, easy, “happy-go-lucky” disposition. -These virtues or failings led him into the German traps whereby he was -losing his hold on the commerce of the world. He could not be brought -to believe that his progressing friend “Fritz” could stab him in the -back while he stood unarmed and unready for attack; and, even now, when -he is up and full face to the combat, his good-nature still moves him -to sing and whistle along the fire-swept path to death or glory, and to -stop, regardless of self, among a hail of bullets to give first or last -aid to a dying foeman. Is such conduct foolish or sublime? A higher -verdict than ours must give answer! In any case we know and may take -it for certain that the “Silent Force” of women who are “having the -time of their lives” is a great lever to lift the men up to the utmost -pitch of their native-born courage and resolution, and to help them -meet Death as a fellow-soldier, taking the hand of the grisly skeleton -as fearlessly as children might run to look at some attractive novelty. -For, back of us all, men and women alike, there is a strong Faith -which our enemies have lost. _They_ talk of “Unser Gott” as glibly as -though the Almighty were solely exercised in serving their whims and -passions--but though _our_ deepest religion be not of the Churches, we -cannot so trifle with the Holy Name! We are too conscious of “The Truth -that makes us free,” and in the Cause for which we and our Allies are -fighting, we can best pray with Shakespeare’s Harry the Fifth: - - “O God of Battles! Steel my soldiers’ hearts! - Possess them not with fear; take from them now - The sense of numbers!” - -For our Cause is the Cause of Right and Justice, Freedom and -Civilisation. We are not out for personal gain, either in gold or -territory. We have enough of both and to spare. We endure “the time -of our lives,” and its wanton and wicked slaughter of the innocent, -because we are fighting for all Humanity that it may never be so -savagely tortured again. We are fighting for a surer, more impregnable -Civilisation--one that cannot be pushed back a thousand years by -the ferocious and blind stupidity of any temporary autocrat. Is it -possible that there can be people of even average intelligence in the -States and elsewhere that do not entirely understand this? The British -intervention in the dastardly attack of Germany on Belgium and France -was to protect and defend unoffending and peaceable peoples, and in -this defence of others we have found Ourselves. We were beginning to -lose ourselves among the dreary verbosities of theorists and agnostics -and atheists and all the swarm of destructive insects which accompany a -setting-in of decadence; we have discovered once again our true spirit, -our old and valiant mettle, our pride and love of country, and all the -mighty heart of resolution which has made the British Empire what it -is. And we cannot but feel that the young and strong heart of America -beats in tune with our own--that, despite financial interests and -pro-German intrigues, Right and Justice prevail with the men and women -of the United States as with the men and women of this “little isle set -in a silver sea”--and that they very well know that they, too, must -benefit by the clearance from the world of a monstrous Militarism whose -ethics are opposed to every principle of Christian truth and human -equity. A great, strong Faith is at the back of us all--a Faith which -believes in the utmost triumph of Good over Evil--and this it is which -inspires the women of Great Britain and gives them strength to part -with their nearest and dearest, so that they endure “the time of their -lives” without flinching, knowing that they who endure to the end shall -be saved! - - - - -THE WORLD’S GREATEST NEED - -AN APPEAL TO THE SANITY OF GOVERNMENTS - -’Tis a mad world, my masters.--J. TAYLOR - - -What is the most urgent need of the world? What would stop war and -ensure peace? What would push forward all that is highest and best in -our civilisation, and cause men and women to realise that they are -not created to brutalise, degrade, and destroy each other in sordid -struggles for place and power, but that their purpose in living at all -is to educate and uplift each other to noble aims and ends? The great -Need stares us in the face at every point of social law and political -government; it clamours in our ears and pushes its problem to the -front of every question. What is it the world demands in every form -of policy, legislation, and statesmanship? A simple thing--one would -imagine it to be a natural thing--yet almost undiscoverable in any -period of history--Sanity! Sanity, which means health of both brain and -body; Sanity which recognises self only as a portion of the greater -Whole; Sanity which knows instinctively that mankind must obey the laws -of God or else suffer extinction; Sanity, which combines with reason -and judgment a comprehensive sympathy for every unit of the human race -in its struggle upward from the brute period to the highest realisation -of intellectual and spiritual worth. - -Judged from this point of view one may doubt, when reading history -from its known or traditional beginnings, whether Man, taken in bulk, -has ever been entirely sane. Something of the freak, the monster, or -the only half human, seems to taint his blood, displaying itself in -follies and excesses of the most violent or pitiful nature, which, -when dispassionately narrated in the chronicles of centuries, show him -to be a crank or a fool at the very time when wisdom might most be -expected of him. Some few individuals, notable examples to the race, -have stood out in splendid isolation as sane and self-sacrificing -teachers and helpers of humanity; but, in the aggregate, from the -very beginnings of what we are pleased to call “progress” down to the -present day, the desire to trample upon each other and wallow in blood -and slaughter seems to prevail with more force over the minds of men -than the clearest arguments of reason. Nevertheless this desire is -an insane impulse, and if we had any true perception of the laws of -right and wrong, we should check it in its very first beginnings. Any -man, any body of men, seeking to violate the peace and progress of the -world should be dealt with by combined international forces of the Law -and Medicine, not by armies--and should either be shot like mad dogs -as incurable and dangerous, or imprisoned for life in asylums for the -criminally insane. No one man or group of men can be considered in -sound mental condition if their actions imperil the existence of their -fellow-creatures. - -Certain natural laws have been discovered, and proved by physiologists -who make the subject their study, as to persons who may marry, and -those for whom, through consanguinity or inherited disease, marriage -is nothing less than a crime. In the “arranged” unions of royal houses -these laws have been deliberately set aside with deplorable results. -The mad dog of Europe, William of Hohenzollern, is the diseased product -of several royal intermarriages, where human convenience and popular -complaisance ignored the divine natural law; and as this law is one -which prevails “unto the third and fourth generation” we have now a -Monster-Abortion of conscienceless cruelty raging loose in the world, -who ought to have been smothered in his cradle. There are plain rules -of health and sanity which are for ever being disobeyed by civil and -social convention; but because they are so disobeyed, we must not -flatter ourselves that they do not recoil in vengeance upon the rebels. -The Designer of this wonderful and complex universe is proved to be a -vastly Mathematical Intelligence; everything great or small, down to a -grain of dust, is balanced to the nicety of a hair’s breadth, and do -what we will or may, we cannot alter the balance. Our futile efforts in -such directions merely display insanity, of the type of an uncontrolled -temper in a child which screams itself hoarse because it cannot reach -fruit on a tree too high for it to climb. If, therefore, we would have -sane peoples, with sane rulers to govern them, we should see to it -that they are born and bred sanely, according to the laws of health -and mentality which have existed among the “lower” animal creation -since the foundation of the world. Every crime is an insane impulse. -No healthily organised brain could contemplate the murder of a single -individual, much less the wholesale slaughter of millions. - -The Almighty has for ever had one gate of Heaven set ajar for humanity -to peer within and push open a little wider with each succeeding -generation--a gate opening to that fair pleasaunce of wisdom and beauty -which we call Science. A great logician has written “The basis of all -science is the immutability of the laws of nature.” Would that we -remembered that “immutability” more often! Yet, while sane pioneers -in medicine and surgery are patiently and devoutly following as best -they can these complex but beneficent “laws of nature” for the saving -of human life and the healing of human injuries, the _in_sane section -of the community have been and are still employing all their distorted -energies of brain and hand in fiendish ingenuities of invention for -weapons of war that shall destroy human life more quickly than it can -be saved. And while thus engaged, other insane persons shout in the -press and the market place wild warnings about “declining birth-rate,” -reproaching unhappy women for their lack of duty in not producing sons -for some future slaughter! The Car of Juggernaut was scarcely worse -than this! To appeal for a multitude of births during the making of -a multitude of guns, which mow down the flower of young manhood like -corn, is an insult to bereaved mothers, making their vocation appear -less valuable than that of the beasts of the field. For why should -they bring forth and rear sons, only that they may go to their deaths -at the bidding of this or that Government? The very proposition is an -exhibition of stark staring lunacy, combined with a brutish lust of -degradation and reckless destructiveness which could only emanate from -deficient mental organisms. - - -SANITY IN RELIGION - -Here we touch the vital centre of the whole. On no subject does man -ever show himself so violently crazed as on religion. The gods of the -past, created by his fanatical imagination, were more or less the -deified types of his own vices, or symbols of such virtues as he feebly -strove to attain, but he had no real faith in their power to aid or to -circumvent his designs. Yet, in lunatic fashion, he behaved as if he -thought them omnipotent, though conscious all the while of the silly -comedy he was playing with himself. Now, after two thousand years of -the pure and beautiful Gospel of Christ which teaches how “god-in-man” -might be realised, a lesson to which has been added the strong -affirmation of Science, emphasising the fact that “God is a Spirit, and -they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth,” Man -still plays the crazed crank with dogma, and refuses to realise the -Actual Alive Intelligence behind creation, which, from the delicate -fluff of a small bird’s feather or moth’s wing, up to the height of -solar systems, works in perfection and balance to the exactitude of -a pin’s point. This living, loving Presence the dogmatists wellnigh -ignore, preferring to move in their own small orbit of creed rather -than risk the broader spaces of assured glory. The narrow spirit of -self-absorption not only limits their outlook, but holds them bound in -a condition of deplorable egotism, like that of an “unco guid” Scotch -body who, after accepting many useful kindnesses from a friend to whom -she “gushed” affection, changed her sentiments as soon as a slight -difference arose between them, and with much unctuous piety let it -be known that she was obliged to leave that once “precious” friend’s -name “out of her prayers”! The monstrous conceit that could imagine -God capable of noticing a name left out of a Scotchwoman’s prayers, or -out of any prayers whatsoever, would be ludicrous if it were not so -pitifully expressive of barbaric ignorance--and who shall count the -thousands of similar narrow mind and heart who have a lurking hope that -heaven is for them alone, and that their “dear friends” will all be -left out in the cold! - -Sanity in religion would mean sanity in everything. A sane acceptance -of the actual Motive Force of things,--a Force, tenderly embodied to us -by Christ’s teaching as the “Our Father” of us all, would do more for -our souls and bodies than all the Churches; an intelligent study and -comprehension of the minute and careful work of creation, showing us -that nothing is wasted, nothing lost--but that all tends in an onward -direction to “some far-off divine event,” would help us to find and -keep the balance of our brains. We must be brought to realise that -Evil, persisted in, works its own recoil on the evil doers, whether -they be nations or individuals--the movement of things being always -towards Good. “I and my Father are one”--said Our Lord, for which He -was stoned. The failure of the Churches is the insanity of dogma, which -has supplanted the sanity of Christ. - - -BRAIN BALANCE - -The brain, as all physiologists know, is a complex and marvellous -mechanism--so amazing in its movements, so miraculous in the result -of these movements, that no scientist has yet been able entirely -to probe its powers or foresee its progressive possibilities. Some -there are who declare that all impulses, good and evil, are primarily -started by the brain--others, more subtly accurate, aver that the brain -itself is impelled or “pushed” to action by an influence stronger -than itself, mysterious, unnameable, but nevertheless all-potent, -which we call “free-will,” but which may more justly be termed -“free-spirit”; that is to say the “free” and deathless force which -the Creator gives to each human being to use according to the laws He -has ordained, but which, turned aside from these, can be debased as -surely as exalted. This untrammelled power is bestowed on every man -and woman born into the world, and its mode of action is frequently -swayed by impressions, sometimes pre-natal, and sometimes by the -“afterwards” of early surroundings. If the material brain of a child -is sound and healthy, the impulses which move that brain should be -sane and pure--but, unhappily, through the physical mentality of -irresponsible persons who recklessly take the divine responsibility of -parenthood upon themselves, it often chances that a brain, perfectly -organised in the matter and placement of its cells, conceives ideas -and actions which are little short of devilish in their ingenuity -of evil and mastership of cunning. How is this? It is not the forty -pairs of nerves which convey sense and feeling to the brain that are -guilty of criminal suggestion--they are merely the telegraph wires -on which messages are sent. But Who is the sender? Who or what is -responsible for the messages which prompt wicked deeds? We feel that -we do not have to inquire as to the source of Good, inasmuch as that -Divine Manifestation is everywhere about us. One thing, however, is -certain--that evil propensities corrupt and obstruct the blood-vessels -of the brain and distort its images and impressions, so that its powers -become perverted--and instead of creating helpful work for the welfare -of humanity it dwells on what shall harm and terrorise and destroy. -But we must and should realise the fact that an obstructed brain is a -more or less _insane_ brain. Its channels do not run clear. From these -blocked passages inhuman thoughts are generated as weeds from slime; -and fiendish or vicious ideas take shape and action like noxious vermin -bred from a stagnant pool. Therefore, if we would have regard to sanity -in the race, it should be our business to see to the “Brain-Balance” -of our social, ethical, political, and religious conditions, and -eliminate from our lives such things as tend towards incipient lunacy. -“Crazes” for this or that particular person or fashion are painfully -common, and always ludicrous, accompanied as they frequently are by a -didactic obstinacy resembling the pompous assertiveness of poor madmen -who conceive themselves to be exiled kings. Men and women run about -jabbering and gesticulating on the “preciousness” of this or that -form of art, when it is utterly opposed to truth and nature, and in -this sort of spirit they have held up the “Futurists” and “Cubists” -as something worthy to be looked at, much as a child might hold up -for admiration a dirty rag doll. Insane themselves, they seek to lead -others into the chaos of their own insanity, and this trend towards a -warped mentality has of late displayed itself in all the arts, such as -the sculpture of Epstein, the crotchets and quavers of De Bussy, and -the large output of revoltingly sexual fiction and coarse verse. The -“pose” of a supreme and scornful egotism marks these devotees of sham -and ineptitude, and though they may, in mere numbers, be a negligible -quantity, they spread infection, just as one fever-stricken person may -infect a whole neighbourhood. From an unsanitary mental outlook no -good can come, and the moral filth in which Germany has wallowed for -years has so poisoned the German brain that it can devise nothing but -treachery and evil. It is a brain that is choked with miasma--and it -may be centuries before it is cleansed and restored to sanity. - -Meanwhile let us pull the beam out of our own eye before we try to -cure other nations’ blindnesses. We have been mad enough in our -disregard of honest warnings--we are pretty mad still. We have vied -with the old-time “cities of the plain” in reckless orgies of vice -and intemperance; but the great War has pulled us back on the road to -ruin, and it seems we may be given another chance. Let us begin then -by a good try for Sanity. In the first place let us make such laws -for those who marry as shall compel them to submit to a searching -health examination, so that union may be forbidden to the unfit. A -diseased man or woman should no more be allowed to mate than any -other diseased animal. The animals arrange this themselves, in a much -more common-sense way than humans. They only rear healthy progeny. It -is for us to do the same, and to see to it that the _mentality_ of -children is safeguarded and set on a sound basis. This cannot be done -by forcing education at too early an age, or perplexing young brains -with difficulties of learning almost too much for their elders to -grasp. The brain in childhood records impressions as a disc prepared -for the phonograph records sound, and the circles marked on it in -early days are seldom or never effaced. Therefore care must and should -be taken that such impressions are of the best. Corporal punishment -should never be resorted to as a means of training. A blow to a -sensitive child frequently means a lasting contempt for the parent or -teacher who inflicts it, and excites a rebellious spirit towards life -in general. A vicious impulse or an act of crass stupidity does not -necessarily mean inherent wickedness or obstinacy--it only shows that -there is some “clog on the wheel” in the brain, which a day’s fasting -and cooling medicine may remove. At any rate, such a method of cure -is better worth trying than the rod and angry threats which have no -real effect on “insane impulse.” Sometimes--indeed often--a physical -defect in the brain is the cause of evil thoughts and evil deeds, as -in the recent case of a man whose warped mind always tended towards -murder and mutilation, and who was found to have a thickening of a -portion of the cranium which pressed heavily upon certain of the cells -within. The operation of “trepanning” was performed by a surgeon who -was scientifically interested in the case, with the result that the -previously insane criminal is now a person of perfectly normal type and -harmless disposition. Who that knows the history of the German Kaiser’s -ancestry can doubt that his brain has been more or less diseased from -his birth, and that with his approach towards the “grand climacteric” -the incipient lunacy bred within him has become more active and less -capable of control! No _sane_ man would have acted as he has done, for, -prior to the war, the trade of Europe was practically in Germany’s -hands, and in the interests of his country a sane man would have -realised the fulness and value of such a conquest, peacefully obtained -without the sacrifice of millions of useful lives. - - -THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER - -The brain is affected by “insane impulse” in the same way as the -digestion is affected by improper food. An error in diet will cause -pain and general _malaise_--so will an evil influence or suggestion -disorganise the brain cells and create obstacle and confusion within -their marvellous formation and movement. A child, from earliest -years, needs watching--and those who have that duty to perform should -be carefully selected persons who are particular as to general -surroundings. A child’s mother or nurse should be a refined woman of -soft voice and gracious manners, able to control her own moods as -well as the moods of her young charge, so that distinct “character” -may be formed and insisted upon. A “no” should be absolute--a “yes” -equally so. Character “tells” from the very beginning. The youngest -child understands a discipline of firmness conjoined with sweetness and -affection--the smallest boy has an ineffable contempt for weakness and -vacillation. From the “character” displayed by their elders, children -draw their own conclusions. An impatient, hot-tempered father makes -callous, indifferent, more or less contemptuous sons and daughters. -Children invariably despise and laugh at “temper” in their fathers and -“fuss” in their mothers. And the mocking, jeering spirit of scorn is a -spirit that grows with years, and makes of the person it dominates an -often spiteful and vicious influence in society, creating mischief and -rejoicing in the unhappiness of others. One sweet, strong, independent -character unconsciously forms the nucleus of many others, while one -soured malcontent infects a whole community. We have only to consider -the “character” of Prussian militarism--how from two or three blatant -and braggart egotists it has spread its infection through an entire -people, till the brain of the whole German nation has become clogged -with thick and poisonous thought and has been driven by “insane -impulse” to the committal of the greatest crime in history. If we would -avoid such crimes for the future we must see to it first that the race -is healthily and sanely born, and secondly that “character” is the only -basis on which all education must be founded, or it will be merely a -house of cards, toppling at a breath. And the corner-stone on which -“character” itself must be reared is a high and reasonable faith in -the Supreme Cause of all creation, coupled with an earnest and devout -following of the divine order in which that great Force at the back of -all things has ordained this Universe to move. - - -SCIENCE AND RELIGION - -Religion is not what the Churches would have us accept as such. It is -not man-made dogma. So far as Christianity is concerned, the saying is -true that “There never was but one Christian and He was crucified.” -No more uplifting faith was ever taught than that of Christ; but -it has never been spiritually realised or fully practised. Read -Christ’s own words in the New Testament, and then ask where shall -we find His commands obeyed? In some exceptional cases there have -been saintly lives and saintly deeds resulting from the sincere and -devout application of the Gospel--but in dealing with this question -we have to think of mankind in general, not in an individual sense. -This horrible war with its riot of blood and carnage is a damnatory -answer to professing Christianity. Man has made of himself his own -god--and in the God as revealed or explained in all the conflicting -religious “formulas” he has ceased to believe. Faith of any kind must -be supported by reason. And Science is the door to the highest heaven -of faith. Every new discovery, every new aid to man’s well-being on -the planet, is a fresh proof of God. It has taken twenty centuries and -more for us to begin learning the wonders of electricity, though the -miraculous force, with all its component and divergent radiations, was -with us always. It may take us twenty times twenty million centuries -to discover God--nevertheless He is with us, notwithstanding our -intellectual blindness and lack of Spiritual perception. Science is our -peep-hole, through which we may, even now, glimpse Him, but which in -time to come will not only be our window, but our open door, through -which we may approach Him, full-eyed, without fear. But, to arrive at -this, we should remember that Science, like every other power bestowed -upon us, must be used sanely; and through “Free-Will”; that is to say, -we may bend its force to either good or evil. It is good when we use -it for the advantage of humanity--it is evil when we make of it an -agent to injure or destroy humanity. The scientist who employs his -abilities to discover means whereby he may remedy disease, eliminate -pain, and assist his fellow-men to the betterment of life, is that -“good and faithful servant” who, when God comes, He finds watching--but -the scientist, equally brilliant, who devotes himself to the invention -of fiendish instruments of destruction and death, whereby he may -make the wholesome earth a terror, the sea a snare, and the sky a -scourge, is a warped intellectuality, moved by “insane impulse,” which, -combined with creative activity, makes of him a devil rather than a -human being. Let any thoughtful person try to realise himself engaged -day and night on the work of evolving some instrument of death more -cruel than any old-time torture, will he maintain that such persistent -concentration on the means of killing can mould him into a worthier -or nobler individual? But reverse the position and let him imagine -himself absorbed in finding out remedies for pain and suffering, aids -to happier and more useful living for mankind in general, will he not -admit that however difficult his work may be of accomplishment, he -knows within himself that he is striving for constructive good, not -destructive evil, and that his science is an output of clear sanity -which must bring, not only deep contentment to his mind, but also the -consciousness that his energies are moving in harmony with the Divine -Spirit of law and order. - -This is the true and only religion--to bring one’s soul into unison -with the infinite beauty and reason which prevail everywhere in Nature. -And the Christian Faith, could it but be relieved from ecclesiastical -dogma, is the truest symbol we have of our spiritual and immortal -destiny, for it teaches the possible god-in-man which should be born -through the purity of woman. Carry the symbol further, and we find the -Crucifixion of Love through selfishness and hypocrisy--yet another -step, and we are shown the Resurrection from the grave--“the Light of -the World” released from the stone and seal of priestcraft, breaking -free from the cerements of prejudice, and ascending to the Father of -us all! Search as we may through all the religions of the world, we -shall never find a grander, simpler “Symbol” of eternal truth than -this--the faith preached by Christ. But it must be divested of its -clerical encumbrances. Like a glorious ship that has lain too long -in harbour, it must be cleansed of weed and barnacle and launched -unhindered into the open sea. And those who man the ship must be -free from self-interest, from “cranks” and meddlesome theories and -formulas--briefly, they must be _sane_, with the great sanity of -nature and nature’s immutable laws. Without this neither Religion nor -Civilisation can endure. They can only be crazed attempts to build that -“house upon sand,” of which we have been told that “the rain descended -and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it -fell; AND GREAT WAS THE FALL OF IT!” - - - - -HAS CHRISTIANITY FAILED? - - -Has Christianity failed? No! Men and women have “failed,” but -_not_ Christianity. The very question is to my mind terrible and -blasphemous--one of the many terrible and blasphemous utterances common -to the Press and current literature during recent years. - -It is a shame to a professingly Christian nation that such a question -should be asked at all. The greatest, purest religion in the world -can have no weight with mere apes of humanity, who practise the most -appalling hypocrisy in front of the sacred altars, and assume to -believe in and to obey Christian precepts, while indulging to excess in -their own private and particular selfish vices and passions, without -restraint and without regret. - -The nations have mocked at God and disobeyed His laws. It is the old -story over again. “The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was -filled with violence.” Christ said, “Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do -not the things which I say?” - -Christianity is based on two great laws--love to God and love to one’s -neighbour; can any one say that modern civilisation fulfils these -demands? - -We have only to note the fearful corruption in Church and State, in -every phase of politics and business, and the unspeakable vices which -pollute so-called “society,” and poison our literature and art, to -realise that the “cities of the plain” were no whit worse than our -own, and merit no less than they a rain of fire. - -But Christianity itself, as taught by Christ, towers above all -“failure,” despite the apathy and hypocrisy of thousands of its -professing priests, who in many instances are as selfish and flagrant -blasphemers as the worst atheist and iconoclast in _un_christianised -and brutalised Germany. - -Without that heavenly faith which helps us towards the attainment and -reverence of the Divine in all things, what has Germany become? More -cruel and callous, more lost to every sense of decency and honour than -the savages of prehistoric times, she is sowing the wind and will reap -the whirlwind. - -But let us take care that we do not join her in her rush towards -annihilation. Political shams and treacherous intrigues would drag us -thither--“Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all.” If a weak section -of men and women fail to find their souls, Christianity itself has not -“failed,” nor will it fail; because it is the divine expression of the -unconquerable Spirit of Truth. - -The most brilliant House of Lies ever built by man’s careful stupidity -falls into dust at the lightest breath of a truth based on eternal -equities. The microbes in a rotting cheese may deny the existence of -the sun because they do not see it, and may ask, “Has the daylight -failed?” But the sun pursues its glorious course, lightening the -visible universe. - -So it is with Christianity. And those who presume to ask “Has it -failed?” are but the microbes in the rotting cheese. - - - - -SNOOKS’S OPINION - - -Snooks is one of those entertaining persons who makes a point of giving -an “opinion” on everything. From the Almighty downwards he has what he -calls a “calm common-sense view” on all subjects in heaven or on earth, -and his chief object in life is to get that “calm, common-sense view” -on all to the front, so that the poor, purblind, uneducated public who -seldom have any time to indulge in “views,” and still less chance to -express them, may understand that there yet exists one truly great man -of sane and sober judgment--namely, SNOOKS. - -Before the War he used to write letters to the _Times_ on the urgent -necessity there was for complete disarmament. In fervent language -he pressed the reduction of naval expenses. He was, and is still, -under the impression that the _Times_ is still as it was in ages -past--a British Thunderer; an Oracle which manifested itself as “I -am Sir Oracle; and when I open my mouth let no dog bark.” He forgets -that journalism is now only a monstrous Syndicate, not expressive of -thoughts, but of Shares and Dividends, and that if the _Times_ were -what it once was, it would not publish any letter from Snooks. But -Snooks is “fixed” in his opinions. He admits no change in the course of -things--an old-established institution must, without argument, remain -always as such, and must not totter to decay. When decay sets in, -despite Snooks, he firmly denies its possibility. - -“Nonsense!” he says--“D’ye think I’ve come to my time of life without -knowing better than that? Teach your grandmother!” - -Just at the time when he wrote letters about naval expenses and -disarmament, one or two other “Snooks’s” popped up and replied. He was -not pleased with their replies, as they opposed him. So he took up that -Scheme of Idiots, the “Channel Tunnel,” and wasted a deal of ink in -seeking to point out what a fine thing it would be to spend needless -millions on a tunnel which the Richborough Ferry makes superfluous. His -arguments fell a little flat, and he was for a short period reduced -to writing about “the first primrose in my back garden”--and “I hope -some of your readers have noticed the very early arrival of the wasp -this year,” to the indulgent _Daily Mail_. But he never has found quite -enough to do in the way of letter-writing to satisfy his ambition. -There are not enough wrongs for a Snooks to set right--people of place -and position do not make enough mistakes for a “Snooks” to correct. -Daily and nightly he is consumed by the desire to see his name in -print, and his craving sometimes leads him to look up familiar Latin -quotations, more or less applicable to the political situation, and to -send them (with the usual signed letter) to certain small newspapers -whose position and reputation make the chance of their editor’s -classical scholarship doubtful. To see himself in print, no matter how -or when, is Snooks’s joy. And now that the war is blowing the dust of -human affairs in all directions, Snooks has, as some press reviewers -say: “come into his own.” He finds, so he states with engaging -modesty, that if HE had been consulted, there would have been no war. - -“There was that Algeciras business,” he says vaguely, not knowing in -the least what he is talking about. “It should all have been settled -then.” - -He knows Viscount Grey personally, so he says, but--“he never would -take my advice”--and as for Kitchener--ah!--“That’s a man who had -immense possibilities!--immense!--but he was obstinate--he wouldn’t -listen to a word I told him!” - -Here, impressed with the reflections awakened by this melancholy fact, -he writes a letter to the _Times_--a letter which happens to be just -the proper quantity of “stuff” to fill up the end of a column: so -it goes in. No one pays any attention to it. Snooks shows it to his -friends at the club--they smile, half read it, don’t understand it and -don’t want to understand it. After some difficulty he gets an old deaf -gentleman to look at it. - -“What’s this, what’s this!” says the old deaf gentleman -nervously--“Something happened to our Allies!” - -“No, no!” roars Snooks--“It’s a letter!--a letter I’ve written; I, -myself--to the _Times_ about Kitchener!” - -“Ah, I wouldn’t do it if I were you!” mildly replies the old gentleman, -with one hand up to his ear--“We don’t know anything about his work----” - -“_I_ know!” shouts Snooks--“If he had taken _my_ advice----” - -“Ah, ah! Did you know him?” inquires the old gentleman, evidently -surprised and unconvinced. - -“_Know_ him!” Snooks snorts defiance, as much as to imply that if he -knows the inside of his own pocket he knew Kitchener still better! In -irritable impatience he watches the old gentleman’s leisurely perusal -of his epistolary effusion. - -“Ah! Yes--er--yes! I don’t agree with you,” says the old gentleman at -last, putting aside the paper. “I’m not quite sure that I understand -it, but it’s not the way I’d put it.” - -“Oh, all right!” and Snooks turns on his heel with a superior air of -disdain. “I suppose you’re for the wasting of millions! Everybody is, -that doesn’t study the subject. Now _I_----” - -Here a stray man comes to the rescue of the deaf old gentleman, the -conversation changes, and the famous _Times_ letter is forgotten. - -Often Snooks seems to be ubiquitous. His letters appear in numerous -papers, especially the provincial ones. Sometimes a Snooks’s “opinion” -is squeezed just under the “Space for Special News,” which in many -halfpenny rags is not “Special News” at all, but merely the results -of--Football! - -When all the intelligent world was waiting for war news, a Birmingham -paper had a “Space for Special News” in which football results were -printed first and the war news second! The absurd folly and incongruity -of this sort of thing never seems to strike the syndicated Press. -The effect of it on the minds of our French and other Allies is too -humiliating to be written. It might draw forth a letter from Snooks, -if only Snooks’s opinion carried weight. But it doesn’t. The greatest -“opinion” that could be imagined, even that of Plato or Shakespeare, -doesn’t much matter to any one. It is not a time for individual -criticism; it is only time for inspiration and action. A strong thought -is always silent; it resolves itself into deeds rather than words. -There has been altogether too much talk during the progress of the war; -too many “Snookses” in too many newspapers. Snooks has even cropped -up in the House of Lords, to say nothing of the House of Commons. And -it should be borne in mind that Snooks _does_ nothing; he is not in -the smallest degree useful to his country; he merely stands, like an -old washerwoman leaning over her tub, and talks. He talks to any one -who is idle and stupid enough to listen. He finds out all sorts of -“queer things” about General this or Colonel that, and for women he has -scarcely a good word to say. - -“_They’re_ no use!” he declares contemptuously. “All their sick nursing -and sewing was done just for sheer man-trapping! Show them some new -hats and they’d forget all about their patients!” - -When this heresy is indignantly refuted, he snaps his mouth in a firm, -hard line, as though it were a steel box. - -“I’d bet you a hundred pounds,” he says, “that if it were women -who were wounded in the war instead of men, you’d hardly find one -of their own sex to wait upon them! They love fussing round a man! -It’s a perfect godsend to them, especially the old maids! There’s an -excitement about it; a sort of morbid interest! They delight in washing -a Tommy’s face and brushing his hair. If it were one of themselves -they’d scrub the face till the skin was ruined and brush the hair the -wrong way! _I_ know ’em, I tell you! You give a pretty woman who is ill -to an ugly woman who is well, to be nursed, and she’ll ‘nurse’ her! -You’ll see what she’ll make of her in twenty-four hours! I tell you I -take a calm, common-sense view of all this sort of bunkum!” - -Unfortunately for Snooks, his “calm, common-sense view” does not appeal -to the world in general. It does not even impress the Premier, who, up -to the present, has failed to consult Snooks respecting the “conduct -of the war,” or to offer him a “portfolio.” He longs to be consulted. -He yearns to be displayed on the headlines of the halfpenny dailies or -Sunday pictorials in flamboyant beauty, or as,-- - -“MR. SNOOKS SPEAKS OUT”; or “THE GREAT MESSAGE OF MR. SNOOKS.” - -But these things don’t happen. He has still to content himself with -letters to the Press, which sometimes get read, but more often are -passed over and forgotten altogether. Nevertheless, his “opinion” is -in all the newspapers, whether read or unread, and though the King has -not sent for him yet, and he has no “portfolio,” he is admittedly and -visibly “SNOOKS.” So that when any particularly mischievous comment -on affairs in general appears in print, or any “calm and common-sense -view,” which gives useful “points” to the enemy, and irritates the -patience of the public, we know who it is, and we don’t much mind! We -merely say “SNOOKS again!” or “Another powerful letter from Mr. Snooks -will appear next week!” - - - - -SEA POWER, 1805–1918 - - - I - - Glory and terror and splendid joy of the Sea! - Thunderous Sentinel-Guard of our flowering Isles of the Free! - Fortress impregnable, built with the mountainous waves - Toppling in fury of laughter sheer over our enemies’ graves! - God!... It is all we can ask for!... that still we ever may be - Saved by the glory and terror and conquering joy of the Sea! - - - II - - Sea that sprang to the keels of the ships of Nelson and Drake, - Billows that leap’d for delight in the battles for England’s sake-- - Will ye fail us now? Nay, never! Ye are strong as ye were of yore, - And Victory’s voice rings clearly out in your rush on the rocky - shore-- - And shark-like Death, at the enemy’s cry, to meet him swiftly runs, - For your swirl and sucking sands are as sure as the fire of a - thousand guns! - - - III - - Glory and terror and conquering love of the Sea, - Circling our Fortunate Isles of Fame, more famous still to be! - Let us praise the Giver of Life for the silver and azure band - He hath set between us and our foes on the other side of the land. - Break, it cannot! Yield, it shall not! England, home of the free, - God keep thee safe in the strength and light and conquering love of - the Sea! - - - - -THE SPLENDID SERVICE OF THE SEA - -(_Written by request for the Navy League_) - - -In this greatest War of all history, a War which in extent, in -terrifying armaments, and in massed millions of men surpasses in -fearful slaughter and incalculable results all the battles ever -chronicled from earliest times to now, why is it that in these Isles -of Britain, the nucleus of the Empire most concerned, there is so -much indifference, apathy, and real ignorance displayed among the -general public of the “man-in-the-street” type concerning the silent -but ever vigilant work of our Navy? There is no use in denying the -fact--indifference, apathy, and ignorance exist; and all taken together -constitute an extraordinary, wellnigh alarming national phenomenon. -Carelessness arises from what is sometimes called “cock-sureness,” -and we are amazingly “cock-sure” of ourselves, especially in naval -matters. The levity of our women, apart from those who are engaged in -sick nursing and charitable works, and who are happily numerous, is -almost unbelievable; their outrageous, not to say positively crazy “new -fashions” in dress, their “dinner dances” at London restaurants, their -“bridge parties,” and their “night clubs” make one think of the warning -words of the prophet Isaiah:-- - -“Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless -daughters; give ear unto my speech. Many days and years shall ye be -troubled, ye careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the gathering -shall not come!” - -For truly the “vintage” of prosperity and the “gathering” of good for -this country of ours would fail, and fail utterly, if it were not for -our resolved and invincible guardianship of the sea--a guardianship -which must never be relaxed, and which every one of us should learn to -appreciate and help to strengthen by every means that we may. - -We are assured by many sagacious essayists and historians that it is -the women of the nation who make and who influence the men; and if -this be the case, at least one-half of our British women have cause -to be proud of the splendid fellows they have sent forth to take part -in the vast contest on which such mighty issues depend. But the other -half seem deaf to the roar of the guns, or to the call of the Sea. The -land forces occupy all the attention of newspaper readers, and very -little information can be gleaned about our seamen. The women prattle -pleasantly about the grim struggle at Neuve Chapelle or at Ypres; one -hardly ever hears them talk about the long, long hours of long, long -days and nights spent by our silent mariners, watching from every great -battleship and cruiser for the treacherous foe. Yet every woman should, -at the present moment, be well on the alert; eager, enthusiastic, and -ready to inspire, even to command the youth of the rising generation; -and among other duties falling to their lot is distinctly that of -teaching their own boys, and other women’s boys too, the inestimable -value of service in the Navy. - -That grand protector of our islands, the Sea, is to Great Britain more -than a hundred million of men; and every boy should learn the history -of what it has been to us, what it is, and what it ever will be, held -by a Fleet which has never been conquered! Every brave lad’s heart is -bound to thrill when he is told of the magnificent deeds of daring -performed by our naval heroes whose names are household words; but it -is to be feared that of latter years boys have been encouraged both at -home and at school to think more of “sport” and games of skill than -patriotism, and the special training which would help them also to be -heroic and to “make history.” Lawn tennis is now regarded as a serious -business, but it is only a game, and a country will never be saved by -it. Cricket and football are equally “games”; neither one nor the other -will drive the foe from our shores should he invade us. Games are good -as “games,” but when they become a national obsession the hard and fast -line must be drawn before it is too late. - -The Sea is our fortress, and so long as that is kept and guarded by a -perfectly trained and efficient Navy, we need not fear. Nevertheless, -to keep that training and efficiency up to the mark we must show no -slackness, no falling-off; there must be a perpetual addition of new, -youthful, and ardent blood; brave boys and young men for whom the ever -glorious lines of Shakespeare express life’s utmost truth and meaning:-- - - “This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, - This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, - This other Eden, demi-paradise; - This fortress built by Nature for herself - Against infection and the hand of war; - This happy breed of men, this little world; - This precious stone set in the silver sea, - Which serves it in the office of a wall, - Or as a moat defensive to a house, - Against the envy of less happier lands, - This blessèd plot, this earth, this realm, this England, - This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings - Fear’d by their breed, and famous by their birth, - Renownèd for their deeds as far from home-- - For Christian service and true chivalry-- - As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry - Of the world’s ransom, blessèd Mary’s Son; - This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear land, - Dear for her reputation through the world, - - * * * * * - - England, bound in with the triumphant sea, - Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege - Of watery Neptune!” - -I wish that every word of this magnificent outburst of noble patriotism -were learned by every boy in Britain, and imprinted on his memory, -as ineffaceably as his daily prayer. It is the heart’s utterance of -the greatest poet and truest lover of his country England has ever -produced, and inspires the soul with the same emotion as that expressed -by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, of Shakespeare’s time and spirit:-- - -“Give me leave, therefore, without offence to live and die in this -mind, that he is not worthy to live at all that for fear or danger of -death, shunneth his country’s service and his own honour, seeing that -death is inevitable, and the fame of virtue immortal.” - -Great as were the responsibilities and labours of the Navy in the past, -they were nothing compared to those of the present. In the days of -the brilliant and sagacious Queen Elizabeth, there were no submarines, -mines, or torpedoes, and the historian Camden tells us:-- - -“This great Armada which had been three complete years in rigging and -preparing with infinite expense, was within one month’s space many -times fought with, and at the last overthrown, with the slaughter of -many men, not an hundred of the English being missing, nor any large -ship lost.... Whereupon several monies were coined in memory of the -victory, some with a fleet flying with full sail; others in honour of -the Queen, with fireships and a fleet all in confusion, inscribed _Dux -Fœmina facti_, that is, A Woman was conductor in the Fight.” - -At that time the enemy Spanish Fleet came forth and showed battle, -but up to the present the German Fleet, which took much longer than -“three years” to prepare, has not been much in evidence till its -humble surrender, and its only exhibited warfare was the treacherous -method of torpedoing unsuspecting and mostly neutral vessels, some -of which had no means of defence. My own heart thrills when I think -of our splendid naval men, whose spirits still respond to Nelson’s -undying signal--“England expects that every man will do his duty!” The -Germans are not a seafaring race. The British are born and bred “of the -sea”; the salt and savour of it are mixed with their blood, and for a -thousand years they have been accustomed to it in all its wildest moods. - -Herein our Navy has an immense advantage, but because we are thus -fortunately bred, there is no need that we should forget that breeding, -or neglect the long education we have had, and allow the youth of -the country to imagine there is no need of their service. On the -contrary, there is more need of their service than ever, and for the -furtherance of this purpose we are all anxious that as many of our -hopeful lads, who have a turn for seafaring and adventure, should join -the Navy League at once, and “train” to be defenders of their country -as young and smart “sea-dogs” of the old, dauntless, unconquerable -mettle. Every help should be given to this end, especially through the -women, the mothers of strong and gallant boys, who can influence their -sons and imbue them with the true spirit of patriotism, and while we -work to strengthen and replenish this vital and necessary force on -which we depend so much for our defence and our means of existence, -we should think--we who “sit at home at ease,” of the long periods -of watchfulness endured by the men of our Fleet at sea in waiting at -every turn for each fresh move of an insidious and unscrupulous foe. We -should manage to let them know that their work is not all in vain; that -there are plenty of young fellows ready to follow them when the time -comes, and join in their splendid service of the guardianship of the -sea. - -In this effort, the Navy League is a fine and necessary institution. -It keeps the youthful spirit of the Navy alive and enthusiastic, and -it reminds us of what might otherwise be forgotten, that far more than -all other defences we rely on the Sea and our Fleet to preserve our -existence and protect us from invasion. - -We can help them at home by spreading the Spirit of the Navy--the -spirit of Drake, Frobisher, and Nelson among all our growing lads -who are, in their hearts, eager to be “up and doing.” I should like -to see an active branch of the Navy League established in every -town and village all over Britain--a centre where ambitious boys can -be sure of receiving sympathetic attention and assistance for their -training; and I think it would be good and serviceable if women would -help more than they at present do in this work, by teaching their -boys to honour and love the Service, and encouraging them to read the -stories of naval heroism and naval conquest, so that their minds may -be turned constantly towards ideas of their country’s defence, their -country’s safety, their country’s glory. None of these things will, -or can, be assisted by football, cricket, or lawn tennis, except as -games for physical development; but by discipline, study of the art -of navigation, and the wonderful ways of Nature in wind and wave, and -by that sincere devotion to duty which brings a man’s life into safe -port as surely as a well-piloted, well-guarded vessel. A sea-girt land -should breed seamen; we cannot have too many of them. And by early -training such powers may be attained as may build a bright British lad -into his land’s history as an unforgettable hero. For, as the famous -song tells us:-- - - “Britannia needs no bulwarks, - No towers along the steep; - Her march is o’er the mountain waves, - Her home is on the deep!” - - - - -THE LILIES OF FRANCE - -(_Written by request for “The Golden Book of France”_) - - -Glorious Lilies! Stainless and sweet, they spring from a sacred soil, -wet with the life-blood of brave men and the tears of noble women! They -are the Children of France and of the Future!--the gracious youth of -a happier day, when tyranny and fear are past, and when Peace of the -highest and purest is the canopy of safety and honour, under which the -nation may rest after long and bitter strife! The Lilies of girlhood -and boyhood; the Children, some of them deprived of fathers and -mothers, but never entirely orphaned because France is their closest -parentage! Oh, beautiful human blossoms, growing up like buds of snow -from the black smoke and ashes of battle fires!--we thank God for -you, and we pray that you may expand in happy fragrance, nourished by -the fresh air of freedom, so that the sufferings your heroic fathers -have endured for France may be transformed into joys for you! You are -the hope and glory of your land, you fair flowers which even now are -beginning to bloom innocently in the dust of many graves; you will be -the radiant and triumphant France of coming years, when your wealth of -splendid youth and victory shall flame a white aurora against skies -of heavenly blue, undarkened by any cloud of treachery! Children of -France!--Lilies that grow around the standard of Liberty!--we commend -you to the Future in faith and in hope! Not without some natural -sorrow, for, alas! your garden is the graveyard of many loves!--but -though we weep, our tears are tears of pride that those whom we have -lost are fallen in honour, and that the blood from which you draw your -sustenance is unpolluted by so much as one drop of traitor’s gall! So -shall you rise nobly, on stately stems of heroic ancestry and memory to -make France once more an earthly paradise, and in the very fairness of -your youth we shall see reflected the light of the dauntless spirits -that have fought and passed away, leaving you with us as their most -precious legacy, which we accept with gratitude--which we keep with all -tenderness--holding you reverently to our hearts as the “Annunciation” -Lilies of a New Gospel! - - - - -“WHOSO SHALL RECEIVE ONE SUCH LITTLE CHILD!” - -(_Written on behalf of St. Nicholas Home for “Raid-shock” Children at -Chailry, Sussex_) - - -Nothing is lovelier than the sight of a perfectly happy child--a -little, laughing, dancing, restless, sparkling bit of humanity just -beginning to expand into life like a plant putting forth leaves -and tendrils and buds that promise fairest flowering--a creature -of unspoilt confidence and innocence whose whole consciousness is -absorbed in wonder and delight at the strange newness of the world -around it, and all the beautiful, amazing things the world offers -for its attraction and pleasure. The flight of a bird--the delicate -caperings of a butterfly--the flicker of sunshine on the wall--the -ripple of water--the sound of joyous laughter and dainty music--all -these pleasures and many more captivate and move a child to smiling -and pleased gesture--the little voice, the little hands, express -wordless ecstasy--the young eyes glisten with unutterable meanings. -Fresh from the unseen Power that declared “Let us make man in Our -image,” it displays a pathetic faith in good--it trusts all the big, -grown-up people around it in an exquisite confidence that none of them -will allow it to suffer harm--it accepts life as it finds it, with the -beautiful assurance of a flower which opens to the sun, instinctively -certain that all is, or shall be, well. Let us remember that a child -might never know evil if its elders did not instruct it therein! It -is as innocent as any other young animal--innocent as a kitten or St. -Bernard puppy, than which nothing is more blunderingly simple and -touchingly confident. If we watch the unspoilt, natural gaiety and -playfulness of all young things we cannot but realise the truth of the -Divine pronouncement on creation, “Behold, it was very good!” and that -we were meant to be happy on this planet--moreover, that we _should_ -be happy, if it were not that we cannot leave each other alone--we -must always be backbiting and hurting each other, interfering in our -neighbour’s business and grudging our neighbour his or her special -form of happiness. No child can be honestly said to know evil till -we assure it that evil exists--till we frown and say “Naughty! That -is wrong!” heedless of the bewildered eyes that mutely ask “Why?” As -the Italian proverb says: “The ‘Why’ of a child is the key of the -Universe.” Generally speaking, a child’s attitude towards life is -one of complete reliance on unknown but trusted destiny, and in very -early years, if that reliance should be broken, the little spirit -so startled by some cruel blow is seldom or never the same again. -But a few years ago, when we who plead for the children now were all -children ourselves, the phrase “a bolt from the blue” was a phrase -merely, expressing a possible calamity, too sudden almost to ever take -place--and little did any of us dream that we should be forced to -realise its literal achievement. The ingenuity of man, warped to devise -schemes of wickedness rather than beneficence, has brought about a -state of things in which the once secure loveliness of the heavens has -become accursed by his vindictive presence, bearing with him through -the offended air the means of destruction and death to the innocent -and non-combatant populations of peaceful earth places below--and -without a generous human thought for the lives of others, he speeds his -selfish and devilish flight, insanely convinced that he is a brave man -in his efforts to kill his fellow-creatures from the air, as well as -on the land and under the sea. Nothing more heroic is left to him by -his governments, teachers, propagandists and the like but to kill--to -kill! Were he--apart from the red crime of War--to murder man, woman, -or child in cold blood, with circumstances of mutilation and burning, -he would be condemned to the gallows--but the wind-blown scarecrow of a -false “patriotism” speaks, nay, shouts, “Herein killing is no murder!” -and he rushes on his way through the air as though to perform an errand -of mercy instead of slaughter, dropping bombs of destruction anywhere -that seems to him feasible, and when he can have, as he reports, “good -results!” “Good” results! “O Father, forgive them, for they know not -what they do!” Let us look with the eyes of the mind and the heart on -such a scene as has been enacted many times recently--a group of little -children in a school, singing their little play-songs, or repeating -their earliest lessons--happy, innocent, confiding--when, suddenly and -without warning, a murderous crash and thunderburst of explosives is -launched from the air through the roof above them, and where the young -lithe bodies a moment ago disported themselves, there lie mutilated -corpses drenched in blood. Our foes call that “war”--but I would fain -believe that in their own hearts they know it is butchery, and that -they deplore the merciless militarism that compels them to perform such -deeds. And even worse than death for these little ones is the stunning -blow on their mentality--the horrible knock, as it were, on the -delicate membrane of the nervous system, which bruises it in a subtle, -creeping way that is almost unimaginable. Contrast a healthy, happy -child, playing fearlessly in the fields among the flowers, with one who -is suffering from “raid shock”--and who sometimes sits lost in a vague -stupor, unwilling to move--afraid to look up at the sky lest something -fiendish should fall from it! I know one such child who refuses now to -raise his eyes from a morose study of the ground. Hour after hour he -sits frowningly absorbed. Pressed recently to look at the flight of a -butterfly through the air, he gave a terrified glance at it sideways, -and then resumed his downward staring. A kindly nurse, trying to rouse -him, said, “You mustn’t be frightened of the sky--God is up there!” -but he uttered a little pained cry and covered his face, sobbing, -“No--no--no! Wicked man up there--not God!” - -There is no need to comment on the effect of such impressions on a -child’s vivid imagination; it is altogether dreadful and disastrous, -for who can tell what damaging results to the brain may be in store for -the innocent little victim! Time and care, with healthful surroundings -and healing influences, may do much to eliminate the evil and disperse -the horror and cruelty of such experiences--and this is why the “St. -Nicholas Home” exists to-day, thanks to the loving heart and patience -of its founder, Mrs. Kimmins, whose tenderness for children makes one -feel that Her guardian angel, as well as the angels who watch over -Christ’s little ones, must always “behold the Face of the Father.” -No one with even a small amount to spare from the multitudinous -claims made on the pocket of the unfortunate British taxpayer, whose -Governments have dragged him into the incredible wickedness of a war -for which he had neither the taste nor the inclination, will refuse -that mite to assist the work of the “good Saint Nicholas” in the home -over which his childhood-loving spirit presides, while those who are -making much of the “filthy lucre” out of the exigencies and demands -of the nations’ slaughter-houses will perchance salve conscience by -munificence. Some of the donors may call to mind the story of the -father who murdered his three sons, and whose crime St. Nicholas -discovered in a vision. Going to the inn where the murderer was, the -saint forced him to confess his wickedness, and forthwith raised -the three boys to life again. In this legend we may find a happy -symbol for the “Home” on whose behalf we plead. For the “raid-shock” -children are, in a sense, murdered, though alive--murdered in their -natural confidence, hope, and gaiety, and crushed by the oppressive -consciousness of an ever-looming evil. We wish, as St. Nicholas did -with the three boys, to raise them to life again--to re-establish -their youthful trust, to make them forget that there are men who are -devils--but perhaps to persuade them that there are women who are -angels! Women, with mothers’ hearts, ready to put mothers’ arms round -them--to play with them and talk “fairy bits”--as a sweet little -girl asked me to do the other day--women who will care for them and -see that nothing scares them from their healthful sleep at night, or -their innocent games by day. This is the object of our appeal for “St. -Nicholas Home”--a worthy cause--a noble, humane, and sacred cause, for -we must “take heed” that we “offend not one of these little ones.” -And most earnestly do I join with all who have put their shoulders to -the wheel of this great Car of good effort steadily going a stiff way -uphill--a strong push, a big push, and a push all together, and we -shall stand on the shining summit of success with our saved children -gathered round us in the light of happier days! - - - - -APPEAL FOR THE FRENCH RED CROSS - -(_Written for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, July, 1918_) - - -DEAR FRIENDS!--We are here to-day in the name of France; France, the -beautiful, the beloved country, now ravaged and desolated by the -crudest enemy that ever dishonoured the name of War. I am asked to make -an appeal to you,--to you, the people of the land of Shakespeare, on -behalf of the people of the land of Victor Hugo,--and I esteem it an -honour, a privilege, and a duty to plead this great Cause. I ask you -to look away from yourselves, your own interests, your own comforts -in this peaceful town, which has never known the horrors of invasion -and destruction by brutal foes,--I ask you to think of other towns and -villages, once as happy, but now ruined and desolate, where thousands -of harmless people have been driven out of their homes and forced to -endure miseries such as you have never known! Remember, too, with -what heroism they have borne their sufferings!--with what courage and -fortitude! Never complaining, they have put their own sorrows and -losses in the background for the sake of their country, and when all -the tale is told, the splendid and unflinching patriotism of France -will shine on the page of history as a deathless example to all the -nations of the world! - -Think for a moment what it would mean to you, if you had to look on -at your beautiful old Church, the holy shrine of Shakespeare’s rest, -battered into ruins by the bombs and shells of the remorseless German -foe!--your houses shattered--your gardens laid waste--your streets -broken up by the machines of war, and you yourselves turned forth -as homeless wanderers without hope or refuge!--your little children -murdered before your eyes! This is what France has had to endure, and -it is your happy fortune to be spared these terrible calamities only -because brave men are fighting for you and giving their lives for you -that you shall never know such desolation! And not only your own brave -men but the brave men of France are fighting, for _you_ as well as -for themselves! France and Britain are friends and brothers-in-arms; -and in the great and terrible struggle they fight as one soul! We, -who are protected in our island home by the magnificent heroism -and self-sacrifice of such splendid men, can do but little to show -our grateful love and admiration towards France for her unmatched -endurance, resolution, fortitude, and courage; but such little as it is -and must be, let us do it with a full and generous heart! Let us take -pride and joy in helping to rebuild the ruined towns and villages,--let -us try to comfort the brave people by giving homes to the homeless, and -restoring in some measure their lost peace and prosperity. Every pound -that can be spared goes to alleviate some trouble. No money brings -such divine interest as that which we spend in helping those in need. -Therefore let us not grudge our offerings to the heroic martyr of the -nations! She is pierced with many swords,--she is scourged and crowned -with thorns,--but her invincible faith and honour and patriotism -will bring her through the darkness to the light of a triumphant and -glorious Day! _Her_ cause is Ours; _Our_ cause is _Hers_! Now is the -time when we, who are not in the stress of battle, can cheer and help -her by proofs of love and sympathy in her sorrows. Most earnestly do I -hope, and most ardently do I pray that the noble, ever-living spirit -of the Master Poet of the world whose name and memory make this town -honourable, may so influence your hearts that you will give freely all -and more than you can spare, in generous tenderness, and with that -“quality of mercy” which brings blessing beyond all wealth, and reward -beyond all fame! - -(_The above Appeal was spoken in French on the stage of the Shakespeare -Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, by Monsieur Combet de Larenne as -follows_:) - -MES CHERS AMIS,--Nous nous réunissons aujourd’hui en l’honneur de la -France, la France, ce beau pays, ce pays aimé, à cette heure ravagé, -désolé par le plus cruel ennemi qui ait jamais déshonoré la guerre. - -On m’a demandé de m’adresser à vous, mes amis, à vous qui foulez la -terre de Shakespeare, en faveur de ceux qui foulent celle aujourd’hui -dévastée de Victor Hugo, et je considére comme un honneur, comme un -privilége, et an même temps comme un devoir de plaider auprès de vous -cette grande cause. - -Je vous demande de vous recueillir, de considérer votre situation -propre, de jeter un coup d’œil sur votre confort, vous, habitants -de cette ville paisible, qui n’avez jamais connu les horreurs de -l’invasion, de la destruction causées par le plus féroce des ennemis! -Je vous demande de diriger votre pensée vers d’autres villes, vers -d’autres villages, autrefois joyeux et prospères aujourd’hui ruinés, -désolés, au des milliers de malheureux innocents ont été chassés de -leur foyer et contraints de subir des misères plus terribles que toutes -celles que vous pouvez imaginer! - -Rappelez-vous aussi avec quel héroisme ils ont enduré leurs -souffrances, avec quel courage, avec quelle force d’âme! Sans se -plaindre, ils ont, pour le salut de leur patrie, refoulé dans le plus -profond de leur être leurs chagrins et leurs angoisses, et quand -l’Histoire parlera, le splendide et inébranlable patriotisme de la -France, brillant d’une lumière étincelante, sera pour toutes les -nations un noble et impérissable exemple! - -Pensez, mes chers amis, un instant seulement aux angoisses qui vous -étreindraient le cœur si vous deviez considérer votre vieille et belle -église, le sanctuaire vénéré au repose Shakespeare, réduits en cendres -par les bombes et par les obus de l’impitoyable ennemi allemand! vos -maisons abattues, vos jardins dévastés, vos rues détruites par le fer -et par le feu, et si vous deviez vous trouver vous-mêmes errants, -hagards, sans espérance, sans refuge! vos petits enfants massacrés sous -vos yeux! - -Ces sant ces terribles supplices que la France endure! Vous avez -la bonne fortune d’échapper à ces épouvantables calamités grâce au -dévouement des braves qui combattent et qui donnent leur ire pour vous, -et c’est a eux que vous devrez de ne jamais connaître une si abominable -désolation! Ce ne sont pas seulement les enfants de l’Angleterre qui -se battent pour vous: ce sont aussi les enfants de la France; ils sont -frères dans la grande et terrible lutte actuelle; ils n’ont qu’une âme! - -Nous qui sommes protégés dans notre île par le magnifique héroisme -et par le dévouement d’hommes aussi splendidement grands, donnous une -preuve de notre amour reconnaissant et de notre admiration pour la -France, pour son incomparable ténacité, pour sa résolution indomptable, -pour sa grandeur d’âme et pour son courage, et si peu que nous -puissions les uns et les autres faire pour elle, faisons--le avec tout -notre cœur, avec toute notre générosité! Sayons fiers et joyeux d’aider -à reconstruire les villes détruites, les villages anéantis; essayons de -donner un peu de confort aux malheureux éprouvés, en leur procurant un -abri, en leur rendant un peu de la paix et de la prospérité perdues! -Chaque obole allégera une part de souffrance! Nul placement ne peut -rapporter d’intérêt plus divinement profitable que celui consacré à -secourir les malheureux dans le besoin! - -Donc, donnans san hésiter à l’héroique nation martyre! Elle est -meurtrie de coups de lance, elle est flagellée et couronnée d’épines, -mais sa foi invincible, son honneur et son patriotisme la conduitent à -travers les ténèbres vers la lumière éblouissante d’un jour de gloire -et de triomphe. Sa cause est la nôtre; notre cause est la sienne. Le -moment est venu au nous qui ne sommes pas dans la fournaise de la -lutte, nous pouvons venir en aide à la noble nation et lui donner les -preuves de notre amour et de la profonde sympathie que nous ressentous -pour elle. - -J’espère ardement que le noble et vivant esprit du génial poète dont -le nom et la mémoire illustrent cette ville, inspirera vos cœurs et -que vous donnerez à l’œuvre française ce que vous pourrez, tout ce -que vous pourrez, presque plus que vous ne pourrez, dans un élan de -tendresse généreuse et avec cette qualité de miséricorde dont parle -notre grand Shakespeare, cette qualité de miséricorde qui apporte une -bénédiction supérieure à toute richesse, une récompense supérieure à -toute renommée! - - - - -GLORY OF THE WORCESTERS - -(_Written by request in aid of the Homes for Disabled Worcestershire -Soldiers and Sailors_) - -A TRIBUTE TO A FAMOUS REGIMENT - - “You have deserved nobly of your country.” - _Shakespeare._ - - -Far down the long annals of past history we must look for the -beginnings of the brave breed of Worcestershire men--the outcome of -that ancient heroic blood which nourishes the flower of chivalry and -strengthens the spirit to perform imperishable deeds of valour. Between -a band of tenacious Britons holding the summits of the Malvern Hills, -and a military guard and outpost of Roman warriors at Worcester itself, -was seemingly produced that special type of Englishman who, ever since -those far-away days, has been famous for courage and conquest. The -native fighting force of the Gael, and the trained skill and prowess -of the Roman are mingled in his being, and they make him, almost -unconsciously to himself, a hero from his youth. Something of the salt -of ocean, as well as of the salt of the earth, is in him, bracing his -energies and hardening his muscle and, indeed, if we grope farther back -in the dark recesses of time, we shall find geology suggesting that -Worcestershire was once a sea, and the hills of Malvern, islands, and -that the projecting bluffs on each side of the gaps in the opposite -range were capes standing out from what some imaginative folk called -the “Severn Straits,” so that we may be permitted to fancy the earliest -progenitors of the Worcestershire breed were, perhaps, bold mariners, -sailing round a veritable archipelago of islands, and skilfully -steering their primitive craft into harbours sheltered by the very -headlands which confront us to-day; or they might have been hunters, -chasing the innumerable wild beasts which at one period infested the -formerly dense “Forest of Malvern”--a forest that even in the Middle -Ages stretched from the plains to the very tops of the hills. Be this -as it may, our redoubtable men of Worcestershire must have been born -and bred from strong beginnings; they come of a stock which knows no -fear, no hesitation, no failure. The “Firm” fighters whom we delight -to honour are the product of centuries of heroism. Heroism comes so -naturally to them that they think little or nothing of it. Their pride -is in each other--not in themselves individually; what is said of one -man, must be said for the whole Regiment. Their spirit is expressed in -Shakespeare’s lines,-- - - “In this glorious and well-foughten field - We kept together in our chivalry!” - -And though they have performed prodigies of valour in bygone great -battles, as in the terrific “World War,” they make no boast of their -proved mettle, nor have they called upon the country they so nobly -serve for special consideration. It is with difficulty, and only by -piecing dry and desultory bits of history together, that we are at all -able to read their Golden Chronicle, or to realise the nature and worth -of their splendid services, splendidly performed in defence of “This -dear, dear land, this land of such dear souls--This England!” - - * * * * * - -We do not know with any certainty the character or military -qualifications of their first Colonel, Thomas Farrington, who raised -the Regiment in 1694, but we do know many of their brilliant exploits -since that far-off day, especially in India, such as the carrying -of the Delhi Gate and the storming and capture of Bangalore, which -helped to bring about the vanquishment of that notable rebel, Tippoo -Sahib; and though the overladen pages of historians find little space -for special mention of special companies of soldiers, the Duke of -Wellington’s praise of the Regiment after Badajos has not slipped -notice, nor is it likely to be forgotten:-- - -“It is the best Regiment in this Army, has an admirable internal system -and excellent non-commissioned officers.” - -But the laurels of the past, thickly showered as they were on the -“Worcesters,” are little to compare with those of the present, when -valour is put to its utmost test, and when war weapons contrary to -all international usage, more deadly and treacherous than ever were -known before, are employed by the most inhuman and dishonourable of -foes. We have only to recall the dramatic scenario of the village of -Gheluvelt during the battle of Ypres, when the Worcesters literally -saved the day. No page of romance was ever more thrilling! The Germans -had carried the village, but the Welsh, true sons of “Gallant Little -Wales,” remained, firing, holding their ground and refusing to admit -any sort of defeat. Even when they had been given the order to retreat, -they hung on with the grim tenacity of their Celtic ancestors, and it -depended on the merest chance as to whether any company of men could -advance to their assistance under the deadly fire of shrapnel which -covered and cut them off from the rest of their line. But rescue was -forthcoming--a mere handful of Worcesters--six hundred of them, were -stationed but a mile off Gheluvelt. Their commanding officer gave the -order--“Advance without delay and deliver counter-attack.” - - “Theirs not to make reply, - Theirs not to reason why, - Theirs but to do and die!” - -They responded, and rushed for about half a mile under the battering -rain of shrapnel, going for two hundred yards without cover. - - “Into the jaws of Death, - Into the mouth of Hell - Ran the Six Hundred!” - -Shrapnel showered thick and hot in front of them, and on their -right flanks the Bavarians poured bullets upon them from rifles and -machine guns. In crossing the two hundred yards without “cover” they -had one hundred casualties. But what did death or danger matter to -the Worcesters? What have they ever cared for shots that have sped -their brave souls to Heaven? They pressed on, up on the left of the -splendidly stubborn Welsh, and opened fire with so much success that -the foe was forced to retreat. The effect of their action was such -that the position was entirely changed--the Germans fell back and -the British line was reinstated. In Sir John French’s despatch it is -written:-- - -“The recapture of the village of Gheluvelt at such a time was fraught -with momentous consequences. If any one unit can be singled out for -special praise it is the Worcesters.” - -Quite recently, a British General, whose name, for some occult reason -or other, was withheld from the public by the newspaper reporter, -gave an enthusiastic account of the fine deeds of the Worcestershire -Regiment on the Somme. - -“The Worcesters have a wonderful record,” he said. “They have seen some -of the hardest fighting of this war, and they have won new honours for -a fine regiment, which already boasts some of the most glorious records -on our military history.” - -We shall do well to think of, and to long remember, some of this -“hardest fighting.” For example, when they made their wonderful stand -against the Prussian Guards, with the Wiltshires. Some of the incidents -in that fight have never been recorded, and yet, to those who witnessed -them they make the glory of the Worcesters still more glorious. Listen -to the stirring account of the stirring action! - -“The battalions had been fighting incessantly for weeks, with little or -no rest. They had taken trenches from which the enemy had to be flung -out. The subsequent German attack or counter-attack was delivered by -a force of picked troops, made up of Prussian Guards and other crack -regiments. There were at least ten thousand of these crack troops. -They were supported by magnificent artillery and had been trained for -an attack over this ground for days before they were sent against the -Worcesters. Judging by the ordinary standard of things, the weary -Worcesters’ battalions ought to have been crushed and finished under -such an avalanche; but they withstood the fiercest attacks for two days -and nights. They captured many prisoners, as many as themselves, and -the German killed and wounded were twice as numerous as they. There was -one great mound of dead before the trench, after the last attack was -driven off, the Germans being simply mown down by the machine guns of -the Worcesters.” - -“Firm” has ever been the character of the Regiment, as well as its -motto. On five several occasions they have held their ground and -carried strong positions held by superior enemy forces. They have come -triumphantly through every ordeal--shell-fire, machine-gun fire, liquid -fire, and poison gas, without shrinking or complaint--and on several -occasions the foe himself has been moved to praise of their splendid -heroism. Here is another story:-- - -“On one occasion a battalion of the Worcesters was advancing under -great difficulties against a strongly fortified village. The artillery -fire and infantry defence was stronger even than they expected. For a -moment the battalion seemed to pause. The officer in command sprang -forward with the shout, ‘Firm! Firm! Give them Worcester Sauce!’ The -men responded with a cheer and laughter--they swept forward, rushing -the position and fighting their way to the rear of the surprised and -baffled foe.” - -Think of the time when a little band of these splendid lads were cut -off by a sudden descent of the enemy in force! They were holding a bit -of trench, which was powdered to ruins by shell-fire, and they were -half-buried under the wreckage; but they dug themselves out again, and -fought with such resolved fury that not all the forces of the foe -could overwhelm or overawe them. _They held their ground for three -days_--though every man who wasn’t killed was wounded. When they were -at last relieved they were cheered wildly by the troops who watched -their limping march down to billets for rest, heroes all, without a -single exception! - -Such is the “way” of the Worcesters--such has always been their way -from their beginning. Unflinching valour, duty, and love of country -beyond all love of life, has made them and still makes them what they -are. They, and all their brave and noble kind, have fought and are -still fighting for us that we may dwell in our homes in peace. It -must now be our pride, as well as our honour, to prove our gratitude -to them, not only by words but deeds. Many of them will return to us, -broken men, deprived of health, strength, and all ability to work -for their living--crippled, blind, disfigured--suffering too from -what we may call mind-hurt beyond remedy. That is to say, the awful, -ineffaceable impression of ghastly sights and sounds, so inhuman, as -to shame humanity. What shall we do for our self-sacrificing defenders -when they come home? How shall we assuage their sufferings and seek to -make them forget the terrors they have confronted for our sakes? - -In matters of this kind, many people incline to the old conventional, -rather worn-out business of a “War Memorial,” which conveniently and -with all official publicity and importance, writes the names of living -subscribers as well as those of the heroic dead, but it is more than -likely that the whole face of the Empire will be strewn with such “War -Memorials” in so great a number that in a short time no passer-by -will pause to look at them. And a monument of cold stone cannot come -into comparison with the expressed warmth or loving hearts; so that -the best and kindest “Memorial” to the gallant “Worcesters” who have -passed away “in the stern and grim life-battle, in the morning of their -day”--should be of a nature to care and to provide for the “Worcesters” -who have come alive out of the Valley of the Shadow, and who remain -with us to witness our recognition of their services. Such a “Memorial” -is proposed by the Mayor of Worcester, and I, for one, do most heartily -wish that his lead could be followed in every County and Town of -Imperial Britain. For what a fine scheme it is! Could anything be more -practically humane and sympathetic than the idea that small, pretty -cottages or bungalows should be erected to provide permanent homes, -rent free, not only for the life-disabled men of the Worcestershire -Regiment, but also for Worcestershire Sailors and Soldiers in other -units, similarly disabled, who have “borne the burden and heat of the -day,” and who are entitled to the country’s heart-whole gratitude. I -can imagine no more beautiful “Memorial” to these brave fellows than -the free gift of charming little houses to live in, fragrant little -gardens to tend, and a fair and peaceful prospect to look upon for the -rest of their days. Nothing better, nothing kinder could be advised -for the permanently injured and maimed, the sad and battered wrecks of -once strong and comely men--no more comforting reparation scheme could -possibly be thought of--and it is good to know that much has already -been done, and is being done, to forward its success. The Mayor of -Worcester himself has given the site for building, and one individual -has offered five tons of lime to assist operations. Then come the -Pharmacists of Worcester, who are willing to supply free all drugs and -medicaments needed by the dwellers on this “Pleasaunce of Peace”--while -the “Old Comrades” of the County Regiment have incorporated an effort -of their own with the general plan, which has the approval of the local -military authorities. Subscriptions are beginning to flow in; and when -it is fully realised how welcome and warm “a Home-coming” can, by these -means, be given to the heroes who have sacrificed their own homes to -fight for us, surely every one will be eager and anxious to contribute -to so worthy a cause. For say what we will, there is a truth in the -familiar song,-- - - “Be it ever so humble, - There’s no place like home!” - -And it is within our power to give our broken Worcestershire men that -blessed abode of simple tranquillity and content, which, if they had -not fought for us they might have earned for themselves. They will have -their pensions from the Government of course, but we doubt whether -those pensions will be as adequate as they might expect. Anyhow, we -of the British People, who have been defended by their valour, cannot -do too much for them, and if the Mayor of Worcester’s scheme were -copied and carried out all through the British Isles it would lift a -considerable burden of anxiety from the State. If any “County” must -have a special “War Memorial” to coldly chronicle names of the dead -rather than hearts of the living, there is nothing in our “Happy Homes” -work to prevent the erection of “marble or the gilded monument,” but -to the eyes of thinkers, philosophers, and all teachers and helpers -of mankind, a little village of clustering cottages on the lovely site -which the Mayor has freely given, commanding as it does an outlook over -picturesque country--cottages with tiny gardens easy to till, plant, -and care for, where in summer the dear old-fashioned flowers which are -a liberal education in themselves, may bring their beauty and sweetness -into lives that have been blackened by shot and shell--will offer a far -greater and more impressive testimony of memory and gratitude. - -I, who am privileged to write this brief token of honour and admiration -for men whose fine character and splendid courage have been chronicled -by infinitely worthier pens than mine, now plead this noble cause, as -worthy of the strongest and most loving support of every man, woman and -child in the historic county of Worcestershire, and I want the spirit -of a fine and active enthusiasm to “catch on” and spread like a prairie -fire, not only through Worcestershire, but even farther afield. Why -should not every county have its own soldiers’ and sailors’ settlement? -It’s own well-organised, picturesque haven and “Pleasaunce of Peace”? -It is impossible that any of us should sit down in satisfied comfort at -the close of the war and do nothing for the men who have done so much -for our defence. A new “Garden City” would hardly be spacious enough -to provide them with their well-earned ease--and shall we hesitate to -build them villages? Villages so artistically and prettily planned, so -dainty and restful that the wandering stranger in future years shall -pause, enchanted, to ask what influences have been at work to create -such little Edens on earth. And he will be told:-- - -“These are the homes of heroes!--here dwell men who faced death for -duty’s sake and Britain’s honour--and Britain has given them what she -can to prove her gratitude, and to make their remaining lives sweet.” - -For, of every man that has fought for us in this terrific -World-Struggle for nobler freedom and higher ideals, it can be said -with Shakespeare,-- - - “The blood that he hath lost, he dropp’d it for his country, - And what is left, to lose it by his country, - Were to us all that do’t and suffer it - A brand to the end of the world!” - - - - -EYES OF THE SEA - -(_Written by special request of the Directors for the British and -Foreign Sailors’ Society_) - -A TRIBUTE TO THE GRAND FLEET AND ADMIRAL BEATTY - - “Then said David to the Philistine, ‘Thou comest to me with a sword - and a spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of - the Lord of Hosts.... This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine - hand!’” - - -We all know that in Bible history there was a certain Goliath of Gath. -His height was six cubits and a span,--that is to say, about ten feet. -He had a helmet of brass, and he wore a coat of mail weighing five -thousand shekels of brass,--about a hundred and fifty-six pounds. He -had brass on his legs, and brass between his shoulders, and his spear’s -head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. Taking him altogether he was -a fine prototype of the Hun, who is similarly a monster of Brass, Iron, -and Brag. And then DAVID, “ruddy and of a fair countenance,” drew near -to this Brazen Being, and smote him with a stone in the middle of his -forehead, so that he “fell with his face to earth.” - -And this is just what _our_ “David” has done. A matter for national -rejoicing! Especially for “they that go down to the sea in ships and -do business in great waters” do we rejoice that the “David” of the -Grand Fleet,--high-souled, brave-hearted DAVID BEATTY,--commands the -Sling and Stone of our straight-hitting Naval Power! What better man -than he to take the place of Nelson?--to carry out with zealous -ardour Nelson’s one wish, Nelson’s last desire that “every man should -do his duty!” Look at the strong face,--the keen, clear “eyes of the -sea,”--the resolute yet tender lines of the mouth,--the whole bearing -of this bold and dauntless commander, and then think of the lofty and -devout spirit of him expressed in his recent “message” to the nation:-- - -“Until religious revival takes place at home, just so long will the war -continue. When England can look out on the future with humbler eyes and -a prayer on her lips, then we can begin to count the days towards the -end!” - -There’s a challenge for you! Flung out unhesitatingly and manfully in -the very face of a swarm of atheists in Church and State, who for the -past decade at least, have copied Germany in mockery of all things holy -and divine, and have spread their “literary” blasphemies throughout -the land, assisted in their work of “tearing down” Christianity by a -corrupt section of society and a decadent Press! It’s a challenge we -are bound to hear,--given in simple, manly words which echo the high -faith of him who won the Battle of Trafalgar, and who, on the eve of -the fight retired to his cabin and wrote this prayer:-- - -“May the great God Whom I worship grant to my country, and for the -benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory; and may no -misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be the -predominant feature in the British Fleet! For myself individually, I -commit my life to Him that made me, and may His blessing alight on my -endeavours for serving my country faithfully! To Him I resign myself -and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen!” - -Without such faith, such humility and resignation as this, few great -victories are won. Even pagan heroes sought the favour of their gods in -every high enterprise; but in our time the nations of Europe, assuming -an “advancement” beyond either pagans or Christians, have been seeking -to ignore the Higher Power Almighty altogether; with what dire results -is now witnessed by desolated peoples drenched in blood and tears! -Of Nelson it is written: “All men knew that his heart was as humane -as it was fearless, and that there was not in his nature an alloy of -selfishness or cupidity, but that he served his country with a perfect -and entire devotion, therefore they loved him as truly and fervently as -he loved England.” - -Cannot each word of this be said with equal truth of David Beatty? -Every man of the Fleet will answer “Yes!” And every man of the Fleet -will endeavour to be a copy of him in all the grand essentials of -honour and duty. And here comes in a little story. - -Only the other day I received a letter from a lad on board one of our -mine-sweepers,--a stranger to me personally, but one who evidently felt -sure (as he might) of my interest in his difficult and dangerous work. -In that letter he writes:-- - -“I am in his Majesty’s Navy and I am just twenty. My last ship was -Admiral Beatty’s Flagship, the _Lion_, on board of which I had the -honour of being a little over three years under _an Admiral whose -qualities are magnificent_. I want to say this, because people are apt -to take doubtful views through articles in the papers about our truly -Great Leaders.” - -Yes,--“articles in the papers,” written by caterers for mere -sensational gabble, are apt to influence the majority of fools; and -“doubtful views” are generally entertained by persons who in themselves -are more than doubtful. But if a boy of twenty, after serving for -three years under Admiral Beatty, can write, “_His qualities are -magnificent_,” it means a very great deal. Young fellows of that age -are not always easily impressed by their superiors,--they are more -critical than complimentary; and the rules of naval discipline go hard -with them unless administered by a kindly as well as just hand. “Eyes -of the Sea” must be everywhere vigilant,--watching men’s minds equally -with God’s stormy waters,--ever on the look-out for enemies of the -soul as well as enemies of the country; and so well and truly do they -watch,--so faithfully have they always watched, that sailors’ eyes have -grown to be quite different to all other eyes in the world! We know -them at once by their far-off steady gaze--by their look of mingled -pathos, persistency, and cheerfulness,--by the sparkle of the waves and -the light of stars which are somehow commingled in their keen glances, -suggesting the wonderful power and indomitable energy of “one life, one -flag, one fleet!” The strong lines of Alfred Tennyson, the last worthy -Laureate of Great Britain, may well ring in our ears to-day:-- - - “You, _you_, if you shall fail to understand - What England is, and what her all-in-all, - On you will come the curse of all the land - Should this old England fall - Which Nelson left so great. - - His isle, the mightiest ocean-power on earth, - Our own fair isle, the Lord of every sea, - Her fuller franchise--what would that be worth, - Her ancient fame of ‘Free,’ - Were she--a fallen State? - - Her dauntless Army scattered and so small-- - Her island myriads fed from alien lands, - The Fleet of England is her all-in-all; - Her Fleet is in your hands, - And in her Fleet her Fate. - - You, you that have the ordering of her Fleet, - _If_ you should only compass her disgrace, - When all men starve, the wild mob’s million feet - Will kick you from your place, - But then too late, too late!” - -But Great Britain “is no longer an island,” we hear. Who says so? -Merely brazen Goliath with his big mouth of Brag. “No longer safe from -invasion.” Who says so? Goliath again! Our “supremacy of the seas is -gone for ever!” Good old Goliath! Submarines and Zeppelins are to bring -the invaders along as surely as weeds swept on the sand by the tide! -Easier said than done! What says the old song? - - “Since our foes to invade us have long been preparing - ’Tis clear they consider we’ve something worth sharing, - And for that, mean to visit our shore; - It behoves us, however, with spirit to meet ’em, - And though ’twill be nothing uncommon to beat ’em - We must try how they’ll take it once more! - So be this the toast given, - England for ever, the land, boys, we live in, - England for ever, huzza! - - Here’s health to our tars, on the wide ocean ranging, - Perhaps even now some broadsides they’re exchanging, - We’ll on shipboard and join in the fight! - And when with the foe we are firmly engaging, - Till the fire of our guns lulls the sea in its raging, - On our country we’ll think with delight-- - So be this the word given, - England for ever, the land, boys, we live in, - England for ever, huzza!” - -True enough, we have to deal nowadays with pirates,--not true -naval men,--with burglars, not warriors,--and inhumanity being the -characteristic of all such folk, the international laws of Imperial -Britain and her Allies, regulating the conduct of warfare, have no -hold on them. We are not at war with an educated people,--for they -have shown themselves openly as savages. But though the wholesome air -may be poisoned by the breath of the Hun, and murderous bombs may -be flung through those spaces of heavenly blue, once most blessedly -free from the presence of humanity, we have already proved equal to -tackling the Zeppelins, and shall tackle them yet again. And we shall -“manage” the submarines in a way of our own, if only the garrulous -and indiscreet Press will leave us alone to do it, and refrain from -giving elaborate details of all our newest machinery in their columns -for the benefit and instruction of the enemy! We would not “tell it -in Gath” to Goliath, how many of his under-sea “sneak” boats have -already been “bagged” by our sportive captains--that’s a “secret of -the Admiralty.” But it is just possible that even Huns may be weary -of the certainty of death by fire in the air, and death by “ramming -down” to the bottom of the sea! Neither way is a pleasant exit from -the world of living men. Both are the result of inventive science -put to wrong uses,--namely to injure, instead of to benefit. The old -ways of combat were more open and honourable. Better the sword and -shield than the gas and the bomb,--better the fair fight between ships -confronting each other boldly on the ocean, than the floating mine or -the sly torpedo, sneaking like a low thief beneath the waves. There is -something cowardly about the new “scientific” weapons of war,--they -manifest the assassin’s spirit rather than that of the honest soldier. -The long-distance gun, the poison-vapours, the “dum-dum” bullet--all -show the inventive faculty of murderers in training, not the sane -education of civilised and honourable men. There has been much talk of -“advancement”--but if human progress takes the form of “scientific” -torture, barbarity, and outrage on our fellow-creatures, it is not -progress at all, but terrible retrogression and back-sliding which must -be checked before it is too late. No man can do better than see to it -that what has been written of Nelson may also be said of him:-- - -“All men knew that his heart was as humane as it was fearless.” - -We _say_ this, _think_ this, and _feel_ this of David Beatty,--and by -the Almighty’s grace and power, we want to say, think, and feel the -same of every man and boy under his command! And so the Fleet will be -as it always has been,--the star of victory in the crown of Empire. -On the memorable occasion when Mr. Lloyd George rose to make his first -address to the House as Prime Minister, Admiral Sir H. Meux, Member for -Portsmouth, asked:-- - -“Will the right hon. gentleman say a word about the Navy before he sits -down?” - -And the new Premier replied at once:-- - -“My hon. and gallant friend knows that the achievements of the Navy -speak for themselves. I do not think that anything I can say would -be in the least adequate to recognise the enormous and incalculable -services that the great Navy of Britain has rendered, not merely to the -Empire but to the whole Allied cause. Not merely would victory have -been impossible, but the war could not have been kept on for two and a -half years had it not been for the services of the Navy.” - -These words called forth ringing cheers. For it is We,--we Britons--who -sweep the seas! It is our heritage to do so. A rumour is about that one -of the “peace terms” foolishly proposed by Germany is, that we should -“abandon our supremacy of the sea!” As well ask the sun to abandon its -supremacy of the skies! It would be an evil day for _all_ nations, not -only our own, when Britannia ceased to rule the waves! Her just, wise -laws of freedom and fairness would soon be replaced by ruthless piracy, -and there would be no security for any coast. It is a good thing for -America and Europe likewise that this - - “Precious stone, set in the silver sea, - Which serves it in the office of a wall, - Or as a moat defensive to a house, - Against the envy of less happier lands” - -should be the guardian of the girdling ocean, maintaining its highest -rights and liberties in the face of all foes. And so may it ever remain! - -What stories I could tell, had I the time and space, of heroic deeds -“unwritten and unsung” performed by the men of the Fleet, not only -in the past, but now!--now, in these actual present days, when great -London, plunged to the neck in a flood of gold, poured in for the help, -healing, and comfort of our fighting men on land and sea, is striving, -like a giant caught in a net, to disentangle its sacred duties from -its selfish pleasures,--trying to realise in its vague way that War is -really War! Of “Tommy” one hears much; but of “Jack Tar” less,--though -they are close comrades in the one spirit of devotion to duty, and -each has his own burden of difficulties to bear,--his own sphere of -danger to surmount and to master. The story of brave Jack Cornwell -thrilled every heart,--putting well into the shade the similar exploit -of “Casabianca,” of whom, when we were children, we all learned, in the -verse of Felicia Hemans:-- - - “The boy stood on the burning deck, - Whence all but him had fled; - The flame that lit the battle’s wreck - Shone round him o’er the dead.” - -and - - “The noblest thing that perished there - Was that young, faithful heart.” - -Only there is no poet among us worthy of the name to “sing the memory” -of Jack Cornwell, thanks to the swarm of atheists, pessimists, -decadents, and anti-idealists who have been encouraged to darken and -disgrace the literary annals of Great Britain. “Casabianca” was a boy -about thirteen years of age, son to the Admiral of the _Orient_, who -remained at his post in the Battle of the Nile after the ship had taken -fire and all the guns had been abandoned, and perished in the explosion -of the vessel when the flames had reached the powder. All who have -read the enthralling pages of our sea-history will remember that the -_Orient_ was the French Admiral’s ship, carrying a hundred and twenty -guns, and that he himself died on her quarter-deck, his little son -remaining at the post where his father had placed him, all unconscious -of his father’s end. “Soon after nine o’clock,” says the historian, -“the _Orient_ appeared in flames, which spread with astonishing -rapidity, and by their prodigious light the situation of the hostile -fleets could be seen at a distance of fifteen miles. The _Orient’s_ -crew, however, continued to fire from her lower-deck to the very last, -and at about ten o’clock she blew up with an explosion which was felt -by every vessel to the bottom of its keel. To this succeeded a silence -not less awful,--the sanguinary conflict ceased on both sides,--and -the first sound that broke that portentous stillness was the splash of -shattered masts and yards falling into the sea.” - -So “Casabianca” perished gallantly--but not more gallantly than Jack -Cornwell. Both boys, the one French, the other English, were made of -the same heroic stuff that gives worth and honour to the nations that -breed it. - -Very quaint and poetic it is to read at this time of day, the -picturesque record of William Camden, Clarencieux King-at-Arms to Queen -Elizabeth, concerning the entrance of the Spanish Armada into English -waters:-- - -“The next day the English discovered the Spanish Fleet with lofty -Turrets, like Castles, in front like a Half-Moon, the wings thereof -spreading out about the length of seven miles, sailing very slowly, -though with full sails, the Winds being, as it were, tired with -carrying them, and the Ocean groaning under the weight of them.... -But so far was it from terrifying the seacoasts with its name of -‘Invincible’ or with its dreadful Show, that the young Gentry of -England, with incredible Cheerfulness and Alacrity (leaving their -parents, children, wives, and friends at home) out of their hearty -Love to their Country, hired ships from all parts at their own private -charges and joined with the Fleet in great numbers.” - -I think we, in our present days, have had the word “invincible” thrown -at us a good deal from the braggart mouth of the “Hun”--but “so far -from terrifying us”--it has had the same effect on our manhood as it -had in Tudor days so far as “incredible Cheerfulness and Alacrity” are -concerned! And Queen Elizabeth apparently found a prototype of Nelson -and David Beatty, for, says Camden, “The command of the whole Fleet she -gave to Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, Lord Admiral of England, of -whose fortunate Conduct she had a very great Persuasion, and whom she -knew by his moderate and noble carriage, to be skilful in sea-matters, -wary and provident, valiant and courageous, industrious and active, and -of great authority and esteem among the seamen of her Navy. Drake, -whom she appointed Vice-Admiral, joined with him.” - -Queen Bess evidently knew how to select the best men! And we may justly -claim to have kept up the breed. For there is not a word written of -Admiral Lord Howard in those old days that cannot be equally written -now of Admiral Sir David Beatty. Every man of the Fleet knows it; and -is proud and glad to serve under his command. “Skilful in sea-matters, -wary and provident, valiant and courageous, industrious and active, and -of great authority and esteem among the seamen of the Navy!” - -And we shall do well to remember that on the outbreak of war, the -country was assured that the Mercantile Marine accepted the risks -incurred in maintaining the supplies of food so indispensable to the -existence of the people, and in ensuring a path of safety for commerce, -and the transport of troops and war material. And British shipmasters, -officers, and seamen alike expressed their resolve to keep the seas -open at all costs. The result of this inflexible determination is that -throughout continuous struggle, exposed to daily and nightly peril -from mine and submarine, British ships continue to arrive in British -ports and sail again with a splendid disregard of all the difficulties -and dangers which beset them in maintaining the overseas trade of the -nation. It is time such priceless valour was more absolutely defended -and held dear by the Empire which owes it so much. Our merchantmen -should be armed. The expenditure would be less than the loss of -heroic lives! Merchant seamen should be given every possible means of -protecting their own existence and securing the safety of their ships -and cargoes. Their foes are ruthless,--they should be given ample -means of retaliation and defence. For-- - - “We sing the British seamen’s praise, - A theme renowned in story, - It well deserves more polished lays, - For ’tis your boast and glory,-- - When mad-brain’d war spreads death around, - By them you are protected, - But oft when peace again is found, - Your bulwarks are neglected! - Then oh! protect the hardy tar! - Be mindful of his merit, - And when you’re plung’d anew in war - He’ll show his dauntless spirit!” - -And no man of any class needs a “dauntless spirit” more. Courage alone -makes him what he is. For though I love the sea with an intense love -beyond all world-expression, I know how cruel it can be, although so -beautiful--and while I rejoice and revel in the splendour of terrific -waves breaking in pillars of foam up against rocks a hundred or more -feet high, I cannot but hear in my soul the wild and despairing cries -of drowning men, and the noise of breaking ships--I see the horror of -drifting dead forms and faces swirling on the blackness of the deep, -and with my whole heart I join in the prayer:-- - -“God, Who alone spreadest out the heavens, and rulest the raging of -the sea, be pleased to receive into Thy most gracious protection the -persons of Thy servants and the Fleet in which they serve! Preserve -them from the dangers of the sea and from the violence of the enemy, -that they may be a safeguard!--and that the inhabitants of our Island -may in peace and quietness serve Thee, our God!” - - * * * * * - -Amen, and many times Amen! And it is possible that Admiral Sir David -Beatty, like his great prototype, Admiral Lord Nelson, may have sent -the same message to the Fleet on the day of the German surrender which -Nelson sent after the Battle of the Nile, thus:-- - -“Almighty God having blessed his Majesty’s arms with Victory, the -Admiral intends returning Public Thanksgiving for the same at two -o’clock this day, and he recommends every ship doing the same as soon -as convenient.--Signed, HORATIO NELSON. August 2, 1798.” - - * * * * * - -A similar devotional spirit inspires our “David” of the sea, when -he says that England must look to the future “with a prayer on her -lips.” This great War, the greatest in all history, will, with all its -wickedness and bloodshed, prove a blessing, if the cloud of Atheism -which has swept over us through perverted and decadent German ideals, -is rolled away,--leaving a clear and wholesome heaven of faith and hope -for a nation brought back to God through humility, self-sacrifice and -splendid heroism! - - Eyes of the Sea! - Steadfast and clear as the light of a midsummer morning, - Sure in your vigilance, swift in the flash of your warning, - Pledges of safety for us and our land of the free. - Slumberless Eyes of the Sea! - - Eyes of the Sea! - Watchful at midnight, companioning stars in their courses, - Fronting the storm or the fire of the foe in his forces; - Yours be the honour of all that we are or shall be! - Glorious Eyes of the Sea! - - - - -IS ALL WELL WITH ENGLAND? - -A QUESTION OF THE MOMENT - - -Yes, all is well! - -Or, rather, let us say all _will_ be well! And in our steady progress -towards future good we may confidently aver that all is well even now. -Even now! though the great “spring-cleaning” of the Empire’s house is -scarcely half-way through. Our home is topsy-turvy, familiar objects -are thrust aside, our goods and chattels are disarranged and turned -out to be swept or beaten or otherwise relieved of their accumulated -dust and cobwebs, and the clatter of brooms and pails and general -hurry-scurry, with many irreparable breakages, make comfort and quiet -impossible. Yet there is a freshness in the air, the windows have been -cleaned, and one can see the sky through their lately begrimed and -sooty panes, the floors are swept and the furniture polished; deft -hands are arranging flowers for the rooms--we may breathe in health and -hope if we will. - -There is much yet to be done, for the cleansing of a nation is God’s -work more than ours, and He leaves no corner unvisited. He has not done -with England yet, no, not by any means! The festering mass of diseased -moral fibre resulting from a long worship of Self, the canker in the -body social and politic, has to be cut out ruthlessly, despite bleeding -veins and torn sinews, and God will not spare the remedial knife. - -But even so, it is well for England! Well, and more than well! For no -greater ill could chance to her than her condition prior to the war. - -Far more injurious to her fair fame than the murderous attacks of -the most dishonourable and unscrupulous enemy she has ever known was -the stealthy undermining of her people’s ideals through the slow but -sure rot which had begun to set in at the very core of her civilian -life. That rot was eating its way through commerce and crumbling -down every bulwark of society. Its ravaging microbes swarmed through -every channel--the pulpit, the stage, and all forms of art. Through -its influence the abominable crimes of Sodom and Gomorrah were -re-enacted and condoned, both in the political and social world. By -gradual and subtle process, step by step on the downward grade, the -unthinking public were led by certain writers of the Press who are -special pleaders for vice, to accept sensuality as the only meaning of -love, and every town possessing a bookseller’s shop was flooded with -published outpourings of sickly and degrading sexuality, insulting to -the self-respect of men and women, old and young alike. Girls and boys -hardly in their teens carried these vile books in their hands, and read -and discussed them without shame. Their poisonous trail is over many -a young mind, and the mischief they have wrought will take years of -undoing. - -This kind of pernicious literature, coupled with a “sensational” Press, -by which I mean that side of the Press which truckles to the baser -inclinations of mankind, and flaunts pictorial representations of -semi-nude women of the stage and of the demoralised portion of Society -in the eyes of decent folk whether they will or no, is in a great -measure responsible for the recklessness, extravagance, sloth, and -selfishness which have disfigured social England for the past decade. - -Things were getting worse and worse; men who truckled to vice were -paid with baronetcies as “hush-money,” women passing for “ladies,” -lower than the lowest of street sinners, because they had education -and opportunities which the street sinner has not, were praised as -embodiments of all the beauties and all the virtues, and “home,” that -dear possession of the faithful soul, was voted “dull” by the younger -folk, because of its wholesome restrictions on harmful impulses and -runaway passions. - -And let us not imagine these clouds on the sun of our country have yet -passed away. They are passing, but the full splendour of the light is -not yet. “Home, _dull_ Home,” is coming back to its own as “Home, sweet -Home” once more, because a dark and threatening destiny has torn sons -from their mothers, and has broken up dear associations which were -unvalued, because possessed. Now that death has darkened many windows -and shut many doors, the bereaved ones begin to realise what “home” -really was in the past days of peace, and what it never will be again; -while those that are absent on the battlefield, amid the roar of the -guns and the storm of shot and shell, turn back wistfully to the memory -of days spent “at home,” in a tranquillity of mind and body that seemed -“dull,” but that now shines forth in the visions of the brain as a -reflex of positive heaven. - -Few, I think, have taken the trouble to consider what this Empire would -become without the saving grace of “Home”--that oasis in the desert -where love has its best chance and friendship its surest footing. - -It is in very truth the foundation of national safety and the basis of -educational progress, and yet it is what a very large majority of us -have lately esteemed but lightly, moved as we have been by a spirit of -strange unrest, impelling us to wander hither and thither in search of -satisfaction which, after all our quest, awaits us at our own door. - -Suppose that one and all we ran “amok” in the liberty which speedily -degenerates into license, without any restraining hand? Would it be -“well for England” then? We know it would not, yet if our young people -are brought up to disdain and to neglect their parents, and “friends” -so-called, only seek other “friends” in order to make use of them for -their own ends, the social code will be one of pure egotism without -a shred of conscience to soften its hard and fast self-seeking. This -would not be “well for England,” and from this point of view alone we -have to be thankful for the scourge of this terrific war. For here God -has taken the lead. He has indeed “put down the mighty from their seat, -and has exalted the humble and meek,” for the humblest ranks of our -British fighting men are heroes to-day, and the true spirit and mettle -of the British race, long suppressed beneath a featherbed softness of -prolonged peace, have sprung up in splendid and unbroken strength, -proving in deeds more than words that “all is well with England!” - -No praise can be too high for their courage, cheerfulness, and -self-sacrifice; the sword of their unquenchable valour has long been -sheathed, but it has not grown rusty--the blade is as bright as ever it -was. - -This is something to be proud of, something for us to remember when -inclined to pessimism. We have nothing to fear on the score of our -warriors who have gone forth in the flower of their manhood, to contend -with and to conquer a brutal foe; and, if the creeping suggestion that -all is _not_ well with England steals into our minds, it is on account -of _traitors at home_. - -Yes, _there_ is a dire possibility of mischief, a chance of infinite -harm being wrought on England, and on the whole British Empire by the -avarice and short-sightedness of some of our leading men who have “axes -to grind.” - -It may be unpleasant to face the truth, but surely it is wiser and -safer to do so than to wait till it overwhelms us. And the merest tyro -in diplomacy, the most casual looker-on at the moves on the political -chess-board, can see how many a man “in official capacity” is playing -the German game, and manœuvring towards a patched-up “peace” which -shall give Germany every possible trade advantage. - -The people’s confidence is being daily betrayed by such treacherous -hypocrites, some of whom have financial interests closely bound in with -Germany, and who hesitate and shuffle and delay action indefinitely, -though the slaughter of innocent thousands may pay the price of their -ineptitude. - -In such scandalous matters, all is _not_ well with England--and all -will never be well, unless the people take a hand against their own -spoliation and betrayal. And they cannot begin too soon. The house of -the nation is being “swept and garnished.” We shall need to take care -that the “unclean spirit” of Germany does not take “seven other spirits -more wicked” to “enter in and dwell there,” so that “the last state” -of that house be not “worse than the first.” - -We need the resolved spirit of Queen Elizabeth, whose proclamation -against certain troublesome foreigners “which had flocked to the coast -towns of England” in 1560, commanded that they “should depart the -realm within twenty days,” whether they liked it or not, “upon pain of -imprisonment or loss of goods.” Queen Bess did not put on gloves when -dealing with treachery; she hit it fair and square in the face. We -should do wisely to imitate her example. - -No great reforms are ever accomplished without opposition from -prejudiced and self-interested persons, and it needs a strong soul to -stand firm and full-fronted against malcontents, and to steadily baffle -political intrigues. With these latter, the Ministry is hemmed in and -environed, and it is a regrettable fact that in some quarters “party” -is ready to overwhelm patriotism, despite all plausible assurances to -the contrary. - -On this point I would venture, as an independent writer who has no -favours to seek and no “axe to grind,” to warn our more or less -passive, silent, and patient people of dangers ahead. - -The people are the nation, the people whose labour makes the wealth -of the country are the worth of the country; and for them the name of -Britain should represent all things British. But unless they themselves -take good care, their trades will be again swamped by Germany in the -future as in the past, especially if they put in less hours of work. -It stands to reason that if a British workman will only work for eight -hours, and a German will work for fourteen or sixteen, the German will -score in every kind of labour. - -Even now the German is preparing for the relaxing of “restricted” -trades. The goods which the British Government declared “unnecessary” -in time of war are being “made in Germany,” and at an opportune moment -will be “dumped down” on these shores before the Englishman, returned -from battle, can so much as set his house in order. - -We may think, or we may hope, that protection against such unfairness -will be guaranteed by Government--but will it? Does it look like it -even now?--when Germans are permitted to run the business of absent -Englishmen, and to make profit therefrom! - -Sometimes it would almost seem as if there were a certain numbness or -apathy in the minds of the British people here at home, which robs them -of “the native hue of resolution,” so that in - - “Enterprises of great pith and moment - With this regard their currents turn awry - And lose the name of action.” - -There is a general tendency not to take too much personal trouble -over any matter, a desire to avoid “being bothered,” and a persistent -jog-trot in the same old way, like “dumb, driven cattle,” no matter -whether the road lead to prosperity or ruin. This is like the fatal -lethargy which overcomes the traveller in heavy snow, when he yields -himself to a sleep from which he shall never wake. - -Half the people in these islands do not yet realise the full meaning -or the real horror of the war in which we have been forced, by all -the rights of law and liberty, to engage. They do not think--they -cannot. Their sense of perception seems stunned as by a heavy blow. -All religion, all faith, all hope, have in a great measure failed them. -They do not see why they should suffer undeservedly. - -A poor woman receiving the news that her son was killed, had no -tears--her face grew white and stiffened, as with frost--but she had -nothing to say except this: “Ah, well! I couldn’t expect anything else, -as there’s no God left to us now! Only man, the devil!” She could -but realise that the war is man’s work--the result of his miserable -ambitions, his delight in destruction, his selfish pride and cruelty. -And the church had taught her little more than that the God she was -told to worship was “a jealous God,” and out of that saying little -comfort can be drawn for the broken heart of a bereaved mother. - -Perhaps one of the most terrible notes struck from the great -thunder-echoes of the war is this apparent failure of all churches to -cope with the sorrow that has swept over all lands, destroying homes -that were once happy. - -Our Lord’s pitiful and pathetic words are realised to-day:--“Because -iniquity shall abound the love of many shall grow cold.” Ah, yes, love -for Him and all the tenderness He taught _has_ “grown cold,” and many -of His professed ministers are tongue-tied and spirit-frozen, and seem -all unable to raise the broken lives from the dust of despair, or dry -the weeping eyes which are too tired and heavy to lift themselves to -heaven. - -There is a strong instinctive sense among us all, no matter to what -sect we belong or what religious formula we profess, that if the -churches had ever truly taught and truly followed the example of -Christ, war and its horrors would have been impossible. For He gave us -only two commandments--two instead of the Mosaic ten--thus:-- - -“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy -soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. -And the second is like unto it--thou shalt love thy neighbour as -thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” - -Who is there that can deny that if these two commandments had been -obeyed by man in his social and civil life, the whole face of things -would have changed to an almost divine betterment, and the world’s -progress, assisted by a sanity of thought and a clarity of action, -would have been towards beauty and spiritual uplifting? - -The word “spiritual” is sadly wronged and degraded nowadays by -misguided or semi-crazed persons who “blaspheme the Holy Ghost” by -their pretensions to psychic power, and play with the names of scared -things in order to further their own sinister designs. Our Lord -prophesied this evil when He spoke of “false prophets” who should “show -signs and wonders,” insomuch “that if it were possible they shall -deceive the very elect.” - -Is it not a fact that we have come upon such days? Days when the -pure, simple, and helpful ethics of Christ are set aside in exchange -for an insane credence in the vulgar trickery of “mediumship,” -“crystal-gazing,” and other base forms of superstition pertaining -to the eras of ignorant barbarism? Does it seem believable that -there should be so-called “intellectual” men in this country, even -statesmen of admitted ability, who are actually partially under the -sway of illiterate “mediums,” generally women, who pretend to hold -communication with the dead, and even presume to offer advice from -the “spirits” on the affairs of the nation and the prosecution of -the war? One could hardly imagine a wilder improbability, yet it is -an absolute fact! The names of persons in high and trusted positions -are on the books of the unscrupulous jugglers and tricksters who earn -their wicked living by mischievous tampering with the brains of their -dupes and victims, and the wonder is that these notabilities should so -feebly allow themselves to be duped and victimized. But one has only -to think of the entire submission of the Romanoffs to the villainous -machinations of that unspeakable “monk,” Rasputin, to realize that -there is no depth of abasement to which the human mind may not fall if -it loses its hold on God. - -It has to be confessed there are very few indications of real religion -among us at present. A large portion of the clergy seem stricken with -ineptitude, and one longs for a strong man who would not only preach -the truth, but _live_ it. A narrow egotism disfigures the ministering -spirit of the Church, and I could name more than one cleric whose -absorption in self entirely blinds him to the real duties he is called -upon to do. - -The service of Christ should be broad and all-embracing, generous, -cheerful, ungrudging, and untiring in the aid of all humanity, rich and -poor, old and young, sinful and sorry, and only men who are prepared to -work on these lines should be admitted to such a high and holy calling. - -But things are moving, and will move in the right direction presently; -when the roar of the guns has died away and the memory of our slain -heroes weighs on our stricken souls with sorrow and shame, and we have -time to reflect that it is for us and the saving of our honour that -they have died. - -We shall then lift our eyes to Him from Whom cometh our strength, we -shall unite in a grand revolt against hypocrisy and shams; we shall -hold our homes more preciously, seeing and knowing what blood has been -shed to keep them inviolate, and we shall value simplicity and purity -of life for ourselves and our children far more than wealth and the -fleeting, feverish pleasures which wealth can attain. - -In this new dawn of our day it will be well for England! - -One of the happiest and most hopeful auguries for the future is the -stimulus given to agriculture and the “life of the land” by the -necessity of providing food supplies for our own people on our own soil. - -The menace of the submarine has done this for us, and devastating as -its brutal work has been, we may regard it as a blessing in disguise. -For we should not need to depend on foreign imports of food if we -utilised our own acreage as fully and diligently as we might. - -Life in the country, work in the country, means health and a light -heart; and many there are who would like to see the olden days of -purely native production come back again--the days of home spinning, -home weaving, home manufacture of every kind carried on in all the -towns and villages of rural England. - -Here and there of late years there have been some efforts in this -direction--there is a spinning and weaving school at Haslemere, at -Stratford-on-Avon, and elsewhere--but the support given to these -praiseworthy industries is not sufficiently certain and prolonged -to push them with sufficient prominence into the public notice. -Nevertheless, many a woman helps the movement by electing to wear -only home-woven goods; they are beautiful and artistic enough to -deserve patronage, and can be purchased direct from the weavers and -spinners without the intervention of the middle-man whose business is -“profiteering.” - -What an England it might be--what an England it _will_ be--when -every acre of suitable soil bears its weight of golden grain!--when -every orchard’s value can be appraised by its measure of luscious -fruit!--when farmyards are full of cattle, and good wives are so clever -at poultry and dairy work that the country can do without “millions of -foreign eggs”--having such “millions” of its own--and when prosperous -farms in the country are esteemed more valuable possessions than houses -in town, where money is often uselessly wasted on so-called “pleasures” -which have their end in damaged health and “vexation of spirit”! - -To my own mind there is nothing more lovely or more satisfying than the -life of the country, where one may see the real breadth of the sky, and -feel the real freshness of the air. - -In great cities, where humanity is a mere hive, the houses of brick and -stone block out the sky and impede the air, and somehow one imagines -that God is a long way off, while in the country He seems “nearer -than hands and feet.” Everything speaks of His infinite care and -providence--the birds, the flowers, the trees, the murmur of the leaves -that clap together like little fairy hands in the wind, and the low, -sweet, sigh that sways through the long grass at sunset. - -The nearer man approaches to Nature, the more he becomes conscious of -a Divine, mysterious Presence to which his whole being instinctively, -though almost unconsciously, responds as “Our Father.” - -In the rush and roar of great cities he loses this delicate intimacy -with his own origin, and all that is or might be divine in himself -becomes lowered to the level of gross material needs and ideas which -are the reflex of the coarser atmosphere around him. - -The dweller among country sights and scenes is an idealist--sometimes -even a poet, though he may never express himself in words--and many an -ordinary labourer turning the rich clods of soil with the plough can be -found who will at times say things both trenchant and eloquent which -will give food for thought to the most cultivated stylist. - -Some people imagine that cities educate, and that the country does not; -but one may question whether it is not quite the other way about. In -any case, the life of the country makes for health and strength, and -these are two potent factors for happiness. No man can be happy or -contented if he is ailing and weakly, and in our many “new” systems of -education, which are now being so much talked of, it is to be hoped -that health for the children will be the first thing to be considered -and maintained. - -Here I may perhaps touch upon a point where one may trust that “all -is well with England,” in the immense change the war has wrought as -regards the position of women in the State. - -Some years ago I was one of the many who were strongly opposed to the -“Votes for Women” movement, judging it to be wholly unnecessary. - -I had been brought up on the chivalric view of man as taken by Sir -Walter Scott in his immortal romances, and my idea, gathered from -these exalted specimens of the race, was that as man was always ready -to worship woman it seemed invidious on her part to contend with him -in his own particular sphere. But when it was forced on me that, more -often than not, man was more ready to deride rather than worship -woman, that the special “strain” of Walter Scott’s heroes was in -Walter Scott’s delightful imagination only, and that as a matter of -fact men denied to women such lawful honours as they might win through -intellectual attainment, and that in certain forms of their legal -procedure women were classed with “children, criminals, and lunatics,” -I began to change my opinion. - -I thought that if the mothers of the race were to be assorted with -“criminals and lunatics,” the men they had given birth to might be, in -their toleration of such a stigma, criminals and lunatics themselves. -And when the war broke out and all the world raised itself, as it -were, on tiptoe to see what was going to happen, and beheld among many -marvels perhaps the greatest marvel of all--the women going forth -to work in the places of men, going in thousands, without demur or -hesitation, and taking their full share of the hardest and most menial -labour with a cheerfulness and spirit no less remarkable than the -intelligence with which they handled difficulties hitherto unknown, -it was no longer possible to deny them equal rights with men in every -relation of life and every phase of work. By every law of justice -they deserved the vote--and I who, as a woman, was once against it, -am bound to support the cause. All the same I shall be sorry to see -them in Parliament; deeply sorry to find them straying so far out of -their higher and far more influential sphere. The vanishing of modest -and refined womanhood will prove a greater loss to the nation than -any other asset of its power and renown. No woman can mingle with the -mess of political intrigue without losing something of the charm and -reticence originally in her nature, which has inspired men to their -noblest aims and ends. I imagine that a true woman would rather be the -Madonna of a Faith than the Premier of an Empire! - -Nevertheless I grant freely and fully that it will be “well for -England” when women have a voice in the education of children, and when -they can refuse to “temporise” on questions of the national morality -and well-being. - -The recent “food muddle” under the management of men is a proof, if one -were needed, of the superiority of women in all matters of domestic -management, for any capable housekeeper would have organised the scheme -with better knowledge and finer tact. That there will be jealousy and -injustice displayed by the stronger sex towards the weaker on this -matter of the vote, goes without saying. But jealousy and injustice -exist anyhow, and a proof of man’s inconsistency towards women in -matters of art alone is furnished by the purchase of Lucy Kemp-Welsh’s -fine picture “Forward the guns!” in the Royal Academy, which has been -bought “_for the nation_.” Yet, mark you, though this woman’s work is -considered worthy of national keeping, she herself may not be admitted -as an R. A.! Comment is superfluous. But it is possible that the -granting of votes to women will alter all this, and that the barriers -which the men have carefully erected against the sex of their mothers -will be broken down for good. - -The Jewish dispensation has to be credited for the rule of “keeping -women in their place,” along with flocks and herds. But the Christian -dispensation teaches a lovelier lesson--for a woman was the first to -hold the God-Man in her arms, and a woman was the first to greet Him on -His resurrection from the dead. - -Does this teach nothing? Is there no symbol of the future of womanhood -thus gloriously foreshadowed? I venture to think there is. - -I believe and hope that a wider freedom to woman will mean a nobler -heritage to man, and that through her intelligence and influence he -may find and prove the “god” in him, and rise from the grave of old -prejudice to the light of more brilliant possibilities. And this will -be “well for England.” - -Many changes are bound to come, many sorrowful and tragic happenings -are yet in store for this dear country, but “it is well” that so these -things should be, to the end that we realise where we have missed the -way, and take heed that we stumble not again. - -The secret of our regeneration is not in this or that government; it is -with the _people_. - -Yet on the whole, despite clouds in our sky, it is well for England so -far. We shall come out of the darkness if--if the _people_ will it. Up -to the present they have grudged nothing--neither time, nor labour, nor -money, nor sacrifice. They have been in every sense worthy of British -tradition--a people splendid. Now it is that they must see they do not -fall a prey to “party” traps, designed for the safeguarding of Germany -in those quarters where British financial interests are concerned. - -I repeat, “All is well with England!”--all _will_ be well--if the -_people_ are awake and alert, if they will unite to remove the German -foe from their midst, and if they will in time remember the old proverb -which says, “It’s no use shutting the stable door when the horse is -stolen.” The German has the fixed intention of re-monopolising trade -when the war is over, and already our Indian Empire is in advance of us -by the ban announced against German trade in India, and the barring of -German ships from Indian ports. - -Decisive action must be taken in these matters before it is too late. -British trade interests, British artisans, British workers of all -classes must be defended and protected and encouraged. - -The agricultural arts and sciences must be made a primary matter of -education for the people, and our productive soil must be given a fair -chance. Landowners who have held thousands of acres for the pleasure -of sport alone must yield to the necessity of feeding men instead of -preserving game, and a prosperous, smiling England, “a land flowing -with milk and honey,” will be the reward of all those who steadily set -their energies to work in the right direction, that right direction -being always for the good of the many and not for self or the few. It -should surely be the aim of every true patriot to leave his country -better than he found it, and all personal interest should and must go -to the wall where the welfare of the people is at all concerned. The -trend of thought is all in this one way, for which we may thank God. A -renewed faith in the highest, a return to the devotional spirit of true -religion, and a resolve to root out from every educational system, -from every art, from every form of literature all that makes for evil -and degradation; this will ensure all being “well for England,” so -well, that neither the hatred, envy, nor malice of rivals can move her -from her sure foundations of peace. - -She should be, and she _must_ be great and pure, with the greatness and -pureness for which our heroes have fought in the past, and for which -they fight to-day, and for this high cause, though we mourn our slain -manhood, we must grudge no sacrifice, however hard. We have not grudged -anything as yet--we shall never begin to do so. And so both now and in -the days to come, through God’s mercy, may we ever be able to say-- - - “All is well with England!” - -(When the above was first issued as a booklet by the publishers, -Messrs. Greening, it elicited a long and eloquent letter from the “St. -Andrews Society,” asking me why I addressed my pamphlet to England? -Where was Scotland in my thoughts? Knowing the curious prejudice some -Scotsmen entertain for the word “England” (which I have liked to -imagine included Scotland, Ireland, and Wales), I made haste to reply -that I had not presumed to ask “Is all well with Scotland?” as I know -all _must_ be well, and that all would be for ever well! How could -anything go ill with _Scotland_? I do not know whether I satisfied my -truculent correspondent, but I hope I did.) - - - - -THE WORLD IN TEARS - - (_The following was written at the request of Mr. Robert Hayes, - the publisher, who asked for it as a preface to a helpful little - book of “Messages of Hope, Sympathy, and Consolation,” entitled_ - THE WORLD IN TEARS. _Those who contributed to this book included - many well-known “leaders,” such as the Bishop of Birmingham, the - Archdeacon of Westminster, the Dean of Manchester, etc., etc., and - the publisher introduced my article in the following kindly note_:-- - - _In preparing the book for Press it was thought desirable - to obtain, and include, an introduction by an author whose - sympathies would commend it to the general public. Miss - Marie Corelli immediately came to mind. No one could essay - the task better._ - - _To Miss Marie Corelli, then, the publisher wrote for - assistance. It was generously, courteously, and promptly - given. His best thanks are recorded here for this able and - kindly help in producing what he hopes will bring comfort - to a multitude who sorrow and some financial assistance to - that benevolent and deserving institution, the British Red - Cross Society._) - - -All over the world to-day looms the brooding shadow of Death--that -strange and solemn Mystery which to most of us seems a complete -Disappearance for ever into the eternal Unknown. Though truly, if our -faith in God be perfect, we should not look upon it as a Shadow, but -a Brightness; a glorious fulfilment for which the experiences and -trials of this present life are the needful training and preparation. -Nevertheless, the ties of human affection are strong, and partings -are always bitter--so that whether our beloved ones go away from us -for weeks, months, or years--whether to a far country or to another -world--it is hard to say “good-bye!” and the sorrow of separation is -the sorrow of all the lives that are left thus lonely. The strongest -and bravest of us know well enough that those we have lost are not -really “dead,” but living elsewhere; yet the fact that they are not -actually with us--that we cannot hear their voices or hold their hands -in our own--is sufficient to crush us down under such a burden of grief -that we feel as if we could never lift up our eyes to heaven again or -trust the great Power Invisible which has allowed us to be deprived of -all we hold most dear. Nothing can be said in the way of consolation -that does not, at such a time, sound poor and trivial. A great grief -is of all things the most sacred: and even the gentle words of the -gentlest and most compassionate friend hurt like a careless touch on an -open wound. - -In this unspeakably wicked War much of our best and bravest British -manhood has been sacrificed, to say nothing of the terrible losses -suffered by our noble and resolute Allies. Young, promising, and heroic -lives have been ruthlessly slaughtered on all the fields of battle, -and it would not be too much to say that the whole of Europe is in -mourning. It is the hour of supreme self-sacrifice; we are called -upon to give the best of everything we have to our country, so that -we may keep it safe from the invasion of a remorseless foe, and hold -its liberty intact. Blood and treasure and tears are the price of -our freedom; we hold nothing back. But an awful responsibility rests -upon all those who primarily brought about this most un-Christian -world-contest; for war and the murder of the many is always the result -of the evil thoughts and passions of a misguided few. If Peoples in the -aggregate were governed by strong, brave, honest men who loved equity -more than their own advancement, there would be no wars. But as yet we -are still seeking for even One strong, brave, honest man! Our national -Poet speaks truth when he tells us,-- - -“To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten -thousand.” - -Meanwhile, for the incalculable crimes of Dishonest Governments, the -Peoples are bereaved of their children--their young manhood--and -mothers, sisters, sweethearts, wives, and little ones are flung -remorselessly into withering fires of agony, and drowned in a deep -sea of tears. Who shall comfort these poor wounded hearts?--who shall -fill these empty and desolate lives?--who shall raise them from their -swooning despair amid the dust of graves and turn their hopes towards -that Higher Life, which though unseen and unrealised, is as certain as -what we understand to be life in this world? The Christian Faith is, -or should be, the Comforter, if accepted in its true spiritual sense. -We are too prone to deaden and cheapen its splendid teaching by the -dullness of our own understanding: we seek to materialise into common -earthiness that which is purely heavenly. If we trusted more absolutely -in the Divine Intelligence, through whose will and power we have come -into being, we should be entirely sure of the positive truth pronounced -by St. Paul to the Corinthians:-- - -“There are celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of -the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.... -So also is the resurrection of the dead; it is sown in corruption, -it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised -in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a -natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body -and there is a spiritual body.” - -This is what all the scientific, theological, and psychical instructors -that ever lived in the world have been striving to teach humanity -through ages upon ages. But we still continue to cling to the natural -“body”--not the spiritual--to the temporal, and not the eternal; and, -despite both religion and science, we surround the episode of death -with every sort of gloomy panoply and weeping protest against the -Divine decree. Yet our men who have died at the front have died with -extraordinary cheerfulness; it would seem that some God-given influence -has surrounded them in the very midst of all the most awful ways of -dying! Never a murmur--never a complaint--never a regret! Wonderful, -and indeed miraculous is this, if we pause to think of it! It is as -if they knew, or were being told, that there are many things in life -worse than death! They face the Last Terror with a dauntless smile and -unflinching eyes, and it may be that they see light where many of us, -blinded by personal sorrow, are only conscious of darkness. Our Selves -are the clouds which cover the sun. - -And while we continue to sit in the shadow and mourn for our absent, -though never lost ones, it is well we should bear in mind that no life -lived on earth, however long extended, is complete. No lesson is ever -thoroughly learned, no accomplishment ever entirely mastered. No poet, -musician, or painter ever produced a “perfect” work. Why? Because here -we are only in a preparatory school--wider instruction is to come. The -fullness of existence which is ultimately destined to be ours is an -ever-increasing perfection and power which are at present impossible -for us to conceive. Just as when we came into this world we had no -knowledge beforehand of its natural beauties and delights, so in the -same way we cannot, in our present condition, realise the “Shall Be” -of the Hereafter. Our bodies, to which we attach such undue importance -here, are composed entirely of particles or atoms which are constantly -changing, and none of us possess the same body we had seven or fourteen -years ago. That body has already suffered death--not by violence, but -by change. The manner in which the change has been effected is not -perceived by ourselves, yet it has occurred. Identity of person does -not depend on the identity of these atoms; the individual Spirit is the -same, despite the shifting forces or renewal of cells in its tenement -of clay. Continuity, persistency, and individuality are eternal laws, -and remake the vesture of the soul according to its needs. Therefore -our beloved dead are not truly dead, for, “as we have borne the image -of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” - -Many of us find it difficult--even impossible--to accept this -reasoning, and why? Because our minds are always more or less attuned -to the lower key of Self--Self, and our own private and particular -sorrow. As long as this is the case the light will never come through -the gloom; we shall never “see God.” We shall never understand that -the lives sacrificed with such splendid heroism, for the freedom and -purification of the whole world, have not ceased to live, and that -they have simply “passed on.” But--is not the parting from them cruel? -Ah, yes! but partings even more cruel are common in the most ordinary -daily life. When love grows cold--when fair illusions perish--when -the friend we trusted is treacherous and ungrateful--when we have -to “let go” those we have most dearly cherished to other loves and -new surroundings--are not these things “cruel”? Crueller far than -death!--for death most usually clears up many misunderstandings and -sets the true soul right with itself and with that which it has loved -faithfully. For there are many kinds of so-called “love” which is not -love at all, but merely the passion or caprice of the moment, and -which, if resolved into marriage between the two persons concerned, -ends in mutual indifference and life-long unhappiness, and in such -cases, death is a release which separates finally and for ever. But -there is another sort of love which is so deep and unselfish, and -loyal, that it needs no earthly bond to make it eternal, and which, no -matter how long the parting, whether by absence or death, is so truly -love in the highest sense that all the powers of earth or heaven could -not hinder its complete union with the beloved. - -“Shall we meet again?” sighs the bereaved mother, the lonely wife, the -despairing lover! Most assuredly you will!--by all the known laws of -attraction in this glorious Universe you _must_ meet again, if your -love be love indeed! Love is not limited by time or space; we know -that we can obtain light from a star many millions of miles distant, -and in the same way we can give and receive love from our parted dear -ones, and can exert this power far beyond the confines of our bodies. -But only when love is really true can this happen. For, when the veil -is withdrawn from heaven and the released Spirit goes hence, it sees -and knows clearly which of all its friends on earth has loved it most -unselfishly and sincerely--whose sorrow is the most tender--whose -faith is most entirely faithful! And only shall such an one meet it -again and rejoice in everlasting union. _We find our own_: we discover -our beloved ones in that state of clear vision and life-fulfilment to -which we are all hastening. And in realising this we shall also realise -that in all the truths of science and of reasoning there is No Death; -and that we deceive ourselves in the confusing shadow of our personal -griefs when they are strong and bitter as they are to-day, because of -our own “personal” sense of loss. - -“It is because my beloved is gone!” is the cry--“Because I shall see -him no more!” - -Patience! He has not “gone” far! Just into the next room of existence, -whither you yourself will soon go; there is but the slightest partition -between you! And you will see him, as it were, directly--and you will -know him, as he will see and know _you!_--and you will wonder why you -shed so many tears when all the while he is alive, and happy in the -consciousness of having done something in his earthly life to prepare a -cleaner, safer world for the generations coming after him. - -But, if this is so, some of us ask, why are we not given the proofs of -it? Why does not God make us sure? You might as well demand why, in the -former ages of the world, the learning and science of the present day -were not revealed. “Sound-waves,” “light-rays,” “radium,” “electric -force,”--all these existed from the very beginning of creation--_why -were we not told?_ Simply because, by universal law, all advancement -is, and _must_ be the result of gradual evolvement, suited to the -slowly expanding capacity of the human brain and its attendant mental -spirituality, and because it is decreed that we shall “work out our own -salvation.” One thing is certain, and that is, that--_if_ we knew--if -we were told the smallest part of the wondrous hidden future awaiting -us, hardly any of us would have the resolution to live this preparatory -life through! We should all hurry ourselves out of the world, for we -would not have the patience to endure its schooling. We could not wait. -We would rush to grasp our glory; we would not work to win it, and so -we might lose what we must ourselves deserve to gain. Hence arose the -saying, “Those whom the gods love die young.” For their schooling has -been brief and easy--“Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from -their labours.” - -A striking illustration of faith in God and the future life has been -given to us in these days of darkness by the heroic martyrdom and -death of Edith Cavell, murdered by human brutes for whom Christianity -has become a dead letter. Her resignation, and her thanks to God for -her “ten weeks’ quiet before the end”--her unaffected devotion to the -Christian Faith--her simple “Good-bye” to her spiritual adviser with -a happy smile and her confident assurance, “We shall meet again!” -make a brilliant and inspiring contrast to the doubt and distrust of -God’s mercy openly manifested by many of those who are bereaved and -mourning in the “Valley of the Shadow.” Prayerfully one wonders when -the inhabitants of this small planet of ours will come to realise -the fixed law of its being?--a Law which knows no changing! Namely, -that Progression towards Good--Good, not only for one’s Self, but for -Humanity--brings peace and prosperity; while Retrogression towards -Evil results in war and ruin! God Himself cannot undo this Law, which -is part of His own Eternal Existence--it is as fixed as the poles. We -dare not blame His Almighty justice for the evil we have deliberately -brought upon ourselves. No one can deny that all the nations now -warring together have for many years past sought to put God altogether -out of their countings, while societies and individuals, rejoicing in -prolonged good fortune and taking as their right the blessings bestowed -upon them through the mercy of a beneficent and kindly Providence, have -forgotten to Whom they should give thanks, and have become “puffed -up,” as the Psalmist says, with pride, and enervated by luxury. We -have had innumerable warnings, but we would not listen. We have made -a jest and a mockery of all those who sought to rouse us from our -lethargy. We have permitted such inroads of vice and atheism into our -lives and morals, our art and letters, as might make pagans blush. -The Press of the world has not occupied itself with the uplifting -of the brotherhood of the peoples,--on the contrary, it has taken -pleasure in sowing the seeds of discontent and rebellion, and has given -prominence to the unworthy, praising the stage-mime more than the -statesman--the materialist more than the idealist. Moreover, so far as -our foe is concerned, it has left no stone unturned that could rouse -the Teuton wolf from its lair. Bitter mockery, stinging gibe, misplaced -sneers--these have all been flung at Germany for the past ten years or -more, and, though they have been written chiefly by half-educated young -men and boys who in the might of an ineffable conceit “rush in where -angels fear to tread,” they have had harmful effect. A great statesman -said to me recently, “Had there been no Press there would have been no -war.” - -This may or may not be true,--but whether true or false the eternal -verities make no mistake in their summing-up of evil things to a -fatal figure. Thoughts give place to words, and words to actions. The -War-thought is the embryo of the War-deed. Let us not, therefore, in -the bitterness of our own personal sorrows blame God, or demand “Where -was He?” when our dear ones have been slain. The nations have brought -this chastisement of terror upon themselves; and that the innocent must -suffer with the guilty is the worst part of the punishment. The world -was becoming sordid, covetous, and materialistic; and now the young -and strong and brave of our best manhood are called upon to cleanse it -of its foul humours and to _leave it clean_. Some thousands of lives -must be sacrificed in this great struggle for Freedom and for Right, -but better to die honoured than live shamed! Life, as generally lived, -is not worth the pains we take to preserve it; we do our loved ones an -infinite wrong when we assume that their best chance of happiness is to -eat and sleep and play, and make the wherewithal to eat and sleep and -play. A brave death is more valuable than an ignoble life; death itself -being the admission to a more vital and splendid experience. - -This being so, we should not mourn as “those having no hope.” We, who -have loved and lost for a time, will go on loving till we find our lost -again, as we shall surely do. We shall meet and know each other on that -higher plane where life is life indeed and love is love indeed; and -we shall make amends for all our weeping and complaint. We shall see -how slight and brief, after all, were the troubles of this present, -compared with the perfect joy of the attained future. And we shall read -the Book of the Wisdom of God without mistaking one word or letter of -its meaning, and we shall learn that Love alone is the conqueror of all -kingdoms. So lift up your weeping eyes, ye million mourners!--lift them -to the Light and Life Eternal, which shall not fail you even in this -dark Battle-Dream of Death! - - - - -GOD AND THE WAR - -(_Written for “Some 1918 Reflections.” A collection arranged by Guy -Glendower Croft_) - - -Among the many “reflections” flashed upon the mirror of the time there -is one which to my mind is not so much a “reflection” as a blur--a blot -which is almost a dark and deepening shadow. I, who venture to write of -it, own myself to be but a mere romancist, whose ostensible business is -to weave night and day, like the “Lady of Shalott,”--“A magic web with -colours gay,” a web of thought-tapestry into scenes and episodes which -may or may not please my readers and distract them from the continuous -harassment and grief brought upon them by the war. It might even be -said of me that-- - - “So she weaveth steadily - And little other care hath she,” - -but for the further fact that-- - - “Moving through a mirror clear - That hangs before her all the year - Shadows of the world appear,” - -and the Shadow which darkens my outlook most is what I may call the -Shadow of Negation, or what the Roman Church classifies among the sins -against the Holy Ghost, namely, “Presumption of God’s mercy.” - -There are any number of apparently worthy, respectable and -well-intentioned persons who regard the Great War as a singular piece -of Divine injustice and undeserved annoyance to themselves--and their -attitude towards it is so amazing as to be almost incredible. - -They are incapable of taking a broad outlook; and, to them, the whole -terrible business is a monstrously impertinent interference with the -peaceful working of the Parish Pump--no more. - -This curious mental standpoint was forced upon my notice recently by -the remarks of a seemingly intelligent man of commerce, who, having -made a pleasant little “pile” which enables him to live comfortably -for the rest of his days, and being much too old for any form of -“active” or “national” service, has, literally, nothing to complain -of, and nothing to do but offer his valueless opinions on the terrific -happenings of the hour. And he it was, who, with an air of judicially -settling the business of the Universe, once and for all, said firmly,-- - -“I’ve given up God! I don’t believe in a God! If there was one He would -not have permitted this war!” - -This crushing observation from one of the least of human microbes -would not merit notice but for the fact that many more intelligent -and thoughtful microbes than he have committed themselves to the same -unwise and, I may venture to say, blasphemous utterance. For, if any -doubter has need of assurance as to the existence of God, this great -and terrible war is the most profound, significant, and emphatic -declaration of Almighty Power and Justice that the world has ever known. - -It is the strong, resolved assertion of a vast spiritual and -intellectual Force, which, for many years, all the nations now -warring together have elected to ignore, or else to acknowledge in -such half-hearted fashion that sheer ignoring might betoken greater -reverence. It is the Force, which by natural and immutable law acts -upon unclean and poisonous things and exterminates them without mercy -or appeal. We may call it Fate or God as it suits us--but whatever be -the accepted name of this eternally working system of Mathematics, it -admits of no false quantities and has to be reckoned with as the only -positive FACT in the universe. All else may change, “Heaven and earth -may pass away but My Word shall not pass away.” That is to say--“My -Word” is the eternal Law; and however craftily and cleverly we may -arrange our little “civilisations” and schemes of “giving” in order to -“get,” we cannot carry forward a single act of injustice or falsity -without punishment following the offence. If not soon, then late. _Our_ -judgments, _our_ opinions on the scroll of everlasting equity, are as -the scrawls of babes who are incapable of mastering the fact that two -and two make four. We are always trying to make them five, the one over -being a clumsy attempt to gain some advantage to ourselves. - -It is our “camouflage”--that vulgar expression of French police -“argot” which truly is not in the French language at all, but -which, nevertheless, has lately become the stupid parrot-cry of the -irremediably illiterate British press, whose paragraphists seize with -rabid joy on any foreign word they do not entirely understand and run -it to death. - -Yet, try as we may, two and two will _not_ make five. Hence our small -political quarrels and big greedy wars. - -The _pros_ and _cons_ of the present terrific clash of nations can -be totalled up as easily as a sum on a slate--each effect has had -its causes. Belgium is devastated, and her people have been and are -robbed, tortured, and murdered. True! But what of Belgium’s own -tacitly approved cruelties on the Congo? The present is the result of -the past. Consider Russia! She is like a great creature fallen in the -dust--the seeming corpse of herself, helpless to move, while birds of -prey gather round her seeking to tear her to bits and divide the spoil. -But does not Russia deserve her fate?--has she not invited it? May we -not think of her cruelties, tyrannies, and enslavements practised on -her own people for hundreds of years? The gods have been patient with -her arrogance, but there is a limit even to divine patience. Italy and -France--prosperous, and growing more and more fond of money-getting, -eager to destroy all their noble, ancient ideals--these have, as it -were, administered a kick to the very thought of Deity. - -Twenty years ago in France the _Catechisme du Libre Pensuer_ was taught -in schools, and the name of God excluded from the general curriculum. -Italy has long been openly pagan, notwithstanding the “Holy Prisoner” -of the Vatican. And Germany, our brutal foe, has flung every ideal to -the winds save Self and Greed, so that not even the “untutored savage” -principles of honour have any hold on her. - -And what may we, what _dare_ we say of Great Britain? Is it a _true_ -religion that to suit convention prints a prayer to God in a rag -newspaper, when for years that same newspaper has ignored every sign, -symbol, or suggestion of religious faith? Rightly or wrongly, British -folk are credited with more “camouflage” than all the French police put -together; “camouflage” in this instance standing for hypocrisy, and if -they do believe in a God it is difficult to realise their sincerity. - -Meanwhile the old thunder rolls from Heaven--“God is not mocked!” -and, so far from seeing His “injustice” in this terrible war which is -ruining so much that can never be replaced, let us realise that we, the -offending Nations, have brought it upon Ourselves. - -Ourselves have been ungrateful for His mercies and blessings; Ourselves -have made Self our god, and Wealth our chief aim--and so now by the -Divine Law shall Our Selves be slain and our wealth taken from us. Thus -the Shadow darkens the mirror of my “reflections”--for I feel with -Admiral Beatty that (as he expressed it) “until religious revival takes -place at home just so long will the war continue. When England can look -out on the future with humbler eyes and a prayer on her lips, then we -can begin to count the days towards the end!” - -Then--and only then! Then the Shadow will lift and the mirror will -reflect the glorious figure of Victory.... - - “Like to some branch of stars we see - Hung in the golden Galaxy!” - -But not till then! And meanwhile the Great War must be seen in its true -light--as a Punishment of Nations for their unrepented wrongs to one -another! - - - - -TRIUMPH OF WOMANHOOD - -(_Written for the Scottish Women’s Hospital_) - - -As a light in deep darkness she has arisen--woman, pure womanly, with -all the God-given attributes of her highest nature at last acknowledged -by her self-styled “lord and master,” Man! She has shaken off the -trammels which for many centuries he had fastened about her--as heroic -maid and mother she has roused the better spirit in him. Out of the -gloom and blood and slaughter of this world war--the most wicked war -that ever devastated the earth--she has radiated upon him like an -angel, clothed in a glory of love and pity; and, moving by his side -through the poisonous smoke of battle and the thunder of the guns, -she has cheered him on his way. When wounded and fallen she has been -swift to rescue him, and first to soothe. Who will, who _can_, ever -justly estimate the saving work of women in this terrific holocaust -of nations!--this mad hurtling of man against brother--man without -thought for the consequences of such wholesale murder! To Woman, in her -mother-love and mercy, friend and foe are alike indifferent; all that -her pitying eyes see are the gaping wounds, the flowing blood, the torn -and disfigured limbs--her province is to save, heal, and comfort if she -can. She knows that with God there are no nations, but that all men -are human beings, subject to the same sufferings, the same deaths; she -knows by the teaching of Christ that not a sparrow shall fall to the -ground without Our Father, and that men are of “more value than many -sparrows.” So, placing herself in tenderest unison with that “quality -of mercy” which - - “Is not strained, - But droppeth, like the gentle rain from heaven, - Upon the place beneath,” - -she gives her care and service to all. She has no fears for herself; -she would as soon die as live, provided only she is doing her duty. -Perhaps, away down in the very core of her heart, her natural maternal -instinct teaches her that these struggling, contesting masses of men -are more or less enraged children, tormented and driven by bigger boys -than themselves to fall upon each other and slay without thought--she -may sometimes think wistfully that had they sought her counsel they -might have found some better way out of their quarrel than the killing -of their brothers--but, until lately, her rôle through all the -centuries has been the mistaken one of submission to man’s caprice -or ordainment, and any attempt at individuality on her part has been -decried as a perversion of sex. Now the question of sex, reduced -to first principles, appears to be that woman should find her sole -content as the “vessel” of man’s pleasure--the breeder and nurse of his -offspring and no more. This great war has somewhat altered the lines of -the masculine perspective, for men have been forced to admit that women -can do all their work as well as themselves, and sometimes better. They -can even build ships and aeroplanes, and all this without losing the -spirit of womanliness. Strange as it may seem, the woman who might -lately have been seen hammering at the keel of a “Dreadnought” can -prove herself soft-handed in tending the wounded, and most reverently -loving in her last cares for the dying and the dead. She has mastered -her nerves--those “Early Victorian” nerves which shuddered fastidiously -at the sight of blood, and sent their hysterical owners into a swoon -when dangers or difficulties arose, in order to create fresh confusion; -she knows the great secret of self-control, and the wonderful vigour -and courage which are born of that fine quality. There are very few -women nowadays who scream at the sight of a mouse! But this was -considered quite “the proper thing” to do in Jane Austen days, just -as in some of the queer old novels written before the grand romances -of Sir Walter Scott, the heroines invariably “fainted away” when the -lover of the piece declared his passion. Women know that “lover of the -piece” fairly well by this time, and all his limitations--sufficiently, -at any rate, to be convinced that there is nothing in him worth even a -pretended “swoon,” though there may be much that _is_ worth cherishing, -guiding, and inspiring to the best purposes. Not every man is like a -certain one I wot of, who, after being nursed for three months in a -friend’s house, said to that friend and hostess on the day he left in -restored health,--“If you want a man to like you, never do anything for -him!” This was not said in jest, but in grim and churlish earnest. It -was a curious recompense for three months’ watchful anxiety and care, -but I dare say she realised then, if never before, that “one cannot -make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” Fortunately there are few such -“sow’s ears” about; most men, especially our heroic fighters, are -touchingly grateful for women’s kindness and devoted nursing, while -fairly astonished at their endurance, cheerfulness, patience, and -devotion. Truly, the supposed “incapacities” of woman never existed -except in the hopelessly unintelligent of her sex which have their -counterpart in man; she has supported her share of the burden of life -under a stupid system of repression and tyranny which has frequently -resulted in discouragement, weariness, and indifference. But give her -the chance to be her true, free self, and she will be the most powerful -factor in the world for the betterment of humanity. We shall not deny -that there are worthless women--fool-women, toy-women,--fit for nothing -but posturing in various attitudes and sets of clothing; but these -will find their level and grow fewer as time goes on. The grander, -purer natures will, like waves of a clean, bright sea, roll over the -mud-banks and eventually wash worthless things away. For now, after -centuries of oppression and servitude, in which her incalculable love -has been more than half wasted, and her splendid qualities misprized, -now at last Woman has her chance! And those who see her day dawning -must and will pray earnestly that she will use her powers always -for the highest and the best, to the end that Man may find in her -not a “drag on the wheel,” but a great lifting strength to bear him -upward and onward to that completeness of noble living which from the -beginning God has ordained. - - - - -IN PRAISE OF ENEMIES - -(_Published in the “Sunday Times”_) - - -We are not always thankful for our blessings; often, indeed, we do not -recognise them as such. They come to us disguised in the fashion of -curses, or so we are apt to consider them till we know better. Many -of us are absurdly proud of the number of our friends; with equal -absurdity we deplore our evil destiny if we have but one enemy. Yet if -all the truth were known, we should find that we have more reason to -thank God for our foes than for our friends! - -In the actual storm and stress of life’s battle our “friends,” -so-called, are of little use to us; they are more prone to be a drag on -the wheel. They are, generally speaking, kind, conventional folk, who, -when a soul is girding on its armour for action, will give “advice,” -such as “Oh, I wouldn’t run any risks, if I were you!” or “Do be -careful not to offend any one!” or “You’ll get yourself disliked!” -as if risk, offence, dislike, and trouble were not full of stimulus, -inspiring the fighting spirit which alone can beat down difficulties -and carry us on from triumph to triumph till the great victory over -ourselves be assured! But enemies! Praise God for them! They are the -useful and necessary Force which hurls itself against all progress, -all power and originality of thought or action--the murderous obstacle -laid across the line in an attempt to wreck the express train--the -great contrary wind that seeks to drive the sailing boat against the -rocks--the “thing in the way” that must be thrust aside and trampled -underfoot. What worker or warrior would willingly forego “each rebuff -that makes earth’s smoothness rough”? The man or woman without an enemy -must be of all persons the most insignificant; one who _does_ nothing -and _is_ nothing; of whom no one is envious, and who can never have -said a brave, original thing, or a word of upright, downright truth in -any circumstances. - -You never know how high you are climbing till you feel some one behind -you trying to pull you down. Perhaps the greatest compliment that can -be paid by ignorance and malice to a man or woman of genius and virtue, -is the verdict passed on the Divine Master in Galilee, that he (or she) -“hath a devil”! - -At the present time more than at any other period of history we of the -British Empire should bless God for our enemies! What they have done -and what they are doing for us, albeit unconsciously and unwillingly, -can hardly be accurately estimated--not while they are still attacking -us. We must wait some years before we can measure up the advantages -they are bestowing upon us--advantages which we might not in a century -have obtained for ourselves. - -We were too satisfied with our apparent “friends”; we were, and still -are, much too sure of them! We were comfortable, contented, lazy. We -had everything we wanted and more. We spent money freely, and being -eminently good-natured and trustful, we allowed every one to come in -at our open doors and partake of our hospitality. Out of our full bags -of gold we poured rivers of charity in every direction; we helped -everybody that asked for help; and we allowed all sorts of folk to -exploit us and make money out of us. We could not believe that the -“friends” we entertained and whose hands we had filled with good gifts -could ever turn upon us. We seemed to have no foes; and we trusted -these “friends” of ours implicitly. Too casual and easy-going to heed -the teachings of philosophy we forgot that it takes a far nobler nature -to receive benefits than to bestow them. - -Mean minds resent generosity while taking advantage of it, and nothing -goads and envenoms some dispositions so much as the near consciousness -of a superior force and ungrudging hand. This was, and is, the trouble -with the Kaiser and his particular following--we will not say Germany, -for German without the Hohenzollern autocracy would be a very different -and far greater Germany than it has been since the days of Goethe and -Schiller. - -The Emperor William, as an eminently theatrical monarch, loving -grease-paint and the limelight, and obsessed by various crazes, such -as hate for his English mother and intensified hate for his mother’s -country, filled even with a morbid revulsion against the English -blood in his own veins, cannot abide the thought of the greatness -and far-reaching protective influence of the British Imperial Power. -To bend, break, and destroy THAT has been his dream from boyhood--a -dream never to be fulfilled! His visits to our shores were the visits -of a seeming “friend,” and we treated him as an honest people treat -an honest man. He took our kindness for stupidity, our trust for -ignorance, our faith for credulity, and his complete misconception of -the British character has led him into a trap which he set for us, but -by which he himself is snared--the usual Nature-law enacted surely and -remorselessly on every treacherous soul. - -What would be said or thought of a man invited to the house of a -kindly hostess and permitted to enjoy the full freedom of the place, -its hospitality, its food, its comfort and shelter, who, on having -used it as a convenience and gained personal pleasure and advantage -therein, even to the making of money, suddenly turned roughly upon his -entertainer, abused her manners, her voice, her speech, her friends, -her servants and mode of living, and having got all he wanted out of -her personally insulted her? Probably not one man in ten thousand -would conduct himself so vilely, but if that one man did so forgo all -manliness, there would be not a few of his own sex ready and more than -willing to put him in his place at the point of the boot. - -Yet such has been the “honorable code of chivalry” of the Emperor -William--the “Kultur” which boasts of treachery to his own kindred, of -injury to his mother’s native land, of wantonly murderous attacks on -innocent civilians who are not in any way concerned with the diseased -obsessions of his brain--a “Kultur” which is more than anything else -the “cult of stupidity”--the stupidity of a blinded bull charging into -everything with unreasoning fury. But for us the bull-onslaught is a -saving grace, for through the blindness of the beast we see! - -Yes, we see, and see clearly! We have discovered our foe behind the -disguise of our “friend,” and instead of opening our doors to him we -shut them. Instead of holding out the hand of welcome and confidence we -put up the curtain of our artillery fire!--and the valour of Britain, -wrongfully supposed to be asleep or dead, is up in all its pristine -might and mettle, full-armed with a strength and magnificent courage -unmatched in all our history. - -This is what our enemies have done for us: they have brought -us to realise the truth Ourselves! Had it not been for their -“stab-i’-the-back” we might still have played away our time, and with -it our commerce. Our enemies have roused our grip and grit; they have -taught us that we can turn out as many fighting men and munitions in -twelve months as they could do in forty years. Even we, accustomed for -a century to a peace unbroken save by small foreign skirmishes, are now -with our Allies winning the greatest war of the world. - -Assaulted in new and brutal ways from the air, from the underseas, -as well as on land, Imperial Britain holds her own, for which she -may thank, not her friends, but her foes. True it is that, as Christ -taught, “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household,” and this -saying is markedly fulfilled in the Kaiser’s hatred of his mother’s -country and people. But whether of one’s own household or not, nothing -is so salutary, so rousing, so inspiring and vivifying to the mind as -the consciousness of enemies, the knowledge that some one envies you, -grudges you success, and would be glad to hear of your failure in some -great effort. It rouses all your latent forces and makes you stronger, -bolder, more irresistible than ever you were before. - -A fair woman never looks fairer than when she is being “picked to -pieces” by a yellow-skinned scandal-monger, and to any individual -possessing gifts above the ordinary the spite and malice of the -envious and jealous are as light on the path and music in the air, -invigorating the heart, bracing the energies, and emphasising the fact -that any one so envied is _worth_ envying, any one so hated is _worth_ -hating, because so far above the reach of either envy or hatred! - -So let us praise God for our enemies! They are adding to our triumphs -and renewing our glories. When we chant the “Te Deum” let us mentally -include an extra strophe which shall say, “We bless Thee, O Lord, -for our foes, that Thou dost suffer them to teach us the sure way to -victory! We thank Thee for their broken faith, their cruelties, and -their falsehoods, as from these we renew our own resolve to keep our -promised word to all nations, and even in the bitterness of battle to -be honest and humane! - -“From their unjust cause we draw fresh justice: from their defeats -we derive our conquest. Without them we might have forgotten what we -_were_ and what we _are_! We thank and praise Thee, O God, that through -these our enemies we have found our best friends--OURSELVES!” - - - - -RECRUITING SPEECH - -(_Delivered in the De Montfort Hall, Leicester_) - - -In the De Montfort Hall, Leicester, at the conclusion of Sir Arthur -Conan Doyle’s Lecture on the Great War, Miss Marie Corelli, who -presided as Chairman, made an appeal for recruits in the following -terms:-- - -“There is very little for me or for any one to say, after what we -have heard to-night. The moving and magnificent panorama which Sir -Arthur Conan Doyle has brought before our eyes by the force of his -eloquence should inspire us more to deeds than words. He has told us -what our men have already done; he has hinted at what they have yet -to do. This fearful war is not a game at football; we cannot play -at it, or put it aside as something to be thought of casually after -we have consulted our own humour and convenience. It is a time of -self-sacrifice; we owe the best of all we have to our country. We must -give, not only ourselves, but those we love to the country’s service. -In these fortunate islands, mercifully protected by the sea, we have -not as yet experienced the horrors of invasion; but invasion _may_ -come, and _will_ come if we are not prepared, alert, and watchful! -We must grudge nothing to prevent such disaster. We must put aside -our own concerns entirely, and think of what this Great War means. -It means wider freedom for the whole world! It means an end to the -tyranny and savagery of Prussian militarism; it means greater progress -and broader civilisation. And being such a war, every man should be -proud and eager to bear his part in it. Any man, physically “fit” who -hesitates or hangs back at such a crucial moment in his country’s -hour of trial is a coward! And any woman who holds him back is also a -coward, and a selfish one! We love our men--yes!--but love is not true -love if it hinders a man from doing his duty. There is danger--there -is chance of death on the field of battle; but death comes to all -of us sooner or later; and we may question whether it is not better -to pass away gloriously with honour, than to creep languidly out of -existence in bed, surrounded by physic bottles. A soldier must face all -possibilities, and a brave man must be willing to risk the worst for -the chance of winning the best. As Shakespeare tells us,-- - - “‘Cowards die many times before their deaths; - The valiant only taste of death but once.’ - -“There is urgent necessity for every able man (who is not employed in -turning out munitions of war) to join the colours--and if he is a man -at all, he should have no hesitation. After such a moving history as -that told us by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is there a ‘fit’ man here who -is not willing and eager to join his brothers-in-arms, and do his best -to make their task easier? Is there a man whose work lies, not abroad, -but at home in the making of shells and ammunition, that would grudge -a single hour of labour for his country in such urgent need? If there -is, he must be of bad blood and not a true-born Briton! - -“If I had the right, the eloquence or the power to plead with you, I -would ask every man here present who can join the colours, but who has -not done so, to do it now! And I would also ask every man whose skill -and strength are needed for the manufacture of war material, to work -steadily, cheerfully, and ungrudgingly, in the full consciousness that -by urging on the necessary output he is helping to save hundreds of the -lives of his countrymen. He, the worker, is as necessary to the Empire -as the soldier; he also is fighting the King’s enemies. - -“And, if I had any force to persuade, I would pray every woman in -this audience to prove her love for the men belonging to her by -inspiring them to do their duty to ‘King and country’; either by -sending them away to join the Army, with all good blessing and trust -in God for their safety--or by ‘heartening’ them up to their work in -war munitions, and putting no difficulties in their path of honour. -For every man that hangs back from military service, or ‘shirks’ his -work refuses to help his brothers; and every woman that keeps a man -away from the great fight, or encourages him to grudge and shorten his -hours of labour is wronging other women’s husband and sons. In this -great test of national character none of us must fail. In the war, as -in work, we must all pull together, shoulder to shoulder to win the -victory which must and shall be ours-- - - “‘If England to herself do rest but true!’” - -The speaker concluded by asking her hearers to join in a hearty vote -of thanks to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his “fine, instructive, and -impressive lecture.” This proposal was seconded by the Mayor of -Leicester (Alderman J. North) and Sir Samuel Faire, and carried with -acclamation, the vast audience being evidently moved to exceptional -enthusiasm. - - - - -SPLENDID CANADA - -A TRIBUTE - - -To you, brave Canadians, to you who have fought so magnificently for -the old Mother-Country, and of whose valour and dash and spirit never -too much can be said or sung, I would address Tennyson’s noble lines:-- - - “A People’s voice, we are a people yet - Though all men else their nobler dreams forget, - _Confused by brainless mobs and lawless powers_; - Thank Him who isled us here and roughly set - His Briton in blown seas and storming showers, - We have a voice with which to pay the debt - Of boundless love and reverence and regret, - _To those great men who fought and kept it ours_ - And keep it ours, O God, from _brute control_: - O Statesmen, guard us, guard the eye, the soul - Of Europe, keep our noble England whole, - And save the one true seed of Freedom sown - Betwixt a people and their ancient throne.” - -The one true seed of Freedom! This is deeply implanted in our Empire, -and you Canadian boys are fostering it and helping it to grow. Your -help is needed in peace as much as in war; we want your strength, -youth, and resolution as a firm bulwark against internal discords and -mischievous disloyalty. It is as brave a thing to face and overcome the -Evil Spirit at home as it is to face him in the field, and showers of -fiery shrapnel are less disintegrating than the showers of personal -malice and intrigue directed only too often against the men to whom we -owe the amazing and almost miraculously sudden downfall and humiliation -of our enemies in the greatest war of history. - -You Canadians have strongly helped to bring this downfall and -humiliation to pass; like a fine family of stalwart sons, you have -formed a guard of honour round your Motherland, and defended her from -the hands of the spoilers. All honour to you! We want you to know and -to believe that we are grateful, and that we shall never forget your -dauntless daring and heroism! Ingratitude is the commonest and yet -the deadliest of sins--ingratitude to God in the first place, and, -in the second, ingratitude to the men whom God has given us to be -our saviours. The first part of the indictment is a matter for each -private and individual conscience; it is for every man and woman to try -and visualise the devastation and misery which have been mercifully -spared to the uninvaded British Isles, and to decide whether his or -her thanksgiving is real, and deeply felt. The second part concerns -the whole people of Great Britain and her Overseas Dominions--whether -they, in very truth and earnest, sufficiently realise what they owe -to the sorely-tried military and naval leaders upon whose shoulders -has fallen the gigantic responsibility of conducting the war to a -victorious issue. _Not_ to realise it is to be guilty of a mental -crime so monstrous as to be almost unimaginable. And yet, the moment -political pawns are set on the chess-broad, every claim to integrity -and patriotism is questioned and argued from the base point of view -of “personal interest.” Personal interest is a powerful motive force -with most men, but it does not count with heroes like Sir Douglas -Haig, Admiral Beatty, or Marshal Foch. Think of these men! for it is -_they_ who won the war--_they_, who through God, have given us the -victory! Not the talkers, but the doers; not the politicians, but the -fighters, among whom you, brave Canadians, held your part like the -heroes of an epic. You are rough, perchance, but you are ready! Some -there are who say you have not received half your rightful share of -honour in this country; if this _is_ so, then your Motherland is indeed -unworthy of your prowess! But I hardly think this is, or can be so. -You do not get the true voice of the British People in the British -Press--always remember that! The People know their best men, and honour -them accordingly. And if, by chance, they are misled occasionally, and -those leaders whom they have believed their “best” prove false to the -trust placed in them, none so swift, sure, and deadly as the British -People to rend them for their broken word. They know you, Canadians, as -their blood-brothers; and as such will resent any wrong inflicted on -your liberties and commerce. They applaud your patriotism and rejoice -in your courage; you are the younger sons of the Empire, and in the -name of one Throne, one Flag, we salute you and give you our heart’s -gratitude! - - - - -SHELLS; AND OTHER SHELLS - -(_Written by request for the Magazine published on behalf of the -Munition Workers of Georgetown, Paisley_) - -A THOUGHT - - -In one of the finest and tenderest poems ever written by our last great -Laureate, Alfred Tennyson, whose departure from this world closed, for -the time, the reign of true English lyrical melody, there occur these -delicately beautiful lines:-- - - “See what a lovely shell - Small and pure as a pearl - Lying close at my foot, - Frail, but a work divine, - Made so fairly well - With delicate spire and whorl - How exquisitely minute! - A miracle of design. - - The tiny cell is forlorn,-- - Void of the little living will - That made it stir on the shore. - Did he stand at the diamond door - Of his house, in a rainbow frill? - Did he push, when he was uncurl’d, - A golden foot or a fairy horn - Through his dim water-world?” - -How often we have seen such shells as these!--and how little have we -associated the familiar name of “shell” with any thought of war or -“shock” or bloodshed! Holding a sea-shell close against our ears we -listen in fancy to the solemn music of the ocean surging through its -hollow cavity,--the ocean with its sweeping thunderous harmony,--though -all the time we know it is but the sound of our own life-blood pouring -through our veins and pulsing upon our senses. And now, when we talk -of “shells,” we mean something vastly different to the “small and pure -as a pearl” object which moved a great Poet to song--for the “pure” -thing was the work of God, and “a miracle of design” wrought to suit -the needs of the “little living will that made it stir on the shore”; -but the “shells” _we_ have to do with are man’s work, made to destroy -all living wills that come in contact with them! In their terrific -way they too are “miracles of design,” for their cavities hold death -and scatter it broadcast. Still more wonderful it is to realise the -fact that women’s hands have been taught and trained to prepare this -flying death--women’s hands, surely formed by nature for tenderness and -caressing, for soothing and consoling! How, then, has it chanced that -they should adapt themselves to such dire uses? Why do they labour so -strenuously and eagerly to make weapons for the armoury of the King of -Terrors? Women’s hands! What charming and poetic things have been said -and written about them! Think of the hands in Fra Angelico’s picture of -the “Angel of the Annunciation” where the dainty tapering fingers are -as exquisitely delicate as the buds of the lilies they hold! Or, recall -the subtle beauty of Heine’s description of the hand of an unknown -lady, resting white and beautiful on the carved edge of a confessional -in a dark cathedral aisle, the owner of the hand being too enshrouded -in shadows to be visible. - -“So still and pure was that lovely hand,” wrote the poet, “that -whatever sins its mistress might be admitting to her confessor, it was -evident that of itself it had nothing to do with sin or folly. It was a -stainless sweetness alone and apart, and shone in the gloom of the vast -cathedral like a sculptured ivory emblem of innocence.” - -Nevertheless!--women’s hands that are, or that might be, as delicate -and caressable as those of Fra Angelico’s model, or Heine’s unseen -lady, are now at work in the strangest kind of “annunciation”!--the -most amazing form of “confession”! Why do they toil in such a contrary -fashion to their natural bent and inclination? The answer is swift and -conclusive. Because Evil is let loose on the earth, and because Good -must use all force to overcome it. And, out of sternest necessity, Good -must arm itself with weapons that shall not only match but surpass -those employed by Evil. In a fight against devils, angels must join -battle. In some of the most magnificent scenes of Milton’s “Paradise -Lost” when war rages between the warriors of God and the followers -of Satan, the good are described as fighting against the bad with -terrific weapons of attack, and the outbursts of fire hurled against -the devilish foe were none the less potent because wrought by the -angelic hosts. Our women workers who prepare the munitions of war are -one and all inspired by the same fixed motive and desire--namely, to -end the sorrows and suspense of the suffering nations who are involved -in the disastrous upheaval which is the result of a people’s pitiful -belief in the “divine right,” of a crowned madman. And as they turn -out “shells” and yet more “shells,” we know that they hope and believe -that for every one completed, at least one of the fiendish murderers -of the innocent may be dismissed from a world which his presence has -darkened. Perchance they may, as they press on with their work, hear -more mystic sounds than are conveyed in the cavity of an empty shell -“void of a living will” on the sea-shore--for their filled shell speaks -of their own blood, burning with grief and indignation at the slaughter -of their kindred--and of the roar and thunder of the guns instead of -the crashing billows of the sea. Who shall count the throbbing thoughts -of the women who fill these “shells”?--women who look calm enough and -resolute enough, and who work on tirelessly and almost wordlessly, as -though moved by a single heart, beating through each one’s separate -labour! A visitor to a shell factory in the Midlands said to me,--“They -work quite mechanically; I think they hardly know what they are about.” -_Don’t_ they know what they are about? Indeed they do! They know they -are making weapons of destruction that shall bring reprisals for the -deaths of brave men--they know that they are helping to save the lives -of their own kinsmen, and with all their strength they “speed up,” -because they feel that by so doing they are pushing on the end of the -war. We shall never be able to realise how much they have done for us, -and alas!--the ingratitude of nations to its workers is proverbial. -It takes a woman to understand woman’s enforced labour, and to enter -with sympathy into all she loses by taking the place of man in hard -and difficult times--what sacrifices in health and vitality she makes -by long hours of steady application to monotonous factory work--what -temptations she has to resist--what bribes--yes!--bribes of cash and -comfort she has to forgo. For the enemy is busy elsewhere than on -the field--insidious and indefatigable in stirring up strife in this -country and sowing the seeds of disloyalty and discontent, and it says -much for our women that they are awake and alert to the fact. Of the -contemptible few who “make love” to “Fritz” in his prison camp, one -can only be sorry that they are so “weak in the upper story!” The real -women of the Empire--the women who, in the after-war days that are -coming, will have so much of the country’s destiny in their guidance, -are in the majority sound, sane, and loyal--we can trust them with work -even more momentous than the making of shells! Meanwhile, we can try to -be grateful to them for their steadiness and perserverance, their pluck -and patience, and let us not forget at any time what we owe to them. -It should be graven deep on the records of the nation that--_Without -Women’s Work the War Could Not Be Won!_ And in the hour of victory let -us not fail to pay them our debt of Honour! - - - - -DARKNESS AND LIGHT - -(_Written at the request of Sir Arthur Pearson as the Prologue to -an Entertainment on behalf of St. Dunstan’s Hostel for Soldiers and -Sailors Blinded in the War_) - - “Oh, dark, dark, dark amid the blaze of noon, - Irrecoverably dark! Total eclipse - Without all hope of day!” - Samson Agonistes. - - -You, whose eyes are able to read these tragic lines of blind John -Milton, can you realise what they mean? Do you feel to the innermost -core of your heart the blackness of that “eclipse without all hope of -day,” which like a never-lifting cloud envelopes those from whom the -blessing of sight has been taken for ever! Can you, even by the utmost -exertion of your imagination, truly grasp what it would mean to you -if all light and colour were blotted out from your consciousness, and -you had to rely on a merciful guiding hand to lead you to and fro, to -hold you lest you stumbled, and conduct you from places of business -or pleasure safely back to your home? If you could not see beloved -faces?--if the sunlight could never again reach those poor closed -channels of the vision you once enjoyed?--if the skies, the lovely -country, the woods and the ocean were all glories that should never -again gladden your sight?--if this were so, would you not pray to God -that being thus handicapped He would at least give you _friends_? -Friends who would be eyes to you, hands to you--who would cheer you in -dreadful moments of depression blacker than blindness, and who would -help you to find occupation and train you to do useful work, although -sightless, so that the days and years should not be so fraught with -monotony and dull regret; and that life, after all, should not seem a -barren and empty thing? - -You have heard of St. Dunstan’s Hostel for soldiers and sailors blinded -in the war? It is now one of earth’s “Holy Places”--holy because -the benediction of heaven has made it a sanctuary--a sanctuary of -love, patience, self-sacrifice and untiring devotion--holy, because -the patiently endured martyrdom of a brave man has been and is its -spiritual foundation. Sir Arthur Pearson--(some of you do not know it -or think of it)--is himself blind. And what makes his sorrow darker for -him, is that he has known all the blessings of perfect sight--he has -enjoyed all the activities of an eager and vigorous life, and is still -in the prime of manhood. “How sad for him!” murmurs the conventional -Society voice--“Such a drawback!” Yes, how sad!--but what gladness for -others he gathers from his own handicap!--what splendid results have -sprung from his “drawback!”--what sunshine pours from the cloud of his -night! The American essayist, Emerson, in advising one stricken with -adversity, writes, “Be like the wounded oyster, _mend your shell with -a pearl_!” With what a pearl of great price has Arthur Pearson mended -his life’s wound! Knowing the bitterness of blindness, he has devoted -all his energies to the care of the blind and to the lightening of -their darkness, especially to those heroes who, in the very hey-day -of their youth and manliness have gone unhesitatingly forth to face -the foe in this wickedest of wars, and have been blinded by shot and -shell explosions, losing all sense of vision in one cruel moment--a -moment that rings down the curtain on all scenes and faces for ever! -Shall we not, with all our hearts, help the sublime cause of “love to -our neighbours,” and consolation to our self-sacrificing soldiers and -sailors, taught to us by the example of this Englishman who does not -protest, but _lives_ his Christian faith in a manner that Christ must -surely approve? It would be trespassing on sacred ground to presume -to guess how much heavenly light has been mystically shed on his own -darkness by this noble dedication of his sorrow to noblest ends. But -it may be reverently said that he has followed as far as is humanly -possible the Divine Teacher who, in healing a blind man, “put His hands -upon his eyes and _made him look up_.” In this we can all help. We -can make our brave, blind friends, the soldiers and sailors, rendered -sightless for our sakes, “look up!” We can make them feel they are not -alone and helpless in a dark world; we can convince them that their -welfare is dear to us, and that we are fully conscious of the immense -sacrifices they have made for us and for the country. Let us all then -do our utmost and best for St. Dunstan’s and strengthen the hands -of its Founder, and let it never be said that we were guilty of the -meanest vice known to humanity--Ingratitude! - - - - -SWEEPING THE COUNTRY - - -They say it does; and I hardly wonder! The broom is so long and -searchful; it goes into so many holes and corners that surely not a -single spider’s web is left unvisited. It gathers up the pale dust -of British gullability with an admirable adroitness, and what is -perhaps the best thing about it is that it pays for its sweepings. Not -every broom does that! But I am told--I do not assert it or vouch for -it--that it is a German broom; and no make of broom in all the world is -more capable of industry or more resistless to wear and tear. Opposed -as we are, and as we must be, to German militarism, German labour -will, I fear, be always ahead of us, especially if the German worker -puts in eight or ten hours where the British decides to give only four -or six. This is a matter for future testing; in the meanwhile let us -consider with attention, in capital letters “THIS MORNING’S NEWS ABOUT -PELMANISM,” as it appears in that esteemed journal _The Sunday Times_, -to which I have had the honour to contribute. It is but the other day -that I was assured “on the highest authority” (as the bewildered press -reporters at the Peace Conference have expressed it) that “Pelman” -was originally spelt “_Poehlmann_,” and that at discreet intervals -his “Magic Card” would be followed by another, inscribed “_Roth_.” -Both names have the euphonious Teuton ring about them, and they both -imply Money--money spent lavishly and magnificently on the “flowing -tide of Pelmanism” by way of opulent and ceaseless advertisement in -all the newspapers which joyously yield their columns to cash rather -than to intelligent information, and give up whole pages to “Pelman” -or “Roth” indiscriminately, in competition with a kindly Swedish -masseur or exercise-man, who in equally lavish announcements and -large type, promises health to the healthless even as “Pelman” and -“Roth” promise brain to the brainless. Of “Roth” I know little except -that according to advertisement “he is a remarkable man” (of which I -am entirely convinced), but of “Pelman” I have learned something at -first hand. I have learned, for instance, how it is that the spacious, -tremendous, profuse, and overpowering advertisements of this system of -brain-forcing flood every corner of the press, squeezing out by their -size and the space they occupy legitimate news of interest to the -public; of course, the first and chief reason is that they are paid -for. Everything in every line of business, pleasure or social position, -is paid for; even the clergyman who professes to show you the way to -heaven is paid for. Then surely it follows that Pelman or Poehlmann -must be a multi-millionaire? No! he need not be. As the controller of -the “flowing tide” he may make others pay, and so may command cash -without being personally wealthy. He no doubt realises the truth of -what a certain frank proprietor of pickles assured me--“If advertising -is done well and continuously it brings in double and treble the -money it costs.” And the channels in which the “flowing tide” is set -to run are cleverly prepared and delved out in the shifting sands of -British innocence and credulity--two admirable traits of our national -character. It is a touching thing to realise that the guileless -Briton should so simply confess himself to “Pelman” as mindless and -memory-less--and it is equally pathetic to discover in the “Census” of -“Pelmanists” there can be counted one barmaid, one bacon-curer, and -one “corporation official”! “Art and music and literature are being -re-born,” says Pelman--and no doubt the Pelmanists are already in -travail. It is all very clever and amusing; a little comedy in which -the guileless Briton is the bear that dances to the Pelman pipings. -I admire cleverness wherever I find it; it is a star in the general -murk of stupidity, and I am the last person in the world to depreciate -the brilliancy of its glitter. But it has interested me to study the -movements of this particular scheme, and chance or fortune placed one -or two threads in my hands which seemed to suggest a clue. Briefly -then, I was offered Fifty Guineas to “write up” Pelmanism. The offer -came through a very agreeable and enterprising journalist, employed, -I presume, to secure fresh supplies for the “flowing tide,” and he -added to his own personal and friendly entreaties a considerable -quantity of literary matter setting forth the miraculous improvement -in heretofore dull brains under the influence of Pelman or Poehlmann. -I made a careful study of these documents, and the first thing that -dawned on my own dim intelligence was that every would-be student of -the “course” would be called upon to pay six guineas, either in one -sum or by “easy instalments,” though one _can_ have a copy of the book -entitled _Mind and Memory_ (which tell “all about” Pelmanism but does -not instruct) _gratis_, and in that book are “particulars” showing how -one can obtain the “course” at a reduced fee. Thanks to my journalist -friend I had the _gratis_ book (in its forty-fourth edition, and for -this reason called “The World’s Most Widely Read Book”--well! with -all diffidence allow me to hint that this is incorrect, as I myself -am the author of one or two books in their fifty-first editions), -but the “Course” did not tempt me to disburse guineas, not even had -I accepted the Fifty offered. (I may say here that I never accept -“tips.”) But I could not, and cannot refrain from considering how, -if the scheme works successfully, as of course it must, the British -public are paying for these splendid advertisements! Paying so well -that it is easy to understand how the Pelman promoters can afford to -pay Fifty Guineas, more or less, to the obliging individuals who are -ready and willing to praise the “system.” Canon Hannay (“George A. -Birmingham”) for instance--does _he_ get Fifty Guineas? Or Mr. Spencer -Leigh Hughes, M.P.? Or dear George R. Sims? Or Mr. Gilbert Frankau? Or -do they send in their testimonials _gratis_? I feel that I cannot be -the _only_ “eminent” (to quote advertisement) person who has received -the munificent offer of Fifty Guineas, and _refused the same_! In the -Pelman “Census” I note there are 339 accountants, 8 actresses, 490 -clergymen, and--one archbishop! Whereby it would seem that accountants -and clergymen need more brain-prodding than others. And if the “one -Archbishop” should consent to “write up” the advantages of the “course” -(like Mr. Will Owen, who declares that, artist though he professes -to be, he had “hardly begun the first lesson in Pelmanism before he -discovered something he had been drawing incorrectly all his life), -sure His Grace would merit a Hundred Guineas for his good work at the -very least? Anyhow his fee should be more than that of a “bacon-curer” -or a novelist! In openly confessing the offer to myself of Fifty -Guineas which I refused without a moment’s hesitation, I do so that I -may call the attention and admiration of the public to the clever way -certain people manage to make money through human gullability. The -brain-prodders and memory-pushers are almost as astute as Government -officials. The mass of people who never stop to think, still less to -calculate, are their happy hunting-ground. Personally I think Pelman -and Roth too “sharp” to be of the Anglo-Saxon race, though I do not -assert them to be Germans, naturalised or _de_-naturalised. But they -have the Teuton line of intelligence; that is, wherever they find a -good thick soil of stupidity, they plant seed therein, fertilise it and -make it grow. These special people who feed the coffers of journalism -by purchasing whole pages of space for their advertisements, are so -convinced of the thickness and richness of Anglo-American stupidity -that they boldly offer to transmute it, like alchemists, into the -gold of intellectual ability, and if this could be done ’twere a -worthy thing. But one must pause at the idea they put forward--“If -only we had 1,000,000 clever thinkers!” It is _too_ terrific! This -poor earth of ours could not survive! Its rolling ball like a bomb -would burst in space, overburdened by the sheer weight of brain! Be -merciful, therefore, O munificent Pelman! spare us, gentle Roth! Do -not instruct the bacon-curer or train the Archbishop beyond what we -have the strength to endure! Do not compel us to bow the knee to the -“barmaid” as another De Stael!--to the “corporation official” as a new -Admirable Crichton! It is the American philosopher Emerson who writes, -“Let the world beware when a Thinker comes into it!” But “1,000,000 -thinkers!” The prospect is horrible--spare us, good Lord! We have much -to be thankful for in Carlyle’s famous assertion “most fools,” for if -our population were all wise, life would be dull indeed! Fools make the -gaiety of nations--they are the staple support of all governments--the -foundation of the press and the drama--the stock-in-trade of all -authors, philosophers, and wits whatsoever, and Heaven forbid we should -ever be deprived of their existence! We are always more or less in the -position of Shakespeare’s “melancholy Jacques” and ready to say, “A -fool, a fool, I met a fool i’ the forest! as I do live by food I met a -fool!” and when we chance on company with this simple friend of all men -should we “Pelmanise” or “Roth” him? Never! He is too valuable an asset -to the world! - - - - -TO SAVE LIFE OR DESTROY IT? - -A CHALLENGE TO CERTAIN CLERGY - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -Does the Christian Church profess to follow the teaching of Christ? Or -the Law of Moses? That is to say: Is it Christian or Jewish? If Jewish, -its “sabbath” should be kept on Saturday, in conformance with the rest -of the Jewish world; if Christian, then, according to Christ, we may, -if necessity compels, do imperative work on Sunday. But a section of -our clergy are up in arms at the idea of “profaning the Lord’s Day” by -allowing labour of tillage and planting the land on Sundays, for the -necessities of the nation’s food. Where do these contentious persons -get their authority? Not from their divine Master! Their spirit is that -of the Scribes and Pharisees who “watched” Our Lord--“whether he would -heal on the sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against -Him.” The world has not outgrown that contemptible spirit. “That -they might find an accusation” is often everybody’s aim and clearest -business! “Then said Jesus unto them--I will ask you one thing: Is it -lawful on the sabbath days to do good or to do evil?--to save life -or destroy it?” And when the hypocrites could not answer Him, He -healed the afflicted man who had sought His aid, whereat those who had -“watched” Him, so says the Gospel narrative, “were filled with madness -and communed one with another what they might do to Him.” But, despite -His scorn of their narrow sectarianism, “He went out into a mountain to -pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” - -No true servant of Christ can find the least excuse in any one of the -Divine Teacher’s commands for a rigidly sectarian observance of Sunday. -A seventh day’s rest was wisely and rightly instituted by Moses for the -relief of the Israelites when they had been worked as slaves by their -Egyptian taskmasters; but Christ never incorporated its observance as -any part of the instructions He gave to His disciples. “What man shall -there be among you,” He said, “that shall have one sheep, and if it -fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift -it out? How much, then, is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore, it is -lawful to do well on the sabbath days.” - -Mark those last words! They were spoken by One “in whom there was no -guile.” It is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. And yet, Oh! -narrow and rigid men who “profess” Christ, you, who see and know that -on the feeding of our population depends their health, their strength, -and their ultimate victory over a barbarous foe, you would discourage -the willing hearts and hinder the ready hands from virtuous and -unselfish labour on Sundays in a time of unexampled national necessity! -Shame! For the blessing of God must be on all such honest workers whose -toil is for the help and honour of their country. Christ told us there -were but two commandments, not ten--the first: “Thou shalt love the -Lord thy God with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy -strength”--and the second: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. -There is none other commandment greater than these.” - - * * * * * - -Now what do the dogmatists make of this? If we truly love God, we -surely know His “work” never ceases. We could not live a second -without His sustaining principle. Every moment of every hour some -active propulsion of creative force labours to produce a result which -is perfect of its kind. On whatever day we sow our wheat we cannot -stop its growing on Sundays. The energies of Divine beneficence never -slacken. If they did, existence itself would be at an end. Our “love” -of God must therefore include our consciousness of His unresting “work” -for His creation. Then, if we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, -it follows that we must care for his sustenance as well as our own. In -times like the present we must help him to produce food for himself and -his family, even if we till the land on Sundays, which, so employed, -may be considered truly “holy” days. For “it is lawful to do well on -the sabbath days,” and it is better to benefit a neighbour than listen -to a sermon. That is, if we accept the teaching of Christ and assume -to be Christians. The times are pressing; the necessity for food -production urgent; and men owe it as a duty to the land God gives them -that it should yield sufficient to keep the population in health and -safety. Therefore, if this needful, noble work has to be done quickly, -there is no sin, but rather great virtue and self-sacrifice, in working -on Sundays as well as weekdays during a time of war and stress. If any -of the clergy can quote a single one of Christ’s own words forbidding -necessary work on Sundays, let them do so. Christ’s own words, -remember! They are generally ignored by all Churches. Had they ever -been obeyed, the purity and strength of a perfect Faith would, long -ere this, have exterminated War. Now, all good “Christian” clergy, who -object to necessary national work on Sundays, produce your Master’s -warrant for such action--if you can! I say you cannot! - - - - -THE WAR LOAN - -HOW IT MIGHT BE INCREASED - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -We are all bound for victory. Every nerve and sinew of every man and -woman in Imperial Britain is bent on the task of winning it, not only -for ourselves, but for the whole civilised world. America knows, and -the intimidated and secretly tampered with neutrals also know, as well -as we do, that the full triumph of the Allies means their great peace -as well as ours--their advantage, their progress, their commerce, as -well as ours. That brave and straight-speaking hero of science, Thomas -Edison, recently said: “The people of the world have willed that they -shall be their own masters, and what the people will is sure to come to -pass.” True enough, it is the people only who can realise every aim, -every ideal, every conquest; and in this matter of the War Loan they -can raise a veritable mountain of gold if they so determine. But--there -is a “but” in their willingness: an obstacle in the race--they will -not give as much as they would if they have to realise that some of it -or any of it may be used to pay wages and provide food for German foes -dwelling in our very midst. - - * * * * * - -Think of it! Is it reasonable, is it just, to ask this patient, docile, -strong, and law-abiding people of Britain to give their lives, their -homes, their children, their time, with all their service and money, -towards the vigorous and incessant prosecution of the war, when they -know that there are more than 20,000 German foes kept at large in -this realm, free to do as they will? Twenty thousand, who go about -in all towns and villages unchallenged, listening, spying, noting -every coign and circumstance of vantage, and often (assuming to be -English themselves) using persuasion to prejudice the Loan among the -uninstructed classes. - -Twenty thousand enemies, prepared and ready to work devastation at the -first opportunity, while we “hush up” all that may seem unchivalrous -or to the dear creatures’ detriment! Is it right that these same -Germans should have their own meeting places and restaurants in London -as freely as if they were in Berlin? And, to add insult to the injury -of the whole position, is it even sane that our authorities should -actually permit Germans to work in our munition factories? Germans -who, when they leave the works and go to their eating houses, take off -their munition badges and spit on them in token of their contempt for -Britain, even while they are accepting British pay and eating British -food! - - * * * * * - -What does it mean, this employment of Germans in British munition -factories? Death-dealing explosions, of course! What else can any one, -not entirely a drivelling idiot, expect? Is it likely that a German -will make shells absolutely as they should be made for the destruction -of his own countrymen? No; he would rather burn down the whole -factory!--and he does if he gets the chance. Nor can he be blamed; -it is the authorities who are to blame for putting him in the way of -temptation to murder. There is something so “dumb-driven, cattle-like” -in the sheer stupidity of two or three of our Governmental Departments -that one is fain to compassionate them as one might compassionate sheep -bumping their heads against a stone wall and expecting to get through. - - * * * * * - -If a house is threatened with burglary, is it reasonable to ask the -burglar in on a “dine and sleep” visit? Yet that is what is being done -with the Germans in our country to-day. And it is not possible that our -people can or will rise to their full strength, either in service or -in money, as long as they are affronted by the presence of the enemy -in the centres of their business and social life. The extraordinary -indulgence shown to the Huns in London is a perpetual worry to our -French friends, who cannot understand it. They discuss it and deplore -it as a sign of weakness. But whatever it is, we may be sure it will -not be allowed to last. Once the people take the law into their own -hands nothing will stop them. _Après ça le deluge!_ - -No spitting on British munition badges then! No extra allowances of -food to German prisoners while British folk are ordered to measure -their rations! No “official” posts for men with German wives! Taken -as a whole, the position is more than scandalous. The British people -have every right to demand that their own land shall be cleansed of -all the associates of the pirates and murderers who slay their men, -women, and children without mercy, and who yet remain here, living -at the nation’s expense. Every German at large in these islands is a -walking “wireless” of swift and useful information to headquarters. -Each new device of Britain for worsting the foe is at once conveyed to -those most interested, and our newspapers, frequently more zealous than -discreet, lend their aid by giving details, and often illustrations, of -the latest of our scientific inventions for warfare. - - * * * * * - -It is time this matter was handled boldly, with “gloves off,” as Queen -Elizabeth would have handled it. She would have sent all Germans out -of the country at the very declaration of war, and so would have saved -an infinite number of treasons against the State. Late in the day as -it is, why not send them now? Send them all, in comfort and luxury if -you will, with “rations” of first-class food, on British ships flying -the British flag, and let them take their chance of the kindness and -humanity of their own countrymen. They will be useful additions to the -“national service” of their Vaterland--we do not want them here. Our -own men and women will suffice us for our own labor, and work will be -done more readily, while money will flow in more plentifully, when we -are sure that our own land is purged of the Hun, and that we are not, -like fools, paying to keep and feed plotters against the peace of the -realm. - - - - -FOOD PRODUCTION - -A PLEA FOR COMMON SENSE - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -Talk of “National Service!” Where is the man, woman, or child that -refuses to do any really necessary or useful work for the country? Such -cannot be found! There is an eager and splendid willingness in every -one to give his or her best; but without proper organisation the fine -forces of this fine, patient, and enduring people are scattered and -disunited. From all that the bewildered mind can gather through the -roaring megaphone of an apparently semi-crazed and ruinously expensive -system of advertisement, the National Service most demanded is “food -production.” So says Mr. Prothero. Very well. Then why not set about -it in an orderly practical manner, without screaming our shortcomings -aloud for the amusement of the Germans? There is no difficulty whatever -in sufficient food production if some sort of method be brought into -the present chaos. Take this for an example:-- - -With the help of an old soldier with a wooden leg and an old man of -seventy, a pig farmer and market gardener was able to put on the market -in six months £1487 worth of pork and £174 of garden produce. - -In the next three months he anticipates an addition to his stock of -about 240 pigs from his twenty-five breeding sows. - -Already he has 211 pigs on the place, apart from the breeding animals. - -What can be done in one place can be done in another, and if every -rural town and village were encouraged to work its own allotments, if -every cottager were persuaded to grow his or her own garden produce, -and keep pigs and poultry, half the food problem would be solved. Why -not organise such a plan and concentrate scattered forces? It would -be a mistake to confide the management of such a scheme to “local” -magnates, whether mayors or members of corporations, for those who -have any experience of such “bodies” know well enough what hindrances -they are in the way of active progress, having always their own axes -to grind. But an impartial, unprejudiced, friendly director of each -agricultural centre, a man or woman of helpful, sympathetic and -practical knowledge, who would encourage the workers and spare them -any of that “superior” tone of insolence so hurtfully employed by some -of the temporary jacks-in-office on our military tribunals, could -very easily energise the whole business. Suppose, too, that instead -of a daily patter about potatoes and “shortage,” the Government were -to offer prizes from ten to a hundred pounds for the cottagers and -holders of allotments who, in six months, should produce most food -for their own families and neighbours, would it not cost less money -than the printing of millions of “food tickets”? Certainly, it would -hearten, not dishearten, the workers, and give them an extra zest for -“production.” - -Moreover, it is high time our rulers and Ministers left off talking -about “shortage of food” altogether, if the following is true:-- - -A statement made in the House of Commons recently emphasises the fact -that German agents are still active in this country. In refusing -to supply a member with certain information about the supply of -aeroplanes, he said: “Any answer we give in this House is at once sent -to Germany.” - -Printed or written information can always be stopped by the censor. The -question remains: How is the information conveyed? - -How, indeed? Why should we give the Huns the satisfaction of supposing -we need food? Or allowing them to think their U-boats are “blockading” -us into famine? Let the public keep its “weather eye” open, and -consider recent events in Russia! There, part of the German scheme was -“to create an artificial scarcity of food, so as to precipitate food -riots and compel a separate peace.” - -Beware of the dog! How about Great Britain? Who can swear that the same -“influence” is not at work here, “to create an artificial scarcity of -food”? And if it should be so, why do our politicians fall sheer into -the trap and spread the mischief which the foe may have started? Food -was poured into Petrograd as soon as the German “unseen hand” was cut -off. It is a significant fact worth remembering! - - * * * * * - -Again, let it be emphasised that there is no difficulty about food -production in these islands if the work be properly organised. Food is -not grown on emotional impulse, such as that displayed by a charming -lady I lately met, who told me with sweet resignation: “I will not -have flowers in my window boxes this summer. I shall plant potatoes -in them instead!” Dear soul! She evidently thought it worth while! -Just as some folks think it worth while to dig up and disfigure the -parks of London with potato growing when there is any amount of waste -land around which needs cultivation! One deplores “the falsehood of -extremes.” - - * * * * * - -If we are to accept Mr. Prothero’s statement, the most important line -of “national service” is this food production. Then, let him take -action and not listen to hearsay or report. Let him see for himself -the thousands of acres in this country waiting to be cultivated and to -produce richly and royally all that is needed for the population. Let -there be common sense organisation in each district--not “compulsion”; -the people are too cheerfully brave and willing to be “compelled.” -But no one cares to work in the dark without a plan, and without any -encouragement. They are told to “produce food,” but are denied labour -to produce it. The capable field-worker is taken, and inefficient -substitutes sent instead--men who do not know how to plant a root or -sow a seed, with the obvious result that plants and seeds represent so -much money thrown away. But, once more to emphasise the need of common -sense, let us hold fast the fact that no lack of food is possible to -this country if things are properly organised. And as we see by report -that, despite U-boats, ships laden with useful cargoes are constantly -arriving in our ports, let us not forget the possibility of “the -creation of that artificial scarcity” which stirred the blood and -roused the devil in Russia! - - - - -OUR FORTUNATE “RESTRICTIONS” - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -The Germans are reported to be in ecstasy over what they call the -“despairing appeal” of the Prime Minister’s great “restrictions” -speech. But, however great their “ecstasy” may be, it can hardly equal -ours! For we have sufficient sense to see what hope and strength for -our Empire springs, like a bright rainbow, from what the Boche obtusely -imagines is a cloud. Our “lead” is towards increasing prosperity and -happiness for all. We are invited to look forward to a self-supporting -country; we are given fresh chances of barring the ungrateful Teuton -from our trades by showing him that we can do all our own work -ourselves. We are promised another “Merrie England” of the spacious -days of yore, when foreign supplies were rare and costly, and when all -the fields were thick with golden grain and all the orchards glowed -with many-coloured fruits and the agricultural population were given -the chance to reap what they had sown. - - * * * * * - -Now, in our lovely rural villages we may perhaps hope to see the last -of many frowsy, idle sluts who for years have preferred to gossip -away their time rather than do any useful work; and in their stead we -may look for healthy, active girls and women who are proud of their -dairies and poultry farms, and glad to show interested customers the -great bowls of milk, the churning of butter, the making of cheese, and -all the endless charms of “country” work well done. If the submarine -menace teaches us to produce all the food that can be produced in these -islands, it will be a blessing in disguise, a helper and saviour of -the grit, stability, and fine reasonableness of the British race. Talk -of potatoes! There are many hundred of acres of waste land in South -Cornwall alone, notably wide, treeless fields running into sand dunes -by the sea, where the potato would flourish as well as it does in -similar Dutch soil, and all this precious land is empty and untilled. -To urge the digging up of parks and public recreation grounds, where it -is doubtful whether potatoes would grow at all, when there is all this -acreage available, is sheer nonsense. I would that I had even a hundred -acres of that Cornish sandy soil by the sea just now. With a few -skilled labourers (for one must know _how_ to plant potatoes) it should -yield gold! At Newquay, by the way, there is a golfing ground reserved -for the amusement of a dozen or so of privileged selfish persons; it -would grow tons of potatoes and other good edibles with very little -trouble. - - * * * * * - -Nothing has ever been a greater source of wonder to me than the -improvidence of such British folk as prefer to buy their vegetables -and fruit food rather than grow it. Nowhere are allotments so untidily -kept or so altogether neglected as in certain parts of England; nowhere -is so little grown in them. Surely it stands to sense that if each -cottager grew his own vegetable and fruit food there would be less need -for foreign supplies. And if every waste field were made to produce -_something_ in the way of foods a submarine blockade must needs prove -futile in any attempt to starve the population. We may, if we will, -foresee the vision of a happier, grander Britain than ever, when the -people of these fruitful islands are given _their own_, and no longer -have need to sever their lives from the homes of their kindred because -there is no work for them here owing to the intrusion of German -influence and German labour. We might also consider with belated sorrow -the depopulation of the Scottish Highlands, and the preservation of -vast tracts of moor and forest for mere “sport,” which has for years -been a scandal and a disgrace to the nation. Let us have the people -back on the land, and let the deer and the grouse take their own wild -chances of existence. The submarine menace has come to teach us what we -ought to have learned long ago--namely, that what we want on our own -land are our own men, as skilled farmers and workers in every useful -and profitable department, and that it ought never to be possible to -see, as I once saw posted up on a large factory in London itself: “No -English Need Apply.” - - * * * * * - -Look at the thing squarely. With each householder, in rural districts -at least, growing his own vegetable and fruit supply, and the farmers -growing for the community in general, what lack should there be of -the necessities of life? The Prime Minister has restricted nothing -that we cannot well do without. Somebody has grumbled about apples. -Where will you beat homegrown apples? Plant orchards of them without -stint; they will repay the trouble. Somebody else grumbles--yes, we -know somebody always grumbles! This time it is about “Paris hats.” -They are “forbidden.” O wise judge! O learned judge! No more (for a -time, at least) shall we be pestered by receiving elaborate circulars -printed in gold stating that Monsieur Satanique “presents” his latest -“creations,” as if the good Satanique were a sort of deity. Nor will -he, with all his persuasive charm, be able to entice the foolish among -women to pay him six or eight guineas for a bit of wire, a scrap of -lace, a feather, and a ribbon. O bold “restriction”! No more “Paris -hats”--but, let us hope, a great deal more common sense! - - - - -“HIS PAINFUL DUTY” - -THE SORROWS OF THE HOME SECRETARY - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -We grieve for Sir George Cave. He suffers as a martyr suffers in the -cause of his country. Martyrs are not so common as heroes nowadays, -but Sir George puts in no claim to heroism. He leaves that to “Tommy.” -“Tommy” makes short work of the Huns wherever and however he meets -them, but Sir George is almost on the verge of tears because he -is unable to make their stay on in this country as agreeable and -profitable as he would wish. - - * * * * * - -In the House of Commons he said: “Only the other day it was his -_painful duty_ to order the internment of sixteen members of one alien -club alone!” Alas, alas! “Sixteen” out of twenty thousand wandering -spies! “One club alone,” out of hundreds of enemy information centres! -Poor Sir George! How his heart must have been torn! how it must, even -now, be lacerated and sore! “Had this club been in existence during -the whole war?” asked Sir Henry Dalziel pointedly. And surely Sir -George must have fetched a sigh from the bottom of his soul as he was -compelled to answer “Yes!” Mr. Herbert Samuel, the late Home Secretary, -was also apparently in sad plight, for he “seemed very anxious about -the thousands of friendly aliens” in the East End of London and other -large towns. He may well be “very anxious.” For these “thousands of -friendly aliens” are _not_ “friendly,” and in nine cases out of ten -“show,” as Mr. Samuel gravely observed, “that their hearts are not with -this country.” - - * * * * * - -Is Mr. Samuel really so ingenuous, so simple, so altogether infantile -in experience as to suppose their hearts _could_ be “with this -country”? Are the hearts of Britishers interned in Germany “_with_” -Germany? The Germans have turned English and Americans out of Berlin; -why is not the same course pursued by us with Germans in London? -Every German in the British Isles hopes for their “invasion” by his -countrymen, and with invasion the signal to mobilise. With 30,000 -interned and 20,000 at liberty, 50,000 foes are in our midst, ready -to turn upon us at short notice. Why should this matter be dealt with -in such a spineless, semi-paralytic way? What are the British public -to think of the Ministers who put them on “rations” of four pounds -of bread a week, while the German prisoner is allowed ten? Two and a -half pounds of meat to the German’s three and a half? And everything -on the same scale, so that, summing up the total, the honest British -worker gets seven pounds four ounces of food to his enemy prisoners’ -_fourteen pounds fourteen ounces_! Can any Controller of any department -be so blind as to think the British people will stand such injustice? -Many of us know all about Donnington Hall, though an honest attempt -to clear up that scandal was nipped in the bud by some “Unseen Hand.” -But what of the life of ease led by the German prisoners interned in -the Isle of Man? There, in the great internment camp, officers are -“at home,” and are permitted to buy whatever quantity of food they -like to pay for--food which the native population cannot get! Just as -the enemy officers at Donnington Hall can order all they like “without -restriction,” while British prisoners in Germany are given hardly -enough to keep them from starving! - - * * * * * - -Sir George Cave, in his extreme solicitude for “enemy aliens,” has -committed himself to one utterance which he may live to regret. It -is this: “Enemy aliens freed from internment ought certainly to be -employed on _useful work of national importance_.” - -Ought they, indeed! The employment of enemy aliens on “work of national -importance” would be little short of a criminal act. For human nature -is the same as it ever was, and no “enemy alien” is likely to do “work -of national importance” for his jailer or conqueror without at least -_trying_ to do it in such a manner that it shall never be done, or else -done so badly that it shall not serve its purpose. What sane Englishman -imagines that an “enemy” born of a ruthless race, which has proved -itself murderous and treacherous, will serve _him_ in “work of national -importance” without a good effort to blow him and his “work” to the -four winds of heaven? The guileless simplicity of Sir George Cave -reminds one of the nursery’s “little lamb”:-- - - “Whichever way the German went, - The Lamb was sure to go!” - -Down in the country, where we are commanded, with a sort of megaphone -shouting through the Press, to “Grow food,” when we have no skilled -labour to grow it, we are told that we can employ “enemy prisoners” -on the land. A friend, anxious to get waste land under cultivation, -asked what would be the rate of pay. The reply was: “One guinea a week; -fifteen shillings if you feed him.” Compare this with the pay given to -our British prisoners who work in Germany--“one penny a day,” _i.e._, -sixpence a week! My friend decided to put guineas in the War Loan -rather than spend them on a German prisoner who, if he worked on the -land, would be sure to work “against the grain.” And one asks again: -Why so much indulgence and care for the men of a dishonourable race -who have plunged Europe into blood and tears, and who have murdered -innocent women and children, and who, far from repenting their crimes, -add to them the awful blasphemy of calling God to witness their -“humanity”? Surely it is time this weak and nerveless inaction on the -part of the authorities concerned should cease, and that they should, -in the words of Shakespeare,-- - - “Take our cause - Out of the gripes of cruel men.” - - - - -THE POTATO “SCREAM” - -A PROTEST AGAINST A STUPID PANIC - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -No potatoes! Dear, dear; whatever shall we do? Some of the clever boys -who write the “purple patches” for the sensational Press say that the -present shortage is “nothing compared to the grim possibilities of -the near future.” “Grim possibilities” is good--a phrase that will -delight the Huns! But, quite dispassionately, may it not be asked how -Britain got on without potatoes in her historic past? Henry VIII. was -a goodly King; he ate greedily, drank heavily, and married profusely, -but never a potato adorned his groaning banquet board. He “fared -sumptuously every day,” and his subjects were not starved. Strong -armies, victorious navies, existed without potatoes. Crècy, poitiers, -Agincourt were fought on other food. People lived in those days even -more hazardously than they live now, and did not worry about “grim -possibilities.” They grew their own food produce, and had no chance of -Overseas supplies. And they never knew the potato! - - * * * * * - -The history of the potato is quite modern, proving that it is by no -means a necessity of life. According to some historians, it is a native -of Chili and Peru, and was introduced from Santa Fé, in America, by Sir -John Hawkins in 1563--one year before the birth of Shakespeare. So, as -it was a new product and uncommon, it is possible that the Poet of the -World struggled up to manhood without so much as one potato scream! The -soliloquy in _Hamlet_ owes nothing to the potato--the famous adjuration -in _Henry V._:-- - - “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; - Or close the walls up with our English dead”-- - -has nothing of the “mealy”-mouthed about it! Other authorities say -it was brought over by Sir Francis Drake in 1586, but not generally -introduced till 1592, and that Sir Walter Raleigh cultivated it first -in Ireland on his estates in the county of Cork. It apparently was -not known in Flanders (according to its biographers) till 1620. Well, -then, how on earth did we get on without it? And if we _did_ get on -without it, why cannot we get on without it again? I imagine that it -is very much the fault of our gifted melodramatic actors on the stage -of the Press that we are startled and “shivered” by the thrilling -exits and entrances of the potato at stated intervals. One Bathurst is -responsible for an actual “potato boom,” he having made it appear that -this particular edible is a main prop of existence, when it is nothing -of the kind. He has frightened a number of unreasoning women into “long -queues” that “besiege” the potato dealers. If these women would only -stay at home and decide to do without potatoes at all, the “shortage” -and the dealers would soon display an altered aspect! One does not like -to be rude about any portion of the human anatomy, but surely people -who know Ireland have heard of the “potato _abdomen_” (the actual word -is too Scriptural for polite usage). There _is_ such a thing; and it -is not at all a desirable ornament. Women who wish to keep graceful, -_svelte_ figures never eat potatoes. In all dietetic rules for the fat, -“grave” warnings are uttered against potatoes, and “grim possibilities” -are in store for any obstinately large man or woman who continues to -eat them! - - * * * * * - -Why should the restless Bathurst seek to create a sort of South Sea -Bubble in potatoes? The frenzy need not spread, if reasonable folk -will collect their wits (some of which have gone a wool gathering) and -realise that the potato, though an excellent vegetable when properly -cooked (which it seldom is) is not a necessity of life. If it were, -the brilliant history of Britain from the beginning up to Tudor times -would be a mere record of famines. Pessimist Bathurst “gravely” states -that “there will be no potatoes for any one in about six weeks.” Well, -all who have vegetable gardens know that there is always a scarcity of -potatoes every year, when the old ones are practically finished and -we are waiting for the new; and owing to the general “sensationalism” -the scarcity this year is likely to be more pronounced. But it need -not disturb any one’s equanimity. Potatoes are no more necessary to -life and health than the “hot roll,” of which the following amazing -report appears in the Press: “The passing of the hot roll is the chief -sacrifice.” (Think of these noble words! “The chief sacrifice!” One -would imagine it was the life of a hero!) “Tens of thousands of people -will lament the loss of a breakfast luxury!” “Lament the loss?” Oh, oh! -Tens of thousands of people lamenting a hot breakfast roll! Ye Gods! “A -roll,” continued the Press-interviewed baker, “alters its character -when stale.” True, deplorably true! But if those tens of thousands -of lamenting people do not alter _their_ character and “lament” to -better purpose than for the daily indigestion provided for them in “hot -roll” at breakfast, it is time they felt the pinch, not only of “no -potatoes,” but “no food” at all for a wholesome period of fasting, with -shame and penitence! - - - - -“HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF” - -A STUDY IN WAR BREAD - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -Complaints are rife and bitter concerning the tough, indigestible, -and injurious mixture permitted to the taxpaying public as “war -bread.” General condemnation of Government flour has been expressed -at a meeting of the London Master Bakers’ Protection Society, where a -resolution was passed asking for an interview with the Prime Minister -to point out the “ineptitude” of the Ministry of Food. Thousands of us -are of the same mind with the Master Bakers! Thousands of us affirm -the “ineptitude” of which they speak. Thousands of us know that a more -lamentable display of ignorance concerning the “things that matter” -could hardly be seen between now and the next world. Furthermore, the -Master Bakers (God bless them!) have actually declared that if the -Bread Order is not revoked or amended they, to safeguard the health -of consumers, will be compelled to take “drastic action.” Well done, -Master Bakers! The sooner this drastic action is effected the better -for many ailing, suffering human creatures. The faddists and health -specialists may talk as they will, nothing can satisfy the appetite or -suit the palate of the average man and woman so well and so safely as -bread made with _pure white flour_. The raw germ of wheat, though in a -sense nutritious, exercises a “very deleterious effect,” so say the -bakers, on the colour and keeping qualities of the loaf. In many cases -“war bread” causes internal hæmorrhage, to say nothing of fermentative -dyspepsia and severe inflammation of the delicate coating of one’s -interior mechanism, and it would be easy to compile a volume of -statistics proving the poisonous effect produced by this coarse stuff -on our soldiers in hospital who are slowly recovering from gunshot -wounds or shell shock, and who are peculiarly sensitive to the quality -of their food. The distinguished muddlers who are muddling with the -grain and the “milling” thereof, seem to judge the fine and complex -human organism as somewhat tougher than shoe-leather and less liable to -injury than pig-iron. But they are not the first of their class by any -means! There were muddlers before them, as senseless, as callous, and -as deaf to reason as they--men who, like themselves, were “dressed in -a little brief authority” during that terrific upheaval of which the -very name is ominous--the great French Revolution. Here is what Carlyle -writes of the bread trouble in those days:-- - -“Complaints there are that the food is spoiled and produces an effect -on the intestines, as well as ‘a smarting in the thoat and palate,’ -which a municipal proclamation warns you to disregard or even to -consider as drastic--beneficial! But ... the Mayor of Saint Denis, so -black was his bread, has, by a dyspeptic populace, been hanged on ‘La -Lanterne’ there!” - -“La Lanterne” is not a pleasant theme to dwell upon, and we may -be deeply thankful that we have something nowadays less ferocious -than such a form of settling disputes between the people and their -rulers--the great trade unions and protection societies, consolidated -bodies of reasoning and reasonable men, who can, when necessity calls, -take concerted action against Sentimental Cant and wilful Ignorance. -For, to quote Carlyle again, “Is not Cant the _materia prima_ of the -Devil, from which all falsehoods, imbecilities, and abnominations body -themselves, from which no true thing _can_ come?” And are not the -Master Bakers, as well as the Seamen’s and Firemen’s Union, conscious -of this Cant somewhere? Whether in pacifism or food-controlling, -matters little, so long as they can put an exterminating finger on the -spot! - -Ours is a land of cranks; we produce cranks as quickly as untended -grass grows plantains. We have peace cranks, food cranks, health -cranks; and, without doubt, plenty of these will dash wildly into the -open with hysterical hymns of praise for the utterly detestable “war -bread,” more vigorously possibly when they think their fellow-creatures -are being made ill by it. But “let ’em gnash as can,” as the toothless -old dame blandly observed after hearing a sermon on hell where “there -shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Happily deprived of all -ability to “gnash,” hell offered no alarms for her. Similarly, those -whose powers of digestion cannot tolerate “war bread” will support -the screams of whole-meal faddists with equanimity, saying, “Let ’em -masticate as can.” If “whole-meal” gives strength and sustenance with -hæmorrhage, most of us will prefer to be a little less strong and -well-nourished, without internal bleedings. The complaints of the -bread sold in Paris during the fateful months preceding the French -Revolution are precisely the same as now; but, whatever the rising -tide of discontent may be, we have bulwarks against it in our own -people’s organisations, which bind the members of every trade together -against any possible injustice or tyranny. This Empire has cause to be -thankful for its vast network of trade unions; they are in very truth -a governing body whose weight and importance cannot be over-estimated. -And so it may be that the Master Bakers will be the saviours of -the country’s health, despite Food Controllers and their ideas of -“milling.” We are losing enough life, Heaven knows, on the fields of -battle; we do not want illness and the spread of disease at home. -We can be sparing and careful of grain and precious with our “white -flour,” but we need not debilitate or poison our people with food which -they cannot digest or which in any way proves injurious to women and -children. Waste is encouraged by the making of bread which the people -dislike. They would rather throw it away than suffer illness--which is -very natural. The Food Controller is safe from “La Lanterne” in these -days; but everybody will be glad if the London Master Bakers’ Society -will take the matter well in hand and see to it that we need not “live -on the husks which the swine did eat.” The country will not starve -because we prefer to be well on white flour rather than dyspeptic on -brown! - - - - -“SHODDY CHIVALRY” - -A NAVAL CHADBAND - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -So now we know! No longer need we denounce the “submarine menace”; no -longer need we (as the German Press suggests) “grow pallid with fear,” -for we are in “brave and gallant hands!” “Brave and gallant” are the -noble creatures who sink hospital ships; “brave and gallant” are the -sharers of dividends in the corpse-fat factory; “brave and gallant” are -the raiders who sought to intercept the Prime Minister on his way back -from France across Channel in order to make short work of him and his -escort--“brave and gallant” are they all! Our own Vice-Admiral at Dover -implied as much when, with all the unctuousness of Dickens’s immortal -Mr. Chadband, he laid a wreath of flowers on the coffin of one of the -Hun raiders with the inscription: “To a brave and gallant enemy!” He -spared no wreath and offered no tribute to any of the dead among our -own bluejackets, whose “brave and gallant” conduct had succeeded in -beating off and sinking the enemy’s ships; they were “only” British -sailors. But for the dead Huns, this British Vice-Admiral publicly -displayed the tenderness of a twin brother. One wonders what Nelson -would have said to such an action? How does it accord with the -Defence of the Realm? One can imagine the noble dust of the victor of -Trafalgar stirring for very shame at such a lack of dignity at the -very time when British ships are being wickedly sunk and British lives -wickedly lost by the nefarious “brave and gallant” brutality of an -enemy with whom honour is a mere straw. It may perhaps be easier now to -understand the rumours that these “brave and gallant” Huns are allowed -to work with our men in British docks, where they watch our ships -loaded with millions of munitions, and count up our troops leaving for -the front, and then, without doubt, communicate with their kinsmen of -the submarines, letting them know the hour and moment of departure! No -wonder that our ships are sunk! Such methods prepare the way for their -sinking. No action is taken by the authorities to put a stop to the -inroad of German labour in the docks alongside of the British--a state -of things which, on the face of it, invites and encourages spying and -treachery. Such scandals are “an offence that’s rank, And smells to -Heaven”; and the powers in office who allow them to go on without check -are nearly as guilty of the loss of torpedoed ships and lives as the -Huns themselves. And when a British Vice-Admiral sets the hall-mark of -“brave and gallant” on even a dead specimen of the most treacherous, -inhuman, and barbaric foe his country has ever had to contend with, we -can hardly wonder at anything except the amazing excess of patience, -wellnigh lethargy, with which the British people tolerate such an -exhibition of Chadbandism in the Navy. One is thankful for the plain -speaking of Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, who, in the House of -Lords, designated this action as one of “maudlin sentimentality and -shoddy chivalry.” There spoke the sturdy seaman and loyal Britisher, -untainted by the pro-German measles, which infect only the degenerates -of our race. The Vice-Admiral at Dover, by his openly displayed -admiration for the Hun, would seem to wish us to understand that he is -something neither British nor of the sea--“neither fish, flesh, fowl, -nor good red herring.” We can almost hear him soliloquising over the -flower-strewn coffin of the “brave and gallant” Hun: “My friend, you -are to me a pearl, you are to me a diamond, you are to me a gem, you -are to me a jewel! And why, my friend? Are you a beast of the field? -No. A bird of the air? No. A fish of the sea or river? No. You are a -Hun, my friend! You are much worse than any beast of the field; more -voracious than any bird of the air; more slippery than any fish of -the sea or river! Oh, how glorious to be a Hun! And if I went forth -as far as the Southampton Docks and there saw a ‘brave and gallant’ -fellow-countryman of yours taking stock of troops and munitions, and I -was to come back and call unto me Sir Edward Carson and say unto him, -‘Lo the docks are barred against Huns,’ would that be terewth?” - -No; it would not be “terewth”--unless, as the original Chadband -propounded, such terewth, or truth, were another form of deception. -Until we have loyal men “above suspicion” in authority at home we shall -never satisfy our Allies abroad. America will be unable to understand -a British Vice-Admiral laying flowers on the coffin of an enemy whose -intent was, without doubt, to sink and slay a valuable life on which -much of Britain’s welfare depends, any more than she will understand -the collection of a large sum of money for the assistance of Germans -in England (more than £17,000) to which liberal subscriptions have been -made by two German members of the Privy Council. As Mark Twain observed -during his tour in Palestine, “Blessed if I believe a turtle can sing!” - - - - -“HINDENBURG’S EYE!” - -THE BABIES’ BOGEY - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -There are several objections raised to the merry-go-round “National -Service” whirl devised by Mr. Neville Chamberlain. “Uneasy lies the -head that wears a crown” nowadays, even if it only be the crown of -a temporary Director of Service or of Food Production. Even Lord -Devonport comes in for his share of contumely, especially since -he assumed that a 5-oz. chop was sufficient for a busy City man’s -luncheon. Lord Devonport has evidently never tried his hand at cooking, -and is blissfully unaware how soon 5 oz. may be reduced to 3 oz. on -the fiery grill! The public resent this ignorance; but nothing excites -their indignation more than the blatant, vulgar, and positively -offensive advertisements which have been spread broadcast to call them -forth to voluntary enrolment. Whoever it may be that is the inventor, -designer, or word-weaver of these newspaper roarers, he serves his -country ill, and is guilty of the worst possible taste. Instead of a -dignified, effective appeal to Labour, these wretched advertisements -are mere gibes and insults flung in the face of a brave, patiently -enduring people, whose homes have, in many thousands of cases, been -invaded by Death, and whose hearts are wrung by sudden and bitter -bereavements, none the less hard to bear because borne with such noble -and uncomplaining fortitude. - -“Are You Fiddling While Rome Burns?” asks one of these idiotic -newspaper Fat Letters, a question met with the silent scorn of many -tired eyes grown dim with weeping, or strained and anxious with -watching and waiting for the beloved ones who may never return. Is it -impossible to expect from these Government Press agents (if they are -Government Press agents) a little thought for the people they seek to -attract, a little decency and respect? At present their loud, even -coarse, advertisements represent-- - - “The insolence of office, and the spurns - That patient merit of the unworthy takes.” - -The last form of their coster-like shouting is perhaps the worst. - - “HINDENBURG’S EYE IS UPON YOU!” - -Now, what in the name of all that is British, do we care about -“Hindenburg’s Eye”? Are we a whimpering troop of babies to be frighted -with the eye of a Hun? or to be told “Hush-oh! Mind its little P’s and -Q’s! Go and do its little National Service properly, or ‘Hindenburg’s -eye’ will be on you!” Was ever such arrant, open, disgraceful nonsense! -What have we to do with “Hindenburg’s eye,” except bomb it out if we -can? What terrors can it have for us? Does it roll or squint, blink or -wink? Nobody cares, but if it is to be “on” anywhere, it had better be -fixed to Berlin! It’s an old eye and a filmy one--probably, as Hamlet -pointedly remarked, “purging thick amber and plumtree gum”--it’s a -false eye and a brutal one, but just now it has enough to do to see -its own surroundings without dropping out of its socket. The tactless, -witless individual who dares to write and circulate would-be “scare” -lines about this bloodthirsty old eye being “on” the brave men and -women of Britain, watching (as if such a brute had authority to watch!) -to see how many of them work (and weep!) willingly enough in their -country’s service, should be at once convinced of his unfortunate lack -of intelligence and discernment. Any one with the smallest spark of -imagination must almost see and hear the loud German guffaw of mockery -and delight at this fool’s placard for the British:-- - - “HINDENBURG HAS HIS EYE UPON YOU!” - -“Ha, ha! Dot is goot!” says Hans to Fritz. “Unser Hindenburg! Dot is -fright for Gott strafe England!--and de English _demselves_ say it!” - -Weird inventor of megaphone press-roarings, whoever you are, don’t do -it! You may be a Bernard Shaw in the bud for all we know, but we have -enough already of the perfect flower. National Service demands your -brilliancy elsewhere. Offer yourself as a substitute for the bootblack -who may be glad to go “on the land.” The Cause is injured by these -unwarrantable music-hall methods. Call up the people with a friend’s -cheerful and inspiring voice--a silver trumpet-blast if you will--but -not with a donkey’s bray! - - (_The above little article had the fortunate effect of causing - several of these placards, so offensive to the British spirit, to - be removed._) - - - - -“HOARDING” - -A MODERN SETTING OF AN OLD PLAY AND A LITTLE STORY OF THE Y.M.C.A. - - “_Man, proud man, - Dress’d in a little brief authority, - Most ignorant of what he’s most assured, - His ghostly essence like an angry ape, - Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven - As make the angels weep!_” - _Measure for Measure._ - - -Nothing in all the various confused and contradictory orders issued by -the capricious and neurotic “Dora” gave such unalloyed festive delight -as the edict against “hoarding.” It opened the door to all the little -spies and scandal-mongers of every neighbourhood, especially to the -provincial types of these gentry, who are always of a more inquisitive -and slanderous disposition than the same class found in large cities, -for the reason that they have little other excitement beyond the -gratifying stimulus of inquiring into their neighbours’ affairs and -meddling with them if they can. The “Hoarding” order suited them down -to the ground and set them all on the alert, peering into windows and -peeping through open doors--following their “dear friends” into shops -and taking eager notes of their purchases, till every eye grew hard -and sharp as a gimlet, and every nose as pointed as the beak of a -crow. It was astonishing and amusing to watch the alteration for the -worse in the looks of men and women during this period; the theory -of “psycho-suggestion” was amply verified in the visible fact that -people who were previously open-faced and good-natured were almost -unrecognisable in the sudden “squeezing-in” of their features to the -ugly furrows of suspicion and meanness. - -“Some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them,” says -the sapient Malvolio; and I frankly admit that I felt myself to be -entirely in the latter category when I became a sort of modern heroine -in a new version of _Much Ado About Nothing_, in the precincts of -Stratford-on-Avon itself, under the sacred ægis of the Immortal Bard. -A real stage was set for me, with the real “city officers Dogberry and -Verges”--in fact “the whole dissembly appeared.” I was summoned for -“hoarding” sugar. In plain truth I have never “hoarded” anything--not -even money, as the town of Stratford-on-Avon has sufficient reason -to know. I have never even had the careful housekeeper’s habit -of a “store-cupboard”--my house being destitute of such lock-up -conveniences, wherefore we have found it best always to order what -is wanted from week to week, paying for it likewise from week to -week and incurring no debts. In the affair of the sugar I could not -procure enough to obey the commands set upon me by the Food Production -and other Government Departments. Correspondence with Mr. Prothero -had impressed upon me that there was a shortage of all foodstuffs, -especially butter, and it was represented to me that every householder -growing their own fruit should make as much jam as possible to replace -the butter. That year (1917) was a wonderful fruit year; in my own -garden, not an “orchard” by any means or abundantly stocked, there was -gathered nearly a thousand pounds dead-weight of fruit. Some of it -we sold--much of it we gave away--the rest had either to be wasted or -preserved. “Shortage of foodstuffs” necessitated its preservation. Our -local surveyor, though obliging, could not supply his customers with -enough sugar to go round. The “Hoarding Act” distinctly stated that the -order did not apply itself to “sugar obtained for the preservation of -homegrown produce”--so I appealed to my old friend, Sir Thomas Lipton, -not only because he was a friend, but because he was a grocer, and as -such, would be sure to know what quantity of sugar he might or might -not sell to any customer. But----! Here comes in another story! - -A short time previous to the Sugar-Comedy of “Much Ado,” I had been -approached by two gentlemen from Birmingham on behalf of the Y.M.C.A. -and Sir Arthur Yapp (then Director of Food Economy) to help the Society -by a subscription. I gave a hundred pounds; and a generous friend of -mine, on hearing what I had subscribed, gave another hundred. In the -warmth of this success I wrote to Sir Thomas Lipton and asked him -boldly for another hundred. I received a truly heart-rending reply to -the effect that he was a “poor man,” and “could not afford so large a -sum,” but that if I had asked him for ten or fifteen pounds he would -have gladly subscribed. I at once seized the opportunity and begged -him to send the fifteen. He did so, and I wrote my acknowledgments, -assuring him that when he went to heaven that Fifteen Pounds given to -the Y.M.C.A. would be an extra feather in his Angel-Wing! (I do hope -he will one day show that letter to Sir Arthur Yapp!) Then, feeling -I had not yet done enough for the Y.M.C.A. Huts, I agreed that the -Cinema company, then running some stories of mine on the “film,” should -give a few “shows” of them in Stratford for the sole benefit of the -Y.M.C.A., and I am glad to say that they drew packed houses and brought -a substantial result. For this and such assistance as I had freely -given to help on the good cause I had a note from Sir Arthur Yapp -expressing his “most grateful thanks.” And now we can _revenons à nos -moutons_--that is to say, I can return to the Sugar version of “Much -Ado”--but I would earnestly request my readers to “mark, learn, and -inwardly digest” what we may call “The Y.M.C.A.-Yapp Interlude.” - -As I have already stated, I could not get sufficient sugar from the -local grocer to preserve the fruit in hand, and as fruit is perishable, -and there was no time to be lost, I rang up Sir Thomas Lipton on the -telephone and asked him what he could do for me. The familiar “Glasgie” -accent came harmoniously along the wire--“Ye’ll never want for sugar so -long as Tom Lipton’s on the ‘phone!” - -So it was settled. I and my friend (a lady who has been my companion -throughout my life since my childhood, and who has generously and -kindly undertaken all my household cares) set happily to work to -preserve our fruit; whole in jars where we could do so, but made into -jam for the most part. I would here remark, with all diffidence, that -I do not revel in jam myself; but I like having it for others--such as -schoolboys, for instance, before whom whole pots vanish like snow in -the sun when they come to tea with me, bless their frank appetites! -We had nearly completed our labours, all except the transmutation of -apples into jelly and “apple cheese” (the best possible substitute -for butter), when one afternoon, while I was out, a police constable -called and said he must search the house for “hoards.” He brought -no authority, but stated that if he were refused he would procure a -search warrant. My friend, who received the intruder, was naturally -rather surprised, but having nothing to hide she cordially invited -the official to go all over the house wherever he would. Accordingly -he tramped into the dining-room, opened cupboards and drawers, even -peering into an unobtrusive little tea-caddy, and went down into -the cellar and inspected the larder. He found nothing but a large -flour-bin, into which for convenience had been put fifteen pounds of -sugar (duly weighed) left for use with the apples yet to be preserved. -While he was still on the prowl, I returned home, and though I am never -much taken aback at anything Stratford-on-Avon “authorities” do, I -was, I think, justifiably annoyed at having my private rooms searched -on such a ridiculous charge of which I was absolutely guiltless. -Moreover, the “hofficer” who had thus broken into my house without -warning, was a man who had often had supper in our kitchen with beer -_galore_, which he had greatly relished--while another detail of the -matter was that for some years, since the intrusion of an unhappy -lunatic-tramp into my garden, the police had been given by myself a -private key to the premises, so that they could enter at any time. -Therefore, if they had sought to keep me under “observation” there was -nothing to hinder their surveillance, which indeed I had personally -requested and was grateful for. But--as the official informed me the -“hoarding” accusation came “from London”--“on account of Sir Thomas -Lipton.” This rather amazed me, and for a moment I thought it must be -that “feather in the Angel-Wing”! My doubts were soon set at rest by -a visit from my solicitor who told me Sir Thomas was “much distressed -and could not sleep” for thinking about the threatened trouble. Some -one at certain Stratford-on-Avon Stores had noted the arrival at the -railway station of the Lipton supplies of sugar--quite openly sent, -and openly marked “Sugar,” for we were under the impression that all -was in due observance of the Food Production rules, and that there was -nothing to hide or to “hoard.” Naturally I wrote at once to the Lipton -office requesting these supplies to be stopped, without, however, at -once succeeding, as, notwithstanding my expressed desire, a fresh -package was transmitted, which I promptly returned. I then wrote to -Sir Arthur Yapp, feeling quite sure that his recent experience of my -conduct in respect to the Y.M.C.A. would convince him that there was -some “official blundering” (to quote a press term) in the absurd notion -that I, whose work throughout the war had been to help, not to hinder -all patriotic aims, could possibly sink to the “hoarding” level. I -had written to him long before, pleading that the poor working women -should not be compelled to stand in “queues,” waiting to get food -for themselves and their children, on which subject he wrote me the -following letter:-- - - “December 17, 1917. - - “DEAR MISS CORELLI,--Thank you very much indeed for your further - letter and enclosure, and I hope to be able to arrange for the - workers to get things for their children. All the points you - mention shall receive careful attention and I am consulting some - of my colleagues forthwith. Again thanking you, - - “Yours faithfully, - “A. K. YAPP, - “_Director of Food Economy_.” - -This does not look as if I had sought to “rob the poor by hoarding,” -as one accuser in the “gutter” press made out later on! When I wrote, -explaining the position which had so wrongfully arisen, Sir Arthur -wrote regretting it and saying: “I will make all inquiries and am more -than sorry you should be worried.” - -However, the “case” instigated “from London,” went on remorselessly and -I asserted my innocence in vain. A second appeal to Sir Arthur Yapp, -strengthened by a personal visit to him from my solicitor who urgently -pointed out the absurdity of the “hoarding” charge in my regard, -brought the following:-- - - “NATIONAL COUNCIL, Y.M.C.A. - December 26, 1917. - - “DEAR MISS CORELLI,--Thanks for your letters. I was glad to see - your solicitor, but am not sure that I can help you. I will gladly - do so if I can. Unfortunately all the people are away for a few - days. I will try to get in touch with the Chairman of the Sugar - Commission to-morrow, Friday or Saturday. I will write again. I am - so sorry you are having this worry. In haste, - - “Yours sincerely, - ”A. K. YAPP.” - -Nevertheless, with all this amiable “Yapp-ing” he did _not_ “get in -touch” with the Chairman of the Sugar Commission, then Sir Charles -Bathurst, who wrote himself and told me he had never heard a word of -the affair till he saw it in the newspapers. On this point my solicitor -wrote as follows: “I am glad to hear that you have a letter from Sir -Charles Bathurst, expressing sympathy. I cannot, however, overlook -the fact that whereas Sir Arthur Yapp had no power apart from Sir -Charles to take cognisance of facts which I brought to his notice with -a view to stopping an unjustifiable prosecution calculated to do you -an injury, Sir Charles Bathurst had ample power and did not exercise -it, although approached by Sir Arthur Yapp. I do not think the Food -Control Department even troubled to send the case to their counsel, but -merely seized the opportunity to accept a statement which was not in -conformity with the evidence, was a violation of the highest principles -of justice, and a slur upon the summary jurisdiction of the land.” - -And so the case went on. Yapp meantime addressed a crowd on Tower -Hill and assured them “Marie Corelli’s sugar had been taken from -her”--which was a flaring fiction as there was no excess of sugar to -take. He failed to mention that the victim he thus pilloried had given -far more than the sugar’s worth to the Y.M.C.A., of which he posed -as the pious and conscientious Head! But “that’s another story”! He -felt perfectly justified, however, in handing over my personal letters -to him (marked “Private”) to a Mr. Wise, his secretary, I believe, -whom my solicitor found reading them to his lady clerks by way of a -little entertainment--and so altogether I rank Sir Arthur Yapp with -Shakespeare’s Brutus, and here express my profound acknowledgments. - -On the 2nd of January, 1918, the case for my “hoarding” was tried -by the eminent “bench” of Stratford-on-Avon. My servants were -subpœnaed--they sat patiently in court, but nobody asked them a -single question! A legal representative of Sir Thomas Lipton’s, glib -as Sergeant Buzfuz, managed things for his principal in such a way -as to leave Sir Thomas scot-free, though in other similar cases the -supplier was fined in the same sum as the supplied. I was not in court. -My friend, who has all the responsibility of housekeeping, went into -the witness-box and answered all questions plainly and honestly--but -plainness and honesty do not count for much in law. The point which -Dogberry and Verges adhered to was that they did not believe we had -used the sugar for jam! Was ever anything more absurdly humorous! We -were ready and willing to make public exhibition of the jam; we offered -those amazing “city officers” free permission to inspect it--but _they -would not_! They preferred to doubt the word of a lady through whose -hands many hundreds of pounds had been spent in the town and whose -well-known straightforward character makes her incapable of truckling -to falsehood or hypocrisy. I must not forget to mention that the -worthy Dogberrys had been much bamboozled by the constant delivery of -large wooden boxes at my house labelled “Maypole Tea,” “Tate’s Sugar,” -“Nestle’s Milk,” etc., etc.; it looked very like “hoarding,” surely? -A constable followed the packages up through an open passage leading -to out-houses, and there to his immense chagrin discovered that these -cases contained nothing but material for electric-wiring and lighting, -sent by Messrs. Tredegars of Brook Street, who had undertaken the -installation of the electric light in my house. They were compelled -to pack their goods in any boxes they could secure, there being a -“shortage” in packing-cases as in everything else, and when the -“hoarding” trial came on, the director of the firm offered most kindly -and courteously to attend the court and explain the share his boxes -had in the silly accusation. But there was no need; Dogberry and -Verges had already made up their minds. My chief assailants were the -Superintendent of Police in Stratford and the Town Clerk--and after the -case was over and they had “convicted” me of what I had never committed -(though the “bench” disagreed among themselves), all the clues were -placed in my hands in such a remarkable way as would remind one of -Sherlock Holmes if there were time or space to tell it! Perhaps the -following sentence from a legal document may put the matter clearly:-- - -“The root of the whole evil is your local bench, and bias is -self-evident by the action of the Acting Clerk, _when he withheld -information from us as to the findings of the Justices until after the -time to appeal to Quarter Sessions had elapsed_.” - -I have often wondered why this malignity? Why, too, on the part -of the “Acting Clerk,” whom I have always beheld with respectful -admiration in his curly white wig marching in the Shakespeare Sunday -or Mayoral processions to Church? He is my beau-ideal of a cultured -Dogberry--his very look and movement express--“I am a wise fellow; -and which is more an officer; and which is more a householder; and -which is more as pretty a piece of flesh as any in Messina (Stratford) -and one that knows the law, go to; and a rich fellow enough, go to; -and a fellow that hath had losses; and one that hath two gowns and -everything handsome about him! O that I had been writ down----” No--I -will not finish the quotation; suffice it to say that I have never -intentionally or to my knowledge caused offence to this excellent man. -But both Church and State were in the persecution of my quite innocent -personality; two dismissed outdoor employés of my own first started -the mischief, and as one had found a temporary job on the local “food -control,” it was easy to trace the work of hands guided by personal -spite and desire to give me trouble. Afraid to start the accusation -in Stratford itself, they quite ingenuously managed to transfer it -through a mutual friend to London, from whence the “summons” was -“arranged” to come--and since then, having found out the whole petty -plot, I have been full of amused compassion for the miserable plotters. -They must surely feel that the game was hardly worth the candle! Of -course, press-reporters rushed down like hounds in full cry directly -they scented possible injury to me--they would never have troubled -themselves to note anything I did of good--but anything that savoured -of meanness and disloyalty on my part was “nuts” to them! As they never -saw me, and I made no appearance in court, these poor untidy pressmen -were reduced to their usual fictions, and wired all over the world that -I had “made a scene in court,” “attacked Lloyd George,” etc., etc.! -(And yet, just before this comedy started, and â propos of sugar, I had -sent Miss Megan Lloyd George some chocolate “eclairs” made at home, -with which this charming little friend of mine was much delighted!) -Yes--these chivalrous press-men labelled me from England to furthest -Ind as a hoarder and hypocrite and I was left without remedy. I was -assailed by the lowest anonymous letters and post cards; of course one -knows how to take such off-scourings of depraved human minds, as no -one but a villain, male or female, would write an anonymous letter. -But with all the pain I felt at the misjudgment, amounting almost to -cruelty, of the press, which deliberately did its best to injure me -with my reading public, I had my compensations. I had hundreds of -letters from our men at the front indignantly protesting against the -wrong done to me--and a wonderful document signed by the officers and -men of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada came to hearten me up by -its generous testimony as follows:-- - - “We, the undersigned Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Men - of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada desire to take this - opportunity of expressing to you our gratitude for the many acts of - kindness and hospitality that you have shown to the members of the - Canadian Forces since they arrived in this country. - - “We also wish to express to you our sympathies in the recent cruel - and unjust charge of ‘hoarding’ which was brought against you, and - we feel sure that when the true facts are brought to the knowledge - of the public they will realise that the spirit of patriotism you - have shown throughout the war, and the generosity with which you - have contributed articles to the various periodicals published for - the benefit of the troops do not coincide with the possibility of - any contravention of war measures. - - “We also wish to add the expression of our admiration for the - pre-eminent position you have attained in the world of literature - and art, and to assure you that none appreciate your works more - than the people of Canada. - - “We trust that this assurance of our admiration for your genius, - and our sympathy in the worry to which you have been so unjustly - subjected, will prove to you that we are not unmindful of the - kindness and warm interest you have invariably shown towards - Canadian soldiers. - - “We beg to remain, - ”Sincerely yours,” - -Here followed a long list of officers’ and men’s names; the kind and -generous testimonial of their friendship was dated from Bramshott Camp, -Hants, April 16th, 1918. - -I make no comment on this most valued “vote of confidence” voluntarily -given by brave and chivalrous men. I publish it just as it is--one of -my most precious possessions. I can endure even dear Dogberry’s malice -with such a battalion of fighting friends! - -One other thing may be mentioned as showing the curious cross-purposes -of the Stratford-on-Avon “justices” in the prosecution against me, and -that is the letter written to me by the Deputy-Mayor on the eve of the -trial--thus:-- - - “December 31, 1917. - - “DEAR MISS CORELLI,--Allow me to offer you my sincere wishes - that the year 1918 may prove to you and yours one of unalloyed - happiness. In these days such a wish may seem impossible of - achievement. Amidst the strife of nations and the world-wide clash - of arms there must be anxiety and care for all who love their - country, and the ‘petty pin-pricks’ which come to all who try to - do their duty will no doubt try the temper and patience; but amidst - all life’s worries the consciousness of duty done, of love for - others, and the desire to do always what is right will bring _you_ - that real peace and happiness which the world cannot give. That you - may have this in 1918 and the years to follow is my earnest wish. - With kind regards, - - “Yours sincerely, - “FRED WINTER.” - -So was the “Winter of my discontent” moved to try making a bit of -“glorious summer” on the eve of the “Hoarding” case! I was grateful, -of course--and I did not allow myself to dwell on the thought that -perhaps, only perhaps, he was thus moved because long before the -“hoarding” case, my “hoarding” tendencies had prominently displayed -themselves in agreeing to pay £60 towards the restoration of his -ancient house in the High Street, a sum which no one else volunteered! -I did it for love and honour of the town’s antique beauty--not for any -self-laudation or advantage; and I am glad to have been of some use in -this direction. It is a quaint coincidence that this same Deputy-Mayor, -when I previously aided the restoration of the now famous “Tudor” -House opposite the Town Hall, accused me in the local press of doing -it for “self-advertisement.” I am sure he must regret this temporary -misjudgment now that his own house shows its Henry VIIth timbers to the -light of day. - -Briefly to sum up, I am and always have been absolutely guiltless of -“hoarding” anything. I would rather give than receive, and am quite -an adept at “doing without.” And if I may presume to quote finally -from the original _Much Ado About Nothing_ I can say that while I am -perfectly aware of the local “Conrade” and “Borachio” who vented their -spite against me, I think there are many now in Stratford-on-Avon -itself who would say with the original Dogberry:-- - -“Marry, sir, they have committed false report; moreover, they have -spoken untruths; secondarily they are slanderers; sixth and lastly they -have belied a lady; thirdly they have verified unjust things.” - -As for the excellent Sir Thomas Lipton, who was much more troubled -in his mind about this little affair than I was, and who, though he -supplied the contested sugar, escaped all fine and also escaped the -contumely of the press which was heaped upon me like a cartload of -bricks, without rhyme or reason, without honesty or justice, and -without a single word of truth in the various reports cabled all over -the world to do me as much injury as possible; he was so relieved and -happy to think nothing was said about his own share in the matter -that he was more genial and delightsome than ever. And I have reason -to believe that he is “flattered to death,” as our American cousins -sometimes say, by the parody I wrote for him “after Robert Burns,” -which I call-- - - A New Version of - “A MAN’S A MAN FOR A’ THAT” - - _Cordially Inscribed to Sir Thomas Lipton_ - - Fair fa’ our bouncin’ braggart Tam, - Wha perks his heid an’ a’ that, - The Prince o’ Pickles and o’ Jam, - Wha daurs be rich on a’ that! - For a’ that an’ a’ that, - His Butter, Tea, an’ a’ that, - He’s found his Bank the way to rank, - An’ Tam is Tam for a’ that! - - What though wi’ Royalty he’ll dine, - ’Mid sleekit Jews an’ a’ that, - Tam disna drink their best o’ wine, - He’s wide awake an’ a’ that! - For a’ that an’ a’ that, - Their duds an’ shows an’ a’ that, - The “Lipton Shares” are worth them a’ - An’ Tam is Tam for a’ that! - - Ye see yon birkie ca’d a lord, - Wha struts an’ stares an’ a’ that, - When tradesmen winna tak’ his word, - Tam rules his roast an’ a’ that! - For a’ that an’ a’ that, - His ribbon, stars an’ a’ that, - Tam kens his man baith oot an’ in, - An’ looks an’ laughs at a’ that. - - The Premier maks a belted knight, - A duke, an earl an’ a’ that, - But a “Lipton’s Stores” aboon his might, - Gude faith! he maunna fa’ that! - For a’ that an’ a’ that, - Their pride o’ place an’ a’ that, - Monopolies o’ Ham and Tea - Mak’ louder fame than a’ that! - - An’ Tam has gi’en Y.M.C.A. - A muckle cheque an’ a’ that, - An’ angels waft him on his way - To Paradise an’ a’ that! - For a’ that an’ a’ that, - For that’s the end o’ a’ that; - His lavish hand’s its own reward, - An’ Tam is Tam for a’ that! - - - - -THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF FAME - -AVE SHAKESPEARE! - - -Three hundred years ago, on April 23, 1616, William Shakespeare, -of whom Carlyle wrote as “the pink and flower of remembered -Englishmen--the greatest thing we have yet done and managed to produce -in this world,” drew his last breath at “New Place,” the home he had -earned for himself in his native town of Stratford-on-Avon. The great -bell of the Guild Chapel facing the garden side of his “pretty house of -brick and timber” tolled for his passing; but the great voice of the -world which acclaims him so loudly to-day was dumb. - -In those Puritan times he was but little considered; and no hint or -whisper of his coming renown stirred the sleepy quietude of the little -country place where he was born and where he died. His fellow-townsmen -of that period kept no particular record of him, nor did they dream of -him as the future King of English Literature. He was laid to rest in -the chancel of the Parish Church--an honoured place allowed to him, not -because of his genius as a Poet, for this was as indifferent a matter -then to the good bucolic folk of Stratford-on-Avon as it is now, but -because he had, by purchase, become part owner of the tithes and as a -lay-rector had right of interment there. - -In his lifetime he assumed to be nothing but a simple industrious -man of business who “adapted” and rearranged old plays to suit the -requirements of the Globe Theatre; and he flung out the splendid rays -of his dazzling poetic genius over these dry bones of romance and -history as freely and with as grand an absence of self-consciousness as -the sun which shines alike on the just and the unjust. - -Nothing probably would have surprised him more or moved him to such -incredulous smiling as to have been told that in three hundred years -his fame would surpass that of any other Englishman ever born! He would -have put aside the prophecy with good-humoured laughter and would never -have given it another thought. For his wordly aims were perfectly -straightforward and simple; they were, plainly--to earn a sufficient -competence and to stand on an independent footing with his fellows, -to live with his family in ease and comfort, and to end his days in -peace in the town where he was born. No ideal could be more free from -arrogance. His whole career is an object lesson of infinite Greatness -to the infinitely Little! - -The vital centre of Shakespeare’s marvellous power is surely his -impersonality. His creative spirit moved behind the passing show of -kings and queens and historic events, moulding them to his mood, but -never displaying itself. Like light it shed colour on whatsoever it -illumined. So little may we guess of Shakespeare’s personality from -his writings that he has made of himself an Enigma. We cannot even -tell what form of creed he professed, though we know and feel that the -devout worship of an invisible and intelligent Force behind Nature -filled him with highest faith and purest service towards God. We cannot -find out his special likes or dislikes, save in slight indications -here and there, such as his plainly indicated abhorrence of Jews--and -Germans! Great as is the professed admiration of the Teuton for our -English Master-Mind, we wonder how he can get over such lines as -these:-- - - “A German from the waist downward, all slops!” - _Much Ado About Nothing._ - - “Like a full-acorn’d boar, a German one.”--_Cymbeline._ - - “Three German devils, three Doctor Faustuses.” - _Merry Wives of Windsor._ - - “Holding in disdain the German women - For some dishonest manners.” - _Henry V._ - - “Like a German clock, - Still a’repairing, ever out of frame.” - _Love’s Labour’s Lost_. - -While the discussion between Portia and Nerissa in the _Merchant of -Venice_ caps all:-- - - NERISSA: How like you the young German, the Duke of Saxony’s nephew? - - PORTIA: Very vilely in the morning when he is sober, and most - vilely in the afternoon when he is drunk; when he is best, he is a - little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better - than a beast. - -One other thing we may perceive, and that is our Poet’s scorn of -pettiness and treachery. Individual deceit--public or private -hypocrisy--these seem to Shakespeare’s mind unforgivable. The -“black-handed” hit--the cruel slander--the malicious lie--against these -he delivers his most trenchant blows; but farther than this we are -unable to penetrate into the kingdom of his heart or sentiment. - -To woman he assigns the highest place as inspirer and saviour of -man; when he shows her other than this, as in Lady Macbeth, he makes -remorse half condone her sins and death conclude them. He seemed to -be absolutely unconscious of any superiority in himself to others of -his own calling. His poetic gift was like song to a nightingale that -warbles for sheer delight and amorousness, in delicious ignorance of -the entrancing beauty of its melody. - -What affects, or _should_ affect, us most deeply to-day is the -deplorable fact that for three hundred years we have had no poet, no -dramatist, to approach Shakespeare in any sense--neither in beauty of -language, loftiness of thought, nor simple naturalness of expression. -He towers among us as a veritable giant among pigmies--for the men of -letters in all parts of the world at this epoch, men who are scrambling -and pushing themselves forward to offer a very poor and inadequate -“homage” to this mightiest genius of all time, are of such microscopic -attainment when compared with him that one needs a mental lens to -perceive them at all. - -These are they for whom Self is not only the keynote, but the whole -tune. Some of them take pride in their “style”; whereas Shakespeare had -no “style” save his own, which has become a living part of the English -language. He defied laws and conventions and dramatic “unities”; he -dared to be his own master; and fortunately there were no newspapers -in his day to publish venomous criticisms which might have daunted or -discouraged his efforts. - -The earliest newspaper, or _News Packet_, as it was called, was -issued in 1619, three years after Shakespeare’s death. Shakespeare’s -critics were the public--in fact, the “gallery.” He “played to the -gallery,” and played “up”--never “down.” Moreover, he was apparently -so indifferent to his own literary reputation that he made no -effort to publish any of his works, and allowed them to be pirated -wholesale. Only in the case of the two poems dedicated to the Earl of -Southampton--“Venus and Adonis” and “The Rape of Lucrece”--does he seem -to have taken any personal interest in his own productions. - -One may perhaps venture to suggest that probably he attached no -importance to what he knew were “adaptations” of old plays, and thought -nothing of the rich poesy wherewith he had endowed them. The most of -his work was this of industrious “adaptation”; so that he might have -modestly considered it to be scarcely his own and that the magnificent -speeches he put in the mouths of his stage puppets were only a part of -what is called “business.” The superb indifference he thus displayed to -his own place in the estimation of others was a striking proof of his -sub-conscious power. That his contemporaries mentioned him but little -would not have troubled a mind like Shakespeare’s and Robert Green’s -jealous attack upon him as “an upstart Crow, beautified with our -feathers, with his Tyger’s heart wrapt in a Player’s hide,” would but -have moved him to a compassionate smile at such an outburst of malice -and envy. - -The chief lesson we may learn from Shakespeare’s unapproachable fame is -of that greatness which is “impersonal.” The literary men of our day -are all painfully personal and are seldom satisfied unless they are -elbowing each other out of the way or scrambling over each other to the -front; and some of them are never happier than when they can fasten -themselves, like barnacles, to the splendid ship of Shakespeare’s -immortal genius, which sails serenely onward over the seas of the -infinite. _As_ barnacles they do no particular harm; for, cling as they -will, the great waves of time generally sweep them off in the progress -of the voyage, while the great Ship goes on, carrying its messages of -truth, honour, and strong patriotism to all the world! And it will -still sail on, till the English language shall be no more. For if, in -centuries to come, nothing should be left of England but Shakespeare, -his name would be sufficient to prove that England once had lived! - - - - -SHAKESPEARE’S WAR BIRTHDAY IN 1917 - -NEGLECTED HONOURS - - -Many of our newspapers devoted columns of matter to “St. George’s Day”; -and the writers of the various articles on this subject “gushed” in -special and particular fashion over a purely mythical knight, whom -legendary lore supposes to have killed a purely mythical dragon. But a -very general omission was made of a real and a far greater personage -than St. George, whose day of birth and death coincides with that of -the dragon-slayer, namely, William Shakespeare, “the beautifullest -English soul this England confesses to have made, the pink and flower -of remembered Englishmen, the greatest thing, it appears, that we -have yet done and managed to produce in this world,” according to -right-thinking Thomas Carlyle. America, too, bears witness to the same -truth through the golden voice of her noble teacher Emerson, who thus -writes: “All the sweets and all the terrors of human lot lay in his -mind as truly, but as softly, as the landscape lies on the eye.” He -was, and is, our greatest Englishman--our finest patriot--and, when all -is said and done, he will be our chief claim to remembrance in history. -Very strange has it seemed to thousands of us, especially Americans, -that during the present crisis and stress of war the Press of Great -Britain should have apparently forgotten to mention the name of perhaps -the greatest Maker of England on his natal day. Some one tells us, “It -has never occurred before.” Then why has it occurred now? - -Had Shakespeare been alive to-day we can easily imagine his attitude -in regard to the war. Very English of English, he would have tolerated -no half measures. He, like Sir Francis Drake, would have had short -shrift for any foe that sought to “raid” the shores of his beloved -Britain! Not for him would have been the message of the Vice-Admiral -at Dover: “We were _fortunate_ in being able to save the lives of ten -German officers and ninety-five men from the vessels which were sunk!” -He would have exclaimed: “Out upon such ‘fortune’!” And he might have -judged it as somewhat of a _mis_fortune that a British Vice-Admiral -lived who could write it down as “fortunate” to rescue any members -of the same savage Hun tribe that sank the _Lusitania_ and scruples -not to sink hospital ships! Another word might have been found for -the occasion; and Shakespeare would have been the man to find it. To -Shakespeare’s mind, a friend was a friend--a foe was a foe. Treachery -was his chief abhorrence. When he lived in Stratford-on-Avon for -the last remaining years of his career we know by various records -that he was subjected to many petty annoyances at the hands of his -own townsfolk, so that almost up to his death he was involved in -litigation, defending himself from libel and his daughter from scandal. -The Corporation were ready enough to borrow money of him--yes! that -goes without saying. But for sympathy, comprehension, and friendship he -had to seek outside his native town altogether. It would seem he has -to do that still; and not only has he to go outside his native town, -but outside his native land. In America his works are much better -known, loved, and honoured than in Great Britain; in France, where it -is difficult to understand him owing to the insuperable obstacles of -his language for Frenchmen, there is a “société” founded by an erudite -Israelite, with a British committee who are entirely unknown as _real_ -students of Shakespeare, but who have “names” distinguished in other -walks of life. In Russia the bard is viewed as a sort of demi-god, -for his verse translates into Russian superbly; and in the Germany -of the past Lessing’s translation of the plays made him the father -of German literature, as represented by Goethe, Schiller, and others -who distinguished themselves before the black night of Hohenzollern -decadence. But if we take our own islands--in Scotland he is hardly -understood; in Ireland, seldom read or acted; in Wales, almost a sealed -book; while in England itself--well, as Martin Harvey has recently -said, a quarter of one day’s war expenses would establish a National -Theatre, where the great plays could be produced in a fitting manner as -part of the national education. - - * * * * * - -In Stratford-on-Avon this year’s anniversary of the poet’s birth and -death has passed almost unmarked. No actor has urged his willing -service to his Master in the theatre by the Avon, though this, for -many reasons, is not to be wondered at. True, the bells of the church -rang--true, the flags of nations were unfurled, and there was a -dolefully shabby “flower” procession; but in the Memorial Theatre there -was only a lecture, _not_ on Shakespeare, but on a movement inaugurated -by the lecturer himself. Then there were all the usual “pats on the -back” of every person to the other concerned, a trifle of music, and -there an end. Shakespeare himself was nowhere, though--yes!--perhaps -out in the moist woods, where the primroses are beginning to push -through the mould and the call of the cuckoo is faintly heard, one -might have met his tranquil Spirit moving apart from all “alarums and -excursions,” and have heard his voice in words which he could well -address just now to England. - - “Nay, if you read this line, remember not - The hand that writ it, for I love you so, - That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot, - If thinking on me then should make you woe.” - - - - -“DON’T TRAVEL” - -A HARD HIT - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -We are all called upon to make sacrifices, both public and personal. -No one can assert that we do not make them willingly, and for the most -part uncomplainingly. But our Dictators appear blind to the fact that -in many cases their orders and “restrictions” are ruining British -trades, while affording the greatest possible relief and satisfaction -to the Boches. The well-fed Huns heard with malicious glee the -admission of Mr. Bonar Law that we were at one time short of fighting -men by a hundred thousand--an undiplomatic avowal which for sheer bad -tact ranks alongside of Lord Devonport’s “grave” warnings of “food -shortage,” and Captain Bathurst’s advertised appetite for “pickled -herrings.” If “shortage” of any kind exists, why “give it away” to the -enemy? It is of a nature to be dealt with “in secret Session,” not in -the open House, where prominent members themselves admit that whatever -is said is at once taken to Germany. Is it surprising, then, that with -the crazy exaggerations and falsehoods of the German Press, our foes -assert that “England is starving!” and that “there are not enough men -left to us to fight with!” How much wiser and more dignified it would -be to let them clearly understand that, honestly, we are not suffering -at all from any real food hardships, and that we shall have more -than a hundred thousand extra men ready to fight them should occasion -arise. Mr. Bonar Law may be a Scottish “man of iron,” but he is also -very guileless if he does not realise the derision and delight of the -Boche over the statements he made in the House--statements repeated -throughout Germany, just as Mr. Lloyd George’s unfortunate phrase, “the -horrible danger of the submarine,” was caught up by Bethmann-Hollweg, -and repeated with devilish laughter at every street corner in Berlin. -When we are at grips with a foe it is not advisable to show him the -loose joints in our armour. To us British there should be never a -thought or a word of “horrible danger,” especially as we know we can -grow our own necessary food if we make up our minds to do it; nor -should we ever publicly admit any “shortage” of any kind, whether in -men or supplies. To admit weakness is to court attack. - -Now we are told “not to travel”; not to take the much longed-for Easter -rest, with Easter hope of the slowly coming spring, and there is no -doubt that those of us who have comfortable homes are willing enough -to stay in them. But for the brave, patient men and women who have -given up their homes to toil day and night at munition work, and who -naturally crave for a breath of country or sea air, whose bodies and -souls are weary, and who need, if only a few hours, change of scene -and movement for their very health’s sake, the restrictions of train -and motor service are surely rather an exercise of tyranny? Not only -does the ban affect the travelling public (we presume the Cabinet -Ministers will not deny themselves their Easter recess?), but it spells -ruin to thousands of hard-working folk who depend for their living at -this season on letting lodgings in the country or at the seaside; to -say nothing of the disaster undeservedly inflicted on all our lovely -watering-places and rural resorts, which exist, in a great measure, on -the influx of visitors, whose patronage keeps them going. Surely it -may be asked, Why destroy the prosperity of our own people? Why lay a -paralysing hand on our own trades and industries? Is it to give the -Boche a better chance when the war is over? Before the outbreak of the -Hohenzollern madness, hotels and lodging-houses in all our pleasure -resorts were numerous and prosperous, and the greater part of them -were carried on by--Germans! One could not go anywhere without meeting -German managers and German waiters. Now, when there might be the faint -ghost of a chance for the British hotel-keeper, the British caterer, -the British tradesman, the public are warned off with “Don’t travel!” -What joy for the Germans! Our Dictators simply “fall” into their hands -like drugged moths into a net, and the way they go to work suggests -an attempt to “Prussianise” England, and make ample preparation for -a German “boom” after the war, when our own people, half ruined by -“restrictions,” have not even the time to recoup their losses or -start afresh on any new line of possible prosperity. If the enormous -expenditure of the war is to be met by the people, every chance must -be given them to earn the money wherewith to meet it. None of the -workers would trouble the railway service if motor-cars and conveyances -were allowed to carry them out for an Easter breath of Easter air, -but though military “swaggerers” at home are allowed to dash about -everywhere in cars with apparent freedom, the “restriction” on petrol -holds up all the rest of the public. Yet, as a matter of common -hearsay, it is asserted that “there is no real scarcity of petrol!” - -What are we to believe? One thing is pretty certain, and that is that -the British public, though so patient “a hass,” may kick at last and -refuse to take “rations” of thistles, while the German Hog is fed on -carrots and corn. To quote from a well-reasoned article in a morning -contemporary: “The blind and fatal shears of promiscuous prohibition -cut off the just and the unjust together. They are, moreover, a -most disturbing element in trade, and are reducing our merchants -to despair.” True! And if the “disturbing element” is not promptly -checked, we may look out for storms! - - - - -“TE DEUM LAUDAMUS” - -THE GREAT THANKSGIVING - -(_Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”_) - - -It is time we gave thanks--indeed, it is more than time! Perhaps, -had we seen more clearly into the future we might have given thanks -long before this--thanks for our kinship with America--for the -ties of blood, of language, of tradition, memory, and association -which have made us, as some say, “cousins,” but as we prefer to -believe, brothers--brothers in heart and soul, as we are to-day -brothers-in-arms. Let it be admitted that we have not always quite -understood each other. Small rancours, petty jealousies, trifling -differences have arisen casually from time to time between the people -of a great Empire and the people of a great Republic, which seem now -but the merest gossamer cobwebs spun by the ever-working spiders of -rumour and mischief, easily brushed away at a touch. The trumpet blast -of a noble Cause has brought to our side our youngest comrade, alive -with energy, passion, and enthusiasm, expressing in every attitude -Tennyson’s eloquent lines:-- - - “I wake to the higher aims - Of a land that has lost for a little her lust of gold - And love of a peace that was full of wrongs and shames - Horrible, hateful, monstrous, not to be told, - And I hail once more the banner of battle, unroll’d!” - - * * * * * - -And we have taken our comrade by both hands, and have knelt with him -under the great dome of St. Paul’s, giving our thanks to God for -bringing us this, our brother; and we claim to say with Lincoln that -we do not presume to ask the Almighty to be on our side, but we do -pray that we may be on the side of the Almighty! If President Wilson’s -“Declaration of War” against Germany means anything, it means that -right and justice, freedom and truth, are all of God; and therefore -to fight for the maintenance of these things is to fight for God’s -own Law and Order. The one piece of eloquence which stands out in -distinctive greatness amid all that has yet been spoken concerning our -world-contest, is this “Declaration,” which will go down to posterity -as matchless for high principle, reasonableness, and clearness of -diction--an oration which no statesman of old time, whether Greek or -Roman, has ever surpassed, in what we know of history. It should have -been read aloud in every church, every school, every theatre, every -public assembly, with as much impressiveness as a Pope’s “Encyclical,” -and more! - -Nothing do we need so much in this country as to “catch on” to some -of the enthusiasm and eagerness which fires our American Ally, as he -springs to our side in the battle under the bright stars of the “Old -Glory.” He is young, ardent, and ready for anything--quick eyed, alert -of brain, he means to “hustle”! Some of us need to be infected by -this splendid youth. A curious lethargy clings to us at times--a kind -of dumb spell. Is it excess of feeling? Or--is it sheer egotism? Our -French friends marvel at the indifference we show at the victories just -won by Sir Douglas Haig. They thought to see all London beflagged in -the great soldier’s honour. Very certainly they had hoped the “Stars -and Stripes” might be flown from every public building on the day of -the President’s Declaration--but no!--not even in Stratford-on-Avon, -that shrine of America’s devoted Shakespeare-Worship, was any sign -given of the momentous event. Rather discreditable to Stratford, -remembering that in peace times Shakespeare’s Town depends very much -for its livelihood on its crowds of American visitors. But what does -Shakespeare himself say? - - “Blow, blow thou winter wind, - Thou art not so unkind - As man’s ingratitude!” - -Let us hope that it is not so much ingratitude as inability to -appreciate the situation. - - * * * * * - -No wonder Americans find it sometimes difficult to know or to -understand us. For months they have heard their President persistently -abused, they have seen him cruelly caricatured and jeered at in the -lower sections of the British Press, and they have had to possess their -souls in patience till their day of triumph came. It has come--the -bitter tongues are now all honey--and their generosity in forgiving and -forgetting wrongs and coming to us in perfect amity, glittering in the -panoply of battle, and placing almost inexhaustible supplies at our -service, is a truly great and wonderful thing. We have done ourselves -honour by the thanksgiving in St. Paul’s; and some of us who knelt in -the dim shadows of that vast shrine and heard the thunderous chords of -the American National Hymn surging in our ears, prayed that the two -great English-speaking peoples, now joined in a vaster Crusade than was -ever before undertaken, might find their union cemented, not only by -the blood shed for country, but by all the ties of mutual comprehension -and sympathy. To-day, we are as one in the resolve, that - - “God’s just wrath shall be wreaked on a giant liar, - And noble thought be freer under the sun!” - -And so shall the “Old Glory” help to make for us all the New! - - - - -THE WOMEN’S VOTE - -NATURE VERSUS POLITICS - - -Those far-sighted and indulgent men who supported “Votes for Women” -should surely be enjoying to the full the result of their pliability -and humour! In the “Coupon Election” they expected six million feminine -votes--for Coalition, of course. If we conjugate Ministerial messages -as one verb, they could all have been rendered thus: “_I_ expect, -_you_ expect, _he_ expects” women to do their duty. But one point -seems rather overlooked, and that is, the precise idea women have of -duty. When I say “women” I mean women in the grand majority--not a few -hundreds or even a few thousand agitators. And I dare to suggest that -these “women in the grand majority,” do not care about their “votes” -in the least--and that all the roaring of a megaphone press will never -make them care. Nature is, and always will be, too strong for them, and -Nature has not endowed them, except in a few rare cases, with a taste -for politics. But Nature has given them far greater qualities, and has -organised them in a special way--a way most beautiful, wonderful, and -nobly privileged; and the greatest social reformer that ever risked the -oft-tried sorry business of “re-constructing” civilisation, can never -alter the work for which Nature is alone responsible. I do not believe -that Women, speaking in the plural of nationalities, ever wanted the -vote at all--but that seeing (and hearing) the wild clamour of some of -their sisters, who shrieked and smashed themselves into notoriety, they -were attracted by the fun of it, the noise of it, the curious, rowdy, -non-feminine spirit of it, and followed the whooping and the yells with -the fascinated amusement of children running after the “One Man Band” -who beats a drum with his elbows and clashes cymbals with his feet. -Mr. Lloyd George is a wise thinker in his generation, but his sagacity -will be at fault if it should be proved (Heaven forbid!) that after -all--yes, after all the screaming and smashing of windows, and all the -efforts made on their behalf--the women as a whole prove apathetic and -indifferent to this wonderful privilege they have fought for and won! - -There is a French story of a certain spoilt little lady whose husband -adored her, from the glimmer of her topmost blonde curl to the point -of her broidered shoe, and who expressed to him her ardent wish for -a diamond chain she had seen in an expensive jeweller’s window. Her -husband, though rich and generous, apparently paid no attention to her -oft-repeated request, till one day he suddenly presented her with the -coveted ornament as a “surprise packet” and token of his affection. But -she pushed the gift aside and gave way to bitter tears. “Why, oh, why -did you bring me such a thing?” she sobbed. “I shall never wear it! Oh, -_why_ didn’t you buy me that dear weeny-teeny dog I saw yesterday! The -_weeny_ pet! I would have loved it so! I would have talked to it about -_you_!--it would have been _such_ a companion! Oh, I _did_ want that -_weeny_ darling!” - -There is a moral in this story (despite the contempt it must evoke -among future female M.P.s), and “the pint,” as Captain Cuttle or his -friend Jack Bunsby remarked, “lies in the application on it.” Whether -Mr. Lloyd George and the supporters of the Women’s Franchise will -perceive it is problematical--but whether they do or do not, there -is a curious nature-fact about Woman which is frequently missed or -overlooked by Man. It is this: _That when she is given what she wants, -she doesn’t want it!_ That is to say--the gaining of her objective -concludes her active interest in it; the thing is possessed, and -promptly loses its value. With the swiftness and ease of a butterfly -she deserts the blossom from which she has stripped the pollen! - -“Equality of the sexes” is one of the advanced feminine war-cries, -when every one with a grain of common sense knows there is and can be -no such equality. Nature’s law forbids. Nature insists on contrasts; -the small and the great, the weak and the strong, the light and the -dark. And women know well enough that their “calling and election” -are superior to those of men--they are the makers of the race and the -ordainers of the future, but their strength is not on the hustings or -in the polling-booth--it is in the silence and sweetness of “Home.” -The home is the acorn from which springs the oak of a nation. Women’s -own instincts teach them that their power is too sacred a thing for -common discussion; and when, in their despite, such discussion is let -loose in the press by vulgarly interested sexualists and sensualists, -their contempt is not concealed. They feel, strongly enough too, when -questioned in the right spirit, that it is not needful for them to mix -with the undignified scrambling of political methods; and any “apathy” -as to the use of the vote, is simply that they have, or think they -have, something better to do. Yes, indeed! They really and truly think -that their home affairs, their children, their daily duties, even their -clothes, are more in their line than “Coalition”! They are for unity -of purpose most assuredly--all of one mind as to the punishment of -surely the most miserable man on earth, the ex-Kaiser--equally of one -mind concerning the barring out of the Huns from further interference -of their own folks’ businesses--but they think, and rightly too, that -so far as putting the nation’s house in order goes, the men should be -trusted to do it. There was something very funny in Mr. Lloyd George’s -opening words to a women’s meeting at Queen’s Hall--“I feel very shy -and solitary!” Did he? Surely this was a bit of “camouflage”? But -putting all blandishment aside, it is just a toss-up as to whether -women’s votes will be quite as influential as prophesied. One of the -surprises of the Coupon Election was Mr. Lloyd George’s “sweep-aside” -of a chivalrous male candidate in favour of Miss Pankhurst, who, so -it is understood, threatened the direst things against him in past -“militant” days! Generosity and magnanimity on the part of a Prime -Minister to a Suffragette, a male to a female, could no farther -go!--but one wonders if the modern “Glendower” realised the effect -his action had on many thousands of non-Pankhurst women? For sheer -humiliation it came second only to the surrender of the German Fleet! -Whether it served as good a purpose was answered by the result. “Drive -Nature out of the door, she comes flying back through the window,” -and one of the most curious, purely natural traits in woman’s complex -character, is that she loves to have her own way up to a certain point, -but when that point is gained she has had enough, and turns to man -with a “Here! _You_ take it!” And no woman has yet been returned to -Parliament, for which we may all, if we have any common sense, thank -God, and hope for the best that she never will be! - - - - -A “HAPPY THOUGHTS” DAY - -(_Written specially for the Grantham Red Cross Outings Fund_) - - -Here is an idea for every one--young and old, rich and poor! Let us -institute a “Happy Thoughts” Day!--one day out of the seven on which -we resolve to think only “Happy” thoughts! Thoughts of kindness, -tenderness, hope, and unselfishness--thoughts which, even while we -think them, take fairy wings and fly from ourselves to our neighbours -and propagate other happy thoughts, creating cheerfulness and hope -wherever they go. It is not easy, perhaps, to think “happy” thoughts -in dark days, but no good task can be accomplished without difficulty. -A much more simple and convenient thing it is to grumble!--to lay -our own faults on the shoulders of others,--to believe that our -own troubles are the worst in the world,--to sneer at other folks’ -manners, looks, clothes, and opinions, and to throw out mocking jests -and cruel laughter at those whom we affect to despise yet secretly -envy;--but on our “Happy Thoughts” day we can have none of these ugly -and ordinary vulgarities,--we must make a bid for something higher and -more exquisite in grace and refinement. We must think “happily” of -others while we hope they will also think “happily” of us. We will make -up our minds to find our friends beautiful, charming, and lovable; we -will cheerfully admire them and their appearance and conversation,--we -will agree that it is a special blessing conferred on us that we have -any friends at all,--and we will confess that our lot in life is much -better than we have any right to expect. And we will send our “happy -thoughts” across the seas to suffering nations, conjoined with our -hopeful prayers--prayers that they may be sustained and comforted, and -by God’s mercy be victorious. And above all, we will let our “Happy -Thoughts Day” reflect its cheeriness in ourselves,--in our looks and -bearing, our talk and expression, so that we may be the carriers of -mental sunshine everywhere, even during the passing of the darkest -thundercloud. One day out of the seven, dear friends!--take it and -consecrate it to “Happy Thoughts,” happy thoughts of earth, of heaven, -of God and man,--and you will find it a day on which you unconsciously -grow stronger, braver, pleasanter to look at, more valuable to -know,--for happiness is a powerful magnet, and never fails to draw -others to its vital line. May a “Happy Thoughts Day” be the true -holiday of every loving and faithful soul! - - - - -WHY DID I----? - - -I should not presume to write this answer to numerous correspondents, -had it not been for the precedent given by Mr. Garvin, the erudite -editor of the _Observer_, who recently allotted several columns -of his own paper to the praise of his own book. Wherefore, gladly -accepting this “lead” from one who knows so much more about literary -“management” than I do, I take the opportunity of replying to several -letters demanding “Why” I wrote my last published novel, _The Young -Diana_. Why? Well, because (like Mr. Garvin on himself) I think it a -good idea! Moreover, I wanted to be one of the first in the field to -suggest a discovery which is approaching us in the near future; which -is, so to speak, “glimmering” ahead of our scientists like a brilliant -streak of sunrise in a summer sky. Following the example of Mr. Garvin, -who urgently recommends the public to read _his_ book, I, with equal -urgency recommend the public to read _mine_. I should not have dared to -do so unless Mr. Garvin had shown me the way, and he is such a noted -authority in journalism that I feel I cannot do wrong in copying him as -much as possible. Therefore, dear public!--good readers all!--I assure -you that _The Young Diana_ is a remarkable book. It is, really! Mr. -Garvin says his is a remarkable book, and I feel that mine is equally -remarkable. It is full of new ideas, happily expressed. Garvinly -speaking, it is a compendium of hope for mankind, or rather womankind, -because it shows how possibly the youth and beauty of the fairer sex -may be retained indefinitely, to say nothing of the prolongation of -life. Nobody wants to grow old, not even Garvin; as a matter of fact -nobody _does_ grow old nowadays: witness our beautiful Queen Alexandra -and the ever lithe and lissom “Tiger” Clemenceau. To read _The Young -Diana_, you need a little intelligence, of course. So you do when you -read _The Economic Foundations of Peace_ by Garvin. His book costs -12s. net--mine is only 6s. 9d. His treats of “the policy upon which -the safety, the prosperity, the very physical survival of humanity -depend.” Mine treats likewise of all these things, vested in fair -Woman, upon whom the physical existence as well as “survival” of man -depends. His, according to his friends on the press, is “a great idea -brilliantly presented.” So is mine. It is, to quote another friend’s -criticism, “a practical and passionate effort to save the world alive.” -Oh, friends! this is exactly what _my_ book is!--only it is a practical -and passionate effort to save _Woman_ alive!--beautiful and exquisite -Woman!--the Mother of all Man! It is “filled with cogent argument and -luminous illustration”--I copy Garvin critiques because I shouldn’t -know how to lay on the butter so felicitously as the friends of “this -remarkable book by a great journalist”--but I have occasionally been -called “a great novelist,” by semi-crazed folk, of course, and I -feel justified (after Garvin) in calling attention to my “remarkable -book.” Garvinly speaking, “it is a timely, wise and nobly-inspired -book”--you see I haven’t a newspaper of my own in which to blow my -own small trumpet, so I catch the silvery echo of Garvin’s glorious -and mellow horn and trust to my readers to catch the sound and the -meaning thereof! So read _The Young Diana_!--if she had only been -at the Peace Conference all would have been well! _Diana_ is a book -“which will leave the reader with a better hope of the future”--(vide -_Observer_)--yes, indeed, it will! Women will radiate under its -influence; beauty will have no fear of perishing; life will be “a -joy for ever,” and all this for six shillings and ninepence! Think -of it! Had I a journal of my own I would have out-Garvined Garvin in -self-adulation, but this is only a reply to my numerous correspondents -who ask, “Why did you write _The Young Diana_?” and my answer is -because, like Garvin, I seek to re-invigorate, reform, and re-establish -the world! Amen! - - - - -IN THE HUSH OF THE DAWN - -A THOUGHT - - -Silence now where so lately the guns thundered their terrific -message,--silence, beautiful and wonderful, where just a while ago -the bursting bombs and shrieking shells tore the air on their errands -of doom. Silence!--peace!--the hush of the dawn before the rising of -the sun! Nothing in nature is perhaps more impressive than this dumb -spell which precedes approaching morning,--when every blade of grass, -every leaf on every tree seems to wait attentively for the day. And -nothing in the condition of human affairs is more awe-inspiring to -the thinker and idealist than the dramatic pause of a break between -battles,--an armistice, which may or may not lead to lasting peace. -We feel, as it were, the slow passing of mist and cloud across the -sky--we watch pale glimmerings of gold and rose in the lightening -east--we think we see the morning glory on the distant hills! For those -who view the pageant of history with living interest, and notably -for us who are permitted to witness the most marvellous scene ever -enacted in it, this is not a time for wild whirling to and fro in a -round of social excitement and foolish chattering,--it is far more a -time for prayer. Even as the Eastern worshipper prostrates himself -on the earth and waits for the rising of the sun, so should we both -spiritually and intellectually prostrate ourselves in humility before -the shining hope of the wonderful Light which promises to illumine the -world’s darkness,--the light of peace and unity which shall make war -impossible. For, though we may dance and sing and shout “Victory!” at -the top of our voices, that Light does not as yet shine,--that sun has -not yet risen! Men are not yet of one straight mind. A great majority -“love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.” Could -we call our nation one of absolute unity in purpose, resolved to put -aside personal prejudices and interests for the good of the whole -State, we should be certain of a real “sunrise”--we should almost touch -the millennium! But though we deem the cruellest war of all time ended, -and though the Supreme Power has given to our arms a victory so sudden -and miraculous that we are left, as it were, breathless and staring, -half in doubt as to whether our fortune be truly real, we are not able, -apparently, to stand still in our mercifully _un_-invaded country and -look each other in the face without quarrelling. Much talk there is -of reform and betterment, but if each man who advocates these things -begins the work by arguing foolish details with his political rival, -there is little hope of any useful action ensuing. Should we not call -a “hush” on these agitating folk?--a request for pause before they -cast up dust into the clear spaces of the dawn? Let us have a pure and -open sky! Let us watch the colours of hope and gladness deepen softly -and surely on the long-darkened horizon--and let no murky miasma of -discontent and disloyalty mar the happiness of the rising sun! A nobler -People,--a better, grander, stronger Empire!--this is what our king -and all our wisest men appeal for in this “hush of the dawn.” Surely -it is the highest privilege in the world to know that we can all -help in this work of Peace as we have helped in War,--we were all at -one in making munitions for death;--let us all be similarly at one in -making munitions for life. We are given our freedom by the sacrifice -of thousands of brave men,--we shall not honour their memories now -by ceaseless disputations as to our own material advantages. We -desire surely that their dauntless and noble spirits shall know that -our gratitude for their heroism inspires us to build up a nobler -civilisation than we have ever had before,--and to this end we pray God -who hath given us the victory,--so far!--in the hush of the dawn! - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation and hyphenation were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not -changed. - -Simple typographical errors in English were corrected; unbalanced -quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and -otherwise left unbalanced. - -Misspelled non-English words were not corrected. - -Page 15: Duplicate book title deleted by Transcriber. - -Page 128: “Dux Fœmina facti” should be “Dux Fæmina facti”. - -The French text on pages 141–144 contains several uncorrected spelling -and accent errors. - -Page 179: “names of scared things” probably should be “sacred”. - -Page 213: “grudges you success” perhaps should be “your”. - -Page 261: “in the thoat and palate” probably should be “throat”. - -Page 262: “abnominations” was printed that way. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My "Little Bit", by Marie Corelli - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY "LITTLE BIT" *** - -***** This file should be named 63621-0.txt or 63621-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/6/2/63621/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: My "Little Bit" - -Author: Marie Corelli - -Release Date: November 3, 2020 [EBook #63621] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY "LITTLE BIT" *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="center"> -<h1><span class="bb">MY “LITTLE BIT”</span></h1> - -<p class="p0 large bold">MARIE CORELLI</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4 wspace xxlarge bold">MY “LITTLE BIT”</p> - -<p class="p4">BY</p> -<p class="large">MARIE CORELLI</p> - -<p class="small">AUTHOR OF “THE YOUNG DIANA,” “THE LIFE EVERLASTING,”<br /> -“INNOCENT,” “ROMANCE OF TWO WORLDS,”<br /> -“BARABBAS,” ETC.</p> - -<p class="p4 vspace large">NEW <img src="images/i_logo.jpg" alt="publisher's logo" /> YORK<br /> -<span class="larger">GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</span> -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4 vspace"><i>Copyright, 1919,<br /> -By George H. Doran Company</i></p> - -<p class="p4"><i>Printed in the United States of America</i> -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4 vspace"> -DEDICATED<br /> -TO<br /> -MY FRIEND<br /> - -<span class="gesperrt larger">A. R. M. L.</span></p> - -<p class="smaller vspace">AND HIS FELLOW-MEMBERS<br /> -OF THE CARLTON CLUB</p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii"></a>vii</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">The</span> articles in this book, with the exception of the -first two, were all written during the war at the request -of the various editors by whose courtesy they are now -reproduced in volume form. Most of them, notably -those which appeared in the <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, were, -by my own desire, gratuitous, though payment for -them was offered. But, being unable to handle sword -or gun, I was glad to offer the free service of my pen -whenever such service was desired, or considered -useful, just as I would have been glad, had I been a -man, to fight voluntarily for Great Britain, without -any thought of other recompense than that of the -personal pride and joy such action would have given -me. The first two articles: “Savage Glory” and “The -Great Unrest,” were published some considerable -time before the outbreak of war, and while the editor -of <i>Nash’s Magazine</i> was generous to a fault in his -praise of “Savage Glory” he was so doubtful as to the -accuracy of the indictment conveyed in “The Great -Unrest” that he felt himself compelled to preface it -by a note, stating that he, or rather “we,” could not -be held responsible for any agreement with or endorsement -of the author’s ideas. Readers can now judge -for themselves whether those ideas were fairly prophetic -or otherwise. Naturally, no heed was paid to -them, except by a huge silent public, the press apparently -making it a rule not to notice in any one paper<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a>viii</span> -what their rivals print in others, unless it happens -to be by one of their own special clique, or the utterance -of a Cabinet Minister, which they generally -misquote. But, such as they are, these various contributions -to English and American sections of journalism -indicate the straight and loyal road my pen has travelled -during the wickedest and stupidest war that ever -devastated the world. The stupidity of it was even -more glaring than the wickedness of it—especially -in the case of Germany. Germany was an advancing -and prosperous nation, chiefly through the industrial -progress of her hard-working people, and her “peaceful -penetration” was conquering every quarter of commerce. -She has, for the time being, ruined everything by a -blind faith in and following of her scoundrels of -finance, for whom the Krupp and other dividends were -not sufficiently high or secure; the work of years has -now been destroyed and every gain has to be discounted -as loss, though there is not the slightest doubt -that her cleverness and cunning will enable her to -mend the hole in her wall far more rapidly than our -dilly-dally statesmen imagine. For the immediate -time, her degradation and ruin involve more than her -own position; other nations, even our own, are deeply -affected, and, like ships in unsafe anchorage, sway -from their moorings—all are tormented by a spirit -of turbulence which will not let them rest, and men -with weak brains and vacillating purpose are playing -with the destinies of peoples in a wholly unforseeing -and nerveless way, heedless of the fact that there are -other more powerful players behind them who are -about to make an end of their game and push them -far away from the goal. In what I have written,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix"></a>ix</span> -however slight and inadequate, I have had but one -aim in view: to hold up to the public as far as I can -or may, the greatness of this beloved land of ours—its -splendid ancient history and tradition, and to -resent, as much as a mere pen can do, the disloyal -and agitating influences which seek to disrupt unity and -belittle the achievements of the noble British people. -Of the wicked waste of that people’s money by the -most obtuse Government methods, and the iniquitous -premium on idleness foolishly given in the “Unemployment -dole,” I could say much, notwithstanding that -I am told it is “a sop to check Bolshevism.” One does -not offer a sop to a mad bull—one kills it. And it is -not credible that the sane, sound men of Great Britain, -with an Empire of glorious renown at their backs, -will ally themselves with Red Riot which means ruin -to themselves as well as to its instigators. True it -is that Stupidity is the present order of the day among -our blind leaders of the blind—that very Stupidity -which Voltaire affirmed to be the only crime—and there -is little else for us to do in our extremity but “wait -and see” whether Stupidity will prove more than a -blundering guide to “where the rainbow ends.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi"></a>xi</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table id="toc" summary="Contents"> -<tr class="xsmall"> - <td></td> - <td class="tdr">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">England</span>, 1918</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_1">15</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Savage Glory</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_2">16</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">For Belgium!</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_3">30</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Great Unrest</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_4">31</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Whirlwind</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_5">46</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Kaiser’s Harvest of Death</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_6">53</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">This Amazing War</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_7">61</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">All We Like Sheep</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_8">67</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Wanted—More Women!</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_9">73</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Quality of Mercy</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_10">79</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Starving Belgium</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_11">83</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">The Time of Our Lives</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_12">92</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The World’s Greatest Need</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_13">99</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Has Christianity Failed?</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_14">114</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Snooks’s Opinion</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_15">116</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sea Power, 1805–1918</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_16">122</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Splendid Service of the Sea</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_17">124</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Lilies of France</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_18">131</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Whoso Shall Receive One Such Little Child!</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_19">133</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Appeal for the French Red Cross</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_20">139</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Glory of the Worcesters</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_21">145</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Eyes of the Sea</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_22">156</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Is All Well With England?</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_23">171</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The World in Tears</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_24">189</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xii"></a>xii</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">God and the War</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_25">200</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Triumph of Womanhood</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_26">205</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">In Praise of Enemies</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_27">209</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Recruiting Speech</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_28">215</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Splendid Canada</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_29">219</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Shells; and Other Shells</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_30">222</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Darkness and Light</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_31">227</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sweeping the Country</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_32">230</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To Save Life or Destroy It?</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_33">236</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The War Loan</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_34">240</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Food Production</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_35">244</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Our Fortunate “Restrictions”</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_36">248</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">His Painful Duty</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_37">252</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Potato “Scream”</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_38">256</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">History Repeats Itself</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_39">260</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Shoddy Chivalry</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_40">264</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Hindenburg’s Eye!</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_41">268</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Hoarding</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_42">271</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Three Hundred Years of Fame</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_43">288</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Shakespeare’s War Birthday in 1917</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_44">294</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Don’t Travel</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_45">298</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“<span class="smcap">Te Deum Laudamus</span>”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_46">302</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Women’s Vote</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_47">306</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A “Happy Thoughts” Day</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_48">311</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Why Did I——?</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_49">313</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">In the Hush of the Dawn</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#hdr_50">316</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MY_LITTLE_BIT"><span class="larger">MY “LITTLE BIT”</span></h2> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>15</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_1">ENGLAND<br /> -<span class="subhead">1918</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="firstword">Lift</span> up thine eyes, Queen Warrior of the world!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Stand, fearless-footed, on Time’s shifting verge</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And watch thine everlasting Dawn emerge</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From clouds that break and boom in thunderous War!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lo, how thy broad East reddens to thy West,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The while thy thousand-victoried flag, unfurl’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Waves to thy North and South, in one royal fold</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of tent-like shelter for an Empire’s rest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O Queen, sword-girded, helmeted in gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Strong Conqueror of all thy many foes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Look from thy rocky heights, and see afar</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The coming Future menacing the Past</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With clamour and wild change of present things,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kingdoms down-shaken with the fall of kings;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But fear not Thou! Thou’rt still the first and last</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Imperial wearer of the deathless Rose—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Crown’d with the sunlight, girdled with the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mother of mightiest nations yet to be!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>16</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_2">SAVAGE GLORY<br /> - -<span class="subhead">AN APPEAL AGAINST WAR</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>(<i>This article was written for “Nash’s Magazine” in February, -1913, without any other than instinctive premonition of the coming -Great War.</i>)</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Editorial Note.</span>—<i>Marie Corelli’s remarkable article should be -read by every man and woman at all mindful of the welfare of -their fellow-sojourners on this little swinging ball of ours, which -we call the earth. This contribution is far and away one of the -most brilliant pieces of writing Miss Corelli has ever achieved; -it is thought-compelling and in the larger sense inspirational; it -is wellnigh epoch-making in its new view, its virile logic, its sane -and forceful plea for the peace of the world—peace on a basis of -common sense, broad humanity, and the honour of nations.</i></p></div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Civilisation</span> is a great Word. It reads well—it is -used everywhere—it bears itself proudly in the language. -It is a big mouthful of arrogance and self-sufficiency. -The very sound of it flatters our vanity and testifies to -the good opinion we have of ourselves. We boast of -“Civilisation” as if we were really civilised—just as -we talk of “Christianity” as if we were really Christians. -Yet it is all the veriest game of make-believe, -for we are mere Savages still. Savages in “the lust -of the eye and pride of life”—savages in our national -prejudices and animosities, our jealousies, our greed and -malice, and savages in our relentless efforts to over-reach -or pull down each other in social and business -relations. If any confirmation of such a statement be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>17</span> -needed it is found in the fact that War is still permitted -to exist. War is unquestionably the thrust and blow -of untamed Savagery in the face of Civilisation. No -special pleading can make it anything else. We may -if we like call it “Patriotism” in our perpetual life-comedy -or tragedy of feigning, but in sane moments -we must surely realise that we are wilfully deceiving -ourselves. Patriotism is understood to be that virtue -which consists in serving one’s country; but in what -way is this “Patria” or country served by slaying its -able-bodied men in thousands?—the very men whose -peaceful and progressive toil makes the country worth -living in? Can any adequate answer be given to this -question? Is “Honour” justly due to the heads of -Government who, themselves safely out of the fray, -send such men like sheep to the shambles—men innocent -of all personal or national offence, but who in their -fine obedience to duty and the preconceived idea of -conquest which has its root in old barbaric periods, -consent to be shot down under the murderous fire of -unseen guns miles away, simply because their rulers -have so ordained it? Is it “civilised” to spread ruin -and devastation through the land?—to leave homes -desolate?—and to create a wretched surplus population -of widows and orphans for no other reason than that -one nation refuses to comply with what is demanded -of it by the other? Is it not possible to deal with even -a difficult and refractory subject of quarrel in the way -of reason and argument, brought to bear upon it by -the soberly judging powers of all nations? And if -reason and argument should fail, then, instead of -consigning troops of blameless men to the scientific -but cruelly treacherous methods of modern warfare,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>18</span> -would it not be more normal and humane simply to—Stop -Supplies?</p> - -<p>Here we touch a vital centre of the question. No -nation can go to war without Money. In most cases -a very great deal of this same money is required. Who -provides it? The nation itself? One may doubt -whether any nation could raise sufficient funds to -carry on a serious war for any length of time without -borrowing. Supposing this to be the case, what -financial force behind the scenes so obligingly lends -the cash for the purpose of carrying out schemes of -wholesale murder? Wherever such cash is obtained -we know it must be weighted with an exorbitant rate -of interest, so that the price of human blood fills the -pockets of the lenders with a certain guaranteed overflow. -To stop War, therefore, it should be made -impossible to borrow the sums required for warfare; -and any loan started with the object of War in view, -whether suggested or avowed, should be considered -by a National Agreement of United Powers illegal -and even criminal, as conspiring against the peace -and progress of the world. If, by what is called -diplomacy or political subterfuge, this law were cheated, -and vast sums were loaned ostensibly for other purposes -than War, and it could afterwards be proved that -War <em>had</em> nevertheless been, secretly and all along, the -actual purpose of such loans, then the lenders should -be compelled to forfeit all claims to repayment. For -talk fine sentiment and pious platitudes as we will, -the brutal truth is that no war can be carried on without -money—money fully guaranteed—and if we would -strike at the root of the evil, then these guaranteed -supplies must be cut off.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>19</span></p> - -<p>A well-known journalist who, through his birth -and family connections, may be presumed to have more -than common knowledge of the various financial games -of chess played by the “Chancelleries” of Europe, is responsible -for the statement that “War is popular.” -This is one of those brisk surface sayings that shine -with apparent candour, like the sparkle of light in the -ice on a puddle, but which have no more depth than -the puddle itself. War is temporarily “popular”—so -long as it is confined to its own pomp and panoply—its -martial music, its flying banners, its glittering -array of armed men—its marching and countermarching—its -sensation and “show,” in fact—sensation and -show which appeal to the multitude who are not brought -face to face with the disease and death of its darker -side. The elemental passions of a mob can be roused -as easily by the “savage” beating of a tom-tom as by -the “civilised” roll of the drum, or by the fussy cackling -of an excitable Hen-Press. That Hen nowadays is -always laying eggs of a curiously abnormal nature, in -fact so surprising is its daily product that the maternal -bird is for ever getting off the nest to look at results, -with an evident expectation that mere chicks may turn -out to be swans, though, as a rule, they are generally -geese. To judge from the incessant cackle and scream, -one would imagine them responsible for European opinion, -and occupied in raising “nation against nation,” -with “men’s hearts failing them for fear,” in startling -confirmation of the New Testament prophecy, and some -of us are disposed to ask: Why are sinister and disturbing -suggestions constantly thrown out by the Press -as baits to catch the always restless, dissatisfied and -uneasy minds of the populace? Is Finance the fisher<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>20</span>man -behind the tree, angling with a long line and a -devil’s hook at the end of it? No one with a grain of -common sense would call it Patriotism! Our men of -science, our pathologists and physicians have of late -years been studying to some purpose the mysterious -power of “Suggestion”—and if we have sufficient intelligence -to understand the discovered facts which have -rewarded their researches we shall acknowledge that -ideas, started and persistently fostered in the minds -of the million by constant reiteration, frequently -develop into actions. With how much care and -earnestness therefore should we see to it that the -suggestions impressed on the brains of Nations are -sane, pure and noble, moving all progress forward, -with that firm gentleness which is the truest strength, -into the ways of wisdom and of peace!</p> - -<p>As “civilised” peoples we continue to exhibit the -strangest barbaric inconsistency in our manners and -methods of justice. If one man or woman is murdered -in our midst our laws are set into instant operation -to find the murderer, and if the crime is brought home -to him he is sentenced to death. But in War thousands -are murdered at the mere signal of “brave” commanders, -and instead of the wrath and horror aroused -by the slaying of a single life, an uproar of jubilation -and triumph breaks out over the poor festering corpses -that strew the field of so-called “glorious victory.” -The “civilised” State protests against the murder of -one individual, but looks upon the ghastly holocaust -of slaughtered lives in battle as something almost -noble and inspiring! Is this reasonable? Is it reconcilable -with sane judgment? Is it any proof that -our “Education” is of real worth?—or does it not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>21</span> -rather testify to the amazing fact that in our greed -of possession, our thirst of conquest, and our curious -conceptions of religion and humanity, we have progressed -scarcely a step ahead of our “barbarian” ancestors -and their “savage” customs!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Alas, for men that they should be so blind!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That they should laud the scourges of their kind—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Call each man glorious who has led a host</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And him most glorious who has murdered most!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is said by certain special pleaders that War is -a Necessity. We are referred for verification of this -to the world of nature, where it would certainly seem -that various tribes of animals and insects do make -war upon each other. These wars, however, occur -much more frequently among the low grades of nature-life -than the high. One may doubt whether eagles -as a tribe make war upon eagles, lions upon lions, -and so forth. That every animal should fight or work -individually for food is the natural law—the spirit -of prey is one from which Man himself is never exempt. -But has any one ever heard of several thousand lions -or bears taking up a stand against each other and -slaying each other wholesale for a disputed portion -of territory? Ants and emmets make continual war -among themselves, but “Civilisation” is supposed to -have set Man a trifle higher than the ant or emmet; -he is even believed to be superior in mental capacity -to the eagle or the lion. He is accredited with fine -faculties of reason, and is more or less conscious of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>22</span> -high spiritual impulses—and in Christian countries -he professes a humane creed, and assumes to teach -the ethics of a divine moral code. During the far-off -periods of his evolution from embryonic animalism -towards the higher potentialities of his being, he was -doubtless forced to fight his way against such opposing -obstacles as threatened to stay or overwhelm him in -his progress, but now—now when he stands, or thinks -he stands, on a height of intellectual power and attainment -which enables him to discard old barbarisms, -surely it would be possible for him to control the -lurking remains of his original savagery! War may -be, as the before-quoted journalist declares, “popular,” -but it might be as well, considering the ruin and misery -which follow in its train, to inquire into the inward -working of its asserted “popularity,” apart from its -deceptive outward display.</p> - -<p>First then, as already hinted, there are floaters of -a War Loan. With them it is undoubtedly “popular,” -for it opens several channels for the rapid making -of money. Roughly speaking, most of the money advanced -at interest for all important purposes comes -from the Jews. All nations are more or less under the -thumb of Israel, disguise it as we will, or may. No -great scheme, either in peace or war, can be started -without Jewish gold and Jewish support. The Jews -are the cleverest commercial people on the globe; -they are also charitable and benevolent to a degree -that often shames Christianity. They could, as a -race, do much to stop War in its very beginnings if -they once unanimously and resolutely decided on -such a course of action. But it is not likely that they -will ever pronounce their “veto”; the idea would be too<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>23</span> -Utopian and unbusinesslike. Therefore, as things -exist, it is scarcely unkind to say, that with their race -all over the world War is “popular.” Its commencement, -progress, and continuance are in their hands. -And they will, from a purely commercial point of -view, continue to lend cash for the furtherance and -encouragement of National Savagery, so long as -National Savagery exists, and is willing to borrow -money at a high rate of interest. For with them the -God of Israel is still a God of Battles.</p> - -<p>Secondly, War is “popular” with the Press. Unctuous -newspaper articles lamenting the “horror” of War, -and disclaiming all responsibility for fermenting and -agitating the motives of quarrel, are only so much -meaningless “copy.” Useful “copy,” too, because it -conveys to the ingenuous and child-like mind of the -man in the street that the intelligent editors and -journalists who “manage” his news for him are really -peace-loving, unselfish folk, and pious withal. Whereas -the very suggestion of War is a paying “sensation” -for press-men; it gives plenty of opening for big “headlines” -and attractive “posters,” which help to sell their -penny or halfpenny sheets to the best advantage. -Whatever rumour is abroad, whatever whisper of a -“conference of the Powers” flies on the wind, the Press -makes more than the most of both rumour and whisper—and -if it can only work up a national “Scare” it is as -happy as a monkey with a banana. Such a Press as -that of America and Great Britain could not exist -without “sensation.” Even in “piping times of peace” -it resorts to the most ludicrous methods of producing -mild excitements, such as “Sweet Pea” or “Giant -Carnation” or “Photographic” competitions, or a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>24</span> -“Symposium” as to whether milk or fish diet is best -for the brain. A murder is life to it!—while the useful, -brilliant, beautiful or noble work done in Art or Literature -gets scarcely a helpful mention. How often we -see great space given to the description of a public -dancer!—her jewels, her dresses, her opinions!—while -a fine poem or picture is dismissed in a flippant -paragraph. The reason of this is obvious: it is that -many of the persons who assist in the work of daily -journalism are only educated up to the public dancer -standard—the poem or the picture is lost on the -limited area of their abilities. And it may really be -said again without either prejudice or unkindness -that so far as the press is concerned War is “popular,” -because it provides just that particular “sensation” -which in its turn commands sales. Therefore if press-men, -directly or indirectly, do foster national bitterness -or help to stir up strife, we must remember that -they are only serving their own interests, and that -blame is chiefly due to ourselves if we give credence -to their often exaggerated statements. Bismarck is -reported to have said on one occasion, “The windows -which our Press breaks we shall have to pay for!” -This is true enough. Indeed, it is just possible that -if there were no Press at all for a few years many -dissensions would die out, and many unfortunate happenings -would never happen!</p> - -<p>But setting aside the two chief forces behind the -scenes, Usury and the Press, with all other commercially -concerned parties in the quarrels of nations, -who <em>can</em> or who <em>dare</em> say that War is “popular”? Let -wives and children answer! Let us try to understand -what we ourselves mean by our conflicting theories<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>25</span> -and arguments—we who make such ado about a -“declining birth-rate,” and fall into hysterical raptures -over a family of “soldier sons”! Let us realise clearly -that the slaughter of able-bodied men materially assists -towards the “declining birth-rate,” and that where -there are “soldier sons” they have been brought into -the world apparently for no other reason than to -be mangled out of it! This is War! Glorious -War! Is it sane? Is it truly “glorious” to shoot down -thousands of human beings who have committed no -fault of their own, but are simply commanded by -their Governments to serve as marks for the bullets -of an enemy who might never have been an enemy -at all but for mischief arising out of idle and often -erroneous report, based on what is perhaps only a temporary -and trivial misunderstanding? The best of -friends are sometimes parted by the stupid gossip of -stupid persons who, envious of happiness and grudging -it to those who possess it, never rest till something -has been done to undermine and destroy it. -In the same way nations are set against each other -by some persistently irritating and ill-founded rumour—some -difference of opinion, which, if taken in -hand reasonably and at once, could be satisfactorily -settled, provided there be not too much talk, “red -tape,” and officialism employed for the purpose of creating -general vacillation and muddle. The conventional -“ifs” and “buts” exchanged among the -Powers may be looked upon with considerable doubt -and foreboding under certain circumstances—an overflow -of fine words not unfrequently means an outbreak -of treacherous deeds.</p> - -<p>Unhappily, and in flat contradiction to that “hu<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>26</span>mane” -spirit, which we so frequently profess, treachery -strikes the dominant note in modern warfare, and this -is one of the chief reasons why War should no longer -be permitted. The new long-range quick-firing gun -is as dastardly as it is powerful, for surely to shoot -down men miles away who cannot see their enemies -is as reprehensible and cowardly as to stab a man in -the back unawares. Another instrument of treachery -is the submarine—a truly devilish invention devised -for the avowed object of destroying war-vessels by -murderous action from the hidden depths of the sea. -No one ever seems to pause and consider what an -amount of fiendish cunning in the mind of man has -evolved the construction of this deadly engine of warfare—still -less does the question ever appear to -suggest itself as to whether such a perfidious way of -compassing slaughter is humane (we will not shame -the word “Christian”) or truly “civilised.” If we refer -back to what we are pleased to call the “dark ages” -or ages of barbarism, we read much concerning -“instruments of torture,” such as the rack, the thumb-screw, -and other inventions brutally designed by man -to injure his fellow-man, but these things for the most -part avowed their murderous intention in open daylight—the -doomed creatures knew what they had to -expect and prepared to die accordingly. But modern -science has sharpened our wits to a more merciless -edge—we are cunning enough to hide ourselves and -our instruments of death from our intended victims -after the fashion of assassins lurking in ambush—therefore -by the very law of compensation it is scarcely -to be wondered at that we are sometimes “hoist with -our own petard,” of which the many appalling sub<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>27</span>marine -fatalities are proof and warning. And now, -not satisfied with attack from the secret depths of -the ocean, Zeppelins and aeroplanes shower bombs -upon open towns and innocent civilians, so that even -the hitherto neutral skies will be made spaces of vantage -for pitiless assault. All these “civilised” inventions -for the practice of barbarity ought to give -so-called “Christian” empires food for serious thought—yet, -strange to say, it would seem that every new -and more murderous weapon for warfare is hailed -with columns of praise in the press, and such general -acclamation as may truly be called “savage”—as no -“civilised” community educated according to all that -we boast of in our advanced state of progress, could -or <em>would</em> rejoice over the construction of mere killing-machines -for the slaughter of their fellow-creatures! -Therefore, it may be asked: Are we truly “civilised” -or is it all a Sham? Are we really humane?—or as -bloodthirsty as when, in our aboriginal savagery, we -cracked the skulls of our enemies open with flint axes?</p> - -<p>The continued existence of War is, in the face of -all faith and feeling, a shame to the world! So long -as nations are slaves to the barbarous idea that Blood -and Carnage alone can keep them in their places as -authoritative forces for the higher progress and welfare -of Humanity, so long will Civilisation be more or less -a farce. No one denies the self-sacrifice, the endurance, -the patience, and the courage which makes men military -heroes—the pity of it all is that such splendid qualities -of character should be wasted on the mere consummation -of slaughter and conquest. What good -to the world has ever come out of Napoleon’s many -massacres? Looking down upon the sarcophagus con<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>28</span>taining -that Imperial Murderer’s ashes in the gorgeous -tomb consecrated to his memory in Paris, one -wonders sadly why he was ever permitted to live. We -may with the great poet Byron <span class="locked">say:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“To think that God’s fair earth hath been</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The footstool of a thing so mean!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>If War is still to confirm us and other nations as -Savages, we must behave accordingly. We must train -our men and youths to kill, and to use the newest -and surest weapons for killing. When we are offered -Dreadnoughts, we accept them with salvos of rejoicing -and thanksgiving. Yet without War these -Dreadnoughts will, in ten years’ time from the date of -their completion, be useless, and the millions they -cost will be sunk into waste material. Must we have -continuous War, then?—just for the sake of employing -Dreadnoughts—and proving to our own satisfaction -that we can slaughter as many innocent thousands -as other Savages if we like? Why should any cause -arise for the visitation of such a scourge upon us or -any nation! If we have foes who show a threatening -front we are naturally bound to be on the defensive—and -we should be prepared to guard our kingdom -and coast from Savages more savage than ourselves. -But when we can get rid of our Savagery -we shall lay down our arms. We shall realise -that Civilisation means Unity; Unity in all high -purpose and progress towards the betterment of -mankind.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Sheathed be the sword for ever—let the drum</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Be schoolboy’s pastime—let your battles cease!</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>29</span> - <div class="verse indent0">And be the cannon’s voice for ever dumb</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Except to celebrate the joys of Peace!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are ye not brothers?—God, whom we revere,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is he not Father of all climes and lands?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Form an Alliance holy and sincere</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And join your hands!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Surely it is not too much to hope for this—to pray -for this!—if our Faith means anything more than -mere lip-service and false show!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>30</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_3">FOR BELGIUM!<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE PRAYER OF THE ALLIES<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written for “King Albert’s Book”</i>)</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“What shall we do for our Sister in the day when she shall be spoken of?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver.”</div> - </div> - <div class="attrib"><cite>Song of Solomon.</cite></div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent5">Maker of Heaven and Earth,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Thou, who hast given birth</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To moving millions of pre-destined spheres,</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Thou, whose resistless might</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Resolves the Wrong to Right</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Missing no moment of the measured years—</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Behold, we come to Thee!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We lift our swords, unsheath’d, towards Thy throne—</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Look down on us, and see</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our Sister-Nation, ruined and undone!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Martyred for nobleness, for truth and trust;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Help us, O God, to raise her from the dust!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent5">Be Thou our witness, Lord!</div> - <div class="verse indent5">We swear with one accord</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Swift retribution on her treacherous foe!</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Her bitter wrong is ours</div> - <div class="verse indent5">And heaven’s full-armèd powers</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shall hurl her murderer to his overthrow!</div> - <div class="verse indent5">Upon her broken wall</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A silver palace of sweet peace shall rise</div> - <div class="verse indent5">At that high Festival</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When Victory’s signal flashes through the skies—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But—until then!—welcome the fiercest fray!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We fight for Freedom! God, give us “The Day”!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>31</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_4">THE GREAT UNREST</h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><i>(This article was written for “Nash’s Magazine” two years -before the War, and was on its appearance prefaced by the following -Editor’s Note.)</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Editor’s Note.</span>—<i>While “Nash’s Magazine” cheerfully presents -the following very radical and profoundly interesting article from -the brilliant pen of Miss Marie Corelli, this Magazine should not -in any sense be held accountable for either the Author’s views or -her expression of them.</i></p></div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">“Ye</span> hypocrites! Ye can discern the face of the sky -and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not discern -this time?”</p> - -<p>Such was the question put to the people by the -Founder of the Christian Faith two thousand years -ago—a question not yet answered. Lack of discernment -is still as much as ever one of humanity’s chief -attributes, or is it perhaps less a lack of discernment -than an unwillingness to discern? “Ye hypocrites!” -said the Christ. Is it not, after all, sheer hypocrisy -which, in the form of social convention, does so obsess -Man that, though conscious of approaching storm, -he prefers to bury his head, ostrich-like, in a sand-heap -of his own delusions in order that he may be as -blind and as deaf as possible to the lurid glare and wild -uproar of coming disaster? He instinctively knows -disaster is imminent—even at his very doors—and -that it will presently swoop relentlessly down upon -him, perhaps tossing him with other fragments of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>32</span> -creation into a chaos from which he shall scarcely -emerge with a sound skin; yet knowing, he pretends -<em>not</em> to know, and plays the fool with himself and -destiny!</p> - -<p>To-day, now, at this very moment, all over the -civilised world, this terrible game of “playing the -fool” is going on with reckless speed and continuity. -I use the word “terrible” advisedly, for nothing more -pregnant with all the elements of positive terror was -ever seen than the present-time spectacle of Human -Humbug set face to face with that Eternal Equity -which has existed always, and which ever will exist -without any change in its Divine Source, Cause and -Intention. Man, endowed with splendid gifts of reason, -imagination and psychic power, is everywhere -gambling away his highest birthright for gold; Man, -whom the celestial forces have led step by step through -carefully measured gradations of intellectual evolution -till he has arrived at the open gateways of Science, -there to behold the infinitely marvellous benefits he -may possess and enjoy, still insults the Giver of all his -good by his fumbling forms of faith and worship suited -only to barbaric minds in a state of embryo—Man, -semi-apathetic and in many cases wholly indifferent -to the higher roads of progress and to the steady unfolding -of that endless perspective of order and beauty -intended for the individual happiness of every individual -soul, still makes wilful havoc of his own carefully -organised civilisations, like a child who builds -a house of cards and blows it down with a breath—and -this because his civilisations are mostly of a flimsy -structure, having no foundation on any fundamental -Law which Nature can or will tolerate for more than<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>33</span> -a very brief time. All history teaches this with stern -and pitiless repetition; and the signs and portents -which gave warning of the downfall of the Roman -Empire were of precisely the same character as the -signs and portents which warn us of similar downfalls -impending for great nations to-day. The scheme of -Creation is plainly meant to be a perpetual movement -towards perpetual advancement—this truth is clearly -demonstrated in all natural evolution, and Man is perforce -compelled, despite himself, to move with the -onward and upward process—but he invariably “hangs -back” and tries to put a stop on the wheel, with -the result that he is himself crushed and ground -to powder in the wheel’s relentless revolving. He -makes religions, laws and morals for himself which -have no prototype in the order of Nature, and he -thereby stands rebelliously opposed to the Supreme -Intelligence, whose design of life being exact mathematics, -swerves not by so much as the shadow of a -hair.</p> - -<p>Hence arises, and always will arise, trouble. Trouble -and unrest! The sum of things never comes right, -add it up, subtract, or multiply as we will. We persist -in our childish efforts to fit in figures which have no -place or part in the Divine quantities. Now and then -in some sudden flash of higher consciousness, we see -the folly of our actions—but seeing, we pretend to -be blind. Some of us devote ourselves to a study of -the sciences, and we peep through a hundred loop-holes -into a vista of shining truths, any one of which -would help us to draw closer to God—yet presently -we turn away and talk of predestination and original -sin, and feign to believe in a Deity whose rage against<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>34</span> -His own Creation is so insensate and barbaric as only -to be pacified by Blood! Blood—blood! The cry -of the vengeful, the murderous, the cruel, the tyrannous -in all ages of the world!—yet we do not hesitate to -insult the Creator of the whole Cosmos by endowing -Him with this animal and un-God-like craving! He, -who holds the starry heavens in the hollow of His -Hand—from whose expressed Thought solar systems -are born like blossoms in the fields of ether—He, whose -vast love broods tenderly over all that He hath made, -even to the nesting bird hidden under a bunch of -green leaves—“not one shall fall to the ground without -your Father”—even He it is whom daily we wrong -and blaspheme by our social methods of life and forms -of worship, by our deliberate opposition to His Laws, -and by the amazingly insolent indifference we exhibit -to His inviolate Will as shown through the reflection -of His Mind in visible Nature.</p> - -<p>And so it happens that, after a certain space of time -in which we are offered fresh chances of amendment -or betterment which we seldom take, things begin to -go wrong. We know not how or where the mischief -first started, because it has stolen upon us by gradual -and insidious degrees, and we never dream of looking -for the root of the evil in ourselves or in our ancestry. -But we do become slowly and reluctantly aware that -we are not on the right track—that “something” is -about to happen which will upset all our most cherished -plans and push us off our present road of what we are -pleased to call “progress” in a sufficiently disastrous -manner. We have no time to retrace our steps and -look for the way we have missed, for we find that we -are running down hill with a singular self-imposed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>35</span> -velocity which would make any sort of a stop almost -impossible—while to go back would mean to climb a -very steep and difficult ascent, an exercise for which -we are neither prepared nor willing. We have no -idea how we managed the muddle in which we find -ourselves, but muddle it is and muddle it remains.</p> - -<p>And then we enter upon the doubtful period—the -kind of period in which the whole world is living to-day—a -period of vague uneasiness, restlessness, and feverish -suspense, looking for we know not what, dissatisfied -with things as they are, yet unable to decide how they -ought to be. Then is the hour of the brazen-mouthed -religious ranter and the political demagogue. The -nations of the earth are disquieted mentally and -spiritually—the pulpit braggart assumes to teach -them, and the upstart in politics offers to reform them. -And like the waves of the sea before a storm breaks, -the people surge to and fro in billowy masses, with -here and there a gleam of hope among them like light -on spraying foam, but for the most part moving in -darkness and deep unrest. For the time is past when -the balm of old tradition can be applied as a soothing -salve to the spiritual wounds of humanity. Men do -not want to be soothed, but roused—fired to -noblest energy, greatest aims and splendid achievement—and -they need to feel that their efforts to reach -the Highest are worth the making, and that the fight -which they enter upon means victory in the end.</p> - -<p>This, most unfortunately, is not made plain to them -by either the faiths or followings of modern society. -The Churches have in a great measure lost their hold -upon the people, and the consolidation of family life -is a thing of the past. When England was truly great,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>36</span> -the love of home and country was the chief foundation -of her greatness, as it should be with all nations seeking -to hold high place and power—but in our present -modes of living, both in England and America, “home” -is voted hum-drum and a bore—sons and daughters -openly profess the gad-about principle of what they -term “pleasure,” and are more or less indifferent to -the interests or convenience of their parents, showing -no more reverence or consideration for them than is -necessary to obtain financial “supplies.” They snap -the chain that should bind them to filial tenderness -and duty, and follow their own particular forms of -enjoyment with a cool selfishness which can but -astonish any thoughtful beholder—yet even this -reprehensible attitude of the rising generation is but -a phase of the general “Unrest” pervading all classes -and all ages—the vague sense that nothing is going -to last very long—that some dire mischief threatens -the world—and that one must try to enjoy oneself -while one can, because there is no time left to do anything -else. And well-meaning fathers and mothers, -especially those of the upper classes, adapt themselves -more or less compassionately and with regret to the -new and often exceedingly bad manners of their -children, who, in nine cases out of ten, resemble the -Biblical “daughters of the horse-leech,” crying “Give! -Give!” and regard their progenitors merely as human -banks on which they expect to draw <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ad libitum</i> till -the coin gives out. All this is wrong, hopelessly wrong. -Fathers should be supported by their sons, if support -is needed—not sons supported by their fathers. And -in such strange times as these, when women are so -ready to throw off their womanliness and become<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>37</span> -mere roughs in the general fray, they too must be -expected to put themselves in harness and earn the -right to live. They have wilfully destroyed the ideal -of woman, so long and lovingly cherished by man in -the days of sentiment and chivalry—and now they -can hardly wonder if husbands prove difficult to secure. -Men will think a hundred times before entering into -marriage with possible window-smashers.</p> - -<p>Yet it is all part and parcel of the one thing—the -Great Unrest which, like a storm atmosphere, envelops -all our modern civilisation. There is no country that -does not feel it—no nation that is not uneasily conscious -of being on the verge of change. The disruption -of family life—the revolt of Woman against her own -nature, and the frenzied ultra-stupidity she exhibits -in the efforts she makes to reverse her own God-ordained -position in the scheme of creation—the -pathetic bewilderment and weariness of Man himself, -left without any of his old ideals of faith or love, and -clinging to gold as the only seemingly tangible good -which may procure him some bodily comfort and -ease, though feeling in his own soul that even this is -little worth—all these things are forerunners of coming -trouble to which we are as yet unable to give a name. -Most notable and most tremendous of all portents, -however, is the earthquake tremor that is shaking the -Churches to their foundations, and the growth and -extension of what is called the “New Thought.” The -New Thought is really the Old Thought—the Thought -which was the underlying germ of the mystic religions -of the East, and the foundation of the Platonic -philosophy. The “Thought” has become overlaid by -a multiplicity of differing human opinions, forming,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>38</span> -as is their habit, into useless and mischievous systems—but -in its pure beginning it is the Christ in embryo—the God-in-Man. -In simplest truth it is an eternal -Thought which by Divine inspiration teaches us that -the Soul or spirit of every human being is an individual -portion of the Spirit of God—and that as such it is -an immortal creature, whose destiny is glorious, whose -splendid faculties are for the purpose of evolving itself -through phases of wide advancement to wider attainment, -and for whom there is and can be no such thing -as death. This Earth is its present school and playground—Nature -is its teacher, as well as its subject -and servant. It is to learn what it can and will by -patient study and grateful experience—it is to use -what it finds in all things pleasant, helpful, joyous, -noble, and gracious—it is to breathe in an atmosphere -of love; and with the Supreme Intelligence of which -it is a part, it may feed as it will among the lilies of -life, and may say, “My Beloved is mine and I am -His.”</p> - -<p>This spiritual tie between man and his Maker has -never been sufficiently emphasised by the Churches. -Their religious forms of worship impress upon us that -we are miserable sinners whatever we do, that we -must try to save our souls, and that we must put as -much as we can into the collection-plate. In great -sorrow or difficulty these instructions are not very -helpful. Sometimes indeed we doubt whether God -meant us to consider ourselves such “miserable sinners” -after all. Our perpetual whinings and lamentations -cannot make sweet music on the Divine records. God -gave us our bodies, not to chastise and mortify, but -to care for and make healthy and beautiful; and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>39</span> -laws He has framed for our guidance and maintenance -are such that if one be broken, punishment is bound -to follow. There is no forgiveness, because there -simply <em>cannot</em> be any deviation in the mathematical -precision of the universal plan. And the punishment -is measured exactly to the fault. If we refuse to go -forward, we must go back—we are not allowed to -stand still. If a man elects to throw himself headlong -from a steeple, not all the prayers of the saints could -alter the law of gravitation which causes him to fall -and break his neck. What is true of physical law is -equally true of spiritual law, since Matter is simply -Spirit substantiated and made temporarily visible in -endless temporary forms. And all God-ordained laws, -whether physical or spiritual, are framed for the guidance, -benefit, and advancement of creation—whereas -we, by devising other laws which pull contrary to -Divine ways and means, find ourselves “in darkness -and the shadow of death” instead of in light and the -splendour of life. In our day Science has come to our -rescue, and like a great Angel stands at the open door -of the Kingdom of Heaven; she shows us the “many -mansions” of worlds upon worlds in the Father’s House—she -points out the loving care with which even the -tiniest organism of life is protected—she instructs us -how we may press the lightning into our service and -use the waves of the air to convey our messages from -one land to the other—and she impresses upon us, -even as a loving mother impresses a beautiful truth -upon her child, the fact that we—even we—are permitted -to be the rulers of this wonderful planet, so -full of exquisite beauty and joy—and that we are -expected to use the endless gifts bestowed upon us<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>40</span> -with love, wisdom and courage, developing ourselves -into a noble race of creatures worthy of ever nobler -and higher issues.</p> - -<p>Thus it has come to pass that with Science leading -us ever onward and upward, we cannot any longer -in reason look upon “Our Father” as a capricious tyrant, -needing a sacrifice of blood to pacify His wrath -against us. Instead of this barbarous conception, we -realise that Perfect Justice cannot possibly be angry -with what it has Itself ordained—and we are overpowered -and brought to our knees in devout adoration before -the Great Spirit of Love which is the Generator of -the universe, and which out of smallest beginnings -works to greatest ends—work in which we are permitted, -nay, expected and commanded, to take an active -part, our disobedience always resulting in disaster to -ourselves.</p> - -<p>It is the contemplation of these truths which Science -hourly and daily demonstrates to the glory of the Creator -that the “New” or “Old” Thought has arisen -in all its strength, like Christ from the grave, “walking -in the garden in the cool of the day.” Hence the earthquake -tottering of the Churches, and the ever-spreading -great wave of religious unrest. There is, among many -deeply thinking people, an uneasy sense that we have -insulted the real and ever present God by our narrow -and more or less selfish systems of faith, and that we -must hasten to make amends. Therefore, putting -the question of the mentally unfit aside in the general -sorting of the sheep from the goats, it seems evident -that the time is ripening towards a New Revelation -of the Divine in Man—a “sign from heaven” for the -better guidance of the human soul towards ultimate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>41</span> -perfection, and a surer means of obtaining peace and -happiness in this life as well as in the life to come. -But before the sign be given there must and will be -heavy tribulation; “nation rising against nation, -kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes and divers -troubles”—and the very beginning of these “divers -troubles” is upon us now.</p> - -<p>Hence the Great Unrest. People scurry to and -fro all over the earth, like ants disturbed on their hill -by a burning match thrown in among them. They -do not know what is the matter, but they feel that -they must keep moving. The sensation of inexplicable -haste is upon them. There is no time for anything. -Pleasure easily palls, and the most agreeable society -develops into boredom. The days of reposeful leisure, -in which the greatest works of art were created, are -ended. Everything must be got through quickly -nowadays—“scamped” as a matter of fact. Sweetness -and harmony in music are no longer admired—it must -be discordant and odd to suit the spirit of the age. Fine -painting is a drug in the market unless it be the work -of an “old master”—a picture must be “sensational” -in colour and in execution to suit the perverted taste -of the day. Literature and the drama must present -“problems” of a questionable nature before their -productions can be pronounced “great” by the very -few critics who are more than ordinary paragraphists—while -Poetry, the highest of all the arts, is practically -dead. The abnormal condition of the human mind -displays itself in costume, manners, and social observances -and over all things hangs the deepening mist -of a universal dissatisfaction for which there seems<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>42</span> -to be no cause, and for which we can find no -name.</p> - -<p>Do we mean to go on blindly, pretending we do not -see? “Ye hypocrites! Ye can discern the face of the -sky and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not -discern this time?”</p> - -<p>How is it indeed! For “this time” is one of the most -fated and historic times in the history of the world—a -time when we may perhaps be called upon to witness -the commencement of the downfall of the greatest of -Empires—the British;—when we may have to watch its -magnificent fabric, once the envy of all other nations, -crumbling before our very eyes—its pillars of state -pulled down by riotous demagogues—its splendid traditions -put to shame by both parties in its Parliament—by -the one in sheer outlawry, by the other in no less disgraceful -inaction. We can look on at this and wonder -what new power will arise from its ruins, but we may -not dare to prophesy till after the event! For this is -but “the beginning of sorrows.” It little matters that -the fools and jesters of the hour make mockery of all -those who seek to warn off the misguided people from -the quicksands whither they are rushing—fools and jesters -there have always been and always will be, ready to -toss ribaldry in the face of Deity itself without compunction. -But the evil which darkly threatens modern -civilisation is too near and too evident to be lightly -“laughed down.” Every student of history knows -that when the foundations of religious faith are shaken—when -it becomes “a house divided against itself,” -then national disaster is close at hand. Man, deprived -of any high spiritual ideal of life, quickly reverts to -mere selfish savagery. The Dean of St. Paul’s, called<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>43</span> -“the gloomy Dean” by a halfpenny daily, because he -dares to speak truths which are not altogether pleasant -hearing, must have thought long and deeply, and -fully made up his mind as to what he meant when he -said: “It is the duty of the clergy to maintain that -it is ‘other worldliness’ which alone had transformed -and could transform this world”—which means that -it is only spiritual progress which can make material -progress valuable and lasting. The inward enlightenment -and uplifting of the soul or spirit of each individual -man and woman towards the highest and bravest -ideals of life and love, and conformity to the laws of -creation as made plainly visible in Nature, is the only -true civilisation. This lesson is taught by every -scientific truth we are permitted to investigate. It -is not preaching or platitudinism—it is an incontestable -eternal Fact. Our lives on this planet were intended -to be lives of joy, health, beauty, love, and mutual -helpfulness—and where we depart from this intention -we insult and disobey the Creator, whose design is -one of gradual development towards ultimate perfection. -We wrong Him when we call this beautiful world “a -vale of tears”—for our misfortunes and diseases are -chiefly our own fault, and certainly are not His doing. -It is time we stood up with a glad courage, giving -thanks for all the benefits He has showered upon us -without asking for more. Any creed that is selfish and -whining is no creed for the soul that aspires to the -highest progress. If we invite evils upon ourselves -we must expect them to come—nothing will hold -them back if we are trespassers against natural and -spiritual laws. The Reverend H. Mayne Young,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>44</span> -preaching in Westminster Abbey itself, pronounced -the following words with a noble <span class="locked">daring:—</span></p> - -<p>“The day is not far distant when, unless the Church -of England freely re-states and re-models her creeds -so as to meet the requirements of the age, she will be -left stranded on the shores of time, while the tide of -this modern life will leave her for ever farther and -farther behind—a sad warning of the inevitable results -of an iron-bound system of worn-out dogmas and lifeless -traditions.”</p> - -<p>“Worn-out dogmas and lifeless traditions!” A bold -utterance, but true! And what is true of the Church -of England is equally true of all the Churches in the -world to-day, notably that of Rome. Man, walking -in a darkness of destroyed illusions, is at that point -when he may well exclaim with the Apostle—“Who -will deliver me from the body of this death?”</p> - -<p>It needs no gift of prophecy and no special intuition -to see that we are on the brink of some tremendous -change in the destinies of the human race. Everything -points to it—our tottering creeds, our fluctuating -standard of manners and morals. What it is, what -it may be no one tries to imagine. People instinctively -feel they would rather not think too much about -anything, or analyse the condition in which they find -themselves. There is “no time” for it, they say. Why -is there no time? Is the clock of the universe running -down and are the works giving out? Materially -speaking, we know that the slightest tilt of the earth -on its axis would cause a complete redistribution of -its continents and seas, sweeping away every vestige -of civilisation as we now know it. We never consider -this, imagining that such a catastrophe is not possible.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>45</span> -Yet God has willed it so before, and may will it so -again. Every physical movement is preconceived -by a mental or spiritual one. The Great Unrest is at -present one of Spirit which will gradually dominate -Matter and move it to equal but louder disturbance. -We spin on our earth in a gathering storm-cloud between -two fathomless gulfs, the Past and the Future—our -Present is the result of the past, and our future -will equally be the work of the Present. We know that -there is a God of Love to serve, and his Nature-laws -to obey, and knowing this, Ourselves alone must decide -whether we <em>will</em> do as we should, or whether we -shall be <em>forced</em> to do as we would not!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>46</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_5">THE WHIRLWIND</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">It</span> has come at last—that great Storm foretold by -national weather prophets—it has come with all the -devastating force of a fury long suppressed; and the -black cloud has gathered over our heads while yet -we drowsed in a dream of sunshine. With a sudden -thunderous rush, as though a god or a demon should -tread the spaces of the air, heaven has let loose the -whirlwind—the whirlwind of War, and far more than -War—the whirlwind of Destiny. It has come because -it was bound to come, by the Unwritten Law and Code -Invisible. Men of the world who form governments, -make civilisations, and build up empires are always -forgetting this Unwritten Law—the Hand behind -the scenes—the inexorable and eternal forward movement -of the Cosmos, which in its pre-determined -progress overrides their best laid plans and makes -chaotic havoc of their most sagacious intentions. -Yet it is a perfectly straight and simple Law after all—one -that has existed from the beginning of things, -and that will ever exist—the law of Nature, visibly -expressing the Mind of God, and immutably set against -the predominance of evil. It is an output of the -Divine Will, resolving itself easily into common, -even domestic forms, adapted to the needs of individuals -and nations alike. Nature often conducts -herself like a practical housewife bent on spring -cleaning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>47</span></p> - -<p>“Where there is dirt,” she says, “it shall be removed; -where there is confusion there shall be order.”</p> - -<p>And her “cleaning-up” day is invariably a frightful -thing. The noise of her sweeping and scouring resounds -like thunder through the world. It occurs periodically, -marking epochs of history, and we read of its results -in the past with placid incredulity, setting down much -to exaggeration and more to deliberate lying, idly -amused meanwhile at the ridiculous notion, suggested -by certain fools, that any such uproar and disaster -should ever be experienced by Ourselves who have, -so we consider, “advanced” in civilisation and wisdom, -and thereby in self-control—Ourselves whose “culture” -seems to our own judgment a finer and more perfect -attainment than divine justice. The tornado of the -French Revolution, the pitiless ravages of the -Napoleonic wars have appeared to us like a tale that -is told, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”—and -we have lazed the time away, getting and -spending, in the peaceful high noon of national prosperity -and contentment, feeling confident that we -should never in our day be shaken from our centre-poise -of complacent self-satisfaction by anything of -larger disturbance than occasional family quarrels -gotten up more for the sake of varying the monotony -of peace than with any serious intent. And now, lo!—the -bolt falls—the vials of wrath and judgment -are opened and poured forth over land and sea—the -whirlwind is upon us, and we who slept are awakened -by its sweeping rage, its rattling rain, its lightning -flashing against our windows of security, and we leap -to our feet, startled but not alarmed—unprepared, -maybe, but not unready. We realise what the storm<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>48</span> -means, and we know how to weather it; we are not -afraid—we only wish we had not slept quite so long!</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, though our sleep may have been -heavy, it has refreshed our forces and has not diminished -our energies. Our waking is to good purpose. The -very shame we feel at the length of our slumber is -an excellent tonic and invigorates us. Sleep shall -no more weigh down our eyelids—we are alert, strong, -and resolute, even in the midst of the whirlwind. -For it is a storm in which we alone are not involved. -It has swept over a smaller nation than our own, all -undeservedly—a little sister nation with the heart of -a thousand heroes beating in her small bosom—and -her unmerited sorrow has served as the keynote to strike -all that is in us of Character and Conduct. We see -her defaced with blows, insulted and outraged by -ravening cruelties; and the chivalry born from centuries -of martial glory rises strong and full-armed in -every man that claims justice for her wrongs. We of -Britain have not warred for ourselves—our fight is for -the better, broader freedom of the whole world. The -whirlwind has caught us up in the swoop of its revolving -wings solely that we may take our part in the purifying -of the House of Man. And our victory will be -made manifest in the open response to our inward -intention.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>The militarism of Prussia is a crime, springing from -old roots of human savagery and barbarism which -should have died long ago. The brutal War, made -treacherous and bloody by new devices of destruction, -the inventions of fine science misapplied, was an -outbreak of stupidity on the part of an obtuse and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>49</span> -stupid set of men, sodden with selfishness and delirious -with a drunken dream of World-Power. The teachings -of Treitschke and Nietzsche are the teachings of egotists -with unsound and ill-balanced brains. Nietzsche went -mad, and howled his philosophies to the walls of the -padded room. Treitschke was covertly insane; like -the “secret drinker” who in public pretends he cannot -touch strong liquor, he assumed to be proud and -sagacious when he was no more than crazily self-obsessed. -He preached the doctrine of Hate, and -no sane man ever did that. The German nation, -accepting this sort of “Kultur” as gospel, accepted the -ravings of the mentally deficient, and, plunging breast-high -into a sea of brothers’ blood, proved itself infected -by the same madness as that which poisoned the veins -of its mad instructors. To any thoughtful student, -looking on at such a frightful, wicked, and overwhelmingly -stupid slaughter of men by machinery there can -be nothing more terrible, more lonely or more accursed -in all the realm of fact or fiction than the figure of -the Kaiser—the miserable epileptic who is responsible -for shrouding his “Fatherland” in the black veil of -mourning, and for drowning its peace and progress -in a flood of widows’ and orphans’ tears. Mentally -unbalanced, physically inefficient, and morally lacking—living -as one pursued by the Furies in an armoured -cage, and surrounded by guards on earth and in air, lest -by chance his “Gott” should kill him, he moves one to -amazement and pity—for the whirlwind has him in -its centre, twirling him round and round like a veritable -mannikin of sport for the dread gods of destiny—a -mannikin who hardly knows how he came to be where -he is, or where he will find himself when the storm is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>50</span> -past. Meanwhile his voice is heard above the storm -shouting “To England! England! The one foe! My -Mother’s land, which I hate! Would that every drop -of British blood in my veins might be drained out -of me!”</p> - -<p>Well, why not? A calf has been bled before now, -and not a drop of its mother’s blood has been left in -its carcase—there is nothing to prevent this desirable -consummation for the Kaiser since he so devoutly -wishes it. The whirlwind may strip him yet, and -perform this required kindness! But in the interval -the arrogant and half-crazed “War Lord” has sacrificed -the best flower and strength of Germany’s manhood -to his criminal and insatiable lust of power. The -German people have not yet realised the mercilessness -of this military despot—but when they do—when they -count the desolate homes, the ruined trades, the lost -commerce, the ravaged lives and broken hearts which -mark the “triumph” of the stagey and spectacular -“hero” they have worshipped, there will be an end of -the blind credulity with which they have followed a -vain ideal.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>For us British, the Whirlwind is a grand thing. -It is blowing us fiercely clean of Self—it is tearing away -from us the silly sophistries of fashion and frivolity -and showing us things in their true light. Our ape-like -jesters of the press, of the Bernard Shaw type, -who have mocked at all things holy, serious, and earnest, -are finding their proper level, and shrinking into corners -where they are scarcely seen—where it is to be hoped -they may be peaceably forgotten. Our “sex-problems,” -our “advanced” women, our screaming Doll Tear-sheets<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>51</span> -of militant suffrage—these trouble the air no more with -the hysterics which are engendered by having nothing -useful to do. We have no time for trifling. We are -face to face with the long-despised Obvious—“Life is -real, life is earnest”—and we are casting off the slough -of political humbug and social sham, and are as one -in the splendid bond of patriotism and love of country. -We may trust the Storm; we may welcome the Whirlwind. -It has come to clear the sky of miasma and -vapour—it is making light to show us where we truly -stand. If we are honest with ourselves we shall admit -that in latter years we have given ourselves over-much -to the pursuit of material gain and personal pleasure, -we have neglected our faith in divine and high ideals, -and Self has been more or less our god; it was time -that we received a wholesome check and a warning -before we lost all that has made us great. We have -responded swiftly to the goading spur—our crust of -selfishness was but thin after all, and has broken and -melted away in a flood of magnificent generosity and -practical sympathy—for never had nation a nobler -Cause than ours, when, as brothers in arms with our -brave allies, we fought to right the unspeakable wrongs -of unoffending Belgium, and to aid in defending France -from the invader and usurper. Should the enemy conquer -in this mighty struggle the whole world will be -the impoverished loser; should we and our allies win, -the whole world will gain by our victory and share -with us a wider, nobler freedom than before. It is for -this cause that the Whirlwind has come upon us—to -cleanse a cancer from our midst, and to put away from -ourselves and our neighbours the dread contamination -of a disease involving the whole trend of civilisation.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>52</span> -We may thank God for it, despite all its terrors, its -rain of blood, its thunders of the air and sea, its -swift death dealt to thousands of innocent souls—it is -a storm that was needed to clear the air. And when -it is past, and the sun shines once more, we shall realise -that its causes were to be found not in one nation -only, but in many—in ourselves as well as in our foes—and -that some great and forceful movement of destiny -was urgently called for to sweep away from humanity -the accumulating mass of its own self-wrought evil. -And if victory should be ours, it will behove us to take -it with all humility, giving thanks to God—“<em>lest we -forget</em>!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>53</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_6">THE KAISER’S HARVEST OF DEATH<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A CRIME OF STUPIDITY<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>First published in the “Sunday Times”</i>)</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">In</span> every great national crisis, when war or revolution -brings havoc on existing civilisation and works sudden -and violent change in all social, political, and diplomatic -relations, we are invariably able to discover One -Man—or at the most, perhaps, two or three men—primarily -responsible for the general upheaval.</p> - -<p>History is impressively explicit concerning these -personages. She never fails to show us how, by some -strange lack of the most ordinary foresight and common -sense, they stumble when apparently on the height -of success, and commit irreparable blunders which -hasten their careers to a disastrous close. Such was -the case with Napoleon and many other would-be -Alexanders of ambition; but of all the tragic blunderers -of time surely none can equal or surpass the “War -Lord” of Germany. Here is a man who had the splendid -chance of securing for his country and people the -largest share of the commerce of Europe; it lay easily -within his grasp. Yet he has let it go, like a handful -of sand and shells dropped by a child at play on the -seashore. To satisfy the personal cravings of a vaunting, -blustering Egoism for blood-and-thunder “effects” he -has lost the peaceful conquest of a world!</p> - -<p>Amazing, deplorable, and incredible folly!—when -such conquest could have been gained without a blow,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>54</span> -without the boom of a single gun, without the explosion -of a single shell! It could have been attained in the -only way by which any truly “civilised” nation should -ever seek supremacy—through the development of industry -and commerce, and the quiet assumption of -the power that industry and commerce give. All that -we call “progress” should fortify the stand of human -resolution on this basis. It is not necessary, it is -not even sane or decent that any peoples should tolerate -what Carlyle describes as “the spectacle of men with -clenched teeth and hell-fire eyes hacking one another’s -flesh, converting precious living bodies and priceless -living souls into nameless masses of putrescence, useful -only for turnip manure”—which is a rough but accurate -picture of war deprived of all its devilish excitement -and glamour.</p> - -<h3>WASTED OPPORTUNITY</h3> - -<p>To Kaiser William more than to any other monarch -of his time was given the glorious chance of becoming -the greatest benefactor of Germany which that realm -had ever known. He could have created for his people -such conditions of peace, happiness, and prosperity -as were almost incalculable. He stood in the broad -sunshine of ripening trade—the markets of the world -were open to him—fields of wealth were spreading -around him on all sides, and his cheerfully working -millions had but to reap the grain their industries had -sown and gather in a rich and plenteous harvest. Why, -then, in the name of all that is great, noble, and pitiful, -did he choose to make a harvest of death instead of -life?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>55</span></p> - -<h3>A TRAGIC WITNESS</h3> - -<p>During the grim and ghastly struggle at Verdun -we are told the Kaiser, standing “at safe distance,” -watched through his field-glasses the fiery mowing -down of his countrymen to the number of forty-five -thousand! Does any one, reading this, take the trouble -to pause and consider what it means? Forty-five thousand -strong, brave men in the flower of manhood (for -let us hope we are none of us so unjust as to deny our -enemies their strength or their courage); forty-five -thousand capable human beings fit for every sort of -industrial labour—the blood and bone of future generations—slaughtered -like vermin; and their Emperor, -their sworn Defender and Protector, within sight-range, -looking on!</p> - -<p>What a “Harvest Home”! Are we able to conceive -the nature and temperament of a monarch who <em>could</em> -so look on at this massacre of his subjects and not -rush among them to stop the advance of their serried -ranks and “massed formations,” resulting in such a -wanton and wicked waste of life? The crazy antics -of Nero were mere child’s play compared with this -callous attitude of William of Hohenzollern; an attitude -which even his French foes cannot maintain. For, -fired with vengeance for old wrongs as they are, and -bent on victorious justice, they have declared themselves -“sick with slaughter.”</p> - -<p>“Such hecatombs,” writes Colonel Rousset, “cannot -last. Our adversary, while carrying his disregard of -human life to the point of madness, cannot go on -throwing his soldiers into the charnel-house without -thinking of to-morrow.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>56</span></p> - -<p>The losses of the Germans at Verdun have been -estimated at 10,000 per day! “I dream at night,” -writes one French artillery officer, “of those ghastly -crumpled heaps of shattered gray-green bodies! Germany’s -wives and mothers must curse the Kaiser in -their prayers!”</p> - -<h3>THE CRIME OF STUPIDITY</h3> - -<p>Voltaire is accredited with the saying that “the only -crime is stupidity.” According to this dictum one -must come to consider the “All-Highest War Lord” the -greatest criminal of an epoch, his stupidity being almost -without parallel in history. What man, not entirely -mad, seeing a world of prosperity within reach of -his hand would clench his fist and knock the whole -splendid sphere away from him at one blow! The proposition -seems absurd and untenable, yet it has been and -continues to be the Kaiser’s policy, or the policy of -his ministers and advisers; clear to all save those -who remain perversely and wilfully blind.</p> - -<p>For it is not too much to say that before the war -Germany was pushing quietly but surely through -every branch of commerce. From triumph to triumph -she moved easily onward; everywhere her ramifications -were spreading like the vigorous roots of a fast-growing -tree. In Great Britain she had possessed -herself of many of our trades; her goods were everywhere; -her cutlery, her glass, her woollens, her linens, -her dyes, her silver and copper ware, her chemicals—why, -even our very window-frames were “Made in -Germany”! She was at work in our mines and coal-fields; -she was ahead of us in science, in invention, -in industry and general “thoroughness.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>57</span></p> - -<p>And let us not forget that we were, or appeared to -be, supinely indifferent to her inroads on all that we -used to claim as our “special line” and particular -property. We were, like Hamlet, “growing fat and -scant of breath.” We were disposed to indolence and -self-indulgence, and, when we saw Germans working -<em>for</em> us, and <em>by</em> us, and <em>through</em> us, taking the very tools -out of our listless hands, we were agreeably convinced -that they saved us a deal of trouble. They worked -so cheaply, too!—and cheapness in necessary goods -appealed to us, because it gave us more to spend on -racing and football. The “Space for Special News” -in our Press was not reserved (as intelligent foreigners -conceive it ought to be) for serious information on -world’s business; but for “Football Results” or cricket, -in the respective seasons of these gamesome athletics—and -the very word “patriotism” was laughed out of -court as “Jingoism.” We gave the honours of heroes -to our tennis champions, and played about while the -Germans worked. They worked—as many of the -British refuse to work; they saved—as many of the -British decline to save; they gained their ends, because -by our very inertia we gave them every opportunity -to do so.</p> - -<h3>BRITISH APATHY</h3> - -<p>Mr. Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia, said in a -recent speech that Germany “had abused our foolishly -generous hospitality.” This is not quite accurate, -since we were neither so generous nor hospitable as -careless and lazy. We allowed our trades to slip -through our fingers—the State did nothing for native -work, science, or invention—and ambitious men of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>58</span> -hope and endeavour left the country in shoals to make -fortunes in other lands, <em>many firms establishing themselves -in Germany in order to win the rewards denied -them in their native home</em>!</p> - -<p>Germany held a more tenacious grip on every corner -of the earth than we in our latter “go-as-you-please” -way ever realised. All over the United States, Canada, -and Australia her people have spread; you find them -in India, in Persia, in Egypt, in Africa; as a matter -of fact, there is no country where German influence -has not been actively at work while other nations -looked on. Antwerp itself was wellnigh possessed -by German commerce before its military bombardment; -it was already a centre of German trade and -German shipping, and in many of its business houses -more German was spoken than either French or -Flemish. Great Britain was lagging behind in the -race; and had peace been maintained for another -twenty-five years Germany might easily have mastered -the world; and we might have lost all leading hold -on commerce.</p> - -<p>For let us not delude ourselves on the subject of -our own inertia! It is owing to the magnificent stand -made for justice and right by the hero-King of Belgium -that we have been awakened from long apathy; had -it not been for his resolute example, both France and -England would have suffered far more than they are -suffering now! Friend and Defender of both nations, -he stands out as the noblest figure in the struggle—the -one who, when victory sits upon our helm, -must be the first to receive that which is due -to him: the restoration of his country and his -throne.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>59</span></p> - -<h3>LOSS AND GAIN</h3> - -<p>And now the rivers of gold that were flowing into -Germany through her trade are stopped, “damned -up” as the sensational special correspondent would -say—by British, French, and German dead! The -latest estimate of German losses at Verdun is two -hundred thousand! Does the Kaiser, at safe distance, -still “look on”? What blessing has this monarch of -a great and productive realm brought upon his people? -Mourning, desolation, and irremediable misery! No -triumph, no victory can atone for such a deluge of -blood and tears! That capricious Personage “somewhere -in Heaven,” whom Wilhelm calls “Unser Gott,” -may possibly resent the deliberate casting away of -golden opportunities on the part of his crowned earthly -“familiar,” to whom a peaceful world was offered, -only to be kicked aside for a battered helmet and -broken sword!</p> - -<p>“Thrust in thy sickle and reap!” O Emperor of a -brief and bitter day! The harvest of death, not life!—the -harvest of curses, not blessings! The thousands -of dead men—dead in the very strength of manhood—sacrificed -in a holocaust on the flaming altar of the -wickedest war the world has ever seen, may have -their own story to tell to “Unser Gott”; so may the -bereaved and wretched women whose husbands and -sons have been torn from their arms for ever. May -the true God help them all!—for in the unspeakable -hell of iniquity around us man is wellnigh powerless; -though, like every evil thing, war has its good side. -It shows us with each day heroism of the finest, courage -of the strongest, self-sacrifice of the noblest, existing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>60</span> -among us all; and it has reawakened the higher spirit -of England. For this we have cause to be devoutly -thankful! In a certain sense it has saved us from -ourselves; and from the enervating love of pleasure -and personal avarice which was slowly undermining -our better qualities.</p> - -<p>And even the Kaiser, “looking on” at the legions of -his own subjects falling like withered leaves in a whirlwind -of fire, may one day shake off his frenzied nightmare -of battle, and repent—exclaiming with <span class="locked">Judas:—</span></p> - -<p>“I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent -blood!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>61</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_7">THIS AMAZING WAR<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A WOMAN’S POINT OF VIEW - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Reprinted by special request from the “Sunday Pictorial” of -March 28, 1915</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">What</span> can be said or thought of it? This wonderful -massing of nations—this appalling slaughter of men—this -relentless rolling on of a Divine Elemental -Force, too vast and powerful and resolute for humanity -to resist! It is a War so terrible, yet withal so grand, -and so pregnant with infinite issues that we, who are -swept by the dust and carnage of its fighting millions—we, -who are stunned by the clash and clamour of -the frightful weapons of modern science which it uses -on land, under sea, and in air, are more or less incredulous -and stupefied, and we have been only with -difficulty aroused to try and understand its fateful -import. It is Destiny in labour; and the pangs and -throes of her child-birth will give us a New World! -For the Old World is fast crumbling and crushing -down upon us like an ancient ruin struck by lightning-flash -and thunderbolt; the old vices, lusts, and littlenesses -are being torn away from us as a storm-wind -tears away the parasite ivies from mouldering walls—and -we shall presently see a break in the clouds and -light through the darkness. This thing of terror and -confusion Was To Be; it Had To Be! It has been -coming upon us slowly, but steadily, for years—and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>62</span> -if we are honest with ourselves we shall admit that we -have felt its approach instinctively in a general sense -of insecurity—in a feverish impulse of haste to live -lest we should suddenly die!</p> - -<p>Something—we know not what—a cloud or a blight—has -visibly lowered over the face of European -civilisation, and in order to set aside certain strange -and perplexing inconsistencies of such conduct among -us as might induce us seriously to Think—we have -flung ourselves eagerly into a vortex of “sensations” -new and old, bad and good, virtuous and vicious, -with a kind of furious recklessness, bordering on -insanity. Any lapse of morals, any bizarre or weird -“craze” in art, any indecency in literature, has been -acclaimed and encouraged as “new” and “strong” -instead of being condemned for being old and weak -as such things truly are—and in many vital matters -the nation has been moved by a petulant spirit of -selfish, restless irritability, like that of a querulous -old man who has neither the grace nor the courage -to accept his age with wisdom, sweetness, and dignity. -And among various mad things we have done, one -stands out pre-eminently as the maddest—and that -is the tacit encouragement given by a section -of society and the press to a brood of Atheists, -who have trailed their poisonous slime along the -pathways of peace where the youth of this</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Happy breed of men, this little world.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This precious stone set in the silver sea,”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">have wandered unsuspectingly, gathering the ugly -stain on the innocent white of their souls’ garments.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>63</span> -Never did a sin of this nature occur in the history of -nations without Divine punishment inflicted, not so -much to destroy as to purify. The chronicles of every -civilisation ever known or heard of bear unswerving -testimony to the truth that whenever a nation or a -people assumes to itself Divine right, dismissing from -its mind and conscience the idea of any higher Supreme -Power before Whom it should humiliate itself daily -with thanksgiving and prayer, that nation or people -has been allowed to follow the lure of its own intellectual -pride and self-sufficiency to inevitable disaster.</p> - -<h3>IDEAL WORTH FIGHTING FOR</h3> - -<p>This is, and this will be, the case with Germany. -For years her people have willingly listened to the -teachings of egoists and madmen such as Treitschke -and Nietzsche—for years they have scoffed at Christianity, -its Founder and its ethics; and they have -tempted the Divine Spirit in Man with the devil’s -whisper, “All these things will I give thee if thou wilt -fall down and worship me!” But that Divine Spirit -is stronger than all Germany and its rulers; and “Get -thee behind me, Satan!” is the keynote of this great -War. The Satan of ambition, greed, and cruelty -embodied in the creed of Prussian militarism must be -driven “hence”; and it is for this holy Cause that we -and our Allies are fighting. We must have a free -world!—free in the sense of highest, purest freedom—a -world of ideas, thoughts, and deeds built up on -the golden law of Christ, “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” -As a statesman has so nobly expressed it: -“We wish the nations of Europe to be free to live<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>64</span> -their independent lives, working out their own form -of government for themselves, and their own national -development, whether they he great nations or small -States, in full liberty. This is our ideal.”</p> - -<p>An ideal worth fighting for—worth dying for!—this -“glorious liberty of the free!” None of us would -grudge life or fortune to attain the splendid goal in -sight—a radiant vision of the true “Holy City,” where -as we are told—“the nations of them which are saved -shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth -do bring their glory and honour within it.”</p> - -<h3>POISONOUS TEACHING</h3> - -<p>Glory and honour never accompany the creed of -selfish Materialism, which is the “Kultur” of Germany. -What a miserable man was he who wrote down in -cold blood these words: “I condemn Christianity. -To me it is the greatest of all possible corruptions. -I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great -intrinsic depravity, the one immortal shame and -blemish in the human race!” This was Nietzsche—poor, -sickly, egoist, Nietzsche! He died mad—yet -he was the “guide, philosopher, and friend” of modern -Germany! How has his teaching worked? Let the -slaughtered thousands of his countrymen on the battlefields -reply. And let us take heed that we in our -turn be not infected by the poisonous breathings of -such insanity! Our nation—our Imperial Britain—has -been dangerously far along the road to similar -madness—let us hope devoutly that we have been -pulled up in time! But—“we have done those things -which we ought not to have done”—as, for example,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>65</span> -we have thrown the sneer of “Jingoism!” contemptuously -in the face of many an honest patriot—and now we -are loud in our expressions of wrath and astonishment -at the “want of patriotism” displayed by certain tribes -of working men who “strike” for more pay, indifferent -to the country’s needs! What have these working -men been taught for the last twenty years? Why, -that Money is the only god, and Self the only master! -When we reproach them for unpatriotic conduct, we -should reproach ourselves still more for the encouragement -and applause we have systematically -given to every new or revived doctrine of selfishness -and materialism that ever infected the world with -its sickly symptoms of decay. Patriotism is a mental -and spiritual attitude—as heroism is—as love and -faith are. Such things cannot be taught; they are -the result of ennobling influences brought to bear on -life and its environment. Considering how little our -educational system holds of such subtle and delicate -training, we have reason to be proud of the splendid -response of our men throughout the Empire to the -call of “King and Country,” and of the real national -“grit” which in every Briton underlies his surface -show of levity and indifference.</p> - -<p>But have I, as a woman, nothing to say of the war, -save in its ethical aspect? Oh, yes! I, as a woman, -could say much, in a woman’s way. Of the agony of -parting from men dearer to us than life, and seeing -them disappear behind a veil of impenetrable silence -for weeks or months, their fate or fortune all unknown! -I could weep all day and night for the cruel loss of -young and gallant lives crushed out and left bleeding -and festering on the awful fields of contest—and I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>66</span> -long to speak words of consolation and hope to the -dear women who wait in strained suspense for news -of their husbands, fathers, lovers, and sons! I know -all they feel; and the aching throb of their unuttered -misery strikes on my own heart with keenest pain! -But with all the sorrow and all the suffering, I would -not, if I could, hold back one man from taking his -share in the noble struggle for the betterment and -future peace of the world! One can die but once; -and “Greater love hath no man than this—that a man -lay down his life for his friends!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>67</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_8">“ALL WE LIKE SHEEP”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A PEOPLE’S PATIENCE - -<span class="subhead">(<i>First published in the “Sunday Times”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">The</span> words “people” and “popular,” viewed by academic -dark-lanterns of literature, are opprobious epithets. -Any person designated as “popular,” or favoured -by “the People,” falls at once outside the pale of -mutual-admiration societies—<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ergo</i>, is not an academic -dark-lantern for the blind to lead the blind, so that -both fall into the ditch. Yet it is well understood that -those who affect to despise the People and “popular” -opinion are the very ones most influenced by both, -inasmuch as not one among them but knows that in -the long run the People alone are the arbiters of national -destiny. Sometimes it hardly appears as if it were -so—yet so it is. Though at this present fateful moment -of time it would seem that the People of the British -Empire are stricken dumb. They are a voiceless -multitude, rendered inert by the knowledge that if -they speak every effort will be made to silence them, -and that though they have much to ask they will not -be truthfully answered. For they are only “the People”!—the -ruck of taxpayers—the grist that goes to the -mill!</p> - -<p>But what a People! Consider them as they are -to-day, straining every nerve and sinew in the work -necessary for the carrying on of a wicked and barbarous -world-war, wherein they truly, <em>as</em> a People, sought<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>68</span> -and desired no part, but into which they were plunged -unsuspectingly, without fair warning or honest preparation; -and now, being involved in the struggle -for justice and right, do most nobly acquit themselves—a -People who are giving up their sons, their life-blood, -their All for which they have worked through -years of anxious toil—a People who, when their little -harmless children are torn to shreds by enemy bombs -falling from hitherto beneficent skies, are told by a -fatherly Government that “no material damage was -done by the raid”—a People who are cozened with -lies and flattered by false news—a People who in the -gallant thousands of their slaughtered men are dying -that Britain may live!—or, shall we venture to say, that -Cabinet Ministers may “take their salary and continue -to take it!”—an historic utterance which will ring -through the vault of posterity like Nelson’s “England -expects”—only with something of a difference! How -long will this splendid People endure in sheep-like -patience what the Press justly calls “Waste and Muddle” -in high places, without giving vent to their forcible -but natural outburst known as “popular” feeling?</p> - -<p>We read in one of the columns of a sane and non-party -daily journal the following:—“No one can say -that the nation is satisfied with the way it is governed.” -This expresses in one clear phrase the apparent situation. -The word “apparent” is used advisedly, for in -many spectral things of recent statesmanship some of us -feel with Macbeth that “Life’s but a walking shadow.” -The present Government, being of a sometimes severe, -sometimes indulgent parental character, seems to -look upon the public, or “the People,” as a sort of -promising Child, that sits quietly waiting to be told<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>69</span> -things, no matter whether the things are false or -true. Wedged in a nursery chair with a bar across -its bulgy waist to prevent it tumbling out on the floor, -this Child is supposed to smile and suck its finger -all day long in a state of blissful belief in nonsense -rhymes and fairy tales. It is a wonderfully good -Child, and Papa Government is pleased to find how -easily it can be played with. Its simplicity is delightful! -Things printed in large type catch its eye and -tickle its fancy, because occasionally (though more in -the past than in the present) it fancies that large type -means something of national importance. But with all -its guilelessness it has a vast amount of natural intelligence, -and it begins to understand that it is not, and -never will be, allowed to learn the drift of Governmental -tactics, or the true state of parties in politics. It is hazily -becoming aware that it is kept in its nursery chair -to be gulled, not to be enlightened. In happier moments -it has shown that it likes to be amused, thrilled, -startled, horrified, or moved to indignation, and, so -far as the “Censor” permits, the gagged and bound -Press tries to do its best on these lines, and dances -for its entertainment as well as a poor bear in chains -<em>can</em> dance, though growling <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">sotto voce</i> all the while! -But, considered as a Child, the public is not thought -fit to be told the truth. Its opinion on national affairs -is neither sought nor wanted; all that is required of -it are Silence and Obedience. These it gives, with -what result? Why, as Mr. Asquith said, “Wait and -see!”</p> - -<p>Yet surely the waiting is long? “All we like sheep -are gone astray;” but possibly we have been led -astray more than we have gone of our own accord.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>70</span> -All peoples have a certain sheep-like tendency; they -follow a lead. Where the leader goes the flock goes -likewise. This is sometimes set down as evidence of -weakness, but with the British people it marks both -duty and discipline, obedience to law and order, love -and maintenance of home and country. Yet—let us -suppose NO leader! That is—NO leader capable of -leading anywhere save into quagmires and pitfalls of -“Waste and Muddle”!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“The hungry sheep look up and are not fed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rot inwardly.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Rumour has it that on our East Coast the inhabitants -have been “prepared” for a “German landing,” -and have been told where to go inland as “refugees.” -Whether true or false, such a report should never have -gained currency; the word “refugees” should never -be even whispered as likely to be applicable to British -subjects. Similarly on the East Coast it is openly -said that during the last enemy air-raid two Zeppelins -were “within easy gun-shot” and could have been -brought down, but that our anti-aircraft men were -“<em>forbidden to fire</em>.” By whom? Ah! There we touch -upon secrets not to be disclosed by Papa Government -to any inquiring Child! Though when half a secret -comes to light the other half is not far behind! Let us -not forget the warning given by the greatest of all -<span class="locked">Teachers:—</span></p> - -<p class="p1 b1 center">“A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”</p> - -<p>It is idle to deny that there are traitors in our own<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>71</span> -camp; men of position and influence who are more -pro-German than British—who would not scruple to -pave the way to any dishonour provided they could -serve their own personal ends. Is any one so intellectually -blind and bereft of common sense as to -suppose that even with certain of our statesmen -financial interests do not outweigh their patriotism? -Time is a merciless revealer of facts, and in its record -of this war some strange things will be written!</p> - -<p>To those who have eyes to watch and brains to -understand, the advent of Mr. Hughes, Premier of -Australia, is a wonderful, almost touching, circumstance. -Here is a Man at last!—a man who loves -his country and is not afraid to say so—a man who -appeals to the right spirit of the nation straightly and -truly, with courage and conviction. “The People” -answer to his voice: that “People” whom snobs abhor! -Snobbery is apt to speak of the fine Younger Race of -Imperial Britain as “Colonials,” with a touch of contempt, -as though they represented something small -and negligible, instead of embodying as they do the -future power and stability of the Empire. This -“Colonial” Prime Minister shows strength, boldness, -and sincerity; he is a leader, and “All we like sheep” -are disposed to follow him, if he can show us a way -out of the thickets where we wander, torn and bleeding. -Pray Heaven he be not wearied by specious talk, or -repelled by still more specious hypocrisy! or hampered -and discouraged by the working of the “wheels within -wheels” which move with such secret and perplexing -intricacy, crushing honest effort and smothering honest -speech! Surely the British people can be trusted to -know what their foes know, what their Allies know,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>72</span> -what America knows? Are they alone to be deceived?—even -into purchasing goods “from America” which -are German? Mr. Hughes needs to speak yet more -forcibly; he must rouse the slothful and the unthinking, -and tell them that if they would conquer their skilful -and insidious Teuton foe, they must equally conquer -themselves; and that when the markets are open for -British labour, British labour must not fall back in -energy or stint its output. Business must go hand-in-hand -with industry and quickness, for “the race is -to the swift and the battle to the strong!”</p> - -<p>“All we like sheep” are waiting, not for compromise, -but for conquest; conquest full, splendid and lasting! -The “People” are patient and submissive enough, but -they seek to put their confidence in a Government -that shows confidence in itself. If they feel that they -cannot do this, what then? Should not the following -words of Carlyle be <span class="locked">remembered?:—</span></p> - -<p>“Urge not this noble, silent People. Rouse not the -Berseker rage that lies in them! Do you know their -Cromwells, Hampdens, their Pyms and Bradshaws? -Men very peaceable, but men that can be made very -terrible! Men, who like their old Fathers in Agrippa’s -days, have a soul that despises death; to whom death, -compared with falsehoods and injustices, is light! -Yes, just so godlike as this People’s patience was, -even so godlike must its impatience be!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>73</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_9">WANTED—MORE WOMEN!<br /> - -<span class="subhead">AN APPEAL - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written for the London “Daily Chronicle”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Women!</span> You are wanted by the Nation! In the -words of the recruiting posters “Your Country calls!” -It calls even <span class="smcap">You</span>—you, who for centuries have been -the “weak vessels” of man’s passion and humour, are -now needed to strengthen man’s hands in the terrific -business of a world’s battle. You have helped them -already; but you must help them still more. Now -is the day and hour to prove your “undaunted mettle,” -and not only your mettle but your generosity, your -magnanimity, your forgiveness! For in peace times -man has denied you the very possession of ordinary -common sense; he has thrust you out of intellectual -and academic honours; he has grudged you any place -in art, literature or science, and he has made you the -butt of every cynic, comedian, and caricaturist ever -since he arrogated to himself the “everything” of life. -You have been and are the grist to the mill of the -comic press; your fathers have often been glad to -sell you in the marriage market to the highest bidders; -your lovers have played with you and deserted you -as bees the flowers whose honey they have stolen; -your husbands have often been faithless and perjured; -and in certain of man’s legal forms, you have been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>74</span> -classed with “children, criminals, and lunatics,” but -now!—now, you are wanted!</p> - -<p>You, so often despised, are prayed not to return -scorn with scorn; you, with your patience, doggedness, -and strongly determined zeal for attainment, are -asked to come forward in your willing thousands, and -let the men go! For the cry is “havoc!—and let slip -the dogs of war!”—war, bitter, merciless, bloody and -more savage than the crudest wars of ancient days; -war in the air, on the earth and under seas—war that -is as stupid, as blind, as criminal and as selfish as are -all the acts which men commit when they have so -far brutalised woman as to check and restrain her -highest impulses, kill her idealism, obstruct her intellectual -aspirations, and treat her as the slave and -tool of a degrading animalism. Had they from the -first dawn of civilisation made her their mental and -spiritual equal, by this time there would have been -no wars. Her love would have constrained and educated -them, her instincts guided them, her inborn -maternity shielded them from the wrongs their ambitions -and jealousies persuade them to wreak upon each -other. Now, in the very midst of the combat which -they have brought upon themselves, they are caught -within a black cloud of almost superhuman disaster, -where but one ray of the veiled sun shines through—that -Divine sense of Justice for which all true peoples -are bound to fight if indeed they be not wholly given -over to the devil of Materialism.</p> - -<p>In this, women are, and must be, with them; they, -who from the legended days of Eve have laboured -under the sense of utter injustice, will be eager to -help in any struggle for the Right against Might,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>75</span> -because it is their own cause—the very essence of -their own existence.</p> - -<p>Right against Might, women! Be with the men -now in their manliest, most pressing time of action! -Forget their petty carping and cavilling at “the female -element” in workmanship and endeavour; laugh at -the rough and childish hands that beat and batter -the woman’s breast with all the petulance of spoilt -children; fling every other thought aside but the will -and intent to help them on to victory! Make, and -buckle on their armour—let your hands prepare them -for both attack and defence. Nothing nobler will you -ever find to do than this!</p> - -<p>In old Arthurian legends, many were the fair women -eager to buckle on the armour of the peerless Knight -Lancelot; but to-day there are a million and more -Lancelots in the field—young, brave, dauntless—heroes -all! Arm them, women!—and by arming them, -defend them! Thousands of you, strong and willing, -are already at work—but we want thousands more! -Even you “toy-women” who dance half-nude o’ nights -at restaurants and in basement saloons of “fashionable” -hotels, wreaking a sly vengeance on men by poisonous -lure and seduction, even you can be brave and helpful -if you will! Give up your foolish sensualities, and -take to sturdy, sensible Work; wash the paint from -your cheeks, the dye from your hair, and clothe yourselves -as fit women who mean to help, and not to -destroy men.</p> - -<p>And you, too—you who turn your private homes -into “Bridge Clubs” where “officers on leave” may -become members “without the payment of a fee”—rookeries, -where silly young subalterns are “rooked”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>76</span> -indeed, of every penny, losing not only cash but honour—can -you not give up this unprincipled and unwomanly -“way of doing business” and come out of your dens? -You have hands deft enough for something better -than “Bridge”—and eyes that can see how to make -shells for killing the enemy, which is better than -studying how to change a card that shall cheat a -friend! Put these ephemeral nothings of an ephemeral -“society” aside, and <span class="allsmcap">WORK</span>! Work is the saviour of -both body and soul!</p> - -<p>I admit that as Women, we have long and old scores -to settle with the men who have denied us any place -in their counsels, and who elect of themselves to treat -us merely as “toys” and fools. We shall have our -revenge upon them, but not now. Now is the time -when we have the chance to show our ability, our -powers of organisation, our reasonableness, our courage, -our industry, and patience. Let us not fail! The -curse of the Jew who wrote Genesis and swore to Eve -“I will greatly multiply thy sorrow” has been upon -woman ever since the days when courteous old Abraham -yoked her with his cattle and drove her with his sheep; -but there are evidences nowadays that the modern Abraham -will not always triumph, even though every true -son of Israel who attends religious service in his -synagogue still says with Pecksniffian <span class="locked">fervour:—</span></p> - -<p>“Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the -universe, who hast not made me a woman!” (See -Authorised Jewish Daily Prayer Book.)</p> - -<p>But, despite this most manly thanksgiving, it is -paramount that now, whether Jew or Gentile, men -want the women!—not for pleasure, not for fooling, -not for seduction, not for betrayal, but for work!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>77</span> -Man’s work must be done in the absence of men. For -men must be set free, like uncaged wolves and lions, -to fly at the throat of the foe and strangle him for -good and all! Therefore, man’s work must be accomplished -by women. O women, be glad and proud -of this! Lady Frances Balfour, who has a brain -sufficing for three of our modern statesmen, has recently -written on “The Discovery of Women,” describing it -wittily as similar to “the discovery of America by -Christopher Columbus.” She reminds us of Lord -Lansdowne’s “early Victorian” pronouncement that -“the place for women is the home.” But the worthy -peer forgot to mention that it is not given to every -woman to have a home, or to run the cooking, the -child-bearing, and general washing-up business for -any special one of the male sex. On the other hand, -there are thousands of women who not only earn the -money to make a home and keep it, but who also have -the affectionate unwisdom to keep a lazy loafer of a -man also; some drone who finds as many plausible -excuses for idleness as he does for living on the woman’s -work. He, by the way, is generally the sort of fellow -who speaks of woman with sniggering contempt, and -while taking her earnings with the left hand stabs her -in the back with the right. But even such rogues as -these have to go forth to the battle to-day; so let us -not grudge the buckling on of their armour if we can -inspire courage in cowards! Just now, when omens -and portents are thick in the air, and unnatural -threatenings hover above us like shapeless spectres -of evil, our Ministers and statesmen are chattering -for all the world like the feeblest “patriarchs of the -village” that ever waggled grey pates over pipes of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>78</span> -tobacco. They who complain of women’s “talk” are -talking the heads of the nation off into impatience -and fury; let women not talk, therefore, but act! -Come to work, women of all classes!—the more the -better!—the more silently, the more swiftly! There -is a great climax at hand; the “push” is about to begin. -<span class="smcap">Every Able-Bodied Man Is Needed to Ensure -Victory.</span> Let us make no mistake about that! Every -woman is likewise needed, to put her hand to the -plough, and <span class="allsmcap">NOT</span> look back. Munitions must not fail -us. Show your resolve, brave women of England, -Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and nerve your slender -hands to the task of turning out the weapons of attack -and defence that shall flame our conquest of the foe -on land and sea and in the air! And—when the war -is over—when “Peace with Honour” shines once more -above us like a glorious rainbow after storm—shall -we—we Women who have worked, sink to our old -footing of debasement and exclusion from the counsels -of men? No! To paraphrase a famous Asquith -utterance: “We have taken our place, and we shall -continue to take it, and to keep it!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>79</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_10">THE QUALITY OF MERCY<br /> - -<span class="subhead">AN APPEAL TO AMERICA FOR SUFFERERS IN THE -GREAT WAR - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written by special request for the American “Committee of -Mercy”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">There</span> is no greater virtue in the human character -than mercy; it is the nearest attribute and approach -to the Divine Perfection towards Whom all creation -instinctively moves. We, the offspring of that infinite -Thought and Will, are still far away from such sweet -and strong attainment of power as can find infinitude -of joy in the infinitude of Giving—but we can in some -measure bless and purify our brief poor lives with somewhat -of that everlasting plenitude and beauty by an -effort, no matter how feeble, towards a God-like -perpetuity of grace and pity. The golden opportunity -for that effort is Now and Here; we may never have -so great a chance again. For Now and Here, in the -fair days of spring and summer, when singing, blossoming -Nature breaks out in its Te Deum of thankfulness -for yet another space of time wherein to express the -gladness and glory of life, we are confronted with the -hideous, ravaging spectacle of War; War, in its most -cruel, pitiless, and appalling shape—War, to the -grimmest death! The groans and shrieks of wounded, -tortured, and dying men are forced upon our ears; a -monstrous Devil of Self, black with the crimes of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>80</span> -treachery, lust, and murder, stalks abroad seeking what -it may devour of faith, freedom, and civilisation—a -demon possibly born of mankind’s own neglect of -the highest ideals, and indifference to countless -blessings long bestowed.</p> - -<p>And the most evil part of this evil visitation is that -the terrific whirlwind of disaster sweeps over the -innocent as well as the guilty, and men of valour and -worth in all the nations now at war with one another -are driven by the force of a barbarous necessity into -the agony of wounds and death for no fault of their -own, but for the mistakes and aggressions of their -governmental rulers. They are as falling leaves blown -before a storm—as smoke before fire—drifting into -darkness! Yet every one of them is moved by the -inspiration and love of liberty—by the sense of right -and justice—and by the desire to help in doing what -is good and true for the larger benefit of the whole -world. And in this sense every one of them is noble; -each life is worth our grateful care. We, who appeal -for them, take no part in the contest. To us they are -all our brothers in humanity; <em>their</em> mothers, wives, -sisters, children, and lovers are ours also! We wish -to lift them in our helping arms out of the blood and -mire of battle, and by our impartial love and tenderness, -to comfort them as much as we may, and relieve -their bitter need.</p> - -<p>We want every American citizen to help us in this -great, this divine, work; for so best shall we prove the -largeness of our thought, and the wideness and scope -of the civilisation of the Republic and it ideals; so -shall we best display the spirit of the young New -World, uprising on the waters of this deluge like an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>81</span>other -ark of the covenant, sending forth the dove of hope -and promise to those who are struggling for life in the -overwhelming waves. We would like to write the -noble words of Man’s universal Poet, Shakespeare, -across the doors of all our fellow-countrymen upon -whom we now call for aid, convinced of their generous -<span class="locked">response:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“The quality of mercy is not strained;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It blesseth him that gives and him that takes;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The thronèd monarch better than his crown—</div> - <div class="verse indent10">... We do pray for mercy;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And that same prayer doth teach us all to render</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The deeds of mercy.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>In this mind and mood we appeal for help: for -ungrudging, tenderest, quickest help!—the help that -brave persons would instantly give if they saw children -drowning. For every man disabled, sick, or deprived -of his strength is as a struggling child in the flood of -adversity, and indeed more pitiful than a child, for -the child’s day may be yet to come, while his is past. -Moreover, he has been snatched from all that made -life pleasant and useful to himself, to fight his country’s -battle, for which he, personally, is not responsible, -but which he enters upon for the sake of a duty which -is purely heroic self-sacrifice. Let us therefore accept -this free gift of his manhood in the cause of Right and -Justice and Freedom, with no less cheerful and willing -gifts and self-sacrifices of our own; let us give and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>82</span> -still give, in the all-beneficent spirit of the daily sunlight -which pours itself out unasked over the fields -and pastures to bless and fructify them! And let us -never weary of giving! From every man and woman -of the teeming population of the United States we -ask a donation for our Holy Cause—our new Crusade -of the Lord’s Sepulchre—for such it is, inasmuch as -we seek to raise from the grave of silence and despair -those who have been giving the best of their lives in -suffering the horrors of this terrific War. Be the gift -small or great it will add to the sum of what we hope -to make the most wonderful and munificent gift and -act of homage to martyred heroes that has ever been -known in the world! We are a Committee of Mercy, -and we make this Appeal to all the merciful, in God’s -Name, and for the sweet uplifting of a Star of Hope -in the darkness!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>83</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_11">STARVING BELGIUM<br /> - -<span class="subhead">AN APPEAL - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written by request for Mr. Hoover’s “Belgium Relief Fund,” and -circulated through the United States Press</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p>“<em>Six million of people are on the verge of starvation -in Belgium!</em>”</p> - -<p>Such news as this writes itself across the brain in -letters of fire! Great Goddess of Liberty, think of -it! You, America!—you, who represent that goddess, -with the light of an ever-widening glory on her brow, -think of this shame to the very name of Freedom!—this -blot on civilisation—this degrading result, as it -were, of our long-boasted intellectual supremacy and -scientific advancement! <em>Six million people on the -verge of starvation!</em>—through no fault of their own, -an industrious, peaceful, marvellously heroic little -nation, deprived of its honestly-earned right to live, -and dragged from its altars of prayer to weep in the -dust of beggary and famine! You, America!—you, -Star-crowned States of Freedom that have already -done so much and <em>are</em> doing so much for this broken -and bleeding victim of bitter circumstance—you -cannot stay your hand now!—you cannot—you will -not! You will do <em>more</em>!—and still <em>more</em>! You cannot -see a brave nation die of sheer hunger!—it is not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>84</span> -in your heart to look on at such a frightful thing -unmoved; therefore you will listen to all unprejudiced -appeal—even to mine, though I have little claim -to your hearing save that of the affection freely -given to me by thousands of my readers in your -country—an affection gratefully accepted and as -warmly reciprocated! I have naught to do with -the quarrels and murderous onslaughts of men filled -with blind fury and lust of world-power; all that I -can see or hear is the sorrow and suffering befalling -those who are innocent of any quarrel—the wives, -the mothers, the young girls and boys, the little children—the -helpless and bewildered old people! Cruel -famine is already torturing these piteous and patiently -enduring souls, on whom such a black cloud of unmerited -disaster has fallen that it seems as if it would -never lift! All who have power to visualise their -unparalleled distress <em>must</em> and surely <em>will</em> take every -possible means to soften and mitigate the horrors of -their situation. Generous America!—you have done -and are doing much!—you have worked and are -working strenuously to relieve the burden of Belgium’s -heavy affliction, but work to you is the very pulse of -your large life, and bigness of conception in noble -deeds is your breathing power! Therefore, no hesitation -need be felt in asking you to go on <em>Working</em> -and <em>Doing</em> all you can for the tortured, half dying -people of a devastated country—a people whose -magnificent heroism has blazoned itself in a chronicle -of glory for the wonder of the future years—a nation -that has faced her foes unflinchingly in the simple -defence of her freedom, and whose noble King, a hero -to the manner born, has not uttered one undignified<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>85</span> -word of complaint against the sudden and harsh -calamities meted out to him by the cruel caprices -of a cruel destiny. To America all grand things -are possible—America, as yet aloof from combat, can -accomplish what other nations, involved in difficulties -at this juncture, can barely attempt: America can -approach Germany with the ease of one at peace -in the midst of strife, and can with humane forethought -and certainty secure such distribution of -food supplies to the Belgian civil population as -may save them from the sufferings which now confront -them every day. This is what America can -do and with all our hearts and souls we pray that it -may be quickly done! <em>We</em>, in Great Britain, are -never weary of helping, to the best of our ability, -those exiles who have lost their homes and means of -livelihood—we strive to make their hard lot less bitter—and -to one and all we accord a welcome as to those -of our own blood and kindred. But we are at war, -and though our Government is using all the means -available to prevent the threatening disaster of millions -of non-combatants, women, children, and the aged, -being sacrificed to what is called “military necessity,” -such means are not enough, being perforce obstructed -by the difficulties of the situation. The grim idol of -Militarism must have its burnt offerings—that pitiless -god of Battle so aptly and magnificently described -in Lord Byron’s <span class="locked"><cite>Childe Harold</cite>:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Lo! where the Giant on the mountain stands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His blood-red tresses deep’ning in the sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And eye that scorcheth all it glares upon;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>86</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Restless, it rolls, now fix’d, and now anon</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Plashing afar—and at his iron feet</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Destruction cowers, to mark what deeds are done;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">All join the chase, but few the triumph share,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Grave shall bear the chiefest prize away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Havoc scarce for joy can number their array!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Time presses! The wolf of famine is at the very -doors! Our hearts grow cold with terror and with -pity as we see once prosperous and happy Belgium, -a land of prosperous and happy people, shadowed by -the fearful spectres of Hunger and Disease. And -while we do all we can and all we may to keep back -these menacing destroyers of the innocent, we clasp -hands across the sea with America, and look to her -reasonableness, her boundless compassion and benevolence, -for wider, more continuous help, feeling -that she can, and will, most assuredly move the -German administration in Belgium to see to the -free distribution of food, and to guarantee that -such distribution shall be made for the benefit of -the Belgian civil population. I believe the Germans -would willingly consent to this, if they have not -already consented, for it cannot be even to their own -advantage that disease should be sown broadcast in -Belgium, and the entire industrial population decimated -by famine. Indeed, as a matter of fact, Mr. Whitlock, -the American Minister at Brussels, has made definite -and official statement to the effect that he is satisfied -by close investigation on the spot that not an ounce<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>87</span> -of food sent in by the Commission for Relief is being -appropriated by the Germans. It should, perhaps, -be considered that Germany has a heart somewhere! -There are natural emotions in the mortal composition -of a German as well as in a Frenchman or a Briton—differently -strung, no doubt, and differently placed—but -no man of any nationality whatsoever is made -solely of “blood and iron,” according to that hackneyed -catch-penny phrase which seems to have been coined -by some tall-talking journalist. I am not one of the -many who “thrill” over the various and sensational -reports gotten up by the world’s press, whether such -reports emanate from Great Britain or the “Wolff -Bureau.” I am as doubtful of statements circulated -by British journalism as of those which are unblushingly -“made in Germany.” Each newspaper proprietor -has his own axe to grind, and not always does honesty -or unsullied patriotism have much to do with the -grinding. More mischief than can be easily calculated -is caused by irresponsible journalists who are allowed -to print their wholly useless and unnecessary personal -opinions on some great world-crisis in leading newspapers. -When Edward the Seventh ascended the British -Throne he had something to say on one occasion -to “the gentlemen of the Press,” and he expressed -the hope that they would “do their best to foster amity -and good-will between the British Empire and other -nations.” That the “gentlemen” have not so acquitted -themselves is a sad and sober fact; and in these -very days of the most terrific contest the world has -ever seen, many of them show an unworthy eagerness -to “work up” suspicion and ill-feeling between the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>88</span> -combating parties, rather than to hold the balance -equably and with dignity. Insult, cheap sneers, and -vulgar jesting are all out of place in the present tremendous -clash of conflicting powers; when the gods -grasp their thunderbolts it is no time to listen to the -chattering of apes. And when we are told by the -Irresponsible Journalist of more battle horrors and -outrages than seem humanly possible of occurrence, -it does us good to learn through plain, unvarnished -fact conveyed in simply-written, straightforward letters -from brave men at the front and in the “firing -line,” that, left to themselves, the Germans and their -Allied foes would be glad enough to play football -together, if allowed, like healthy schoolboys, and that -even as it is they give each other cigarettes across the -trenches, proof positive that when not acting “under -orders,” they are human, normal, and friendly, and -have no thirst for each other’s blood. I quote the -following from the letter of a brave young Englishman -serving in the Third Battalion of the Rifle <span class="locked">Brigade:—</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“On Christmas morning some of us went out in front -of the German trenches and shook hands with them, -and they gave us cigars, cigarettes, and money as -souvenirs. We helped them to bury their dead, who -had been lying in the fields for two months. It was a -strange sight to see English and German soldiers as -well as officers shaking hands and chatting together. -We asked them to play us at football, but they had no -time. I got into conversation with one who worked -at Selfridge’s in London, and he said he was very -sorry to have to fight against us.”</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>89</span></p> - -<p>Reading this and various other letters of similar -tone from men in the very thick of battle, all bearing -ample testimony to the same truth, I cannot believe -that the foe is so utterly a monster as to wish to see -six million innocent people slowly starved to death; -for such a dire business would serve his purpose little, -while strongly intensifying his immediate unpopularity. -War is war; and if, after all, civilisation is so poorly -advanced that war must still play its barbarous part -in the world’s policy, then of course there must be -exigencies of war which can neither be ameliorated -nor minimised. But the deliberate starvation of six -million innocent human beings, more or less useful to -their kind, does not and cannot come under the head -of “military necessity.” Therefore, it should be the -proud privilege and duty of “neutrals” to do all that -is possible to soften and mitigate the fearful conditions -of life as at present lived in unhappy but undaunted -Belgium. The Commission for Relief, acting in London, -and comprising representatives of the Spanish, -Dutch, and Italian Embassies as well as the American, -has undertaken a task which is almost herculean. Work -as they will—and there is no pause and no shirking—it -is like coping with the waves of an engulfing sea. -The needs of the people become more urgent every -day that the fierce tug-of-war grows closer and more -insistent: Great Britain has found it imperative to -stop the importation of grain into Belgium, and all -this is coupled with the fact that under the Hague -convention the German army has the right to requisition -food supplies, and is not bound (save morally) -to feed the enemy’s population. Nevertheless, -common sense and diplomacy, as well as mercy and jus<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>90</span>tice, -may here step in and show that starvation and -sickness may breed evil among the Germans themselves -as well as among the Belgians, by sheer force of contagion—evil -of a kind which might just as conveniently -be avoided. Any starving nation claims instant help -and compassion—the sufferings it is compelled to undergo -are too awful to contemplate with any degree -of calmness, and may make even the sternest “Teuton” -shudder. Therefore, if any of us can, or dare, call -ourselves Christians in the face of this un-Christian -warfare, which neither religion, science, nor “New -Thought,” spiritual or intellectual, has been deep or -sincere enough to hinder, let us gather up the fragile -fragments of our faith and try to piece them together -in one heart-whole, soul-strong effort to save from -impending misery the brave little nation, rich in historical -splendour of renown, artistic beauty, and industrial -progress, whose hard-working people have desired -nothing but peace and freedom to attend to their -own business unmolested. If Christianity is worth -anything in the world we would not let <em>one</em> starving -creature go unfed from our doors—shall we leave -six million to such an undeserved fate? If we do, -then well may the great Powers Invisible chastise us -to our own doom, and vengeful Furies whip us to a -hell of shame and oblivion! Let us hold out rescue at -once with no uncertain hands, and let our practical -aid be swift, and “of good measure, pressed down and -running over.” In all such deeds of love and sympathy -and charity Great Britain and America have led the -world by their splendid example. There has been -no grudging, no paltry personal discussion as to ways -and means. For every good and worthy cause gold<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>91</span> -pours out as from a magical horn of plenty; the more -the demand, the greater the supply. And now? Now—when -a nation starves! Shall not a veritable argosy -of gold make its way across the miles of ocean which -divide the Fortunate from the Unhappy, and bridge -the gulf of tears and sorrow, striking light from darkness, -and hope from despair? This can be so if America -wills it! Shall not a radiant Angel of Consolation -appear within the deepest gloom of battle, stretching -out hands of blessings and sustenance, lifting the fallen, -cheering the desolate, soothing the dying, and shedding -heavenly sunshine on a sorrow-clouded land? -This can be so if America wills it! Shall not the -true brotherhood of humanity be re-affirmed and -strengthened in the rescue of one nation by another?—in -the succour of the smaller by the greater?—in -the full acknowledgment of a brave fight for freedom -by a power that is more than free? This can be so -if America wills it!</p> - -<p>“O Liberty! what crimes are committed in thy -name!” were the last words of Madame Roland, heroic -victim of the French Revolution—but we would say: -“O Liberty! what love is perfected in thy name!” -when starving Belgium is fed!—because America wills -it! Hear my appeal, O Star-crowned States of Freedom!—hear -me!—hear all!—Let no pleading voice -pass you by <em>un</em>-heard! For the brave Nation that is -dying must live!—<em>shall</em> live!—if America wills it!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>92</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_12">“THE TIME OF OUR LIVES”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">OUR WOMEN IN WAR - -<span class="subhead">(<i>An answer to an American misjudgment</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">“You</span> women over here seem to be having the time of -your lives!” said an American friend to me the other -day. “You lunch and dine at all the restaurants with -whatever men ‘on leave’ you can pick up; you go -with them to music-halls and theatres and supper -dances, and ‘peacock’ about in extravagant clothes as -if there were no such thing as a war on!”</p> - -<p>My American friend, being a man, took, as is often -the case with men, rather a one-sided view of things; -but what he said is true, and I fully endorse his -statement. I am proud and eager to assure our American -sisters “on the other side,” that most surely we <em>are</em> -having “the time of our lives”! No doubt about it! -But, do you understand, you women of New York, -Boston, Chicago, and every other great and growing -city in the United States, what that “time” exactly is? -Are you able to measure it and give it your true understanding? -I think not! It is easy to sit as spectators -in your vast amphitheatre of across ocean and watch -from comfortably-cushioned points of view the struggle -in the world’s arena between Men and Beasts; the contest -is terrific, revolting, yet sensational—and provides -“thrills” for those who are not actively engaged -in combat. But for women whose husbands, lovers, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>93</span> -sons are being mauled and crushed and torn by the -teeth and claws of ravening and unreasoning brutes, -it is a spectacle demanding “nerve,” to say the least -of it. This “nerve”—this power of valiant endurance -is what Great Britain’s women are displaying in “the -time of their lives”—the time of loss and sorrow, -danger and difficulty; and I doubt whether the true -history of this indomitable pluck, cheerfulness, patience, -and resignation will ever be rightly known! -They have been, and still are—magnificent!—a glory -and an honour to their sex! “The time of their lives” -will be recorded in the country’s annals as among the -most sublime things witnessed and proved in a century. -They have grudged no sacrifice, no pain; they have -sent their best and dearest to the great slaughterhouse -of Flanders with smiles on their lips, restraining -the sobs of agony in their hearts—they have not shrunk -in one single instance from any clear duty, however -difficult or apart from their own ways of life. Where -men’s places have needed to be filled, they have filled -them most ably, conscientiously, and loyally, without -grumbling or complaint; and though some of their -male employers, too old to fight, but never too old to -“bully,” have occasionally made things uncomfortable -for them by coarse words and coarser actions, they -have held their peace for the sake of their men at the -front, and are content to bear with insolence and -insult in silence rather than interrupt the routine of -the work they have undertaken in order to “release” -the men, such “release” often meaning for themselves -sheer heart-break and desolation. Oh, yes!—we are -having “the time of our lives”!—a time such as this -world never saw, and which we all pray it may never see<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>94</span> -again!—a time when wives toil in munition works to -“release” their husbands, knowing that such “release” -may mean their own widowhood—when mothers part -bravely from their sons, conscious that they are going -into such a hell of barbarous slaughter as never was -known even in the days of the Roman butcher, Nero—when -girls “release” their lovers, and bend their -own slight bodies to the heavy toil usually undertaken -by the physically stronger sex, and say nothing of their -own fatigue, suspense, and sorrow! There are thousands -of such splendid women to set against the few -hundreds who “dine at restaurants” and “peacock -about,” and even these latter are not so abandoned -to self and vainglory as they seem. True, there are -women who push their own ends under cover of professing -charity, and are never so happy as when they -see their own portraits in the lower grade press—this -class has always existed in every country and will -no doubt continue to exist. And there are plenty of -female “decoys” for men “on leave”—who dine and -dance at public restaurants in <em>un</em>-dress that would disgrace -a savage; but, again, these have always existed, -and will probably continue to exist. The good Bishop -of London seems to have only just discovered them, -which is a great testimony to his guilelessness. Then -there is a particularly unfortunate section of the pictorial -press which seeks to attract the public eye by -indecent pictures of half-nude “women of the town”—dancers, -actresses, and titled dames who are equally -at one in a voluntary outrage of morals and modesty, -and though the public Censor might very well put a -stop to these offensive illustrations, he is apparently -one of those “blind who will not see.” But you, our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>95</span> -sisters in America, do see, and rashly pass judgment -accordingly! Then there are the ridiculous fashion-plates -used as advertisements in newspapers and in -the catalogues of leading drapers, which represent -women as the merest caricaturess of womanhood, looking -more like cockatoos and chimpanzees than feminine -humanity, in costumes presented as “the fashion,” but -which no decent woman ever dreams of wearing. All -this is “the scum of the pot” which rises to the top, -thereby becoming noticeable—but it does not represent -the actual Womanhood of Britain—the great, Silent -Force of patient, brave, unwearying workers. These -are scarcely heard of, for they give no chance to the -tongues of Rumour, and the press cannot get at them -either for portraits or personalities. As noble and -exclusive as that noble and exclusive lady, the Duchess -of Portland, whose good works are legion, they make -no clamour—they are too busy to contend with the -already opposing masculine spirit which is beginning to -demand of them, “Are you going to <em>dare</em> do our work -after the war?” The main fact with them is not the -Afterwards but the <em>Now</em>—the resolve to hold together -the working necessities of Commerce and Agriculture -in Britain—Now!—in time of need—thinking nothing -of themselves or of the pleasant little vanities and -frivolities dear to them in days of peace, but bracing up -all their energies to oppose trouble with valour, patience, -and faith. No women in all the world’s history -have ever risen to confront a world’s crisis so -splendidly and cheerfully as the British—except the -French! French women are superb in their magnificent -patriotism!—superb in their steadfast hate of the -foe. We are often told that the British do not “hate”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>96</span> -enough—and that if we were better haters we should -be better lovers. It may be so, but the general tendency -among us is more to despise than to hate. A “Tommy,” -for example, would hardly think it worth while to -“hate” anybody. Good-nature is the Briton’s strong -point; good-nature and a cool, easy, “happy-go-lucky” -disposition. These virtues or failings led him into the -German traps whereby he was losing his hold on the -commerce of the world. He could not be brought to -believe that his progressing friend “Fritz” could stab -him in the back while he stood unarmed and unready -for attack; and, even now, when he is up and full -face to the combat, his good-nature still moves him -to sing and whistle along the fire-swept path to death -or glory, and to stop, regardless of self, among a hail -of bullets to give first or last aid to a dying foeman. -Is such conduct foolish or sublime? A higher verdict -than ours must give answer! In any case we know -and may take it for certain that the “Silent Force” of -women who are “having the time of their lives” is a -great lever to lift the men up to the utmost pitch of -their native-born courage and resolution, and to help -them meet Death as a fellow-soldier, taking the hand of -the grisly skeleton as fearlessly as children might run -to look at some attractive novelty. For, back of us all, -men and women alike, there is a strong Faith which our -enemies have lost. <em>They</em> talk of “Unser Gott” as glibly -as though the Almighty were solely exercised in serving -their whims and passions—but though <em>our</em> deepest -religion be not of the Churches, we cannot so trifle -with the Holy Name! We are too conscious of “The -Truth that makes us free,” and in the Cause for which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>97</span> -we and our Allies are fighting, we can best pray with -Shakespeare’s Harry the Fifth:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“O God of Battles! Steel my soldiers’ hearts!</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Possess them not with fear; take from them now</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The sense of numbers!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>For our Cause is the Cause of Right and Justice, -Freedom and Civilisation. We are not out for personal -gain, either in gold or territory. We have enough of -both and to spare. We endure “the time of our lives,” -and its wanton and wicked slaughter of the innocent, -because we are fighting for all Humanity that it may -never be so savagely tortured again. We are fighting -for a surer, more impregnable Civilisation—one that -cannot be pushed back a thousand years by the ferocious -and blind stupidity of any temporary autocrat. Is it -possible that there can be people of even average intelligence -in the States and elsewhere that do not entirely -understand this? The British intervention in the dastardly -attack of Germany on Belgium and France -was to protect and defend unoffending and peaceable -peoples, and in this defence of others we have found -Ourselves. We were beginning to lose ourselves among -the dreary verbosities of theorists and agnostics and -atheists and all the swarm of destructive insects which -accompany a setting-in of decadence; we have discovered -once again our true spirit, our old and valiant -mettle, our pride and love of country, and all the -mighty heart of resolution which has made the British -Empire what it is. And we cannot but feel that the -young and strong heart of America beats in tune with -our own—that, despite financial interests and pro-Ger<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>98</span>man -intrigues, Right and Justice prevail with the men -and women of the United States as with the men and -women of this “little isle set in a silver sea”—and that -they very well know that they, too, must benefit by the -clearance from the world of a monstrous Militarism -whose ethics are opposed to every principle of Christian -truth and human equity. A great, strong Faith is -at the back of us all—a Faith which believes in the utmost -triumph of Good over Evil—and this it is which -inspires the women of Great Britain and gives them -strength to part with their nearest and dearest, so -that they endure “the time of their lives” without flinching, -knowing that they who endure to the end shall be -saved!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>99</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_13">THE WORLD’S GREATEST NEED<br /> - -<span class="subhead">AN APPEAL TO THE SANITY OF GOVERNMENTS - -<span class="subhead">’Tis a mad world, my masters.—J. <span class="smcap">Taylor</span></span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">What</span> is the most urgent need of the world? What -would stop war and ensure peace? What would push -forward all that is highest and best in our civilisation, -and cause men and women to realise that they are -not created to brutalise, degrade, and destroy each -other in sordid struggles for place and power, but that -their purpose in living at all is to educate and uplift -each other to noble aims and ends? The great Need -stares us in the face at every point of social law and -political government; it clamours in our ears and -pushes its problem to the front of every question. -What is it the world demands in every form of policy, -legislation, and statesmanship? A simple thing—one -would imagine it to be a natural thing—yet almost undiscoverable -in any period of history—Sanity! Sanity, -which means health of both brain and body; Sanity -which recognises self only as a portion of the greater -Whole; Sanity which knows instinctively that mankind -must obey the laws of God or else suffer extinction; -Sanity, which combines with reason and judgment a -comprehensive sympathy for every unit of the human -race in its struggle upward from the brute period to -the highest realisation of intellectual and spiritual -worth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>100</span></p> - -<p>Judged from this point of view one may doubt, -when reading history from its known or traditional -beginnings, whether Man, taken in bulk, has ever been -entirely sane. Something of the freak, the monster, -or the only half human, seems to taint his blood, -displaying itself in follies and excesses of the most -violent or pitiful nature, which, when dispassionately -narrated in the chronicles of centuries, show him to -be a crank or a fool at the very time when wisdom -might most be expected of him. Some few individuals, -notable examples to the race, have stood out in splendid -isolation as sane and self-sacrificing teachers and helpers -of humanity; but, in the aggregate, from the very -beginnings of what we are pleased to call “progress” -down to the present day, the desire to trample upon -each other and wallow in blood and slaughter seems -to prevail with more force over the minds of men than -the clearest arguments of reason. Nevertheless this -desire is an insane impulse, and if we had any true -perception of the laws of right and wrong, we should -check it in its very first beginnings. Any man, any -body of men, seeking to violate the peace and progress -of the world should be dealt with by combined international -forces of the Law and Medicine, not by armies—and -should either be shot like mad dogs as incurable -and dangerous, or imprisoned for life in asylums for the -criminally insane. No one man or group of men can -be considered in sound mental condition if their actions -imperil the existence of their fellow-creatures.</p> - -<p>Certain natural laws have been discovered, and -proved by physiologists who make the subject their -study, as to persons who may marry, and those for -whom, through consanguinity or inherited disease, mar<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>101</span>riage -is nothing less than a crime. In the “arranged” -unions of royal houses these laws have been deliberately -set aside with deplorable results. The mad dog of -Europe, William of Hohenzollern, is the diseased product -of several royal intermarriages, where human convenience -and popular complaisance ignored the divine -natural law; and as this law is one which prevails -“unto the third and fourth generation” we have now a -Monster-Abortion of conscienceless cruelty raging loose -in the world, who ought to have been smothered in his -cradle. There are plain rules of health and sanity -which are for ever being disobeyed by civil and social -convention; but because they are so disobeyed, we -must not flatter ourselves that they do not recoil in -vengeance upon the rebels. The Designer of this wonderful -and complex universe is proved to be a vastly -Mathematical Intelligence; everything great or small, -down to a grain of dust, is balanced to the nicety of a -hair’s breadth, and do what we will or may, we cannot -alter the balance. Our futile efforts in such directions -merely display insanity, of the type of an uncontrolled -temper in a child which screams itself hoarse because -it cannot reach fruit on a tree too high for it to climb. -If, therefore, we would have sane peoples, with sane -rulers to govern them, we should see to it that they -are born and bred sanely, according to the laws of -health and mentality which have existed among the -“lower” animal creation since the foundation of the -world. Every crime is an insane impulse. No healthily -organised brain could contemplate the murder of a -single individual, much less the wholesale slaughter of -millions.</p> - -<p>The Almighty has for ever had one gate of Heaven<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>102</span> -set ajar for humanity to peer within and push open -a little wider with each succeeding generation—a gate -opening to that fair pleasaunce of wisdom and beauty -which we call Science. A great logician has written -“The basis of all science is the immutability of the -laws of nature.” Would that we remembered that “immutability” -more often! Yet, while sane pioneers in -medicine and surgery are patiently and devoutly following -as best they can these complex but beneficent -“laws of nature” for the saving of human life and the -healing of human injuries, the <em>in</em>sane section of the -community have been and are still employing all their -distorted energies of brain and hand in fiendish ingenuities -of invention for weapons of war that shall -destroy human life more quickly than it can be saved. -And while thus engaged, other insane persons shout -in the press and the market place wild warnings about -“declining birth-rate,” reproaching unhappy women for -their lack of duty in not producing sons for some future -slaughter! The Car of Juggernaut was scarcely -worse than this! To appeal for a multitude of births -during the making of a multitude of guns, which mow -down the flower of young manhood like corn, is an -insult to bereaved mothers, making their vocation appear -less valuable than that of the beasts of the field. -For why should they bring forth and rear sons, only -that they may go to their deaths at the bidding of -this or that Government? The very proposition is an -exhibition of stark staring lunacy, combined with a -brutish lust of degradation and reckless destructiveness -which could only emanate from deficient mental organisms.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>103</span></p> - -<h3>SANITY IN RELIGION</h3> - -<p>Here we touch the vital centre of the whole. On -no subject does man ever show himself so violently -crazed as on religion. The gods of the past, created -by his fanatical imagination, were more or less the -deified types of his own vices, or symbols of such -virtues as he feebly strove to attain, but he had no -real faith in their power to aid or to circumvent his -designs. Yet, in lunatic fashion, he behaved as if he -thought them omnipotent, though conscious all the -while of the silly comedy he was playing with himself. -Now, after two thousand years of the pure and beautiful -Gospel of Christ which teaches how “god-in-man” -might be realised, a lesson to which has been added -the strong affirmation of Science, emphasising the fact -that “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him -must worship Him in spirit and in truth,” Man still -plays the crazed crank with dogma, and refuses to -realise the Actual Alive Intelligence behind creation, -which, from the delicate fluff of a small bird’s feather -or moth’s wing, up to the height of solar systems, -works in perfection and balance to the exactitude of -a pin’s point. This living, loving Presence the dogmatists -wellnigh ignore, preferring to move in their own -small orbit of creed rather than risk the broader spaces -of assured glory. The narrow spirit of self-absorption -not only limits their outlook, but holds them bound -in a condition of deplorable egotism, like that of an -“unco guid” Scotch body who, after accepting many -useful kindnesses from a friend to whom she “gushed” -affection, changed her sentiments as soon as a slight -difference arose between them, and with much unctuous<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>104</span> -piety let it be known that she was obliged to leave -that once “precious” friend’s name “out of her prayers”! -The monstrous conceit that could imagine God -capable of noticing a name left out of a Scotchwoman’s -prayers, or out of any prayers whatsoever, would be -ludicrous if it were not so pitifully expressive of barbaric -ignorance—and who shall count the thousands of -similar narrow mind and heart who have a lurking -hope that heaven is for them alone, and that their -“dear friends” will all be left out in the cold!</p> - -<p>Sanity in religion would mean sanity in everything. -A sane acceptance of the actual Motive Force of things,—a -Force, tenderly embodied to us by Christ’s teaching -as the “Our Father” of us all, would do more for -our souls and bodies than all the Churches; an intelligent -study and comprehension of the minute and careful -work of creation, showing us that nothing is wasted, -nothing lost—but that all tends in an onward direction -to “some far-off divine event,” would help us to find -and keep the balance of our brains. We must be -brought to realise that Evil, persisted in, works its -own recoil on the evil doers, whether they be nations -or individuals—the movement of things being always -towards Good. “I and my Father are one”—said Our -Lord, for which He was stoned. The failure of the -Churches is the insanity of dogma, which has supplanted -the sanity of Christ.</p> - -<h3>BRAIN BALANCE</h3> - -<p>The brain, as all physiologists know, is a complex -and marvellous mechanism—so amazing in its movements, -so miraculous in the result of these movements,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>105</span> -that no scientist has yet been able entirely to probe -its powers or foresee its progressive possibilities. Some -there are who declare that all impulses, good and -evil, are primarily started by the brain—others, more -subtly accurate, aver that the brain itself is impelled -or “pushed” to action by an influence stronger than -itself, mysterious, unnameable, but nevertheless all-potent, -which we call “free-will,” but which may more -justly be termed “free-spirit”; that is to say the “free” -and deathless force which the Creator gives to each -human being to use according to the laws He has -ordained, but which, turned aside from these, can -be debased as surely as exalted. This untrammelled -power is bestowed on every man and woman born -into the world, and its mode of action is frequently -swayed by impressions, sometimes pre-natal, and sometimes -by the “afterwards” of early surroundings. If -the material brain of a child is sound and healthy, -the impulses which move that brain should be sane -and pure—but, unhappily, through the physical mentality -of irresponsible persons who recklessly take the -divine responsibility of parenthood upon themselves, -it often chances that a brain, perfectly organised in -the matter and placement of its cells, conceives ideas -and actions which are little short of devilish in their -ingenuity of evil and mastership of cunning. How -is this? It is not the forty pairs of nerves which convey -sense and feeling to the brain that are guilty of -criminal suggestion—they are merely the telegraph -wires on which messages are sent. But Who is the -sender? Who or what is responsible for the messages -which prompt wicked deeds? We feel that we do not -have to inquire as to the source of Good, inasmuch as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>106</span> -that Divine Manifestation is everywhere about us. One -thing, however, is certain—that evil propensities corrupt -and obstruct the blood-vessels of the brain and -distort its images and impressions, so that its powers -become perverted—and instead of creating helpful work -for the welfare of humanity it dwells on what shall -harm and terrorise and destroy. But we must and -should realise the fact that an obstructed brain is a -more or less <em>insane</em> brain. Its channels do not run -clear. From these blocked passages inhuman thoughts -are generated as weeds from slime; and fiendish or -vicious ideas take shape and action like noxious vermin -bred from a stagnant pool. Therefore, if we -would have regard to sanity in the race, it should be -our business to see to the “Brain-Balance” of our social, -ethical, political, and religious conditions, and -eliminate from our lives such things as tend towards -incipient lunacy. “Crazes” for this or that particular -person or fashion are painfully common, and always -ludicrous, accompanied as they frequently are by a -didactic obstinacy resembling the pompous assertiveness -of poor madmen who conceive themselves to be -exiled kings. Men and women run about jabbering -and gesticulating on the “preciousness” of this or that -form of art, when it is utterly opposed to truth and -nature, and in this sort of spirit they have held up -the “Futurists” and “Cubists” as something worthy -to be looked at, much as a child might hold up for -admiration a dirty rag doll. Insane themselves, they -seek to lead others into the chaos of their own insanity, -and this trend towards a warped mentality has of late -displayed itself in all the arts, such as the sculpture -of Epstein, the crotchets and quavers of De Bussy,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>107</span> -and the large output of revoltingly sexual fiction and -coarse verse. The “pose” of a supreme and scornful -egotism marks these devotees of sham and ineptitude, -and though they may, in mere numbers, be a negligible -quantity, they spread infection, just as one fever-stricken -person may infect a whole neighbourhood. -From an unsanitary mental outlook no good can come, -and the moral filth in which Germany has wallowed -for years has so poisoned the German brain that it -can devise nothing but treachery and evil. It is a -brain that is choked with miasma—and it may be -centuries before it is cleansed and restored to sanity.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile let us pull the beam out of our own eye -before we try to cure other nations’ blindnesses. We -have been mad enough in our disregard of honest -warnings—we are pretty mad still. We have vied with -the old-time “cities of the plain” in reckless orgies of -vice and intemperance; but the great War has pulled us -back on the road to ruin, and it seems we may be -given another chance. Let us begin then by a good -try for Sanity. In the first place let us make such -laws for those who marry as shall compel them to -submit to a searching health examination, so that union -may be forbidden to the unfit. A diseased man or -woman should no more be allowed to mate than any -other diseased animal. The animals arrange this themselves, -in a much more common-sense way than humans. -They only rear healthy progeny. It is for us -to do the same, and to see to it that the <em>mentality</em> of -children is safeguarded and set on a sound basis. This -cannot be done by forcing education at too early an -age, or perplexing young brains with difficulties of -learning almost too much for their elders to grasp. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>108</span> -brain in childhood records impressions as a disc prepared -for the phonograph records sound, and the circles -marked on it in early days are seldom or never effaced. -Therefore care must and should be taken that -such impressions are of the best. Corporal punishment -should never be resorted to as a means of training. -A blow to a sensitive child frequently means a lasting -contempt for the parent or teacher who inflicts it, and -excites a rebellious spirit towards life in general. A -vicious impulse or an act of crass stupidity does not -necessarily mean inherent wickedness or obstinacy—it -only shows that there is some “clog on the wheel” in -the brain, which a day’s fasting and cooling medicine -may remove. At any rate, such a method of cure is -better worth trying than the rod and angry threats -which have no real effect on “insane impulse.” Sometimes—indeed -often—a physical defect in the brain -is the cause of evil thoughts and evil deeds, as in the -recent case of a man whose warped mind always tended -towards murder and mutilation, and who was found -to have a thickening of a portion of the cranium which -pressed heavily upon certain of the cells within. The -operation of “trepanning” was performed by a surgeon -who was scientifically interested in the case, with the -result that the previously insane criminal is now a -person of perfectly normal type and harmless disposition. -Who that knows the history of the German -Kaiser’s ancestry can doubt that his brain has been -more or less diseased from his birth, and that with -his approach towards the “grand climacteric” the incipient -lunacy bred within him has become more active -and less capable of control! No <em>sane</em> man would -have acted as he has done, for, prior to the war, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>109</span> -trade of Europe was practically in Germany’s hands, -and in the interests of his country a sane man would -have realised the fulness and value of such a conquest, -peacefully obtained without the sacrifice of millions of -useful lives.</p> - -<h3>THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER</h3> - -<p>The brain is affected by “insane impulse” in the -same way as the digestion is affected by improper -food. An error in diet will cause pain and general -<em>malaise</em>—so will an evil influence or suggestion disorganise -the brain cells and create obstacle and confusion -within their marvellous formation and movement. -A child, from earliest years, needs watching—and -those who have that duty to perform should be -carefully selected persons who are particular as to -general surroundings. A child’s mother or nurse should -be a refined woman of soft voice and gracious manners, -able to control her own moods as well as the moods -of her young charge, so that distinct “character” may -be formed and insisted upon. A “no” should be absolute—a -“yes” equally so. Character “tells” from the -very beginning. The youngest child understands a discipline -of firmness conjoined with sweetness and affection—the -smallest boy has an ineffable contempt for -weakness and vacillation. From the “character” displayed -by their elders, children draw their own conclusions. -An impatient, hot-tempered father makes -callous, indifferent, more or less contemptuous sons and -daughters. Children invariably despise and laugh at -“temper” in their fathers and “fuss” in their mothers. -And the mocking, jeering spirit of scorn is a spirit<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>110</span> -that grows with years, and makes of the person it -dominates an often spiteful and vicious influence in -society, creating mischief and rejoicing in the unhappiness -of others. One sweet, strong, independent character -unconsciously forms the nucleus of many others, -while one soured malcontent infects a whole community. -We have only to consider the “character” of Prussian -militarism—how from two or three blatant and braggart -egotists it has spread its infection through an -entire people, till the brain of the whole German nation -has become clogged with thick and poisonous -thought and has been driven by “insane impulse” to -the committal of the greatest crime in history. If we -would avoid such crimes for the future we must see to -it first that the race is healthily and sanely born, -and secondly that “character” is the only basis on -which all education must be founded, or it will be -merely a house of cards, toppling at a breath. And -the corner-stone on which “character” itself must be -reared is a high and reasonable faith in the Supreme -Cause of all creation, coupled with an earnest and -devout following of the divine order in which that -great Force at the back of all things has ordained this -Universe to move.</p> - -<h3>SCIENCE AND RELIGION</h3> - -<p>Religion is not what the Churches would have us accept -as such. It is not man-made dogma. So far as -Christianity is concerned, the saying is true that “There -never was but one Christian and He was crucified.” -No more uplifting faith was ever taught than that of -Christ; but it has never been spiritually realised or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>111</span> -fully practised. Read Christ’s own words in the New -Testament, and then ask where shall we find His commands -obeyed? In some exceptional cases there have -been saintly lives and saintly deeds resulting from -the sincere and devout application of the Gospel—but -in dealing with this question we have to think of -mankind in general, not in an individual sense. This -horrible war with its riot of blood and carnage is -a damnatory answer to professing Christianity. Man -has made of himself his own god—and in the God as -revealed or explained in all the conflicting religious -“formulas” he has ceased to believe. Faith of any -kind must be supported by reason. And Science is -the door to the highest heaven of faith. Every new -discovery, every new aid to man’s well-being on the -planet, is a fresh proof of God. It has taken twenty -centuries and more for us to begin learning the wonders -of electricity, though the miraculous force, with all -its component and divergent radiations, was with us -always. It may take us twenty times twenty million -centuries to discover God—nevertheless He is with us, -notwithstanding our intellectual blindness and lack of -Spiritual perception. Science is our peep-hole, through -which we may, even now, glimpse Him, but which in -time to come will not only be our window, but our -open door, through which we may approach Him, full-eyed, -without fear. But, to arrive at this, we should remember -that Science, like every other power bestowed -upon us, must be used sanely; and through “Free-Will”; -that is to say, we may bend its force to either -good or evil. It is good when we use it for the advantage -of humanity—it is evil when we make of it -an agent to injure or destroy humanity. The scien<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>112</span>tist -who employs his abilities to discover means whereby -he may remedy disease, eliminate pain, and assist -his fellow-men to the betterment of life, is that “good -and faithful servant” who, when God comes, He finds -watching—but the scientist, equally brilliant, who devotes -himself to the invention of fiendish instruments -of destruction and death, whereby he may make the -wholesome earth a terror, the sea a snare, and the sky -a scourge, is a warped intellectuality, moved by “insane -impulse,” which, combined with creative activity, makes -of him a devil rather than a human being. Let any -thoughtful person try to realise himself engaged day -and night on the work of evolving some instrument of -death more cruel than any old-time torture, will he -maintain that such persistent concentration on the -means of killing can mould him into a worthier or -nobler individual? But reverse the position and let -him imagine himself absorbed in finding out remedies -for pain and suffering, aids to happier and more useful -living for mankind in general, will he not admit that -however difficult his work may be of accomplishment, -he knows within himself that he is striving for constructive -good, not destructive evil, and that his science -is an output of clear sanity which must bring, not only -deep contentment to his mind, but also the consciousness -that his energies are moving in harmony with the -Divine Spirit of law and order.</p> - -<p>This is the true and only religion—to bring one’s -soul into unison with the infinite beauty and reason -which prevail everywhere in Nature. And the Christian -Faith, could it but be relieved from ecclesiastical -dogma, is the truest symbol we have of our spiritual and -immortal destiny, for it teaches the possible god-in-man<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>113</span> -which should be born through the purity of woman. -Carry the symbol further, and we find the Crucifixion -of Love through selfishness and hypocrisy—yet another -step, and we are shown the Resurrection from the -grave—“the Light of the World” released from the -stone and seal of priestcraft, breaking free from the -cerements of prejudice, and ascending to the Father -of us all! Search as we may through all the religions -of the world, we shall never find a grander, simpler -“Symbol” of eternal truth than this—the faith preached -by Christ. But it must be divested of its clerical encumbrances. -Like a glorious ship that has lain too -long in harbour, it must be cleansed of weed and -barnacle and launched unhindered into the open sea. -And those who man the ship must be free from self-interest, -from “cranks” and meddlesome theories and -formulas—briefly, they must be <em>sane</em>, with the great -sanity of nature and nature’s immutable laws. Without -this neither Religion nor Civilisation can endure. -They can only be crazed attempts to build that “house -upon sand,” of which we have been told that “the rain -descended and the floods came and the winds blew -and beat upon that house, and it fell; <span class="allsmcap">AND GREAT WAS -THE FALL OF IT</span>!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>114</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_14">HAS CHRISTIANITY FAILED?</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Has</span> Christianity failed? No! Men and women have -“failed,” but <em>not</em> Christianity. The very question is to -my mind terrible and blasphemous—one of the many -terrible and blasphemous utterances common to the -Press and current literature during recent years.</p> - -<p>It is a shame to a professingly Christian nation that -such a question should be asked at all. The greatest, -purest religion in the world can have no weight with -mere apes of humanity, who practise the most appalling -hypocrisy in front of the sacred altars, and assume to -believe in and to obey Christian precepts, while indulging -to excess in their own private and particular -selfish vices and passions, without restraint and without -regret.</p> - -<p>The nations have mocked at God and disobeyed His -laws. It is the old story over again. “The earth was -corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” -Christ said, “Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and -do not the things which I say?”</p> - -<p>Christianity is based on two great laws—love to -God and love to one’s neighbour; can any one say that -modern civilisation fulfils these demands?</p> - -<p>We have only to note the fearful corruption in -Church and State, in every phase of politics and business, -and the unspeakable vices which pollute so-called -“society,” and poison our literature and art, to realise<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>115</span> -that the “cities of the plain” were no whit worse than -our own, and merit no less than they a rain of fire.</p> - -<p>But Christianity itself, as taught by Christ, towers -above all “failure,” despite the apathy and hypocrisy -of thousands of its professing priests, who in many -instances are as selfish and flagrant blasphemers as the -worst atheist and iconoclast in <em>un</em>christianised and brutalised -Germany.</p> - -<p>Without that heavenly faith which helps us towards -the attainment and reverence of the Divine in all -things, what has Germany become? More cruel and -callous, more lost to every sense of decency and honour -than the savages of prehistoric times, she is sowing -the wind and will reap the whirlwind.</p> - -<p>But let us take care that we do not join her in -her rush towards annihilation. Political shams and -treacherous intrigues would drag us thither—“Unfaith -in aught is want of faith in all.” If a weak section of -men and women fail to find their souls, Christianity -itself has not “failed,” nor will it fail; because it is the -divine expression of the unconquerable Spirit of Truth.</p> - -<p>The most brilliant House of Lies ever built by man’s -careful stupidity falls into dust at the lightest breath -of a truth based on eternal equities. The microbes -in a rotting cheese may deny the existence of the sun -because they do not see it, and may ask, “Has the -daylight failed?” But the sun pursues its glorious -course, lightening the visible universe.</p> - -<p>So it is with Christianity. And those who presume -to ask “Has it failed?” are but the microbes in the rotting -cheese.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>116</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_15">SNOOKS’S OPINION</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Snooks</span> is one of those entertaining persons who makes -a point of giving an “opinion” on everything. From -the Almighty downwards he has what he calls a “calm -common-sense view” on all subjects in heaven or on -earth, and his chief object in life is to get that “calm, -common-sense view” on all to the front, so that the poor, -purblind, uneducated public who seldom have any time -to indulge in “views,” and still less chance to express -them, may understand that there yet exists one truly -great man of sane and sober judgment—namely, -SNOOKS.</p> - -<p>Before the War he used to write letters to the <i>Times</i> -on the urgent necessity there was for complete disarmament. -In fervent language he pressed the reduction -of naval expenses. He was, and is still, under the -impression that the <i>Times</i> is still as it was in ages -past—a British Thunderer; an Oracle which manifested -itself as “I am Sir Oracle; and when I open my mouth -let no dog bark.” He forgets that journalism is now -only a monstrous Syndicate, not expressive of thoughts, -but of Shares and Dividends, and that if the <i>Times</i> -were what it once was, it would not publish any letter -from Snooks. But Snooks is “fixed” in his opinions. -He admits no change in the course of things—an old-established -institution must, without argument, remain -always as such, and must not totter to decay. When<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>117</span> -decay sets in, despite Snooks, he firmly denies its possibility.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” he says—“D’ye think I’ve come to my -time of life without knowing better than that? Teach -your grandmother!”</p> - -<p>Just at the time when he wrote letters about naval -expenses and disarmament, one or two other “Snooks’s” -popped up and replied. He was not pleased with their -replies, as they opposed him. So he took up that Scheme -of Idiots, the “Channel Tunnel,” and wasted a deal of -ink in seeking to point out what a fine thing it would -be to spend needless millions on a tunnel which the -Richborough Ferry makes superfluous. His arguments -fell a little flat, and he was for a short period reduced to -writing about “the first primrose in my back garden”—and -“I hope some of your readers have noticed the -very early arrival of the wasp this year,” to the indulgent -<i>Daily Mail</i>. But he never has found quite enough -to do in the way of letter-writing to satisfy his ambition. -There are not enough wrongs for a Snooks to set -right—people of place and position do not make enough -mistakes for a “Snooks” to correct. Daily and nightly -he is consumed by the desire to see his name in print, -and his craving sometimes leads him to look up familiar -Latin quotations, more or less applicable to the political -situation, and to send them (with the usual signed letter) -to certain small newspapers whose position and -reputation make the chance of their editor’s classical -scholarship doubtful. To see himself in print, no matter -how or when, is Snooks’s joy. And now that the -war is blowing the dust of human affairs in all directions, -Snooks has, as some press reviewers say: “come -into his own.” He finds, so he states with engaging<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>118</span> -modesty, that if HE had been consulted, there would -have been no war.</p> - -<p>“There was that Algeciras business,” he says vaguely, -not knowing in the least what he is talking about. “It -should all have been settled then.”</p> - -<p>He knows Viscount Grey personally, so he says, but—“he -never would take my advice”—and as for Kitchener—ah!—“That’s -a man who had immense possibilities!—immense!—but -he was obstinate—he wouldn’t -listen to a word I told him!”</p> - -<p>Here, impressed with the reflections awakened by -this melancholy fact, he writes a letter to the <i>Times</i>—a -letter which happens to be just the proper quantity -of “stuff” to fill up the end of a column: so it goes in. -No one pays any attention to it. Snooks shows it to -his friends at the club—they smile, half read it, don’t -understand it and don’t want to understand it. After -some difficulty he gets an old deaf gentleman to look -at it.</p> - -<p>“What’s this, what’s this!” says the old deaf gentleman -nervously—“Something happened to our Allies!”</p> - -<p>“No, no!” roars Snooks—“It’s a letter!—a letter -I’ve written; I, myself—to the <i>Times</i> about Kitchener!”</p> - -<p>“Ah, I wouldn’t do it if I were you!” mildly replies -the old gentleman, with one hand up to his ear—“We -don’t know anything about his <span class="locked">work——”</span></p> - -<p>“<em>I</em> know!” shouts Snooks—“If he had taken <em>my</em> <span class="locked">advice——”</span></p> - -<p>“Ah, ah! Did you know him?” inquires the old -gentleman, evidently surprised and unconvinced.</p> - -<p>“<em>Know</em> him!” Snooks snorts defiance, as much as -to imply that if he knows the inside of his own pocket<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>119</span> -he knew Kitchener still better! In irritable impatience -he watches the old gentleman’s leisurely perusal of his -epistolary effusion.</p> - -<p>“Ah! Yes—er—yes! I don’t agree with you,” says -the old gentleman at last, putting aside the paper. “I’m -not quite sure that I understand it, but it’s not the -way I’d put it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, all right!” and Snooks turns on his heel with a -superior air of disdain. “I suppose you’re for the wasting -of millions! Everybody is, that doesn’t study the -subject. Now <span class="locked"><em>I</em>——”</span></p> - -<p>Here a stray man comes to the rescue of the deaf -old gentleman, the conversation changes, and the famous -<i>Times</i> letter is forgotten.</p> - -<p>Often Snooks seems to be ubiquitous. His letters -appear in numerous papers, especially the provincial -ones. Sometimes a Snooks’s “opinion” is squeezed just -under the “Space for Special News,” which in many -halfpenny rags is not “Special News” at all, but merely -the results of—Football!</p> - -<p>When all the intelligent world was waiting for war -news, a Birmingham paper had a “Space for Special -News” in which football results were printed first and -the war news second! The absurd folly and incongruity -of this sort of thing never seems to strike the syndicated -Press. The effect of it on the minds of our French -and other Allies is too humiliating to be written. It -might draw forth a letter from Snooks, if only Snooks’s -opinion carried weight. But it doesn’t. The greatest -“opinion” that could be imagined, even that of Plato -or Shakespeare, doesn’t much matter to any one. It is -not a time for individual criticism; it is only time for -inspiration and action. A strong thought is always<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>120</span> -silent; it resolves itself into deeds rather than words. -There has been altogether too much talk during the -progress of the war; too many “Snookses” in too many -newspapers. Snooks has even cropped up in the House -of Lords, to say nothing of the House of Commons. -And it should be borne in mind that Snooks <em>does</em> nothing; -he is not in the smallest degree useful to his country; -he merely stands, like an old washerwoman leaning -over her tub, and talks. He talks to any one who is idle -and stupid enough to listen. He finds out all sorts of -“queer things” about General this or Colonel that, and -for women he has scarcely a good word to say.</p> - -<p>“<em>They’re</em> no use!” he declares contemptuously. “All -their sick nursing and sewing was done just for sheer -man-trapping! Show them some new hats and they’d -forget all about their patients!”</p> - -<p>When this heresy is indignantly refuted, he snaps -his mouth in a firm, hard line, as though it were a -steel box.</p> - -<p>“I’d bet you a hundred pounds,” he says, “that if it -were women who were wounded in the war instead of -men, you’d hardly find one of their own sex to wait -upon them! They love fussing round a man! It’s a -perfect godsend to them, especially the old maids! -There’s an excitement about it; a sort of morbid interest! -They delight in washing a Tommy’s face and -brushing his hair. If it were one of themselves they’d -scrub the face till the skin was ruined and brush the -hair the wrong way! <em>I</em> know ’em, I tell you! You -give a pretty woman who is ill to an ugly woman who -is well, to be nursed, and she’ll ‘nurse’ her! You’ll -see what she’ll make of her in twenty-four hours! I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>121</span> -tell you I take a calm, common-sense view of all this -sort of bunkum!”</p> - -<p>Unfortunately for Snooks, his “calm, common-sense -view” does not appeal to the world in general. It does -not even impress the Premier, who, up to the present, -has failed to consult Snooks respecting the “conduct -of the war,” or to offer him a “portfolio.” He longs -to be consulted. He yearns to be displayed on the -headlines of the halfpenny dailies or Sunday pictorials -in flamboyant beauty, or <span class="locked">as,—</span></p> - -<p>“<span class="allsmcap">MR. SNOOKS SPEAKS OUT</span>”; or “<span class="allsmcap">THE GREAT MESSAGE -OF MR. SNOOKS</span>.”</p> - -<p>But these things don’t happen. He has still to content -himself with letters to the Press, which sometimes -get read, but more often are passed over and forgotten -altogether. Nevertheless, his “opinion” is in all the -newspapers, whether read or unread, and though the -King has not sent for him yet, and he has no “portfolio,” -he is admittedly and visibly “SNOOKS.” So -that when any particularly mischievous comment on affairs -in general appears in print, or any “calm and -common-sense view,” which gives useful “points” to -the enemy, and irritates the patience of the public, we -know who it is, and we don’t much mind! We merely -say “SNOOKS again!” or “Another powerful letter -from Mr. Snooks will appear next week!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>122</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_16">SEA POWER, 1805–1918</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="center larger">I</div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="firstword">Glory</span> and terror and splendid joy of the Sea!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thunderous Sentinel-Guard of our flowering Isles of the Free!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fortress impregnable, built with the mountainous waves</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Toppling in fury of laughter sheer over our enemies’ graves!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">God!... It is all we can ask for!... that still we ever may be</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Saved by the glory and terror and conquering joy of the Sea!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - </div> - <div class="center larger">II</div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sea that sprang to the keels of the ships of Nelson and Drake,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Billows that leap’d for delight in the battles for England’s sake—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Will ye fail us now? Nay, never! Ye are strong as ye were of yore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Victory’s voice rings clearly out in your rush on the rocky shore—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And shark-like Death, at the enemy’s cry, to meet him swiftly runs,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For your swirl and sucking sands are as sure as the fire of a thousand guns!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>123</span></p></div> - <div class="stanza"> - </div> - <div class="center larger">III</div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Glory and terror and conquering love of the Sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Circling our Fortunate Isles of Fame, more famous still to be!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Let us praise the Giver of Life for the silver and azure band</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He hath set between us and our foes on the other side of the land.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Break, it cannot! Yield, it shall not! England, home of the free,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">God keep thee safe in the strength and light and conquering love of the Sea!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>124</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_17">THE SPLENDID SERVICE OF THE SEA<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written by request for the Navy League</i>)</span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">In</span> this greatest War of all history, a War which in -extent, in terrifying armaments, and in massed millions -of men surpasses in fearful slaughter and incalculable -results all the battles ever chronicled from earliest -times to now, why is it that in these Isles of Britain, -the nucleus of the Empire most concerned, there is -so much indifference, apathy, and real ignorance displayed -among the general public of the “man-in-the-street” -type concerning the silent but ever vigilant -work of our Navy? There is no use in denying the -fact—indifference, apathy, and ignorance exist; and -all taken together constitute an extraordinary, wellnigh -alarming national phenomenon. Carelessness -arises from what is sometimes called “cock-sureness,” -and we are amazingly “cock-sure” of ourselves, especially -in naval matters. The levity of our women, apart -from those who are engaged in sick nursing and charitable -works, and who are happily numerous, is almost -unbelievable; their outrageous, not to say positively -crazy “new fashions” in dress, their “dinner dances” at -London restaurants, their “bridge parties,” and their -“night clubs” make one think of the warning words of -the prophet <span class="locked">Isaiah:—</span></p> - -<p>“Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, -ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. Many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>125</span> -days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women; -for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come!”</p> - -<p>For truly the “vintage” of prosperity and the “gathering” -of good for this country of ours would fail, and -fail utterly, if it were not for our resolved and invincible -guardianship of the sea—a guardianship which must -never be relaxed, and which every one of us should -learn to appreciate and help to strengthen by every -means that we may.</p> - -<p>We are assured by many sagacious essayists and historians -that it is the women of the nation who make -and who influence the men; and if this be the case, -at least one-half of our British women have cause to -be proud of the splendid fellows they have sent forth -to take part in the vast contest on which such mighty -issues depend. But the other half seem deaf to the -roar of the guns, or to the call of the Sea. The land -forces occupy all the attention of newspaper readers, -and very little information can be gleaned about our -seamen. The women prattle pleasantly about the grim -struggle at Neuve Chapelle or at Ypres; one hardly -ever hears them talk about the long, long hours of long, -long days and nights spent by our silent mariners, -watching from every great battleship and cruiser for the -treacherous foe. Yet every woman should, at the present -moment, be well on the alert; eager, enthusiastic, -and ready to inspire, even to command the youth of the -rising generation; and among other duties falling to -their lot is distinctly that of teaching their own boys, -and other women’s boys too, the inestimable value of -service in the Navy.</p> - -<p>That grand protector of our islands, the Sea, is to -Great Britain more than a hundred million of men;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>126</span> -and every boy should learn the history of what it has -been to us, what it is, and what it ever will be, held -by a Fleet which has never been conquered! Every -brave lad’s heart is bound to thrill when he is told -of the magnificent deeds of daring performed by our -naval heroes whose names are household words; but -it is to be feared that of latter years boys have been -encouraged both at home and at school to think more -of “sport” and games of skill than patriotism, and the -special training which would help them also to be -heroic and to “make history.” Lawn tennis is now -regarded as a serious business, but it is only a game, -and a country will never be saved by it. Cricket and -football are equally “games”; neither one nor the other -will drive the foe from our shores should he invade us. -Games are good as “games,” but when they become a -national obsession the hard and fast line must be drawn -before it is too late.</p> - -<p>The Sea is our fortress, and so long as that is kept -and guarded by a perfectly trained and efficient Navy, -we need not fear. Nevertheless, to keep that training -and efficiency up to the mark we must show no slackness, -no falling-off; there must be a perpetual addition -of new, youthful, and ardent blood; brave boys and -young men for whom the ever glorious lines of Shakespeare -express life’s utmost truth and <span class="locked">meaning:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This other Eden, demi-paradise;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This fortress built by Nature for herself</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Against infection and the hand of war;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This happy breed of men, this little world;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>127</span> - <div class="verse indent0">This precious stone set in the silver sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which serves it in the office of a wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or as a moat defensive to a house,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Against the envy of less happier lands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This blessèd plot, this earth, this realm, this England,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fear’d by their breed, and famous by their birth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Renownèd for their deeds as far from home—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For Christian service and true chivalry—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of the world’s ransom, blessèd Mary’s Son;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear land,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dear for her reputation through the world,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">England, bound in with the triumphant sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of watery Neptune!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>I wish that every word of this magnificent outburst -of noble patriotism were learned by every boy in Britain, -and imprinted on his memory, as ineffaceably as -his daily prayer. It is the heart’s utterance of the -greatest poet and truest lover of his country England -has ever produced, and inspires the soul with the same -emotion as that expressed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, -of Shakespeare’s time and <span class="locked">spirit:—</span></p> - -<p>“Give me leave, therefore, without offence to live and -die in this mind, that he is not worthy to live at all -that for fear or danger of death, shunneth his country’s -service and his own honour, seeing that death is inevitable, -and the fame of virtue immortal.”</p> - -<p>Great as were the responsibilities and labours of the -Navy in the past, they were nothing compared to those<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>128</span> -of the present. In the days of the brilliant and sagacious -Queen Elizabeth, there were no submarines, mines, -or torpedoes, and the historian Camden tells <span class="locked">us:—</span></p> - -<p>“This great Armada which had been three complete -years in rigging and preparing with infinite expense, -was within one month’s space many times fought with, -and at the last overthrown, with the slaughter of many -men, not an hundred of the English being missing, -nor any large ship lost.... Whereupon several monies -were coined in memory of the victory, some with a fleet -flying with full sail; others in honour of the Queen, -with fireships and a fleet all in confusion, inscribed -<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Dux Fœmina facti</i>, that is, A Woman was conductor in -the Fight.”</p> - -<p>At that time the enemy Spanish Fleet came forth -and showed battle, but up to the present the German -Fleet, which took much longer than “three years” to -prepare, has not been much in evidence till its humble -surrender, and its only exhibited warfare was the -treacherous method of torpedoing unsuspecting and -mostly neutral vessels, some of which had no means of -defence. My own heart thrills when I think of our -splendid naval men, whose spirits still respond to Nelson’s -undying signal—“England expects that every man -will do his duty!” The Germans are not a seafaring -race. The British are born and bred “of the sea”; -the salt and savour of it are mixed with their blood, -and for a thousand years they have been accustomed to -it in all its wildest moods.</p> - -<p>Herein our Navy has an immense advantage, but -because we are thus fortunately bred, there is no need -that we should forget that breeding, or neglect the long -education we have had, and allow the youth of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>129</span> -country to imagine there is no need of their service. -On the contrary, there is more need of their service -than ever, and for the furtherance of this purpose -we are all anxious that as many of our hopeful lads, -who have a turn for seafaring and adventure, should -join the Navy League at once, and “train” to be -defenders of their country as young and smart “sea-dogs” -of the old, dauntless, unconquerable mettle. -Every help should be given to this end, especially -through the women, the mothers of strong and gallant -boys, who can influence their sons and imbue them -with the true spirit of patriotism, and while we work -to strengthen and replenish this vital and necessary -force on which we depend so much for our defence -and our means of existence, we should think—we who -“sit at home at ease,” of the long periods of watchfulness -endured by the men of our Fleet at sea in waiting -at every turn for each fresh move of an insidious -and unscrupulous foe. We should manage to let them -know that their work is not all in vain; that there are -plenty of young fellows ready to follow them when the -time comes, and join in their splendid service of the -guardianship of the sea.</p> - -<p>In this effort, the Navy League is a fine and necessary -institution. It keeps the youthful spirit of the -Navy alive and enthusiastic, and it reminds us of what -might otherwise be forgotten, that far more than all -other defences we rely on the Sea and our Fleet to preserve -our existence and protect us from invasion.</p> - -<p>We can help them at home by spreading the Spirit -of the Navy—the spirit of Drake, Frobisher, and Nelson -among all our growing lads who are, in their hearts, -eager to be “up and doing.” I should like to see an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>130</span> -active branch of the Navy League established in every -town and village all over Britain—a centre where -ambitious boys can be sure of receiving sympathetic -attention and assistance for their training; and I think -it would be good and serviceable if women would help -more than they at present do in this work, by teaching -their boys to honour and love the Service, and encouraging -them to read the stories of naval heroism -and naval conquest, so that their minds may be turned -constantly towards ideas of their country’s defence, -their country’s safety, their country’s glory. None of -these things will, or can, be assisted by football, cricket, -or lawn tennis, except as games for physical development; -but by discipline, study of the art of navigation, -and the wonderful ways of Nature in wind and wave, -and by that sincere devotion to duty which brings a -man’s life into safe port as surely as a well-piloted, -well-guarded vessel. A sea-girt land should breed seamen; -we cannot have too many of them. And by early -training such powers may be attained as may build a -bright British lad into his land’s history as an unforgettable -hero. For, as the famous song tells <span class="locked">us:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Britannia needs no bulwarks,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No towers along the steep;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her march is o’er the mountain waves,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her home is on the deep!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>131</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_18">THE LILIES OF FRANCE<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written by request for “The Golden Book of France”</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Glorious</span> Lilies! Stainless and sweet, they spring -from a sacred soil, wet with the life-blood of brave -men and the tears of noble women! They are the -Children of France and of the Future!—the gracious -youth of a happier day, when tyranny and fear are -past, and when Peace of the highest and purest is the -canopy of safety and honour, under which the nation -may rest after long and bitter strife! The Lilies of -girlhood and boyhood; the Children, some of them deprived -of fathers and mothers, but never entirely orphaned -because France is their closest parentage! Oh, -beautiful human blossoms, growing up like buds of -snow from the black smoke and ashes of battle fires!—we -thank God for you, and we pray that you may -expand in happy fragrance, nourished by the fresh air -of freedom, so that the sufferings your heroic fathers -have endured for France may be transformed into joys -for you! You are the hope and glory of your land, -you fair flowers which even now are beginning to -bloom innocently in the dust of many graves; you will -be the radiant and triumphant France of coming years, -when your wealth of splendid youth and victory shall -flame a white aurora against skies of heavenly blue, -undarkened by any cloud of treachery! Children of -France!—Lilies that grow around the standard of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>132</span> -Liberty!—we commend you to the Future in faith and -in hope! Not without some natural sorrow, for, alas! -your garden is the graveyard of many loves!—but -though we weep, our tears are tears of pride that those -whom we have lost are fallen in honour, and that the -blood from which you draw your sustenance is unpolluted -by so much as one drop of traitor’s gall! So -shall you rise nobly, on stately stems of heroic ancestry -and memory to make France once more an earthly -paradise, and in the very fairness of your youth we -shall see reflected the light of the dauntless spirits that -have fought and passed away, leaving you with us as -their most precious legacy, which we accept with gratitude—which -we keep with all tenderness—holding you -reverently to our hearts as the “Annunciation” Lilies of -a New Gospel!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>133</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_19">“WHOSO SHALL RECEIVE ONE SUCH LITTLE CHILD!”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written on behalf of St. Nicholas Home for “Raid-shock” -Children at Chailry, Sussex</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Nothing</span> is lovelier than the sight of a perfectly happy -child—a little, laughing, dancing, restless, sparkling -bit of humanity just beginning to expand into life like -a plant putting forth leaves and tendrils and buds that -promise fairest flowering—a creature of unspoilt confidence -and innocence whose whole consciousness is absorbed -in wonder and delight at the strange newness -of the world around it, and all the beautiful, amazing -things the world offers for its attraction and pleasure. -The flight of a bird—the delicate caperings of a butterfly—the -flicker of sunshine on the wall—the ripple of -water—the sound of joyous laughter and dainty music—all -these pleasures and many more captivate and move -a child to smiling and pleased gesture—the little voice, -the little hands, express wordless ecstasy—the young -eyes glisten with unutterable meanings. Fresh from -the unseen Power that declared “Let us make man in -Our image,” it displays a pathetic faith in good—it -trusts all the big, grown-up people around it in an exquisite -confidence that none of them will allow it to -suffer harm—it accepts life as it finds it, with the beautiful -assurance of a flower which opens to the sun, instinctively -certain that all is, or shall be, well. Let us -remember that a child might never know evil if its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>134</span> -elders did not instruct it therein! It is as innocent as -any other young animal—innocent as a kitten or St. -Bernard puppy, than which nothing is more blunderingly -simple and touchingly confident. If we watch the -unspoilt, natural gaiety and playfulness of all young -things we cannot but realise the truth of the Divine -pronouncement on creation, “Behold, it was very good!” -and that we were meant to be happy on this planet—moreover, -that we <em>should</em> be happy, if it were not that -we cannot leave each other alone—we must always be -backbiting and hurting each other, interfering in our -neighbour’s business and grudging our neighbour his -or her special form of happiness. No child can be honestly -said to know evil till we assure it that evil exists—till -we frown and say “Naughty! That is wrong!” -heedless of the bewildered eyes that mutely ask “Why?” -As the Italian proverb says: “The ‘Why’ of a child is -the key of the Universe.” Generally speaking, a child’s -attitude towards life is one of complete reliance on unknown -but trusted destiny, and in very early years, if -that reliance should be broken, the little spirit so -startled by some cruel blow is seldom or never the same -again. But a few years ago, when we who plead for -the children now were all children ourselves, the phrase -“a bolt from the blue” was a phrase merely, expressing -a possible calamity, too sudden almost to ever take place—and -little did any of us dream that we should be -forced to realise its literal achievement. The ingenuity -of man, warped to devise schemes of wickedness rather -than beneficence, has brought about a state of things in -which the once secure loveliness of the heavens has -become accursed by his vindictive presence, bearing -with him through the offended air the means of destruc<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>135</span>tion -and death to the innocent and non-combatant populations -of peaceful earth places below—and without a -generous human thought for the lives of others, he -speeds his selfish and devilish flight, insanely convinced -that he is a brave man in his efforts to kill his fellow-creatures -from the air, as well as on the land and under -the sea. Nothing more heroic is left to him by his governments, -teachers, propagandists and the like but to -kill—to kill! Were he—apart from the red crime of -War—to murder man, woman, or child in cold blood, -with circumstances of mutilation and burning, he would -be condemned to the gallows—but the wind-blown -scarecrow of a false “patriotism” speaks, nay, shouts, -“Herein killing is no murder!” and he rushes on his -way through the air as though to perform an errand of -mercy instead of slaughter, dropping bombs of destruction -anywhere that seems to him feasible, and when he -can have, as he reports, “good results!” “Good” results! -“O Father, forgive them, for they know not what -they do!” Let us look with the eyes of the mind and -the heart on such a scene as has been enacted many -times recently—a group of little children in a school, -singing their little play-songs, or repeating their earliest -lessons—happy, innocent, confiding—when, suddenly -and without warning, a murderous crash and thunderburst -of explosives is launched from the air through the -roof above them, and where the young lithe bodies a -moment ago disported themselves, there lie mutilated -corpses drenched in blood. Our foes call that “war”—but -I would fain believe that in their own hearts they -know it is butchery, and that they deplore the merciless -militarism that compels them to perform such deeds. -And even worse than death for these little ones is the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>136</span> -stunning blow on their mentality—the horrible knock, -as it were, on the delicate membrane of the nervous -system, which bruises it in a subtle, creeping way that -is almost unimaginable. Contrast a healthy, happy -child, playing fearlessly in the fields among the flowers, -with one who is suffering from “raid shock”—and -who sometimes sits lost in a vague stupor, unwilling to -move—afraid to look up at the sky lest something fiendish -should fall from it! I know one such child who -refuses now to raise his eyes from a morose study of -the ground. Hour after hour he sits frowningly absorbed. -Pressed recently to look at the flight of a butterfly -through the air, he gave a terrified glance at it -sideways, and then resumed his downward staring. A -kindly nurse, trying to rouse him, said, “You mustn’t -be frightened of the sky—God is up there!” but he -uttered a little pained cry and covered his face, sobbing, -“No—no—no! Wicked man up there—not -God!”</p> - -<p>There is no need to comment on the effect of such -impressions on a child’s vivid imagination; it is altogether -dreadful and disastrous, for who can tell what -damaging results to the brain may be in store for the -innocent little victim! Time and care, with healthful -surroundings and healing influences, may do much -to eliminate the evil and disperse the horror and cruelty -of such experiences—and this is why the “St. Nicholas -Home” exists to-day, thanks to the loving heart and -patience of its founder, Mrs. Kimmins, whose tenderness -for children makes one feel that Her guardian -angel, as well as the angels who watch over Christ’s -little ones, must always “behold the Face of the -Father.” No one with even a small amount to spare<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>137</span> -from the multitudinous claims made on the pocket of -the unfortunate British taxpayer, whose Governments -have dragged him into the incredible wickedness of a -war for which he had neither the taste nor the inclination, -will refuse that mite to assist the work of the -“good Saint Nicholas” in the home over which his childhood-loving -spirit presides, while those who are making -much of the “filthy lucre” out of the exigencies and -demands of the nations’ slaughter-houses will perchance -salve conscience by munificence. Some of the donors -may call to mind the story of the father who murdered -his three sons, and whose crime St. Nicholas discovered -in a vision. Going to the inn where the murderer was, -the saint forced him to confess his wickedness, and -forthwith raised the three boys to life again. In this -legend we may find a happy symbol for the “Home” on -whose behalf we plead. For the “raid-shock” children -are, in a sense, murdered, though alive—murdered in -their natural confidence, hope, and gaiety, and crushed -by the oppressive consciousness of an ever-looming evil. -We wish, as St. Nicholas did with the three boys, to -raise them to life again—to re-establish their youthful -trust, to make them forget that there are men who are -devils—but perhaps to persuade them that there are -women who are angels! Women, with mothers’ hearts, -ready to put mothers’ arms round them—to play with -them and talk “fairy bits”—as a sweet little girl asked -me to do the other day—women who will care for them -and see that nothing scares them from their healthful -sleep at night, or their innocent games by day. This -is the object of our appeal for “St. Nicholas Home”—a -worthy cause—a noble, humane, and sacred cause, -for we must “take heed” that we “offend not one of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>138</span> -these little ones.” And most earnestly do I join with -all who have put their shoulders to the wheel of this -great Car of good effort steadily going a stiff way uphill—a -strong push, a big push, and a push all together, -and we shall stand on the shining summit of success -with our saved children gathered round us in the light -of happier days!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>139</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_20">APPEAL FOR THE FRENCH RED CROSS<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, July, 1918</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword"><span class="smcap">Dear Friends!</span></span>—We are here to-day in the name of -France; France, the beautiful, the beloved country, -now ravaged and desolated by the crudest enemy that -ever dishonoured the name of War. I am asked to -make an appeal to you,—to you, the people of the -land of Shakespeare, on behalf of the people of the -land of Victor Hugo,—and I esteem it an honour, a -privilege, and a duty to plead this great Cause. I ask -you to look away from yourselves, your own interests, -your own comforts in this peaceful town, which has -never known the horrors of invasion and destruction -by brutal foes,—I ask you to think of other towns and -villages, once as happy, but now ruined and desolate, -where thousands of harmless people have been driven -out of their homes and forced to endure miseries such -as you have never known! Remember, too, with what -heroism they have borne their sufferings!—with what -courage and fortitude! Never complaining, they have -put their own sorrows and losses in the background for -the sake of their country, and when all the tale is told, -the splendid and unflinching patriotism of France will -shine on the page of history as a deathless example to -all the nations of the world!</p> - -<p>Think for a moment what it would mean to you, if -you had to look on at your beautiful old Church, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>140</span> -holy shrine of Shakespeare’s rest, battered into ruins -by the bombs and shells of the remorseless German -foe!—your houses shattered—your gardens laid waste—your -streets broken up by the machines of war, and -you yourselves turned forth as homeless wanderers -without hope or refuge!—your little children murdered -before your eyes! This is what France has had to -endure, and it is your happy fortune to be spared these -terrible calamities only because brave men are fighting -for you and giving their lives for you that you shall -never know such desolation! And not only your own -brave men but the brave men of France are fighting, -for <em>you</em> as well as for themselves! France and Britain -are friends and brothers-in-arms; and in the great and -terrible struggle they fight as one soul! We, who are -protected in our island home by the magnificent heroism -and self-sacrifice of such splendid men, can do but -little to show our grateful love and admiration towards -France for her unmatched endurance, resolution, fortitude, -and courage; but such little as it is and must be, -let us do it with a full and generous heart! Let us -take pride and joy in helping to rebuild the ruined -towns and villages,—let us try to comfort the brave -people by giving homes to the homeless, and restoring -in some measure their lost peace and prosperity. Every -pound that can be spared goes to alleviate some trouble. -No money brings such divine interest as that which -we spend in helping those in need. Therefore let us -not grudge our offerings to the heroic martyr of the -nations! She is pierced with many swords,—she is -scourged and crowned with thorns,—but her invincible -faith and honour and patriotism will bring her through -the darkness to the light of a triumphant and glorious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>141</span> -Day! <em>Her</em> cause is Ours; <em>Our</em> cause is <em>Hers</em>! Now is -the time when we, who are not in the stress of battle, -can cheer and help her by proofs of love and sympathy -in her sorrows. Most earnestly do I hope, and most -ardently do I pray that the noble, ever-living spirit of -the Master Poet of the world whose name and memory -make this town honourable, may so influence your hearts -that you will give freely all and more than you can -spare, in generous tenderness, and with that “quality -of mercy” which brings blessing beyond all wealth, -and reward beyond all fame!</p> - -<p class="p2 b2">(<i>The above Appeal was spoken in French on the stage -of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, -by Monsieur Combet de Larenne as follows</i>:)</p> - -<div xml:lang="fr" lang="fr"> -<p><span class="smcap">Mes Chers Amis</span>,—Nous nous réunissons aujourd’hui -en l’honneur de la France, la France, ce beau -pays, ce pays aimé, à cette heure ravagé, désolé par le -plus cruel ennemi qui ait jamais déshonoré la guerre.</p> - -<p>On m’a demandé de m’adresser à vous, mes amis, -à vous qui foulez la terre de Shakespeare, en faveur -de ceux qui foulent celle aujourd’hui dévastée de Victor -Hugo, et je considére comme un honneur, comme un -privilége, et an même temps comme un devoir de plaider -auprès de vous cette grande cause.</p> - -<p>Je vous demande de vous recueillir, de considérer -votre situation propre, de jeter un coup d’œil sur votre -confort, vous, habitants de cette ville paisible, qui -n’avez jamais connu les horreurs de l’invasion, de la -destruction causées par le plus féroce des ennemis! Je -vous demande de diriger votre pensée vers d’autres -villes, vers d’autres villages, autrefois joyeux et pros<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>142</span>pères -aujourd’hui ruinés, désolés, au des milliers de -malheureux innocents ont été chassés de leur foyer et -contraints de subir des misères plus terribles que toutes -celles que vous pouvez imaginer!</p> - -<p>Rappelez-vous aussi avec quel héroisme ils ont enduré -leurs souffrances, avec quel courage, avec quelle -force d’âme! Sans se plaindre, ils ont, pour le salut -de leur patrie, refoulé dans le plus profond de leur -être leurs chagrins et leurs angoisses, et quand l’Histoire -parlera, le splendide et inébranlable patriotisme -de la France, brillant d’une lumière étincelante, sera -pour toutes les nations un noble et impérissable -exemple!</p> - -<p>Pensez, mes chers amis, un instant seulement aux -angoisses qui vous étreindraient le cœur si vous deviez -considérer votre vieille et belle église, le sanctuaire -vénéré au repose Shakespeare, réduits en cendres par -les bombes et par les obus de l’impitoyable ennemi -allemand! vos maisons abattues, vos jardins dévastés, -vos rues détruites par le fer et par le feu, et si vous -deviez vous trouver vous-mêmes errants, hagards, sans -espérance, sans refuge! vos petits enfants massacrés -sous vos yeux!</p> - -<p>Ces sant ces terribles supplices que la France endure! -Vous avez la bonne fortune d’échapper à ces épouvantables -calamités grâce au dévouement des braves qui -combattent et qui donnent leur ire pour vous, et c’est a -eux que vous devrez de ne jamais connaître une si abominable -désolation! Ce ne sont pas seulement les enfants -de l’Angleterre qui se battent pour vous: ce sont -aussi les enfants de la France; ils sont frères dans la -grande et terrible lutte actuelle; ils n’ont qu’une âme!</p> - -<p>Nous qui sommes protégés dans notre île par le<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>143</span> -magnifique héroisme et par le dévouement d’hommes -aussi splendidement grands, donnous une preuve de -notre amour reconnaissant et de notre admiration pour -la France, pour son incomparable ténacité, pour sa -résolution indomptable, pour sa grandeur d’âme et pour -son courage, et si peu que nous puissions les uns et les -autres faire pour elle, faisons—le avec tout notre cœur, -avec toute notre générosité! Sayons fiers et joyeux -d’aider à reconstruire les villes détruites, les villages -anéantis; essayons de donner un peu de confort aux -malheureux éprouvés, en leur procurant un abri, en leur -rendant un peu de la paix et de la prospérité perdues! -Chaque obole allégera une part de souffrance! Nul -placement ne peut rapporter d’intérêt plus divinement -profitable que celui consacré à secourir les malheureux -dans le besoin!</p> - -<p>Donc, donnans san hésiter à l’héroique nation martyre! -Elle est meurtrie de coups de lance, elle est -flagellée et couronnée d’épines, mais sa foi invincible, -son honneur et son patriotisme la conduitent à travers -les ténèbres vers la lumière éblouissante d’un jour de -gloire et de triomphe. Sa cause est la nôtre; notre -cause est la sienne. Le moment est venu au nous qui -ne sommes pas dans la fournaise de la lutte, nous pouvons -venir en aide à la noble nation et lui donner les -preuves de notre amour et de la profonde sympathie -que nous ressentous pour elle.</p> - -<p>J’espère ardement que le noble et vivant esprit du -génial poète dont le nom et la mémoire illustrent cette -ville, inspirera vos cœurs et que vous donnerez à l’œuvre -française ce que vous pourrez, tout ce que vous pourrez, -presque plus que vous ne pourrez, dans un élan de<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>144</span> -tendresse généreuse et avec cette qualité de miséricorde -dont parle notre grand Shakespeare, cette qualité de -miséricorde qui apporte une bénédiction supérieure à -toute richesse, une récompense supérieure à toute -renommée!</p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>145</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_21">GLORY OF THE WORCESTERS<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written by request in aid of the Homes for Disabled Worcestershire -Soldiers and Sailors</i>) - -<span class="subhead">A TRIBUTE TO A FAMOUS REGIMENT</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container p0"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“You have deserved nobly of your country.”</div> - </div> - <div class="attrib"><cite>Shakespeare.</cite></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Far</span> down the long annals of past history we must -look for the beginnings of the brave breed of Worcestershire -men—the outcome of that ancient heroic blood -which nourishes the flower of chivalry and strengthens -the spirit to perform imperishable deeds of valour. -Between a band of tenacious Britons holding the summits -of the Malvern Hills, and a military guard and -outpost of Roman warriors at Worcester itself, was -seemingly produced that special type of Englishman -who, ever since those far-away days, has been famous -for courage and conquest. The native fighting force of -the Gael, and the trained skill and prowess of the -Roman are mingled in his being, and they make him, -almost unconsciously to himself, a hero from his youth. -Something of the salt of ocean, as well as of the salt of -the earth, is in him, bracing his energies and hardening -his muscle and, indeed, if we grope farther back in the -dark recesses of time, we shall find geology suggesting -that Worcestershire was once a sea, and the hills of -Malvern, islands, and that the projecting bluffs on each -side of the gaps in the opposite range were capes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>146</span> -standing out from what some imaginative folk called -the “Severn Straits,” so that we may be permitted to -fancy the earliest progenitors of the Worcestershire -breed were, perhaps, bold mariners, sailing round a -veritable archipelago of islands, and skilfully steering -their primitive craft into harbours sheltered by the very -headlands which confront us to-day; or they might -have been hunters, chasing the innumerable wild beasts -which at one period infested the formerly dense “Forest -of Malvern”—a forest that even in the Middle Ages -stretched from the plains to the very tops of the -hills. Be this as it may, our redoubtable men of -Worcestershire must have been born and bred from -strong beginnings; they come of a stock which knows -no fear, no hesitation, no failure. The “Firm” fighters -whom we delight to honour are the product of centuries -of heroism. Heroism comes so naturally to them that -they think little or nothing of it. Their pride is in -each other—not in themselves individually; what is -said of one man, must be said for the whole Regiment. -Their spirit is expressed in Shakespeare’s <span class="locked">lines,—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“In this glorious and well-foughten field</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We kept together in our chivalry!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>And though they have performed prodigies of valour -in bygone great battles, as in the terrific “World War,” -they make no boast of their proved mettle, nor have -they called upon the country they so nobly serve for -special consideration. It is with difficulty, and only by -piecing dry and desultory bits of history together, that -we are at all able to read their Golden Chronicle, or to -realise the nature and worth of their splendid services,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>147</span> -splendidly performed in defence of “This dear, dear -land, this land of such dear souls—This England!”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>We do not know with any certainty the character or -military qualifications of their first Colonel, Thomas -Farrington, who raised the Regiment in 1694, but we -do know many of their brilliant exploits since that -far-off day, especially in India, such as the carrying of -the Delhi Gate and the storming and capture of Bangalore, -which helped to bring about the vanquishment -of that notable rebel, Tippoo Sahib; and though the -overladen pages of historians find little space for special -mention of special companies of soldiers, the Duke of -Wellington’s praise of the Regiment after Badajos has -not slipped notice, nor is it likely to be <span class="locked">forgotten:—</span></p> - -<p>“It is the best Regiment in this Army, has an admirable -internal system and excellent non-commissioned -officers.”</p> - -<p>But the laurels of the past, thickly showered as they -were on the “Worcesters,” are little to compare with -those of the present, when valour is put to its utmost -test, and when war weapons contrary to all international -usage, more deadly and treacherous than ever were -known before, are employed by the most inhuman and -dishonourable of foes. We have only to recall the -dramatic scenario of the village of Gheluvelt during -the battle of Ypres, when the Worcesters literally saved -the day. No page of romance was ever more thrilling! -The Germans had carried the village, but the Welsh, -true sons of “Gallant Little Wales,” remained, firing, -holding their ground and refusing to admit any sort of -defeat. Even when they had been given the order to -retreat, they hung on with the grim tenacity of their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>148</span> -Celtic ancestors, and it depended on the merest chance -as to whether any company of men could advance to -their assistance under the deadly fire of shrapnel which -covered and cut them off from the rest of their line. -But rescue was forthcoming—a mere handful of Worcesters—six -hundred of them, were stationed but a -mile off Gheluvelt. Their commanding officer gave the -order—“Advance without delay and deliver counter-attack.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Theirs not to make reply,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Theirs not to reason why,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Theirs but to do and die!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>They responded, and rushed for about half a mile -under the battering rain of shrapnel, going for two -hundred yards without cover.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Into the jaws of Death,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Into the mouth of Hell</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ran the Six Hundred!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Shrapnel showered thick and hot in front of them, -and on their right flanks the Bavarians poured bullets -upon them from rifles and machine guns. In crossing -the two hundred yards without “cover” they had one -hundred casualties. But what did death or danger -matter to the Worcesters? What have they ever cared -for shots that have sped their brave souls to Heaven? -They pressed on, up on the left of the splendidly stubborn -Welsh, and opened fire with so much success that -the foe was forced to retreat. The effect of their action -was such that the position was entirely changed—the -Germans fell back and the British line was reinstated. -In Sir John French’s despatch it is <span class="locked">written:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>149</span></p> - -<p>“The recapture of the village of Gheluvelt at such a -time was fraught with momentous consequences. If -any one unit can be singled out for special praise it -is the Worcesters.”</p> - -<p>Quite recently, a British General, whose name, for -some occult reason or other, was withheld from the -public by the newspaper reporter, gave an enthusiastic -account of the fine deeds of the Worcestershire Regiment -on the Somme.</p> - -<p>“The Worcesters have a wonderful record,” he said. -“They have seen some of the hardest fighting of this -war, and they have won new honours for a fine regiment, -which already boasts some of the most glorious records -on our military history.”</p> - -<p>We shall do well to think of, and to long remember, -some of this “hardest fighting.” For example, when -they made their wonderful stand against the Prussian -Guards, with the Wiltshires. Some of the incidents -in that fight have never been recorded, and yet, to -those who witnessed them they make the glory of the -Worcesters still more glorious. Listen to the stirring -account of the stirring action!</p> - -<p>“The battalions had been fighting incessantly for -weeks, with little or no rest. They had taken trenches -from which the enemy had to be flung out. The subsequent -German attack or counter-attack was delivered -by a force of picked troops, made up of Prussian Guards -and other crack regiments. There were at least ten -thousand of these crack troops. They were supported -by magnificent artillery and had been trained for an -attack over this ground for days before they were sent -against the Worcesters. Judging by the ordinary -standard of things, the weary Worcesters’ battalions<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>150</span> -ought to have been crushed and finished under such -an avalanche; but they withstood the fiercest attacks -for two days and nights. They captured many prisoners, -as many as themselves, and the German killed and -wounded were twice as numerous as they. There was -one great mound of dead before the trench, after the -last attack was driven off, the Germans being simply -mown down by the machine guns of the Worcesters.”</p> - -<p>“Firm” has ever been the character of the Regiment, -as well as its motto. On five several occasions they have -held their ground and carried strong positions held by -superior enemy forces. They have come triumphantly -through every ordeal—shell-fire, machine-gun fire, -liquid fire, and poison gas, without shrinking or complaint—and -on several occasions the foe himself has -been moved to praise of their splendid heroism. Here -is another <span class="locked">story:—</span></p> - -<p>“On one occasion a battalion of the Worcesters was -advancing under great difficulties against a strongly -fortified village. The artillery fire and infantry defence -was stronger even than they expected. For a moment -the battalion seemed to pause. The officer in command -sprang forward with the shout, ‘Firm! Firm! Give -them Worcester Sauce!’ The men responded with a -cheer and laughter—they swept forward, rushing the -position and fighting their way to the rear of the -surprised and baffled foe.”</p> - -<p>Think of the time when a little band of these splendid -lads were cut off by a sudden descent of the enemy -in force! They were holding a bit of trench, which was -powdered to ruins by shell-fire, and they were half-buried -under the wreckage; but they dug themselves -out again, and fought with such resolved fury that not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>151</span> -all the forces of the foe could overwhelm or overawe -them. <em>They held their ground for three days</em>—though -every man who wasn’t killed was wounded. When -they were at last relieved they were cheered wildly by -the troops who watched their limping march down to -billets for rest, heroes all, without a single exception!</p> - -<p>Such is the “way” of the Worcesters—such has always -been their way from their beginning. Unflinching -valour, duty, and love of country beyond all love of life, -has made them and still makes them what they are. -They, and all their brave and noble kind, have fought -and are still fighting for us that we may dwell in our -homes in peace. It must now be our pride, as well as -our honour, to prove our gratitude to them, not only by -words but deeds. Many of them will return to us, -broken men, deprived of health, strength, and all ability -to work for their living—crippled, blind, disfigured—suffering -too from what we may call mind-hurt beyond -remedy. That is to say, the awful, ineffaceable impression -of ghastly sights and sounds, so inhuman, as to -shame humanity. What shall we do for our self-sacrificing -defenders when they come home? How shall we -assuage their sufferings and seek to make them forget -the terrors they have confronted for our sakes?</p> - -<p>In matters of this kind, many people incline to the -old conventional, rather worn-out business of a “War -Memorial,” which conveniently and with all official publicity -and importance, writes the names of living subscribers -as well as those of the heroic dead, but it is -more than likely that the whole face of the Empire will -be strewn with such “War Memorials” in so great a -number that in a short time no passer-by will pause to -look at them. And a monument of cold stone cannot<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>152</span> -come into comparison with the expressed warmth or -loving hearts; so that the best and kindest “Memorial” -to the gallant “Worcesters” who have passed away “in -the stern and grim life-battle, in the morning of their -day”—should be of a nature to care and to provide -for the “Worcesters” who have come alive out of the -Valley of the Shadow, and who remain with us to -witness our recognition of their services. Such a -“Memorial” is proposed by the Mayor of Worcester, -and I, for one, do most heartily wish that his lead could -be followed in every County and Town of Imperial -Britain. For what a fine scheme it is! Could anything -be more practically humane and sympathetic than the -idea that small, pretty cottages or bungalows should -be erected to provide permanent homes, rent free, not -only for the life-disabled men of the Worcestershire -Regiment, but also for Worcestershire Sailors and Soldiers -in other units, similarly disabled, who have “borne -the burden and heat of the day,” and who are entitled -to the country’s heart-whole gratitude. I can imagine -no more beautiful “Memorial” to these brave fellows -than the free gift of charming little houses to live in, -fragrant little gardens to tend, and a fair and peaceful -prospect to look upon for the rest of their days. Nothing -better, nothing kinder could be advised for the permanently -injured and maimed, the sad and battered -wrecks of once strong and comely men—no more comforting -reparation scheme could possibly be thought of—and -it is good to know that much has already been -done, and is being done, to forward its success. The -Mayor of Worcester himself has given the site for -building, and one individual has offered five tons of -lime to assist operations. Then come the Pharmacists<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>153</span> -of Worcester, who are willing to supply free all drugs -and medicaments needed by the dwellers on this “Pleasaunce -of Peace”—while the “Old Comrades” of the -County Regiment have incorporated an effort of their -own with the general plan, which has the approval of -the local military authorities. Subscriptions are beginning -to flow in; and when it is fully realised how -welcome and warm “a Home-coming” can, by these -means, be given to the heroes who have sacrificed their -own homes to fight for us, surely every one will be -eager and anxious to contribute to so worthy a cause. -For say what we will, there is a truth in the familiar -<span class="locked">song,—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Be it ever so humble,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s no place like home!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>And it is within our power to give our broken -Worcestershire men that blessed abode of simple -tranquillity and content, which, if they had not fought -for us they might have earned for themselves. They -will have their pensions from the Government of course, -but we doubt whether those pensions will be as adequate -as they might expect. Anyhow, we of the British -People, who have been defended by their valour, cannot -do too much for them, and if the Mayor of Worcester’s -scheme were copied and carried out all through -the British Isles it would lift a considerable burden -of anxiety from the State. If any “County” must have -a special “War Memorial” to coldly chronicle names of -the dead rather than hearts of the living, there is -nothing in our “Happy Homes” work to prevent the -erection of “marble or the gilded monument,” but to -the eyes of thinkers, philosophers, and all teachers and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>154</span> -helpers of mankind, a little village of clustering cottages -on the lovely site which the Mayor has freely given, -commanding as it does an outlook over picturesque -country—cottages with tiny gardens easy to till, plant, -and care for, where in summer the dear old-fashioned -flowers which are a liberal education in themselves, -may bring their beauty and sweetness into lives that -have been blackened by shot and shell—will offer a -far greater and more impressive testimony of memory -and gratitude.</p> - -<p>I, who am privileged to write this brief token of -honour and admiration for men whose fine character -and splendid courage have been chronicled by infinitely -worthier pens than mine, now plead this noble cause, -as worthy of the strongest and most loving support of -every man, woman and child in the historic county of -Worcestershire, and I want the spirit of a fine and active -enthusiasm to “catch on” and spread like a prairie fire, -not only through Worcestershire, but even farther afield. -Why should not every county have its own soldiers’ -and sailors’ settlement? It’s own well-organised, picturesque -haven and “Pleasaunce of Peace”? It is -impossible that any of us should sit down in satisfied -comfort at the close of the war and do nothing for the -men who have done so much for our defence. A new -“Garden City” would hardly be spacious enough to -provide them with their well-earned ease—and shall we -hesitate to build them villages? Villages so artistically -and prettily planned, so dainty and restful that the -wandering stranger in future years shall pause, enchanted, -to ask what influences have been at work to -create such little Edens on earth. And he will be -<span class="locked">told:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>155</span></p> - -<p>“These are the homes of heroes!—here dwell men -who faced death for duty’s sake and Britain’s honour—and -Britain has given them what she can to prove -her gratitude, and to make their remaining lives sweet.”</p> - -<p>For, of every man that has fought for us in this -terrific World-Struggle for nobler freedom and higher -ideals, it can be said with <span class="locked">Shakespeare,—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“The blood that he hath lost, he dropp’d it for his country,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And what is left, to lose it by his country,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Were to us all that do’t and suffer it</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A brand to the end of the world!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>156</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_22">EYES OF THE SEA<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written by special request of the Directors for the British and -Foreign Sailors’ Society</i>) - -<span class="subhead p1">A TRIBUTE TO THE GRAND FLEET AND ADMIRAL BEATTY</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Then said David to the Philistine, ‘Thou comest to me with a -sword and a spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the -name of the Lord of Hosts.... This day will the Lord deliver -thee into mine hand!’”</p></div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">We</span> all know that in Bible history there was a certain -Goliath of Gath. His height was six cubits and a span,—that -is to say, about ten feet. He had a helmet of -brass, and he wore a coat of mail weighing five thousand -shekels of brass,—about a hundred and fifty-six pounds. -He had brass on his legs, and brass between his shoulders, -and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels -of iron. Taking him altogether he was a fine prototype -of the Hun, who is similarly a monster of Brass, Iron, -and Brag. And then DAVID, “ruddy and of a fair -countenance,” drew near to this Brazen Being, and -smote him with a stone in the middle of his forehead, -so that he “fell with his face to earth.”</p> - -<p>And this is just what <em>our</em> “David” has done. A -matter for national rejoicing! Especially for “they that -go down to the sea in ships and do business in great -waters” do we rejoice that the “David” of the Grand -Fleet,—high-souled, brave-hearted DAVID BEATTY,—commands -the Sling and Stone of our straight-hitting -Naval Power! What better man than he to take the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>157</span> -place of Nelson?—to carry out with zealous ardour -Nelson’s one wish, Nelson’s last desire that “every man -should do his duty!” Look at the strong face,—the -keen, clear “eyes of the sea,”—the resolute yet tender -lines of the mouth,—the whole bearing of this bold and -dauntless commander, and then think of the lofty and -devout spirit of him expressed in his recent “message” -to the <span class="locked">nation:—</span></p> - -<p>“Until religious revival takes place at home, just so -long will the war continue. When England can look -out on the future with humbler eyes and a prayer on -her lips, then we can begin to count the days towards -the end!”</p> - -<p>There’s a challenge for you! Flung out unhesitatingly -and manfully in the very face of a swarm of atheists -in Church and State, who for the past decade at least, -have copied Germany in mockery of all things holy -and divine, and have spread their “literary” blasphemies -throughout the land, assisted in their work of “tearing -down” Christianity by a corrupt section of society and -a decadent Press! It’s a challenge we are bound to -hear,—given in simple, manly words which echo the -high faith of him who won the Battle of Trafalgar, -and who, on the eve of the fight retired to his cabin -and wrote this <span class="locked">prayer:—</span></p> - -<p>“May the great God Whom I worship grant to my -country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a -great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in -any one tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be -the predominant feature in the British Fleet! For -myself individually, I commit my life to Him that -made me, and may His blessing alight on my endeavours -for serving my country faithfully! To Him I resign<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>158</span> -myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to -defend. Amen!”</p> - -<p>Without such faith, such humility and resignation -as this, few great victories are won. Even pagan heroes -sought the favour of their gods in every high enterprise; -but in our time the nations of Europe, assuming -an “advancement” beyond either pagans or Christians, -have been seeking to ignore the Higher Power Almighty -altogether; with what dire results is now witnessed by -desolated peoples drenched in blood and tears! Of -Nelson it is written: “All men knew that his heart was -as humane as it was fearless, and that there was not in -his nature an alloy of selfishness or cupidity, but that -he served his country with a perfect and entire devotion, -therefore they loved him as truly and fervently as -he loved England.”</p> - -<p>Cannot each word of this be said with equal truth -of David Beatty? Every man of the Fleet will answer -“Yes!” And every man of the Fleet will endeavour -to be a copy of him in all the grand essentials of honour -and duty. And here comes in a little story.</p> - -<p>Only the other day I received a letter from a lad on -board one of our mine-sweepers,—a stranger to me -personally, but one who evidently felt sure (as he -might) of my interest in his difficult and dangerous -work. In that letter he <span class="locked">writes:—</span></p> - -<p>“I am in his Majesty’s Navy and I am just twenty. -My last ship was Admiral Beatty’s Flagship, the <i>Lion</i>, -on board of which I had the honour of being a little -over three years under <em>an Admiral whose qualities are -magnificent</em>. I want to say this, because people are apt -to take doubtful views through articles in the papers -about our truly Great Leaders.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>159</span></p> - -<p>Yes,—“articles in the papers,” written by caterers -for mere sensational gabble, are apt to influence the -majority of fools; and “doubtful views” are generally -entertained by persons who in themselves are more than -doubtful. But if a boy of twenty, after serving for -three years under Admiral Beatty, can write, “<em>His -qualities are magnificent</em>,” it means a very great deal. -Young fellows of that age are not always easily impressed -by their superiors,—they are more critical than -complimentary; and the rules of naval discipline go -hard with them unless administered by a kindly as well -as just hand. “Eyes of the Sea” must be everywhere -vigilant,—watching men’s minds equally with God’s -stormy waters,—ever on the look-out for enemies of -the soul as well as enemies of the country; and so -well and truly do they watch,—so faithfully have they -always watched, that sailors’ eyes have grown to be -quite different to all other eyes in the world! We know -them at once by their far-off steady gaze—by their look -of mingled pathos, persistency, and cheerfulness,—by -the sparkle of the waves and the light of stars which -are somehow commingled in their keen glances, suggesting -the wonderful power and indomitable energy of -“one life, one flag, one fleet!” The strong lines of -Alfred Tennyson, the last worthy Laureate of Great -Britain, may well ring in our ears <span class="locked">to-day:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“You, <em>you</em>, if you shall fail to understand</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What England is, and what her all-in-all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On you will come the curse of all the land</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Should this old England fall</div> - <div class="verse indent9">Which Nelson left so great.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>160</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His isle, the mightiest ocean-power on earth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our own fair isle, the Lord of every sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her fuller franchise—what would that be worth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her ancient fame of ‘Free,’</div> - <div class="verse indent8">Were she—a fallen State?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her dauntless Army scattered and so small—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her island myriads fed from alien lands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Fleet of England is her all-in-all;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her Fleet is in your hands,</div> - <div class="verse indent8">And in her Fleet her Fate.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">You, you that have the ordering of her Fleet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>If</em> you should only compass her disgrace,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When all men starve, the wild mob’s million feet</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Will kick you from your place,</div> - <div class="verse indent8">But then too late, too late!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>But Great Britain “is no longer an island,” we hear. -Who says so? Merely brazen Goliath with his big -mouth of Brag. “No longer safe from invasion.” Who -says so? Goliath again! Our “supremacy of the seas -is gone for ever!” Good old Goliath! Submarines and -Zeppelins are to bring the invaders along as surely as -weeds swept on the sand by the tide! Easier said -than done! What says the old song?</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Since our foes to invade us have long been preparing</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis clear they consider we’ve something worth sharing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And for that, mean to visit our shore;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It behoves us, however, with spirit to meet ’em,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And though ’twill be nothing uncommon to beat ’em</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>161</span> - <div class="verse indent2">We must try how they’ll take it once more!</div> - <div class="verse indent6">So be this the toast given,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">England for ever, the land, boys, we live in,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">England for ever, huzza!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Here’s health to our tars, on the wide ocean ranging,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Perhaps even now some broadsides they’re exchanging,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We’ll on shipboard and join in the fight!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when with the foe we are firmly engaging,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the fire of our guns lulls the sea in its raging,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On our country we’ll think with delight—</div> - <div class="verse indent6">So be this the word given,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">England for ever, the land, boys, we live in,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">England for ever, huzza!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>True enough, we have to deal nowadays with pirates,—not -true naval men,—with burglars, not warriors,—and -inhumanity being the characteristic of all such -folk, the international laws of Imperial Britain and her -Allies, regulating the conduct of warfare, have no hold -on them. We are not at war with an educated people,—for -they have shown themselves openly as savages. But -though the wholesome air may be poisoned by the breath -of the Hun, and murderous bombs may be flung through -those spaces of heavenly blue, once most blessedly free -from the presence of humanity, we have already proved -equal to tackling the Zeppelins, and shall tackle them -yet again. And we shall “manage” the submarines in -a way of our own, if only the garrulous and indiscreet -Press will leave us alone to do it, and refrain from giving -elaborate details of all our newest machinery in their -columns for the benefit and instruction of the enemy! -We would not “tell it in Gath” to Goliath, how many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>162</span> -of his under-sea “sneak” boats have already been -“bagged” by our sportive captains—that’s a “secret of -the Admiralty.” But it is just possible that even Huns -may be weary of the certainty of death by fire in the -air, and death by “ramming down” to the bottom of -the sea! Neither way is a pleasant exit from the world -of living men. Both are the result of inventive science -put to wrong uses,—namely to injure, instead of to -benefit. The old ways of combat were more open and -honourable. Better the sword and shield than the gas -and the bomb,—better the fair fight between ships confronting -each other boldly on the ocean, than the floating -mine or the sly torpedo, sneaking like a low thief -beneath the waves. There is something cowardly about -the new “scientific” weapons of war,—they manifest -the assassin’s spirit rather than that of the honest soldier. -The long-distance gun, the poison-vapours, the -“dum-dum” bullet—all show the inventive faculty of -murderers in training, not the sane education of civilised -and honourable men. There has been much talk -of “advancement”—but if human progress takes the -form of “scientific” torture, barbarity, and outrage on -our fellow-creatures, it is not progress at all, but terrible -retrogression and back-sliding which must be checked -before it is too late. No man can do better than see -to it that what has been written of Nelson may also be -said of <span class="locked">him:—</span></p> - -<p>“All men knew that his heart was as humane as it -was fearless.”</p> - -<p>We <em>say</em> this, <em>think</em> this, and <em>feel</em> this of David Beatty,—and -by the Almighty’s grace and power, we want to -say, think, and feel the same of every man and boy -under his command! And so the Fleet will be as it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>163</span> -always has been,—the star of victory in the crown of -Empire. On the memorable occasion when Mr. Lloyd -George rose to make his first address to the House as -Prime Minister, Admiral Sir H. Meux, Member for -Portsmouth, <span class="locked">asked:—</span></p> - -<p>“Will the right hon. gentleman say a word about the -Navy before he sits down?”</p> - -<p>And the new Premier replied at <span class="locked">once:—</span></p> - -<p>“My hon. and gallant friend knows that the achievements -of the Navy speak for themselves. I do not think -that anything I can say would be in the least adequate -to recognise the enormous and incalculable services that -the great Navy of Britain has rendered, not merely to -the Empire but to the whole Allied cause. Not merely -would victory have been impossible, but the war could -not have been kept on for two and a half years had it -not been for the services of the Navy.”</p> - -<p>These words called forth ringing cheers. For it is -We,—we Britons—who sweep the seas! It is our heritage -to do so. A rumour is about that one of the “peace -terms” foolishly proposed by Germany is, that we -should “abandon our supremacy of the sea!” As well -ask the sun to abandon its supremacy of the skies! It -would be an evil day for <em>all</em> nations, not only our own, -when Britannia ceased to rule the waves! Her just, -wise laws of freedom and fairness would soon be replaced -by ruthless piracy, and there would be no security -for any coast. It is a good thing for America and -Europe likewise that this</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4">“Precious stone, set in the silver sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which serves it in the office of a wall,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>164</span> - <div class="verse indent2">Or as a moat defensive to a house,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Against the envy of less happier lands”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">should be the guardian of the girdling ocean, maintaining -its highest rights and liberties in the face of all foes. -And so may it ever remain!</p> - -<p>What stories I could tell, had I the time and space, -of heroic deeds “unwritten and unsung” performed by -the men of the Fleet, not only in the past, but now!—now, -in these actual present days, when great London, -plunged to the neck in a flood of gold, poured in for the -help, healing, and comfort of our fighting men on land -and sea, is striving, like a giant caught in a net, to disentangle -its sacred duties from its selfish pleasures,—trying -to realise in its vague way that War is really -War! Of “Tommy” one hears much; but of “Jack -Tar” less,—though they are close comrades in the one -spirit of devotion to duty, and each has his own burden -of difficulties to bear,—his own sphere of danger to -surmount and to master. The story of brave Jack Cornwell -thrilled every heart,—putting well into the shade -the similar exploit of “Casabianca,” of whom, when we -were children, we all learned, in the verse of Felicia -<span class="locked">Hemans:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“The boy stood on the burning deck,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whence all but him had fled;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The flame that lit the battle’s wreck</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shone round him o’er the dead.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">and</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“The noblest thing that perished there</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was that young, faithful heart.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>165</span></p> -<p>Only there is no poet among us worthy of the name -to “sing the memory” of Jack Cornwell, thanks to the -swarm of atheists, pessimists, decadents, and anti-idealists -who have been encouraged to darken and disgrace -the literary annals of Great Britain. “Casabianca” -was a boy about thirteen years of age, son to the -Admiral of the <i>Orient</i>, who remained at his post in the -Battle of the Nile after the ship had taken fire and all -the guns had been abandoned, and perished in the explosion -of the vessel when the flames had reached the -powder. All who have read the enthralling pages of our -sea-history will remember that the <i>Orient</i> was the -French Admiral’s ship, carrying a hundred and twenty -guns, and that he himself died on her quarter-deck, his -little son remaining at the post where his father had -placed him, all unconscious of his father’s end. “Soon -after nine o’clock,” says the historian, “the <i>Orient</i> -appeared in flames, which spread with astonishing rapidity, -and by their prodigious light the situation of the -hostile fleets could be seen at a distance of fifteen miles. -The <i>Orient’s</i> crew, however, continued to fire from her -lower-deck to the very last, and at about ten o’clock she -blew up with an explosion which was felt by every vessel -to the bottom of its keel. To this succeeded a silence -not less awful,—the sanguinary conflict ceased on both -sides,—and the first sound that broke that portentous -stillness was the splash of shattered masts and yards -falling into the sea.”</p> - -<p>So “Casabianca” perished gallantly—but not more -gallantly than Jack Cornwell. Both boys, the one -French, the other English, were made of the same -heroic stuff that gives worth and honour to the nations -that breed it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>166</span></p> - -<p>Very quaint and poetic it is to read at this time -of day, the picturesque record of William Camden, -Clarencieux King-at-Arms to Queen Elizabeth, concerning -the entrance of the Spanish Armada into -English <span class="locked">waters:—</span></p> - -<p>“The next day the English discovered the Spanish -Fleet with lofty Turrets, like Castles, in front like a -Half-Moon, the wings thereof spreading out about the -length of seven miles, sailing very slowly, though with -full sails, the Winds being, as it were, tired with carrying -them, and the Ocean groaning under the weight of -them.... But so far was it from terrifying the seacoasts -with its name of ‘Invincible’ or with its dreadful -Show, that the young Gentry of England, with incredible -Cheerfulness and Alacrity (leaving their parents, -children, wives, and friends at home) out of their hearty -Love to their Country, hired ships from all parts at -their own private charges and joined with the Fleet -in great numbers.”</p> - -<p>I think we, in our present days, have had the word -“invincible” thrown at us a good deal from the braggart -mouth of the “Hun”—but “so far from terrifying -us”—it has had the same effect on our manhood as it -had in Tudor days so far as “incredible Cheerfulness -and Alacrity” are concerned! And Queen Elizabeth -apparently found a prototype of Nelson and David -Beatty, for, says Camden, “The command of the whole -Fleet she gave to Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, -Lord Admiral of England, of whose fortunate Conduct -she had a very great Persuasion, and whom she knew -by his moderate and noble carriage, to be skilful in -sea-matters, wary and provident, valiant and courageous, -industrious and active, and of great authority and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>167</span> -esteem among the seamen of her Navy. Drake, whom -she appointed Vice-Admiral, joined with him.”</p> - -<p>Queen Bess evidently knew how to select the best -men! And we may justly claim to have kept up the -breed. For there is not a word written of Admiral -Lord Howard in those old days that cannot be equally -written now of Admiral Sir David Beatty. Every man -of the Fleet knows it; and is proud and glad to serve -under his command. “Skilful in sea-matters, wary and -provident, valiant and courageous, industrious and -active, and of great authority and esteem among the -seamen of the Navy!”</p> - -<p>And we shall do well to remember that on the outbreak -of war, the country was assured that the Mercantile -Marine accepted the risks incurred in maintaining -the supplies of food so indispensable to the existence -of the people, and in ensuring a path of safety for -commerce, and the transport of troops and war material. -And British shipmasters, officers, and seamen alike expressed -their resolve to keep the seas open at all costs. -The result of this inflexible determination is that -throughout continuous struggle, exposed to daily and -nightly peril from mine and submarine, British ships -continue to arrive in British ports and sail again with a -splendid disregard of all the difficulties and dangers -which beset them in maintaining the overseas trade of -the nation. It is time such priceless valour was more -absolutely defended and held dear by the Empire which -owes it so much. Our merchantmen should be armed. -The expenditure would be less than the loss of heroic -lives! Merchant seamen should be given every possible -means of protecting their own existence and securing -the safety of their ships and cargoes. Their foes are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>168</span> -ruthless,—they should be given ample means of retaliation -and defence. <span class="locked">For—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“We sing the British seamen’s praise,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A theme renowned in story,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It well deserves more polished lays,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For ’tis your boast and glory,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When mad-brain’d war spreads death around,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By them you are protected,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But oft when peace again is found,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Your bulwarks are neglected!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then oh! protect the hardy tar!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Be mindful of his merit,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when you’re plung’d anew in war</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He’ll show his dauntless spirit!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>And no man of any class needs a “dauntless spirit” -more. Courage alone makes him what he is. For -though I love the sea with an intense love beyond all -world-expression, I know how cruel it can be, although -so beautiful—and while I rejoice and revel in the -splendour of terrific waves breaking in pillars of foam -up against rocks a hundred or more feet high, I cannot -but hear in my soul the wild and despairing cries of -drowning men, and the noise of breaking ships—I see -the horror of drifting dead forms and faces swirling on -the blackness of the deep, and with my whole heart I -join in the <span class="locked">prayer:—</span></p> - -<p>“God, Who alone spreadest out the heavens, and -rulest the raging of the sea, be pleased to receive into -Thy most gracious protection the persons of Thy servants -and the Fleet in which they serve! Preserve -them from the dangers of the sea and from the violence<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>169</span> -of the enemy, that they may be a safeguard!—and that -the inhabitants of our Island may in peace and quietness -serve Thee, our God!”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Amen, and many times Amen! And it is possible -that Admiral Sir David Beatty, like his great prototype, -Admiral Lord Nelson, may have sent the same message -to the Fleet on the day of the German surrender which -Nelson sent after the Battle of the Nile, <span class="locked">thus:—</span></p> - -<p>“Almighty God having blessed his Majesty’s arms -with Victory, the Admiral intends returning Public -Thanksgiving for the same at two o’clock this day, and -he recommends every ship doing the same as soon as -convenient.—Signed, <span class="smcap">Horatio Nelson</span>. August 2, -1798.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>A similar devotional spirit inspires our “David” of -the sea, when he says that England must look to the -future “with a prayer on her lips.” This great War, -the greatest in all history, will, with all its wickedness -and bloodshed, prove a blessing, if the cloud of Atheism -which has swept over us through perverted and decadent -German ideals, is rolled away,—leaving a clear and -wholesome heaven of faith and hope for a nation brought -back to God through humility, self-sacrifice and splendid -heroism!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent10">Eyes of the Sea!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Steadfast and clear as the light of a midsummer morning,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sure in your vigilance, swift in the flash of your warning,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pledges of safety for us and our land of the free.</div> - <div class="verse indent10">Slumberless Eyes of the Sea!</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>170</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent10">Eyes of the Sea!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Watchful at midnight, companioning stars in their courses,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fronting the storm or the fire of the foe in his forces;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yours be the honour of all that we are or shall be!</div> - <div class="verse indent10">Glorious Eyes of the Sea!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>171</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_23">IS ALL WELL WITH ENGLAND?<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A QUESTION OF THE MOMENT</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Yes,</span> all is well!</p> - -<p>Or, rather, let us say all <em>will</em> be well! And in our -steady progress towards future good we may confidently -aver that all is well even now. Even now! though the -great “spring-cleaning” of the Empire’s house is scarcely -half-way through. Our home is topsy-turvy, familiar -objects are thrust aside, our goods and chattels are -disarranged and turned out to be swept or beaten or -otherwise relieved of their accumulated dust and cobwebs, -and the clatter of brooms and pails and general -hurry-scurry, with many irreparable breakages, make -comfort and quiet impossible. Yet there is a freshness -in the air, the windows have been cleaned, and one can -see the sky through their lately begrimed and sooty -panes, the floors are swept and the furniture polished; -deft hands are arranging flowers for the rooms—we may -breathe in health and hope if we will.</p> - -<p>There is much yet to be done, for the cleansing of a -nation is God’s work more than ours, and He leaves no -corner unvisited. He has not done with England yet, -no, not by any means! The festering mass of diseased -moral fibre resulting from a long worship of Self, the -canker in the body social and politic, has to be cut out -ruthlessly, despite bleeding veins and torn sinews, and -God will not spare the remedial knife.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>172</span></p> - -<p>But even so, it is well for England! Well, and more -than well! For no greater ill could chance to her than -her condition prior to the war.</p> - -<p>Far more injurious to her fair fame than the murderous -attacks of the most dishonourable and unscrupulous -enemy she has ever known was the stealthy undermining -of her people’s ideals through the slow but sure -rot which had begun to set in at the very core of her -civilian life. That rot was eating its way through -commerce and crumbling down every bulwark of society. -Its ravaging microbes swarmed through every -channel—the pulpit, the stage, and all forms of art. -Through its influence the abominable crimes of Sodom -and Gomorrah were re-enacted and condoned, both in -the political and social world. By gradual and subtle -process, step by step on the downward grade, the unthinking -public were led by certain writers of the Press -who are special pleaders for vice, to accept sensuality -as the only meaning of love, and every town possessing -a bookseller’s shop was flooded with published outpourings -of sickly and degrading sexuality, insulting to -the self-respect of men and women, old and young -alike. Girls and boys hardly in their teens carried these -vile books in their hands, and read and discussed them -without shame. Their poisonous trail is over many a -young mind, and the mischief they have wrought will -take years of undoing.</p> - -<p>This kind of pernicious literature, coupled with a -“sensational” Press, by which I mean that side of the -Press which truckles to the baser inclinations of mankind, -and flaunts pictorial representations of semi-nude -women of the stage and of the demoralised portion of -Society in the eyes of decent folk whether they will or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>173</span> -no, is in a great measure responsible for the recklessness, -extravagance, sloth, and selfishness which have -disfigured social England for the past decade.</p> - -<p>Things were getting worse and worse; men who -truckled to vice were paid with baronetcies as “hush-money,” -women passing for “ladies,” lower than the -lowest of street sinners, because they had education -and opportunities which the street sinner has not, were -praised as embodiments of all the beauties and all -the virtues, and “home,” that dear possession of the -faithful soul, was voted “dull” by the younger folk, -because of its wholesome restrictions on harmful impulses -and runaway passions.</p> - -<p>And let us not imagine these clouds on the sun of -our country have yet passed away. They are passing, -but the full splendour of the light is not yet. “Home, -<em>dull</em> Home,” is coming back to its own as “Home, sweet -Home” once more, because a dark and threatening destiny -has torn sons from their mothers, and has broken -up dear associations which were unvalued, because possessed. -Now that death has darkened many windows -and shut many doors, the bereaved ones begin to realise -what “home” really was in the past days of peace, and -what it never will be again; while those that are absent -on the battlefield, amid the roar of the guns and the -storm of shot and shell, turn back wistfully to the -memory of days spent “at home,” in a tranquillity of -mind and body that seemed “dull,” but that now shines -forth in the visions of the brain as a reflex of positive -heaven.</p> - -<p>Few, I think, have taken the trouble to consider -what this Empire would become without the saving -grace of “Home”—that oasis in the desert where love<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>174</span> -has its best chance and friendship its surest footing.</p> - -<p>It is in very truth the foundation of national safety -and the basis of educational progress, and yet it is -what a very large majority of us have lately esteemed -but lightly, moved as we have been by a spirit of -strange unrest, impelling us to wander hither and -thither in search of satisfaction which, after all our -quest, awaits us at our own door.</p> - -<p>Suppose that one and all we ran “amok” in the -liberty which speedily degenerates into license, without -any restraining hand? Would it be “well for England” -then? We know it would not, yet if our young -people are brought up to disdain and to neglect their -parents, and “friends” so-called, only seek other -“friends” in order to make use of them for their own -ends, the social code will be one of pure egotism without -a shred of conscience to soften its hard and fast self-seeking. -This would not be “well for England,” and -from this point of view alone we have to be thankful -for the scourge of this terrific war. For here God has -taken the lead. He has indeed “put down the mighty -from their seat, and has exalted the humble and meek,” -for the humblest ranks of our British fighting men -are heroes to-day, and the true spirit and mettle of the -British race, long suppressed beneath a featherbed softness -of prolonged peace, have sprung up in splendid and -unbroken strength, proving in deeds more than words -that “all is well with England!”</p> - -<p>No praise can be too high for their courage, cheerfulness, -and self-sacrifice; the sword of their unquenchable -valour has long been sheathed, but it has not grown -rusty—the blade is as bright as ever it was.</p> - -<p>This is something to be proud of, something for us<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>175</span> -to remember when inclined to pessimism. We have -nothing to fear on the score of our warriors who have -gone forth in the flower of their manhood, to contend -with and to conquer a brutal foe; and, if the creeping -suggestion that all is <em>not</em> well with England steals into -our minds, it is on account of <em>traitors at home</em>.</p> - -<p>Yes, <em>there</em> is a dire possibility of mischief, a chance -of infinite harm being wrought on England, and on the -whole British Empire by the avarice and short-sightedness -of some of our leading men who have “axes to -grind.”</p> - -<p>It may be unpleasant to face the truth, but surely -it is wiser and safer to do so than to wait till it overwhelms -us. And the merest tyro in diplomacy, the -most casual looker-on at the moves on the political -chess-board, can see how many a man “in official capacity” -is playing the German game, and manœuvring -towards a patched-up “peace” which shall give Germany -every possible trade advantage.</p> - -<p>The people’s confidence is being daily betrayed by -such treacherous hypocrites, some of whom have financial -interests closely bound in with Germany, and who -hesitate and shuffle and delay action indefinitely, though -the slaughter of innocent thousands may pay the price -of their ineptitude.</p> - -<p>In such scandalous matters, all is <em>not</em> well with -England—and all will never be well, unless the people -take a hand against their own spoliation and betrayal. -And they cannot begin too soon. The house of the -nation is being “swept and garnished.” We shall need -to take care that the “unclean spirit” of Germany does -not take “seven other spirits more wicked” to “enter in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>176</span> -and dwell there,” so that “the last state” of that house -be not “worse than the first.”</p> - -<p>We need the resolved spirit of Queen Elizabeth, -whose proclamation against certain troublesome foreigners -“which had flocked to the coast towns of England” -in 1560, commanded that they “should depart the realm -within twenty days,” whether they liked it or not, “upon -pain of imprisonment or loss of goods.” Queen Bess -did not put on gloves when dealing with treachery; she -hit it fair and square in the face. We should do wisely -to imitate her example.</p> - -<p>No great reforms are ever accomplished without -opposition from prejudiced and self-interested persons, -and it needs a strong soul to stand firm and full-fronted -against malcontents, and to steadily baffle political -intrigues. With these latter, the Ministry is hemmed -in and environed, and it is a regrettable fact that in -some quarters “party” is ready to overwhelm patriotism, -despite all plausible assurances to the contrary.</p> - -<p>On this point I would venture, as an independent -writer who has no favours to seek and no “axe to -grind,” to warn our more or less passive, silent, and -patient people of dangers ahead.</p> - -<p>The people are the nation, the people whose labour -makes the wealth of the country are the worth of the -country; and for them the name of Britain should -represent all things British. But unless they themselves -take good care, their trades will be again swamped -by Germany in the future as in the past, especially if -they put in less hours of work. It stands to reason -that if a British workman will only work for eight -hours, and a German will work for fourteen or sixteen, -the German will score in every kind of labour.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>177</span></p> - -<p>Even now the German is preparing for the relaxing -of “restricted” trades. The goods which the British -Government declared “unnecessary” in time of war are -being “made in Germany,” and at an opportune moment -will be “dumped down” on these shores before the -Englishman, returned from battle, can so much as set -his house in order.</p> - -<p>We may think, or we may hope, that protection -against such unfairness will be guaranteed by Government—but -will it? Does it look like it even now?—when -Germans are permitted to run the business of -absent Englishmen, and to make profit therefrom!</p> - -<p>Sometimes it would almost seem as if there were a -certain numbness or apathy in the minds of the British -people here at home, which robs them of “the native -hue of resolution,” so that in</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Enterprises of great pith and moment</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With this regard their currents turn awry</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lose the name of action.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">There is a general tendency not to take too much -personal trouble over any matter, a desire to avoid -“being bothered,” and a persistent jog-trot in the same -old way, like “dumb, driven cattle,” no matter whether -the road lead to prosperity or ruin. This is like the -fatal lethargy which overcomes the traveller in heavy -snow, when he yields himself to a sleep from which -he shall never wake.</p> - -<p>Half the people in these islands do not yet realise -the full meaning or the real horror of the war in which -we have been forced, by all the rights of law and -liberty, to engage. They do not think—they cannot.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>178</span> -Their sense of perception seems stunned as by a heavy -blow. All religion, all faith, all hope, have in a great -measure failed them. They do not see why they should -suffer undeservedly.</p> - -<p>A poor woman receiving the news that her son was -killed, had no tears—her face grew white and stiffened, -as with frost—but she had nothing to say except this: -“Ah, well! I couldn’t expect anything else, as there’s -no God left to us now! Only man, the devil!” She -could but realise that the war is man’s work—the result -of his miserable ambitions, his delight in destruction, -his selfish pride and cruelty. And the church had -taught her little more than that the God she was told -to worship was “a jealous God,” and out of that saying -little comfort can be drawn for the broken heart of a -bereaved mother.</p> - -<p>Perhaps one of the most terrible notes struck from -the great thunder-echoes of the war is this apparent -failure of all churches to cope with the sorrow that has -swept over all lands, destroying homes that were once -happy.</p> - -<p>Our Lord’s pitiful and pathetic words are realised -to-day:—“Because iniquity shall abound the love of -many shall grow cold.” Ah, yes, love for Him and -all the tenderness He taught <em>has</em> “grown cold,” and -many of His professed ministers are tongue-tied and -spirit-frozen, and seem all unable to raise the broken -lives from the dust of despair, or dry the weeping eyes -which are too tired and heavy to lift themselves to -heaven.</p> - -<p>There is a strong instinctive sense among us all, no -matter to what sect we belong or what religious formula -we profess, that if the churches had ever truly taught<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>179</span> -and truly followed the example of Christ, war and its -horrors would have been impossible. For He gave us -only two commandments—two instead of the Mosaic <span class="locked">ten—thus:—</span></p> - -<p>“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart -and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is -the first and great commandment. And the second is -like unto it—thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. -On these two commandments hang all the law and the -prophets.”</p> - -<p>Who is there that can deny that if these two commandments -had been obeyed by man in his social and -civil life, the whole face of things would have changed -to an almost divine betterment, and the world’s progress, -assisted by a sanity of thought and a clarity of action, -would have been towards beauty and spiritual uplifting?</p> - -<p>The word “spiritual” is sadly wronged and degraded -nowadays by misguided or semi-crazed persons who -“blaspheme the Holy Ghost” by their pretensions to -psychic power, and play with the names of scared things -in order to further their own sinister designs. Our -Lord prophesied this evil when He spoke of “false -prophets” who should “show signs and wonders,” insomuch -“that if it were possible they shall deceive the -very elect.”</p> - -<p>Is it not a fact that we have come upon such days? -Days when the pure, simple, and helpful ethics of -Christ are set aside in exchange for an insane credence -in the vulgar trickery of “mediumship,” “crystal-gazing,” -and other base forms of superstition pertaining -to the eras of ignorant barbarism? Does it seem believable -that there should be so-called “intellectual”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>180</span> -men in this country, even statesmen of admitted ability, -who are actually partially under the sway of illiterate -“mediums,” generally women, who pretend to hold -communication with the dead, and even presume to -offer advice from the “spirits” on the affairs of the -nation and the prosecution of the war? One could -hardly imagine a wilder improbability, yet it is an -absolute fact! The names of persons in high and -trusted positions are on the books of the unscrupulous -jugglers and tricksters who earn their wicked living by -mischievous tampering with the brains of their dupes -and victims, and the wonder is that these notabilities -should so feebly allow themselves to be duped and victimized. -But one has only to think of the entire submission -of the Romanoffs to the villainous machinations -of that unspeakable “monk,” Rasputin, to realize that -there is no depth of abasement to which the human mind -may not fall if it loses its hold on God.</p> - -<p>It has to be confessed there are very few indications -of real religion among us at present. A large portion -of the clergy seem stricken with ineptitude, and one -longs for a strong man who would not only preach the -truth, but <em>live</em> it. A narrow egotism disfigures the -ministering spirit of the Church, and I could name more -than one cleric whose absorption in self entirely blinds -him to the real duties he is called upon to do.</p> - -<p>The service of Christ should be broad and all-embracing, -generous, cheerful, ungrudging, and untiring -in the aid of all humanity, rich and poor, old and -young, sinful and sorry, and only men who are prepared -to work on these lines should be admitted to such a -high and holy calling.</p> - -<p>But things are moving, and will move in the right<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>181</span> -direction presently; when the roar of the guns has died -away and the memory of our slain heroes weighs on our -stricken souls with sorrow and shame, and we have time -to reflect that it is for us and the saving of our honour -that they have died.</p> - -<p>We shall then lift our eyes to Him from Whom -cometh our strength, we shall unite in a grand revolt -against hypocrisy and shams; we shall hold our homes -more preciously, seeing and knowing what blood has -been shed to keep them inviolate, and we shall value -simplicity and purity of life for ourselves and our -children far more than wealth and the fleeting, feverish -pleasures which wealth can attain.</p> - -<p>In this new dawn of our day it will be well for -England!</p> - -<p>One of the happiest and most hopeful auguries for -the future is the stimulus given to agriculture and the -“life of the land” by the necessity of providing food -supplies for our own people on our own soil.</p> - -<p>The menace of the submarine has done this for us, -and devastating as its brutal work has been, we may -regard it as a blessing in disguise. For we should not -need to depend on foreign imports of food if we utilised -our own acreage as fully and diligently as we might.</p> - -<p>Life in the country, work in the country, means -health and a light heart; and many there are who -would like to see the olden days of purely native production -come back again—the days of home spinning, -home weaving, home manufacture of every kind carried -on in all the towns and villages of rural England.</p> - -<p>Here and there of late years there have been some -efforts in this direction—there is a spinning and weaving -school at Haslemere, at Stratford-on-Avon, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>182</span> -elsewhere—but the support given to these praiseworthy -industries is not sufficiently certain and prolonged to -push them with sufficient prominence into the public -notice. Nevertheless, many a woman helps the movement -by electing to wear only home-woven goods; they -are beautiful and artistic enough to deserve patronage, -and can be purchased direct from the weavers and spinners -without the intervention of the middle-man whose -business is “profiteering.”</p> - -<p>What an England it might be—what an England it -<em>will</em> be—when every acre of suitable soil bears its -weight of golden grain!—when every orchard’s value -can be appraised by its measure of luscious fruit!—when -farmyards are full of cattle, and good wives are -so clever at poultry and dairy work that the country -can do without “millions of foreign eggs”—having such -“millions” of its own—and when prosperous farms in -the country are esteemed more valuable possessions than -houses in town, where money is often uselessly wasted -on so-called “pleasures” which have their end in damaged -health and “vexation of spirit”!</p> - -<p>To my own mind there is nothing more lovely or more -satisfying than the life of the country, where one may -see the real breadth of the sky, and feel the real freshness -of the air.</p> - -<p>In great cities, where humanity is a mere hive, the -houses of brick and stone block out the sky and impede -the air, and somehow one imagines that God is a long -way off, while in the country He seems “nearer than -hands and feet.” Everything speaks of His infinite -care and providence—the birds, the flowers, the trees, -the murmur of the leaves that clap together like little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>183</span> -fairy hands in the wind, and the low, sweet, sigh that -sways through the long grass at sunset.</p> - -<p>The nearer man approaches to Nature, the more he -becomes conscious of a Divine, mysterious Presence to -which his whole being instinctively, though almost unconsciously, -responds as “Our Father.”</p> - -<p>In the rush and roar of great cities he loses this -delicate intimacy with his own origin, and all that is -or might be divine in himself becomes lowered to the -level of gross material needs and ideas which are the -reflex of the coarser atmosphere around him.</p> - -<p>The dweller among country sights and scenes is an -idealist—sometimes even a poet, though he may never -express himself in words—and many an ordinary labourer -turning the rich clods of soil with the plough can -be found who will at times say things both trenchant -and eloquent which will give food for thought to the -most cultivated stylist.</p> - -<p>Some people imagine that cities educate, and that the -country does not; but one may question whether it is -not quite the other way about. In any case, the life of -the country makes for health and strength, and these -are two potent factors for happiness. No man can be -happy or contented if he is ailing and weakly, and in -our many “new” systems of education, which are now -being so much talked of, it is to be hoped that health -for the children will be the first thing to be considered -and maintained.</p> - -<p>Here I may perhaps touch upon a point where one -may trust that “all is well with England,” in the immense -change the war has wrought as regards the position -of women in the State.</p> - -<p>Some years ago I was one of the many who were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>184</span> -strongly opposed to the “Votes for Women” movement, -judging it to be wholly unnecessary.</p> - -<p>I had been brought up on the chivalric view of man -as taken by Sir Walter Scott in his immortal romances, -and my idea, gathered from these exalted specimens -of the race, was that as man was always ready to worship -woman it seemed invidious on her part to contend -with him in his own particular sphere. But when it -was forced on me that, more often than not, man was -more ready to deride rather than worship woman, that -the special “strain” of Walter Scott’s heroes was in -Walter Scott’s delightful imagination only, and that as -a matter of fact men denied to women such lawful -honours as they might win through intellectual attainment, -and that in certain forms of their legal procedure -women were classed with “children, criminals, and lunatics,” -I began to change my opinion.</p> - -<p>I thought that if the mothers of the race were to be -assorted with “criminals and lunatics,” the men they -had given birth to might be, in their toleration of such -a stigma, criminals and lunatics themselves. And -when the war broke out and all the world raised itself, -as it were, on tiptoe to see what was going to happen, -and beheld among many marvels perhaps the greatest -marvel of all—the women going forth to work in the -places of men, going in thousands, without demur or -hesitation, and taking their full share of the hardest -and most menial labour with a cheerfulness and spirit -no less remarkable than the intelligence with which -they handled difficulties hitherto unknown, it was no -longer possible to deny them equal rights with men in -every relation of life and every phase of work. By every -law of justice they deserved the vote—and I who, as a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>185</span> -woman, was once against it, am bound to support the -cause. All the same I shall be sorry to see them in -Parliament; deeply sorry to find them straying so far -out of their higher and far more influential sphere. The -vanishing of modest and refined womanhood will prove -a greater loss to the nation than any other asset of its -power and renown. No woman can mingle with the -mess of political intrigue without losing something of -the charm and reticence originally in her nature, which -has inspired men to their noblest aims and ends. I -imagine that a true woman would rather be the Madonna -of a Faith than the Premier of an Empire!</p> - -<p>Nevertheless I grant freely and fully that it will be -“well for England” when women have a voice in the -education of children, and when they can refuse to -“temporise” on questions of the national morality and -well-being.</p> - -<p>The recent “food muddle” under the management -of men is a proof, if one were needed, of the superiority -of women in all matters of domestic management, for -any capable housekeeper would have organised the -scheme with better knowledge and finer tact. That -there will be jealousy and injustice displayed by the -stronger sex towards the weaker on this matter of -the vote, goes without saying. But jealousy and injustice -exist anyhow, and a proof of man’s inconsistency -towards women in matters of art alone is furnished by -the purchase of Lucy Kemp-Welsh’s fine picture “Forward -the guns!” in the Royal Academy, which has been -bought “<em>for the nation</em>.” Yet, mark you, though this -woman’s work is considered worthy of national keeping, -she herself may not be admitted as an R. A.! Comment -is superfluous. But it is possible that the granting of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>186</span> -votes to women will alter all this, and that the barriers -which the men have carefully erected against the sex -of their mothers will be broken down for good.</p> - -<p>The Jewish dispensation has to be credited for the -rule of “keeping women in their place,” along with -flocks and herds. But the Christian dispensation -teaches a lovelier lesson—for a woman was the first to -hold the God-Man in her arms, and a woman was the -first to greet Him on His resurrection from the dead.</p> - -<p>Does this teach nothing? Is there no symbol of the -future of womanhood thus gloriously foreshadowed? -I venture to think there is.</p> - -<p>I believe and hope that a wider freedom to woman -will mean a nobler heritage to man, and that through -her intelligence and influence he may find and prove -the “god” in him, and rise from the grave of old prejudice -to the light of more brilliant possibilities. And -this will be “well for England.”</p> - -<p>Many changes are bound to come, many sorrowful -and tragic happenings are yet in store for this dear -country, but “it is well” that so these things should be, -to the end that we realise where we have missed the -way, and take heed that we stumble not again.</p> - -<p>The secret of our regeneration is not in this or that -government; it is with the <em>people</em>.</p> - -<p>Yet on the whole, despite clouds in our sky, it is well -for England so far. We shall come out of the darkness -if—if the <em>people</em> will it. Up to the present they have -grudged nothing—neither time, nor labour, nor money, -nor sacrifice. They have been in every sense worthy of -British tradition—a people splendid. Now it is that -they must see they do not fall a prey to “party” traps, -designed for the safeguarding of Germany in those<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>187</span> -quarters where British financial interests are concerned.</p> - -<p>I repeat, “All is well with England!”—all <em>will</em> be -well—if the <em>people</em> are awake and alert, if they will -unite to remove the German foe from their midst, and -if they will in time remember the old proverb which -says, “It’s no use shutting the stable door when the -horse is stolen.” The German has the fixed intention -of re-monopolising trade when the war is over, and -already our Indian Empire is in advance of us by the -ban announced against German trade in India, and -the barring of German ships from Indian ports.</p> - -<p>Decisive action must be taken in these matters before -it is too late. British trade interests, British artisans, -British workers of all classes must be defended and -protected and encouraged.</p> - -<p>The agricultural arts and sciences must be made a -primary matter of education for the people, and our -productive soil must be given a fair chance. Landowners -who have held thousands of acres for the -pleasure of sport alone must yield to the necessity of -feeding men instead of preserving game, and a prosperous, -smiling England, “a land flowing with milk -and honey,” will be the reward of all those who steadily -set their energies to work in the right direction, that -right direction being always for the good of the many -and not for self or the few. It should surely be the -aim of every true patriot to leave his country better -than he found it, and all personal interest should and -must go to the wall where the welfare of the people -is at all concerned. The trend of thought is all in this -one way, for which we may thank God. A renewed -faith in the highest, a return to the devotional spirit -of true religion, and a resolve to root out from every<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>188</span> -educational system, from every art, from every form -of literature all that makes for evil and degradation; -this will ensure all being “well for England,” so well, -that neither the hatred, envy, nor malice of rivals can -move her from her sure foundations of peace.</p> - -<p>She should be, and she <em>must</em> be great and pure, with -the greatness and pureness for which our heroes have -fought in the past, and for which they fight to-day, -and for this high cause, though we mourn our slain -manhood, we must grudge no sacrifice, however hard. -We have not grudged anything as yet—we shall never -begin to do so. And so both now and in the days to -come, through God’s mercy, may we ever be able to -<span class="locked">say—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“All is well with England!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>(When the above was first issued as a booklet by the -publishers, Messrs. Greening, it elicited a long and -eloquent letter from the “St. Andrews Society,” asking -me why I addressed my pamphlet to England? Where -was Scotland in my thoughts? Knowing the curious -prejudice some Scotsmen entertain for the word “England” -(which I have liked to imagine included Scotland, -Ireland, and Wales), I made haste to reply that I had -not presumed to ask “Is all well with Scotland?” as I -know all <em>must</em> be well, and that all would be for ever -well! How could anything go ill with <em>Scotland</em>? I -do not know whether I satisfied my truculent correspondent, -but I hope I did.)</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>189</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_24">THE WORLD IN TEARS</h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>(<i>The following was written at the request of Mr. Robert Hayes, -the publisher, who asked for it as a preface to a helpful little book -of “Messages of Hope, Sympathy, and Consolation,” entitled</i> <span class="smcap">The -World in Tears</span>. <i>Those who contributed to this book included -many well-known “leaders,” such as the Bishop of Birmingham, -the Archdeacon of Westminster, the Dean of Manchester, etc., etc., -and the publisher introduced my article in the following kindly -<span class="locked">note:—</span></i></p> - -<div class="p1"> - -<p><i>In preparing the book for Press it was thought desirable to -obtain, and include, an introduction by an author whose sympathies -would commend it to the general public. Miss Marie -Corelli immediately came to mind. No one could essay the task -better.</i></p> - -<p><i>To Miss Marie Corelli, then, the publisher wrote for assistance. -It was generously, courteously, and promptly given. His best -thanks are recorded here for this able and kindly help in producing -what he hopes will bring comfort to a multitude who sorrow -and some financial assistance to that benevolent and deserving -institution, the British Red Cross Society.</i>)</p></div></div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">All</span> over the world to-day looms the brooding shadow -of Death—that strange and solemn Mystery which to -most of us seems a complete Disappearance for ever -into the eternal Unknown. Though truly, if our faith -in God be perfect, we should not look upon it as a -Shadow, but a Brightness; a glorious fulfilment for -which the experiences and trials of this present life are -the needful training and preparation. Nevertheless, the -ties of human affection are strong, and partings are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>190</span> -always bitter—so that whether our beloved ones go -away from us for weeks, months, or years—whether -to a far country or to another world—it is hard to say -“good-bye!” and the sorrow of separation is the sorrow -of all the lives that are left thus lonely. The strongest -and bravest of us know well enough that those we -have lost are not really “dead,” but living elsewhere; -yet the fact that they are not actually with us—that -we cannot hear their voices or hold their hands in our -own—is sufficient to crush us down under such a burden -of grief that we feel as if we could never lift up our -eyes to heaven again or trust the great Power Invisible -which has allowed us to be deprived of all we hold -most dear. Nothing can be said in the way of consolation -that does not, at such a time, sound poor and -trivial. A great grief is of all things the most sacred: -and even the gentle words of the gentlest and most -compassionate friend hurt like a careless touch on an -open wound.</p> - -<p>In this unspeakably wicked War much of our best -and bravest British manhood has been sacrificed, to say -nothing of the terrible losses suffered by our noble and -resolute Allies. Young, promising, and heroic lives -have been ruthlessly slaughtered on all the fields of -battle, and it would not be too much to say that the -whole of Europe is in mourning. It is the hour of -supreme self-sacrifice; we are called upon to give the -best of everything we have to our country, so that we -may keep it safe from the invasion of a remorseless foe, -and hold its liberty intact. Blood and treasure and -tears are the price of our freedom; we hold nothing -back. But an awful responsibility rests upon all those -who primarily brought about this most un-Christian<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>191</span> -world-contest; for war and the murder of the many is -always the result of the evil thoughts and passions of a -misguided few. If Peoples in the aggregate were governed -by strong, brave, honest men who loved equity -more than their own advancement, there would be no -wars. But as yet we are still seeking for even One -strong, brave, honest man! Our national Poet speaks -truth when he tells <span class="locked">us,—</span></p> - -<p>“To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man -picked out of ten thousand.”</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, for the incalculable crimes of Dishonest -Governments, the Peoples are bereaved of their children—their -young manhood—and mothers, sisters, sweethearts, -wives, and little ones are flung remorselessly into -withering fires of agony, and drowned in a deep sea of -tears. Who shall comfort these poor wounded hearts?—who -shall fill these empty and desolate lives?—who -shall raise them from their swooning despair amid the -dust of graves and turn their hopes towards that Higher -Life, which though unseen and unrealised, is as certain -as what we understand to be life in this world? The -Christian Faith is, or should be, the Comforter, if accepted -in its true spiritual sense. We are too prone to -deaden and cheapen its splendid teaching by the dullness -of our own understanding: we seek to materialise -into common earthiness that which is purely heavenly. -If we trusted more absolutely in the Divine Intelligence, -through whose will and power we have come into being, -we should be entirely sure of the positive truth pronounced -by St. Paul to the <span class="locked">Corinthians:—</span></p> - -<p>“There are celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but -the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the -terrestrial is another.... So also is the resurrection<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>192</span> -of the dead; it is sown in corruption, it is raised in -incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in -glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it -is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. -There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.”</p> - -<p>This is what all the scientific, theological, and psychical -instructors that ever lived in the world have been -striving to teach humanity through ages upon ages. -But we still continue to cling to the natural “body”—not -the spiritual—to the temporal, and not the eternal; -and, despite both religion and science, we surround the -episode of death with every sort of gloomy panoply and -weeping protest against the Divine decree. Yet our -men who have died at the front have died with extraordinary -cheerfulness; it would seem that some God-given -influence has surrounded them in the very midst -of all the most awful ways of dying! Never a murmur—never -a complaint—never a regret! Wonderful, and -indeed miraculous is this, if we pause to think of it! -It is as if they knew, or were being told, that there are -many things in life worse than death! They face the -Last Terror with a dauntless smile and unflinching eyes, -and it may be that they see light where many of us, -blinded by personal sorrow, are only conscious of darkness. -Our Selves are the clouds which cover the sun.</p> - -<p>And while we continue to sit in the shadow and -mourn for our absent, though never lost ones, it is well -we should bear in mind that no life lived on earth, -however long extended, is complete. No lesson is ever -thoroughly learned, no accomplishment ever entirely -mastered. No poet, musician, or painter ever produced -a “perfect” work. Why? Because here we are only in -a preparatory school—wider instruction is to come.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>193</span> -The fullness of existence which is ultimately destined -to be ours is an ever-increasing perfection and power -which are at present impossible for us to conceive. Just -as when we came into this world we had no knowledge -beforehand of its natural beauties and delights, so in -the same way we cannot, in our present condition, realise -the “Shall Be” of the Hereafter. Our bodies, to which -we attach such undue importance here, are composed -entirely of particles or atoms which are constantly -changing, and none of us possess the same body we had -seven or fourteen years ago. That body has already -suffered death—not by violence, but by change. The -manner in which the change has been effected is not -perceived by ourselves, yet it has occurred. Identity -of person does not depend on the identity of these atoms; -the individual Spirit is the same, despite the shifting -forces or renewal of cells in its tenement of clay. Continuity, -persistency, and individuality are eternal laws, -and remake the vesture of the soul according to its needs. -Therefore our beloved dead are not truly dead, for, “as -we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also -bear the image of the heavenly.”</p> - -<p>Many of us find it difficult—even impossible—to accept -this reasoning, and why? Because our minds are -always more or less attuned to the lower key of Self—Self, -and our own private and particular sorrow. As -long as this is the case the light will never come through -the gloom; we shall never “see God.” We shall never -understand that the lives sacrificed with such splendid -heroism, for the freedom and purification of the whole -world, have not ceased to live, and that they have simply -“passed on.” But—is not the parting from them cruel? -Ah, yes! but partings even more cruel are common in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>194</span> -the most ordinary daily life. When love grows cold—when -fair illusions perish—when the friend we trusted -is treacherous and ungrateful—when we have to “let -go” those we have most dearly cherished to other loves -and new surroundings—are not these things “cruel”? -Crueller far than death!—for death most usually clears -up many misunderstandings and sets the true soul right -with itself and with that which it has loved faithfully. -For there are many kinds of so-called “love” which is -not love at all, but merely the passion or caprice of the -moment, and which, if resolved into marriage between -the two persons concerned, ends in mutual indifference -and life-long unhappiness, and in such cases, death is -a release which separates finally and for ever. But -there is another sort of love which is so deep and -unselfish, and loyal, that it needs no earthly bond to -make it eternal, and which, no matter how long the -parting, whether by absence or death, is so truly love -in the highest sense that all the powers of earth or -heaven could not hinder its complete union with the -beloved.</p> - -<p>“Shall we meet again?” sighs the bereaved mother, -the lonely wife, the despairing lover! Most assuredly -you will!—by all the known laws of attraction in this -glorious Universe you <em>must</em> meet again, if your love be -love indeed! Love is not limited by time or space; we -know that we can obtain light from a star many millions -of miles distant, and in the same way we can -give and receive love from our parted dear ones, and -can exert this power far beyond the confines of our -bodies. But only when love is really true can this -happen. For, when the veil is withdrawn from heaven -and the released Spirit goes hence, it sees and knows<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>195</span> -clearly which of all its friends on earth has loved it -most unselfishly and sincerely—whose sorrow is the -most tender—whose faith is most entirely faithful! And -only shall such an one meet it again and rejoice in -everlasting union. <em>We find our own</em>: we discover our -beloved ones in that state of clear vision and life-fulfilment -to which we are all hastening. And in realising -this we shall also realise that in all the truths of -science and of reasoning there is No Death; and that -we deceive ourselves in the confusing shadow of our -personal griefs when they are strong and bitter as they -are to-day, because of our own “personal” sense of loss.</p> - -<p>“It is because my beloved is gone!” is the cry—“Because -I shall see him no more!”</p> - -<p>Patience! He has not “gone” far! Just into the -next room of existence, whither you yourself will soon -go; there is but the slightest partition between you! -And you will see him, as it were, directly—and you -will know him, as he will see and know <em>you!</em>—and you -will wonder why you shed so many tears when all the -while he is alive, and happy in the consciousness of -having done something in his earthly life to prepare a -cleaner, safer world for the generations coming after -him.</p> - -<p>But, if this is so, some of us ask, why are we not -given the proofs of it? Why does not God make us -sure? You might as well demand why, in the former -ages of the world, the learning and science of the -present day were not revealed. “Sound-waves,” “light-rays,” -“radium,” “electric force,”—all these existed -from the very beginning of creation—<em>why were we not -told?</em> Simply because, by universal law, all advancement -is, and <em>must</em> be the result of gradual evolvement,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>196</span> -suited to the slowly expanding capacity of the human -brain and its attendant mental spirituality, and because -it is decreed that we shall “work out our own salvation.” -One thing is certain, and that is, that—<em>if</em> we knew—if -we were told the smallest part of the wondrous hidden -future awaiting us, hardly any of us would have the -resolution to live this preparatory life through! We -should all hurry ourselves out of the world, for we -would not have the patience to endure its schooling. -We could not wait. We would rush to grasp our glory; -we would not work to win it, and so we might lose -what we must ourselves deserve to gain. Hence arose -the saying, “Those whom the gods love die young.” -For their schooling has been brief and easy—“Even so, -saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours.”</p> - -<p>A striking illustration of faith in God and the future -life has been given to us in these days of darkness by -the heroic martyrdom and death of Edith Cavell, murdered -by human brutes for whom Christianity has -become a dead letter. Her resignation, and her thanks -to God for her “ten weeks’ quiet before the end”—her -unaffected devotion to the Christian Faith—her simple -“Good-bye” to her spiritual adviser with a happy smile -and her confident assurance, “We shall meet again!” -make a brilliant and inspiring contrast to the doubt and -distrust of God’s mercy openly manifested by many of -those who are bereaved and mourning in the “Valley -of the Shadow.” Prayerfully one wonders when the -inhabitants of this small planet of ours will come to -realise the fixed law of its being?—a Law which knows -no changing! Namely, that Progression towards Good—Good, -not only for one’s Self, but for Humanity—brings -peace and prosperity; while Retrogression to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>197</span>wards -Evil results in war and ruin! God Himself -cannot undo this Law, which is part of His own Eternal -Existence—it is as fixed as the poles. We dare not -blame His Almighty justice for the evil we have deliberately -brought upon ourselves. No one can deny -that all the nations now warring together have for many -years past sought to put God altogether out of their -countings, while societies and individuals, rejoicing in -prolonged good fortune and taking as their right the -blessings bestowed upon them through the mercy of a -beneficent and kindly Providence, have forgotten to -Whom they should give thanks, and have become “puffed -up,” as the Psalmist says, with pride, and enervated by -luxury. We have had innumerable warnings, but we -would not listen. We have made a jest and a mockery -of all those who sought to rouse us from our lethargy. -We have permitted such inroads of vice and atheism into -our lives and morals, our art and letters, as might make -pagans blush. The Press of the world has not occupied -itself with the uplifting of the brotherhood of the peoples,—on -the contrary, it has taken pleasure in sowing -the seeds of discontent and rebellion, and has given -prominence to the unworthy, praising the stage-mime -more than the statesman—the materialist more than the -idealist. Moreover, so far as our foe is concerned, it -has left no stone unturned that could rouse the Teuton -wolf from its lair. Bitter mockery, stinging gibe, misplaced -sneers—these have all been flung at Germany for -the past ten years or more, and, though they have been -written chiefly by half-educated young men and boys -who in the might of an ineffable conceit “rush in where -angels fear to tread,” they have had harmful effect. A<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>198</span> -great statesman said to me recently, “Had there been -no Press there would have been no war.”</p> - -<p>This may or may not be true,—but whether true or -false the eternal verities make no mistake in their -summing-up of evil things to a fatal figure. Thoughts -give place to words, and words to actions. The War-thought -is the embryo of the War-deed. Let us not, -therefore, in the bitterness of our own personal sorrows -blame God, or demand “Where was He?” when our dear -ones have been slain. The nations have brought this -chastisement of terror upon themselves; and that the -innocent must suffer with the guilty is the worst part -of the punishment. The world was becoming sordid, -covetous, and materialistic; and now the young and -strong and brave of our best manhood are called upon -to cleanse it of its foul humours and to <em>leave it clean</em>. -Some thousands of lives must be sacrificed in this great -struggle for Freedom and for Right, but better to die -honoured than live shamed! Life, as generally lived, -is not worth the pains we take to preserve it; we do our -loved ones an infinite wrong when we assume that their -best chance of happiness is to eat and sleep and play, -and make the wherewithal to eat and sleep and play. -A brave death is more valuable than an ignoble life; -death itself being the admission to a more vital and -splendid experience.</p> - -<p>This being so, we should not mourn as “those having -no hope.” We, who have loved and lost for a time, will -go on loving till we find our lost again, as we shall surely -do. We shall meet and know each other on that higher -plane where life is life indeed and love is love indeed; -and we shall make amends for all our weeping and -complaint. We shall see how slight and brief, after all,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>199</span> -were the troubles of this present, compared with the -perfect joy of the attained future. And we shall read -the Book of the Wisdom of God without mistaking one -word or letter of its meaning, and we shall learn that -Love alone is the conqueror of all kingdoms. So lift -up your weeping eyes, ye million mourners!—lift them -to the Light and Life Eternal, which shall not fail you -even in this dark Battle-Dream of Death!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>200</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_25">GOD AND THE WAR<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written for “Some 1918 Reflections.” A collection arranged by -Guy Glendower Croft</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Among</span> the many “reflections” flashed upon the mirror -of the time there is one which to my mind is not so -much a “reflection” as a blur—a blot which is almost a -dark and deepening shadow. I, who venture to write of -it, own myself to be but a mere romancist, whose ostensible -business is to weave night and day, like the “Lady -of Shalott,”—“A magic web with colours gay,” a web -of thought-tapestry into scenes and episodes which may -or may not please my readers and distract them from -the continuous harassment and grief brought upon them -by the war. It might even be said of me <span class="locked">that—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“So she weaveth steadily</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And little other care hath she,”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">but for the further fact <span class="locked">that—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Moving through a mirror clear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That hangs before her all the year</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shadows of the world appear,”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">and the Shadow which darkens my outlook most is what -I may call the Shadow of Negation, or what the Roman -Church classifies among the sins against the Holy Ghost, -namely, “Presumption of God’s mercy.”</p> - -<p>There are any number of apparently worthy, respect<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>201</span>able -and well-intentioned persons who regard the Great -War as a singular piece of Divine injustice and undeserved -annoyance to themselves—and their attitude -towards it is so amazing as to be almost incredible.</p> - -<p>They are incapable of taking a broad outlook; and, -to them, the whole terrible business is a monstrously -impertinent interference with the peaceful working of -the Parish Pump—no more.</p> - -<p>This curious mental standpoint was forced upon my -notice recently by the remarks of a seemingly intelligent -man of commerce, who, having made a pleasant little -“pile” which enables him to live comfortably for the -rest of his days, and being much too old for any form -of “active” or “national” service, has, literally, nothing -to complain of, and nothing to do but offer his valueless -opinions on the terrific happenings of the hour. And he -it was, who, with an air of judicially settling the business -of the Universe, once and for all, said <span class="locked">firmly,—</span></p> - -<p>“I’ve given up God! I don’t believe in a God! If -there was one He would not have permitted this war!”</p> - -<p>This crushing observation from one of the least of -human microbes would not merit notice but for the -fact that many more intelligent and thoughtful microbes -than he have committed themselves to the same unwise -and, I may venture to say, blasphemous utterance. For, -if any doubter has need of assurance as to the existence -of God, this great and terrible war is the most profound, -significant, and emphatic declaration of Almighty Power -and Justice that the world has ever known.</p> - -<p>It is the strong, resolved assertion of a vast spiritual -and intellectual Force, which, for many years, all the -nations now warring together have elected to ignore, -or else to acknowledge in such half-hearted fashion<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>202</span> -that sheer ignoring might betoken greater reverence. -It is the Force, which by natural and immutable law -acts upon unclean and poisonous things and exterminates -them without mercy or appeal. We may call it Fate -or God as it suits us—but whatever be the accepted -name of this eternally working system of Mathematics, -it admits of no false quantities and has to be reckoned -with as the only positive FACT in the universe. All -else may change, “Heaven and earth may pass away but -My Word shall not pass away.” That is to say—“My -Word” is the eternal Law; and however craftily and -cleverly we may arrange our little “civilisations” and -schemes of “giving” in order to “get,” we cannot carry -forward a single act of injustice or falsity without punishment -following the offence. If not soon, then late. -<em>Our</em> judgments, <em>our</em> opinions on the scroll of everlasting -equity, are as the scrawls of babes who are incapable of -mastering the fact that two and two make four. We are -always trying to make them five, the one over being a -clumsy attempt to gain some advantage to ourselves.</p> - -<p>It is our “camouflage”—that vulgar expression of -French police “argot” which truly is not in the French -language at all, but which, nevertheless, has lately become -the stupid parrot-cry of the irremediably illiterate -British press, whose paragraphists seize with rabid joy -on any foreign word they do not entirely understand and -run it to death.</p> - -<p>Yet, try as we may, two and two will <em>not</em> make five. -Hence our small political quarrels and big greedy wars.</p> - -<p>The <em>pros</em> and <em>cons</em> of the present terrific clash of -nations can be totalled up as easily as a sum on a slate—each -effect has had its causes. Belgium is devastated, -and her people have been and are robbed, tortured, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>203</span> -murdered. True! But what of Belgium’s own tacitly -approved cruelties on the Congo? The present is the -result of the past. Consider Russia! She is like a -great creature fallen in the dust—the seeming corpse of -herself, helpless to move, while birds of prey gather -round her seeking to tear her to bits and divide the -spoil. But does not Russia deserve her fate?—has she -not invited it? May we not think of her cruelties, -tyrannies, and enslavements practised on her own people -for hundreds of years? The gods have been patient -with her arrogance, but there is a limit even to divine -patience. Italy and France—prosperous, and growing -more and more fond of money-getting, eager to destroy -all their noble, ancient ideals—these have, as it were, -administered a kick to the very thought of Deity.</p> - -<p>Twenty years ago in France the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Catechisme du Libre -Pensuer</i> was taught in schools, and the name of God -excluded from the general curriculum. Italy has long -been openly pagan, notwithstanding the “Holy Prisoner” -of the Vatican. And Germany, our brutal foe, -has flung every ideal to the winds save Self and Greed, -so that not even the “untutored savage” principles of -honour have any hold on her.</p> - -<p>And what may we, what <em>dare</em> we say of Great Britain? -Is it a <em>true</em> religion that to suit convention prints -a prayer to God in a rag newspaper, when for years that -same newspaper has ignored every sign, symbol, or suggestion -of religious faith? Rightly or wrongly, British -folk are credited with more “camouflage” than all the -French police put together; “camouflage” in this instance -standing for hypocrisy, and if they do believe in -a God it is difficult to realise their sincerity.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the old thunder rolls from Heaven—“God<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>204</span> -is not mocked!” and, so far from seeing His “injustice” -in this terrible war which is ruining so much that can -never be replaced, let us realise that we, the offending -Nations, have brought it upon Ourselves.</p> - -<p>Ourselves have been ungrateful for His mercies and -blessings; Ourselves have made Self our god, and -Wealth our chief aim—and so now by the Divine Law -shall Our Selves be slain and our wealth taken from us. -Thus the Shadow darkens the mirror of my “reflections”—for -I feel with Admiral Beatty that (as he expressed -it) “until religious revival takes place at home just so -long will the war continue. When England can look -out on the future with humbler eyes and a prayer on -her lips, then we can begin to count the days towards the -end!”</p> - -<p>Then—and only then! Then the Shadow will lift -and the mirror will reflect the glorious figure of -Victory....</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Like to some branch of stars we see</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hung in the golden Galaxy!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>But not till then! And meanwhile the Great War -must be seen in its true light—as a Punishment of -Nations for their unrepented wrongs to one another!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>205</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_26">TRIUMPH OF WOMANHOOD<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written for the Scottish Women’s Hospital</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">As</span> a light in deep darkness she has arisen—woman, -pure womanly, with all the God-given attributes of her -highest nature at last acknowledged by her self-styled -“lord and master,” Man! She has shaken off the trammels -which for many centuries he had fastened about -her—as heroic maid and mother she has roused the better -spirit in him. Out of the gloom and blood and -slaughter of this world war—the most wicked war that -ever devastated the earth—she has radiated upon him -like an angel, clothed in a glory of love and pity; and, -moving by his side through the poisonous smoke of -battle and the thunder of the guns, she has cheered him -on his way. When wounded and fallen she has been -swift to rescue him, and first to soothe. Who will, who -<em>can</em>, ever justly estimate the saving work of women in -this terrific holocaust of nations!—this mad hurtling of -man against brother—man without thought for the -consequences of such wholesale murder! To Woman, -in her mother-love and mercy, friend and foe are alike -indifferent; all that her pitying eyes see are the gaping -wounds, the flowing blood, the torn and disfigured limbs—her -province is to save, heal, and comfort if she can. -She knows that with God there are no nations, but that -all men are human beings, subject to the same sufferings, -the same deaths; she knows by the teaching of Christ<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>206</span> -that not a sparrow shall fall to the ground without Our -Father, and that men are of “more value than many -sparrows.” So, placing herself in tenderest unison -with that “quality of mercy” which</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent14">“Is not strained,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But droppeth, like the gentle rain from heaven,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon the place beneath,”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">she gives her care and service to all. She has no fears -for herself; she would as soon die as live, provided only -she is doing her duty. Perhaps, away down in the very -core of her heart, her natural maternal instinct teaches -her that these struggling, contesting masses of men are -more or less enraged children, tormented and driven by -bigger boys than themselves to fall upon each other and -slay without thought—she may sometimes think wistfully -that had they sought her counsel they might have -found some better way out of their quarrel than the -killing of their brothers—but, until lately, her rôle -through all the centuries has been the mistaken one of -submission to man’s caprice or ordainment, and any -attempt at individuality on her part has been decried -as a perversion of sex. Now the question of sex, reduced -to first principles, appears to be that woman -should find her sole content as the “vessel” of man’s -pleasure—the breeder and nurse of his offspring and -no more. This great war has somewhat altered the lines -of the masculine perspective, for men have been forced -to admit that women can do all their work as well as -themselves, and sometimes better. They can even build -ships and aeroplanes, and all this without losing the -spirit of womanliness. Strange as it may seem, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>207</span> -woman who might lately have been seen hammering -at the keel of a “Dreadnought” can prove herself soft-handed -in tending the wounded, and most reverently -loving in her last cares for the dying and the dead. -She has mastered her nerves—those “Early Victorian” -nerves which shuddered fastidiously at the sight of -blood, and sent their hysterical owners into a swoon -when dangers or difficulties arose, in order to create -fresh confusion; she knows the great secret of self-control, -and the wonderful vigour and courage which -are born of that fine quality. There are very few -women nowadays who scream at the sight of a mouse! -But this was considered quite “the proper thing” to do -in Jane Austen days, just as in some of the queer old -novels written before the grand romances of Sir Walter -Scott, the heroines invariably “fainted away” when the -lover of the piece declared his passion. Women know -that “lover of the piece” fairly well by this time, and -all his limitations—sufficiently, at any rate, to be convinced -that there is nothing in him worth even a pretended -“swoon,” though there may be much that <em>is</em> -worth cherishing, guiding, and inspiring to the best -purposes. Not every man is like a certain one I wot -of, who, after being nursed for three months in a -friend’s house, said to that friend and hostess on the -day he left in restored health,—“If you want a man to -like you, never do anything for him!” This was not -said in jest, but in grim and churlish earnest. It was a -curious recompense for three months’ watchful anxiety -and care, but I dare say she realised then, if never -before, that “one cannot make a silk purse out of a -sow’s ear.” Fortunately there are few such “sow’s -ears” about; most men, especially our heroic fighters,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>208</span> -are touchingly grateful for women’s kindness and devoted -nursing, while fairly astonished at their endurance, -cheerfulness, patience, and devotion. Truly, the -supposed “incapacities” of woman never existed except -in the hopelessly unintelligent of her sex which have -their counterpart in man; she has supported her share -of the burden of life under a stupid system of repression -and tyranny which has frequently resulted in discouragement, -weariness, and indifference. But give her -the chance to be her true, free self, and she will be the -most powerful factor in the world for the betterment -of humanity. We shall not deny that there are worthless -women—fool-women, toy-women,—fit for nothing -but posturing in various attitudes and sets of clothing; -but these will find their level and grow fewer as time -goes on. The grander, purer natures will, like waves of -a clean, bright sea, roll over the mud-banks and eventually -wash worthless things away. For now, after centuries -of oppression and servitude, in which her incalculable -love has been more than half wasted, and her -splendid qualities misprized, now at last Woman has -her chance! And those who see her day dawning must -and will pray earnestly that she will use her powers -always for the highest and the best, to the end that Man -may find in her not a “drag on the wheel,” but a great -lifting strength to bear him upward and onward to that -completeness of noble living which from the beginning -God has ordained.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>209</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_27">IN PRAISE OF ENEMIES<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Sunday Times”</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">We</span> are not always thankful for our blessings; often, -indeed, we do not recognise them as such. They come -to us disguised in the fashion of curses, or so we are -apt to consider them till we know better. Many of us -are absurdly proud of the number of our friends; with -equal absurdity we deplore our evil destiny if we have -but one enemy. Yet if all the truth were known, we -should find that we have more reason to thank God -for our foes than for our friends!</p> - -<p>In the actual storm and stress of life’s battle our -“friends,” so-called, are of little use to us; they are -more prone to be a drag on the wheel. They are, -generally speaking, kind, conventional folk, who, when a -soul is girding on its armour for action, will give -“advice,” such as “Oh, I wouldn’t run any risks, if I -were you!” or “Do be careful not to offend any one!” -or “You’ll get yourself disliked!” as if risk, offence, -dislike, and trouble were not full of stimulus, inspiring -the fighting spirit which alone can beat down difficulties -and carry us on from triumph to triumph till the great -victory over ourselves be assured! But enemies! -Praise God for them! They are the useful and necessary -Force which hurls itself against all progress, all -power and originality of thought or action—the murderous -obstacle laid across the line in an attempt to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>210</span> -wreck the express train—the great contrary wind that -seeks to drive the sailing boat against the rocks—the -“thing in the way” that must be thrust aside and -trampled underfoot. What worker or warrior would -willingly forego “each rebuff that makes earth’s -smoothness rough”? The man or woman without an -enemy must be of all persons the most insignificant; one -who <em>does</em> nothing and <em>is</em> nothing; of whom no one is -envious, and who can never have said a brave, original -thing, or a word of upright, downright truth in any -circumstances.</p> - -<p>You never know how high you are climbing till you -feel some one behind you trying to pull you down. -Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid by -ignorance and malice to a man or woman of genius and -virtue, is the verdict passed on the Divine Master in -Galilee, that he (or she) “hath a devil”!</p> - -<p>At the present time more than at any other period -of history we of the British Empire should bless God -for our enemies! What they have done and what they -are doing for us, albeit unconsciously and unwillingly, -can hardly be accurately estimated—not while they are -still attacking us. We must wait some years before we -can measure up the advantages they are bestowing -upon us—advantages which we might not in a century -have obtained for ourselves.</p> - -<p>We were too satisfied with our apparent “friends”; -we were, and still are, much too sure of them! We -were comfortable, contented, lazy. We had everything -we wanted and more. We spent money freely, and -being eminently good-natured and trustful, we allowed -every one to come in at our open doors and partake of -our hospitality. Out of our full bags of gold we poured<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>211</span> -rivers of charity in every direction; we helped everybody -that asked for help; and we allowed all sorts of -folk to exploit us and make money out of us. We could -not believe that the “friends” we entertained and whose -hands we had filled with good gifts could ever turn -upon us. We seemed to have no foes; and we trusted -these “friends” of ours implicitly. Too casual and easy-going -to heed the teachings of philosophy we forgot that -it takes a far nobler nature to receive benefits than to -bestow them.</p> - -<p>Mean minds resent generosity while taking advantage -of it, and nothing goads and envenoms some dispositions -so much as the near consciousness of a superior -force and ungrudging hand. This was, and is, the -trouble with the Kaiser and his particular following—we -will not say Germany, for German without the -Hohenzollern autocracy would be a very different and -far greater Germany than it has been since the days of -Goethe and Schiller.</p> - -<p>The Emperor William, as an eminently theatrical -monarch, loving grease-paint and the limelight, and -obsessed by various crazes, such as hate for his English -mother and intensified hate for his mother’s country, -filled even with a morbid revulsion against the English -blood in his own veins, cannot abide the thought of -the greatness and far-reaching protective influence of -the British Imperial Power. To bend, break, and destroy -<span class="allsmcap">THAT</span> has been his dream from boyhood—a dream -never to be fulfilled! His visits to our shores were the -visits of a seeming “friend,” and we treated him as an -honest people treat an honest man. He took our -kindness for stupidity, our trust for ignorance, our faith -for credulity, and his complete misconception of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>212</span> -British character has led him into a trap which he set -for us, but by which he himself is snared—the usual -Nature-law enacted surely and remorselessly on every -treacherous soul.</p> - -<p>What would be said or thought of a man invited to -the house of a kindly hostess and permitted to enjoy -the full freedom of the place, its hospitality, its food, -its comfort and shelter, who, on having used it as a -convenience and gained personal pleasure and advantage -therein, even to the making of money, suddenly turned -roughly upon his entertainer, abused her manners, her -voice, her speech, her friends, her servants and mode of -living, and having got all he wanted out of her personally -insulted her? Probably not one man in ten thousand -would conduct himself so vilely, but if that one man -did so forgo all manliness, there would be not a few -of his own sex ready and more than willing to put him -in his place at the point of the boot.</p> - -<p>Yet such has been the “honorable code of chivalry” -of the Emperor William—the “Kultur” which boasts -of treachery to his own kindred, of injury to his mother’s -native land, of wantonly murderous attacks on innocent -civilians who are not in any way concerned with the -diseased obsessions of his brain—a “Kultur” which is -more than anything else the “cult of stupidity”—the -stupidity of a blinded bull charging into everything -with unreasoning fury. But for us the bull-onslaught is -a saving grace, for through the blindness of the beast we -see!</p> - -<p>Yes, we see, and see clearly! We have discovered -our foe behind the disguise of our “friend,” and instead -of opening our doors to him we shut them. Instead of -holding out the hand of welcome and confidence we put<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>213</span> -up the curtain of our artillery fire!—and the valour -of Britain, wrongfully supposed to be asleep or dead, is -up in all its pristine might and mettle, full-armed with -a strength and magnificent courage unmatched in all -our history.</p> - -<p>This is what our enemies have done for us: they have -brought us to realise the truth Ourselves! Had it not -been for their “stab-i’-the-back” we might still have -played away our time, and with it our commerce. Our -enemies have roused our grip and grit; they have taught -us that we can turn out as many fighting men and -munitions in twelve months as they could do in forty -years. Even we, accustomed for a century to a peace -unbroken save by small foreign skirmishes, are now -with our Allies winning the greatest war of the world.</p> - -<p>Assaulted in new and brutal ways from the air, from -the underseas, as well as on land, Imperial Britain -holds her own, for which she may thank, not her friends, -but her foes. True it is that, as Christ taught, “A -man’s foes shall be they of his own household,” and this -saying is markedly fulfilled in the Kaiser’s hatred of -his mother’s country and people. But whether of one’s -own household or not, nothing is so salutary, so rousing, -so inspiring and vivifying to the mind as the consciousness -of enemies, the knowledge that some one envies you, -grudges you success, and would be glad to hear of your -failure in some great effort. It rouses all your latent -forces and makes you stronger, bolder, more irresistible -than ever you were before.</p> - -<p>A fair woman never looks fairer than when she is -being “picked to pieces” by a yellow-skinned scandal-monger, -and to any individual possessing gifts above the -ordinary the spite and malice of the envious and jealous<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>214</span> -are as light on the path and music in the air, invigorating -the heart, bracing the energies, and emphasising -the fact that any one so envied is <em>worth</em> envying, -any one so hated is <em>worth</em> hating, because so far above -the reach of either envy or hatred!</p> - -<p>So let us praise God for our enemies! They are -adding to our triumphs and renewing our glories. When -we chant the “Te Deum” let us mentally include an -extra strophe which shall say, “We bless Thee, O Lord, -for our foes, that Thou dost suffer them to teach us the -sure way to victory! We thank Thee for their broken -faith, their cruelties, and their falsehoods, as from these -we renew our own resolve to keep our promised word -to all nations, and even in the bitterness of battle to -be honest and humane!</p> - -<p>“From their unjust cause we draw fresh justice: -from their defeats we derive our conquest. Without -them we might have forgotten what we <em>were</em> and what -we <em>are</em>! We thank and praise Thee, O God, that through -these our enemies we have found our best friends—<span class="smcap">Ourselves</span>!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>215</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_28">RECRUITING SPEECH<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Delivered in the De Montfort Hall, Leicester</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">In</span> the De Montfort Hall, Leicester, at the conclusion -of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lecture on the Great -War, Miss Marie Corelli, who presided as Chairman, -made an appeal for recruits in the following <span class="locked">terms:—</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“There is very little for me or for any one to say, -after what we have heard to-night. The moving and -magnificent panorama which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -has brought before our eyes by the force of his eloquence -should inspire us more to deeds than words. He has -told us what our men have already done; he has -hinted at what they have yet to do. This fearful -war is not a game at football; we cannot play at it, or -put it aside as something to be thought of casually after -we have consulted our own humour and convenience. -It is a time of self-sacrifice; we owe the best of all -we have to our country. We must give, not only ourselves, -but those we love to the country’s service. In -these fortunate islands, mercifully protected by the sea, -we have not as yet experienced the horrors of invasion; -but invasion <em>may</em> come, and <em>will</em> come if we are not -prepared, alert, and watchful! We must grudge nothing -to prevent such disaster. We must put aside our own -concerns entirely, and think of what this Great War -means. It means wider freedom for the whole world!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>216</span> -It means an end to the tyranny and savagery of Prussian -militarism; it means greater progress and broader -civilisation. And being such a war, every man should -be proud and eager to bear his part in it. Any man, -physically “fit” who hesitates or hangs back at such -a crucial moment in his country’s hour of trial is a -coward! And any woman who holds him back is also -a coward, and a selfish one! We love our men—yes!—but -love is not true love if it hinders a man from -doing his duty. There is danger—there is chance of -death on the field of battle; but death comes to all -of us sooner or later; and we may question whether -it is not better to pass away gloriously with honour, -than to creep languidly out of existence in bed, surrounded -by physic bottles. A soldier must face all -possibilities, and a brave man must be willing to risk -the worst for the chance of winning the best. As -Shakespeare tells <span class="locked">us,—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentqq">“‘Cowards die many times before their deaths;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The valiant only taste of death but once.’</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“There is urgent necessity for every able man (who is -not employed in turning out munitions of war) to join -the colours—and if he is a man at all, he should have -no hesitation. After such a moving history as that -told us by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is there a ‘fit’ -man here who is not willing and eager to join his -brothers-in-arms, and do his best to make their task -easier? Is there a man whose work lies, not abroad, -but at home in the making of shells and ammunition, -that would grudge a single hour of labour for his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>217</span> -country in such urgent need? If there is, he must be -of bad blood and not a true-born Briton!</p> - -<p>“If I had the right, the eloquence or the power to -plead with you, I would ask every man here present -who can join the colours, but who has not done so, to -do it now! And I would also ask every man whose -skill and strength are needed for the manufacture of -war material, to work steadily, cheerfully, and ungrudgingly, -in the full consciousness that by urging -on the necessary output he is helping to save hundreds -of the lives of his countrymen. He, the worker, is as -necessary to the Empire as the soldier; he also is -fighting the King’s enemies.</p> - -<p>“And, if I had any force to persuade, I would pray -every woman in this audience to prove her love for the -men belonging to her by inspiring them to do their -duty to ‘King and country’; either by sending them -away to join the Army, with all good blessing and trust -in God for their safety—or by ‘heartening’ them up -to their work in war munitions, and putting no difficulties -in their path of honour. For every man that -hangs back from military service, or ‘shirks’ his work -refuses to help his brothers; and every woman that -keeps a man away from the great fight, or encourages -him to grudge and shorten his hours of labour is wronging -other women’s husband and sons. In this great -test of national character none of us must fail. In the -war, as in work, we must all pull together, shoulder to -shoulder to win the victory which must and shall be -<span class="locked">ours—</span></p> - -<p> -“‘If England to herself do rest but true!’” -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>218</span></p> - -<p>The speaker concluded by asking her hearers to join -in a hearty vote of thanks to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -for his “fine, instructive, and impressive lecture.” This -proposal was seconded by the Mayor of Leicester -(Alderman J. North) and Sir Samuel Faire, and carried -with acclamation, the vast audience being evidently -moved to exceptional enthusiasm.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>219</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_29">SPLENDID CANADA<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A TRIBUTE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">To</span> you, brave Canadians, to you who have fought so -magnificently for the old Mother-Country, and of whose -valour and dash and spirit never too much can be said -or sung, I would address Tennyson’s noble <span class="locked">lines:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“A People’s voice, we are a people yet</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though all men else their nobler dreams forget,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Confused by brainless mobs and lawless powers</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thank Him who isled us here and roughly set</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His Briton in blown seas and storming showers,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We have a voice with which to pay the debt</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of boundless love and reverence and regret,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>To those great men who fought and kept it ours</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0">And keep it ours, O God, from <em>brute control</em>:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O Statesmen, guard us, guard the eye, the soul</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Europe, keep our noble England whole,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And save the one true seed of Freedom sown</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Betwixt a people and their ancient throne.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The one true seed of Freedom! This is deeply -implanted in our Empire, and you Canadian boys are -fostering it and helping it to grow. Your help is needed -in peace as much as in war; we want your strength, -youth, and resolution as a firm bulwark against internal -discords and mischievous disloyalty. It is as brave -a thing to face and overcome the Evil Spirit at home as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>220</span> -it is to face him in the field, and showers of fiery -shrapnel are less disintegrating than the showers of -personal malice and intrigue directed only too often -against the men to whom we owe the amazing and -almost miraculously sudden downfall and humiliation of -our enemies in the greatest war of history.</p> - -<p>You Canadians have strongly helped to bring this -downfall and humiliation to pass; like a fine family of -stalwart sons, you have formed a guard of honour round -your Motherland, and defended her from the hands of -the spoilers. All honour to you! We want you to -know and to believe that we are grateful, and that we -shall never forget your dauntless daring and heroism! -Ingratitude is the commonest and yet the deadliest of -sins—ingratitude to God in the first place, and, in the -second, ingratitude to the men whom God has given us -to be our saviours. The first part of the indictment is -a matter for each private and individual conscience; it -is for every man and woman to try and visualise the -devastation and misery which have been mercifully -spared to the uninvaded British Isles, and to decide -whether his or her thanksgiving is real, and deeply felt. -The second part concerns the whole people of Great -Britain and her Overseas Dominions—whether they, in -very truth and earnest, sufficiently realise what they -owe to the sorely-tried military and naval leaders upon -whose shoulders has fallen the gigantic responsibility -of conducting the war to a victorious issue. <em>Not</em> to -realise it is to be guilty of a mental crime so monstrous -as to be almost unimaginable. And yet, the moment -political pawns are set on the chess-broad, every claim -to integrity and patriotism is questioned and argued -from the base point of view of “personal interest.”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>221</span> -Personal interest is a powerful motive force with most -men, but it does not count with heroes like Sir Douglas -Haig, Admiral Beatty, or Marshal Foch. Think of -these men! for it is <em>they</em> who won the war—<em>they</em>, who -through God, have given us the victory! Not the -talkers, but the doers; not the politicians, but the -fighters, among whom you, brave Canadians, held your -part like the heroes of an epic. You are rough, perchance, -but you are ready! Some there are who say -you have not received half your rightful share of honour -in this country; if this <em>is</em> so, then your Motherland is -indeed unworthy of your prowess! But I hardly think -this is, or can be so. You do not get the true voice -of the British People in the British Press—always -remember that! The People know their best men, -and honour them accordingly. And if, by chance, they -are misled occasionally, and those leaders whom they -have believed their “best” prove false to the trust placed -in them, none so swift, sure, and deadly as the British -People to rend them for their broken word. They -know you, Canadians, as their blood-brothers; and as -such will resent any wrong inflicted on your liberties -and commerce. They applaud your patriotism and rejoice -in your courage; you are the younger sons of -the Empire, and in the name of one Throne, one Flag, -we salute you and give you our heart’s gratitude!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>222</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_30">SHELLS; AND OTHER SHELLS<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written by request for the Magazine published on behalf of the -Munition Workers of Georgetown, Paisley</i>) - -<span class="subhead p1">A THOUGHT</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">In</span> one of the finest and tenderest poems ever written -by our last great Laureate, Alfred Tennyson, whose -departure from this world closed, for the time, the -reign of true English lyrical melody, there occur these -delicately beautiful <span class="locked">lines:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“See what a lovely shell</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Small and pure as a pearl</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lying close at my foot,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Frail, but a work divine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Made so fairly well</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With delicate spire and whorl</div> - <div class="verse indent2">How exquisitely minute!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A miracle of design.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The tiny cell is forlorn,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Void of the little living will</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That made it stir on the shore.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did he stand at the diamond door</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of his house, in a rainbow frill?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did he push, when he was uncurl’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A golden foot or a fairy horn</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through his dim water-world?”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>223</span></p> -<p>How often we have seen such shells as these!—and -how little have we associated the familiar name of -“shell” with any thought of war or “shock” or bloodshed! -Holding a sea-shell close against our ears we -listen in fancy to the solemn music of the ocean surging -through its hollow cavity,—the ocean with its sweeping -thunderous harmony,—though all the time we know it -is but the sound of our own life-blood pouring through -our veins and pulsing upon our senses. And now, when -we talk of “shells,” we mean something vastly different -to the “small and pure as a pearl” object which moved -a great Poet to song—for the “pure” thing was the -work of God, and “a miracle of design” wrought to -suit the needs of the “little living will that made it -stir on the shore”; but the “shells” <em>we</em> have to do with -are man’s work, made to destroy all living wills that -come in contact with them! In their terrific way they -too are “miracles of design,” for their cavities hold -death and scatter it broadcast. Still more wonderful -it is to realise the fact that women’s hands have been -taught and trained to prepare this flying death—women’s -hands, surely formed by nature for tenderness -and caressing, for soothing and consoling! How, then, -has it chanced that they should adapt themselves to -such dire uses? Why do they labour so strenuously -and eagerly to make weapons for the armoury of the -King of Terrors? Women’s hands! What charming -and poetic things have been said and written about -them! Think of the hands in Fra Angelico’s picture -of the “Angel of the Annunciation” where the dainty -tapering fingers are as exquisitely delicate as the buds -of the lilies they hold! Or, recall the subtle beauty of -Heine’s description of the hand of an unknown lady,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>224</span> -resting white and beautiful on the carved edge of a -confessional in a dark cathedral aisle, the owner of the -hand being too enshrouded in shadows to be visible.</p> - -<p>“So still and pure was that lovely hand,” wrote the -poet, “that whatever sins its mistress might be admitting -to her confessor, it was evident that of itself it had -nothing to do with sin or folly. It was a stainless sweetness -alone and apart, and shone in the gloom of the vast -cathedral like a sculptured ivory emblem of innocence.”</p> - -<p>Nevertheless!—women’s hands that are, or that -might be, as delicate and caressable as those of Fra -Angelico’s model, or Heine’s unseen lady, are now at -work in the strangest kind of “annunciation”!—the -most amazing form of “confession”! Why do they toil -in such a contrary fashion to their natural bent and -inclination? The answer is swift and conclusive. Because -Evil is let loose on the earth, and because Good -must use all force to overcome it. And, out of sternest -necessity, Good must arm itself with weapons that shall -not only match but surpass those employed by Evil. -In a fight against devils, angels must join battle. In -some of the most magnificent scenes of Milton’s “Paradise -Lost” when war rages between the warriors of -God and the followers of Satan, the good are described -as fighting against the bad with terrific weapons of -attack, and the outbursts of fire hurled against the -devilish foe were none the less potent because wrought -by the angelic hosts. Our women workers who prepare -the munitions of war are one and all inspired by the -same fixed motive and desire—namely, to end the sorrows -and suspense of the suffering nations who are -involved in the disastrous upheaval which is the result -of a people’s pitiful belief in the “divine right,” of a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>225</span> -crowned madman. And as they turn out “shells” and -yet more “shells,” we know that they hope and believe -that for every one completed, at least one of the fiendish -murderers of the innocent may be dismissed from a -world which his presence has darkened. Perchance -they may, as they press on with their work, hear more -mystic sounds than are conveyed in the cavity of an -empty shell “void of a living will” on the sea-shore—for -their filled shell speaks of their own blood, burning -with grief and indignation at the slaughter of their -kindred—and of the roar and thunder of the guns instead -of the crashing billows of the sea. Who shall -count the throbbing thoughts of the women who fill these -“shells”?—women who look calm enough and resolute -enough, and who work on tirelessly and almost wordlessly, -as though moved by a single heart, beating -through each one’s separate labour! A visitor to a shell -factory in the Midlands said to me,—“They work -quite mechanically; I think they hardly know what -they are about.” <em>Don’t</em> they know what they are about? -Indeed they do! They know they are making weapons -of destruction that shall bring reprisals for the deaths -of brave men—they know that they are helping to save -the lives of their own kinsmen, and with all their -strength they “speed up,” because they feel that by -so doing they are pushing on the end of the war. We -shall never be able to realise how much they have -done for us, and alas!—the ingratitude of nations to -its workers is proverbial. It takes a woman to understand -woman’s enforced labour, and to enter with sympathy -into all she loses by taking the place of man in -hard and difficult times—what sacrifices in health and -vitality she makes by long hours of steady application<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>226</span> -to monotonous factory work—what temptations she has -to resist—what bribes—yes!—bribes of cash and comfort -she has to forgo. For the enemy is busy elsewhere -than on the field—insidious and indefatigable in stirring -up strife in this country and sowing the seeds of disloyalty -and discontent, and it says much for our women -that they are awake and alert to the fact. Of the -contemptible few who “make love” to “Fritz” in his -prison camp, one can only be sorry that they are so -“weak in the upper story!” The real women of the -Empire—the women who, in the after-war days that -are coming, will have so much of the country’s destiny -in their guidance, are in the majority sound, sane, and -loyal—we can trust them with work even more momentous -than the making of shells! Meanwhile, we can try -to be grateful to them for their steadiness and perserverance, -their pluck and patience, and let us not forget -at any time what we owe to them. It should be graven -deep on the records of the nation that—<em>Without -Women’s Work the War Could Not Be Won!</em> And in -the hour of victory let us not fail to pay them our debt -of Honour!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>227</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_31">DARKNESS AND LIGHT<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written at the request of Sir Arthur Pearson as the Prologue -to an Entertainment on behalf of St. Dunstan’s Hostel for Soldiers -and Sailors Blinded in the War</i>)</span> -</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Oh, dark, dark, dark amid the blaze of noon,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Irrecoverably dark! Total eclipse</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Without all hope of day!”</div> - </div> - <div class="attrib">Samson Agonistes.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">You</span>, whose eyes are able to read these tragic lines of -blind John Milton, can you realise what they mean? -Do you feel to the innermost core of your heart the -blackness of that “eclipse without all hope of day,” -which like a never-lifting cloud envelopes those from -whom the blessing of sight has been taken for ever! -Can you, even by the utmost exertion of your imagination, -truly grasp what it would mean to you if all -light and colour were blotted out from your consciousness, -and you had to rely on a merciful guiding hand -to lead you to and fro, to hold you lest you stumbled, -and conduct you from places of business or pleasure -safely back to your home? If you could not see beloved -faces?—if the sunlight could never again reach those -poor closed channels of the vision you once enjoyed?—if -the skies, the lovely country, the woods and the -ocean were all glories that should never again gladden -your sight?—if this were so, would you not pray to -God that being thus handicapped He would at least -give you <em>friends</em>? Friends who would be eyes to you,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>228</span> -hands to you—who would cheer you in dreadful -moments of depression blacker than blindness, and who -would help you to find occupation and train you to do -useful work, although sightless, so that the days and -years should not be so fraught with monotony and dull -regret; and that life, after all, should not seem a -barren and empty thing?</p> - -<p>You have heard of St. Dunstan’s Hostel for soldiers -and sailors blinded in the war? It is now one of earth’s -“Holy Places”—holy because the benediction of heaven -has made it a sanctuary—a sanctuary of love, patience, -self-sacrifice and untiring devotion—holy, because the -patiently endured martyrdom of a brave man has been -and is its spiritual foundation. Sir Arthur Pearson—(some -of you do not know it or think of it)—is himself -blind. And what makes his sorrow darker for him, -is that he has known all the blessings of perfect sight—he -has enjoyed all the activities of an eager and -vigorous life, and is still in the prime of manhood. -“How sad for him!” murmurs the conventional Society -voice—“Such a drawback!” Yes, how sad!—but what -gladness for others he gathers from his own handicap!—what -splendid results have sprung from his “drawback!”—what -sunshine pours from the cloud of his -night! The American essayist, Emerson, in advising -one stricken with adversity, writes, “Be like the wounded -oyster, <em>mend your shell with a pearl</em>!” With what a -pearl of great price has Arthur Pearson mended his -life’s wound! Knowing the bitterness of blindness, he -has devoted all his energies to the care of the blind -and to the lightening of their darkness, especially to -those heroes who, in the very hey-day of their youth -and manliness have gone unhesitatingly forth to face<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>229</span> -the foe in this wickedest of wars, and have been blinded -by shot and shell explosions, losing all sense of vision -in one cruel moment—a moment that rings down the -curtain on all scenes and faces for ever! Shall we not, -with all our hearts, help the sublime cause of “love to -our neighbours,” and consolation to our self-sacrificing -soldiers and sailors, taught to us by the example of -this Englishman who does not protest, but <em>lives</em> his -Christian faith in a manner that Christ must surely -approve? It would be trespassing on sacred ground to -presume to guess how much heavenly light has been -mystically shed on his own darkness by this noble -dedication of his sorrow to noblest ends. But it may -be reverently said that he has followed as far as is -humanly possible the Divine Teacher who, in healing -a blind man, “put His hands upon his eyes and <em>made -him look up</em>.” In this we can all help. We can make -our brave, blind friends, the soldiers and sailors, -rendered sightless for our sakes, “look up!” We can -make them feel they are not alone and helpless in a -dark world; we can convince them that their welfare -is dear to us, and that we are fully conscious of the -immense sacrifices they have made for us and for the -country. Let us all then do our utmost and best for -St. Dunstan’s and strengthen the hands of its Founder, -and let it never be said that we were guilty of the -meanest vice known to humanity—Ingratitude!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>230</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_32">SWEEPING THE COUNTRY</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">They</span> say it does; and I hardly wonder! The broom -is so long and searchful; it goes into so many holes -and corners that surely not a single spider’s web is -left unvisited. It gathers up the pale dust of British -gullability with an admirable adroitness, and what -is perhaps the best thing about it is that it pays for -its sweepings. Not every broom does that! But I -am told—I do not assert it or vouch for it—that it is a -German broom; and no make of broom in all the -world is more capable of industry or more resistless to -wear and tear. Opposed as we are, and as we must -be, to German militarism, German labour will, I fear, -be always ahead of us, especially if the German worker -puts in eight or ten hours where the British decides -to give only four or six. This is a matter for future -testing; in the meanwhile let us consider with attention, -in capital letters “THIS MORNING’S NEWS -ABOUT PELMANISM,” as it appears in that esteemed -journal <i>The Sunday Times</i>, to which I have had the -honour to contribute. It is but the other day that -I was assured “on the highest authority” (as the -bewildered press reporters at the Peace Conference -have expressed it) that “Pelman” was originally spelt -“<em>Poehlmann</em>,” and that at discreet intervals his “Magic -Card” would be followed by another, inscribed “<em>Roth</em>.” -Both names have the euphonious Teuton ring about -them, and they both imply Money—money spent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>231</span> -lavishly and magnificently on the “flowing tide of -Pelmanism” by way of opulent and ceaseless advertisement -in all the newspapers which joyously yield their -columns to cash rather than to intelligent information, -and give up whole pages to “Pelman” or “Roth” indiscriminately, -in competition with a kindly Swedish -masseur or exercise-man, who in equally lavish announcements -and large type, promises health to the -healthless even as “Pelman” and “Roth” promise brain -to the brainless. Of “Roth” I know little except that -according to advertisement “he is a remarkable man” -(of which I am entirely convinced), but of “Pelman” -I have learned something at first hand. I have learned, -for instance, how it is that the spacious, tremendous, -profuse, and overpowering advertisements of this system -of brain-forcing flood every corner of the press, squeezing -out by their size and the space they occupy legitimate -news of interest to the public; of course, the first -and chief reason is that they are paid for. Everything -in every line of business, pleasure or social -position, is paid for; even the clergyman who professes -to show you the way to heaven is paid for. Then -surely it follows that Pelman or Poehlmann must be -a multi-millionaire? No! he need not be. As the -controller of the “flowing tide” he may make others -pay, and so may command cash without being personally -wealthy. He no doubt realises the truth of what -a certain frank proprietor of pickles assured me—“If -advertising is done well and continuously it brings -in double and treble the money it costs.” And the -channels in which the “flowing tide” is set to run are -cleverly prepared and delved out in the shifting sands -of British innocence and credulity—two admirable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>232</span> -traits of our national character. It is a touching thing -to realise that the guileless Briton should so simply -confess himself to “Pelman” as mindless and memory-less—and -it is equally pathetic to discover in the -“Census” of “Pelmanists” there can be counted one -barmaid, one bacon-curer, and one “corporation official”! -“Art and music and literature are being re-born,” says -Pelman—and no doubt the Pelmanists are already in -travail. It is all very clever and amusing; a little -comedy in which the guileless Briton is the bear that -dances to the Pelman pipings. I admire cleverness -wherever I find it; it is a star in the general murk of -stupidity, and I am the last person in the world to -depreciate the brilliancy of its glitter. But it has -interested me to study the movements of this particular -scheme, and chance or fortune placed one or two threads -in my hands which seemed to suggest a clue. Briefly -then, I was offered Fifty Guineas to “write up” -Pelmanism. The offer came through a very agreeable -and enterprising journalist, employed, I presume, to -secure fresh supplies for the “flowing tide,” and he -added to his own personal and friendly entreaties a considerable -quantity of literary matter setting forth the -miraculous improvement in heretofore dull brains under -the influence of Pelman or Poehlmann. I made a -careful study of these documents, and the first thing -that dawned on my own dim intelligence was that -every would-be student of the “course” would be called -upon to pay six guineas, either in one sum or by “easy -instalments,” though one <em>can</em> have a copy of the book -entitled <i>Mind and Memory</i> (which tell “all about” -Pelmanism but does not instruct) <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">gratis</i>, and in that -book are “particulars” showing how one can obtain<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>233</span> -the “course” at a reduced fee. Thanks to my journalist -friend I had the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">gratis</i> book (in its forty-fourth edition, -and for this reason called “The World’s Most Widely -Read Book”—well! with all diffidence allow me to hint -that this is incorrect, as I myself am the author of -one or two books in their fifty-first editions), but the -“Course” did not tempt me to disburse guineas, not -even had I accepted the Fifty offered. (I may say -here that I never accept “tips.”) But I could not, and -cannot refrain from considering how, if the scheme -works successfully, as of course it must, the British -public are paying for these splendid advertisements! -Paying so well that it is easy to understand how the -Pelman promoters can afford to pay Fifty Guineas, more -or less, to the obliging individuals who are ready and -willing to praise the “system.” Canon Hannay -(“George A. Birmingham”) for instance—does <em>he</em> get -Fifty Guineas? Or Mr. Spencer Leigh Hughes, M.P.? -Or dear George R. Sims? Or Mr. Gilbert Frankau? -Or do they send in their testimonials <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">gratis</i>? I feel -that I cannot be the <em>only</em> “eminent” (to quote advertisement) -person who has received the munificent -offer of Fifty Guineas, and <em>refused the same</em>! In the -Pelman “Census” I note there are 339 accountants, -8 actresses, 490 clergymen, and—one archbishop! -Whereby it would seem that accountants and clergymen -need more brain-prodding than others. And if -the “one Archbishop” should consent to “write up” -the advantages of the “course” (like Mr. Will Owen, -who declares that, artist though he professes to be, -he had “hardly begun the first lesson in Pelmanism -before he discovered something he had been drawing -incorrectly all his life), sure His Grace would merit<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>234</span> -a Hundred Guineas for his good work at the very -least? Anyhow his fee should be more than that of a -“bacon-curer” or a novelist! In openly confessing the -offer to myself of Fifty Guineas which I refused without -a moment’s hesitation, I do so that I may call the -attention and admiration of the public to the clever -way certain people manage to make money through -human gullability. The brain-prodders and memory-pushers -are almost as astute as Government officials. -The mass of people who never stop to think, still less -to calculate, are their happy hunting-ground. Personally -I think Pelman and Roth too “sharp” to be of the -Anglo-Saxon race, though I do not assert them to be -Germans, naturalised or <em>de</em>-naturalised. But they have -the Teuton line of intelligence; that is, wherever they -find a good thick soil of stupidity, they plant seed -therein, fertilise it and make it grow. These special -people who feed the coffers of journalism by purchasing -whole pages of space for their advertisements, are so -convinced of the thickness and richness of Anglo-American -stupidity that they boldly offer to transmute it, -like alchemists, into the gold of intellectual ability, and -if this could be done ’twere a worthy thing. But one -must pause at the idea they put forward—“If only -we had 1,000,000 clever thinkers!” It is <em>too</em> terrific! -This poor earth of ours could not survive! Its rolling -ball like a bomb would burst in space, overburdened by -the sheer weight of brain! Be merciful, therefore, O -munificent Pelman! spare us, gentle Roth! Do not -instruct the bacon-curer or train the Archbishop beyond -what we have the strength to endure! Do not compel -us to bow the knee to the “barmaid” as another De -Stael!—to the “corporation official” as a new Admir<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>235</span>able -Crichton! It is the American philosopher Emerson -who writes, “Let the world beware when a Thinker -comes into it!” But “1,000,000 thinkers!” The prospect -is horrible—spare us, good Lord! We have much -to be thankful for in Carlyle’s famous assertion “most -fools,” for if our population were all wise, life would -be dull indeed! Fools make the gaiety of nations—they -are the staple support of all governments—the -foundation of the press and the drama—the stock-in-trade -of all authors, philosophers, and wits whatsoever, -and Heaven forbid we should ever be deprived of their -existence! We are always more or less in the position -of Shakespeare’s “melancholy Jacques” and ready to -say, “A fool, a fool, I met a fool i’ the forest! as I -do live by food I met a fool!” and when we chance on -company with this simple friend of all men should we -“Pelmanise” or “Roth” him? Never! He is too valuable -an asset to the world!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>236</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_33">TO SAVE LIFE OR DESTROY IT?<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A CHALLENGE TO CERTAIN CLERGY - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Does</span> the Christian Church profess to follow the teaching -of Christ? Or the Law of Moses? That is to say: -Is it Christian or Jewish? If Jewish, its “sabbath” -should be kept on Saturday, in conformance with the -rest of the Jewish world; if Christian, then, according -to Christ, we may, if necessity compels, do imperative -work on Sunday. But a section of our clergy are up -in arms at the idea of “profaning the Lord’s Day” by -allowing labour of tillage and planting the land on -Sundays, for the necessities of the nation’s food. Where -do these contentious persons get their authority? Not -from their divine Master! Their spirit is that of -the Scribes and Pharisees who “watched” Our Lord—“whether -he would heal on the sabbath day, that they -might find an accusation against Him.” The world -has not outgrown that contemptible spirit. “That they -might find an accusation” is often everybody’s aim -and clearest business! “Then said Jesus unto them—I -will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the sabbath -days to do good or to do evil?—to save life or destroy -it?” And when the hypocrites could not answer Him, -He healed the afflicted man who had sought His aid, -whereat those who had “watched” Him, so says the Gospel -narrative, “were filled with madness and communed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>237</span> -one with another what they might do to Him.” But, despite -His scorn of their narrow sectarianism, “He went -out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night -in prayer to God.”</p> - -<p>No true servant of Christ can find the least excuse -in any one of the Divine Teacher’s commands for a -rigidly sectarian observance of Sunday. A seventh -day’s rest was wisely and rightly instituted by Moses -for the relief of the Israelites when they had been -worked as slaves by their Egyptian taskmasters; but -Christ never incorporated its observance as any part -of the instructions He gave to His disciples. “What -man shall there be among you,” He said, “that shall -have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath -day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How -much, then, is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore, -it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.”</p> - -<p>Mark those last words! They were spoken by One -“in whom there was no guile.” It is lawful to do well -on the sabbath days. And yet, Oh! narrow and rigid -men who “profess” Christ, you, who see and know that -on the feeding of our population depends their health, -their strength, and their ultimate victory over a barbarous -foe, you would discourage the willing hearts -and hinder the ready hands from virtuous and unselfish -labour on Sundays in a time of unexampled -national necessity! Shame! For the blessing of God -must be on all such honest workers whose toil is for -the help and honour of their country. Christ told us -there were but two commandments, not ten—the first: -“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul -and with all thy mind and with all thy strength”—and -the second: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>238</span> -There is none other commandment greater than these.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Now what do the dogmatists make of this? If we -truly love God, we surely know His “work” never -ceases. We could not live a second without His sustaining -principle. Every moment of every hour some active -propulsion of creative force labours to produce a result -which is perfect of its kind. On whatever day we sow -our wheat we cannot stop its growing on Sundays. -The energies of Divine beneficence never slacken. If -they did, existence itself would be at an end. Our -“love” of God must therefore include our consciousness -of His unresting “work” for His creation. Then, if -we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, it follows -that we must care for his sustenance as well as our -own. In times like the present we must help him to -produce food for himself and his family, even if we -till the land on Sundays, which, so employed, may be -considered truly “holy” days. For “it is lawful to -do well on the sabbath days,” and it is better to benefit -a neighbour than listen to a sermon. That is, if we -accept the teaching of Christ and assume to be Christians. -The times are pressing; the necessity for food -production urgent; and men owe it as a duty to the -land God gives them that it should yield sufficient to -keep the population in health and safety. Therefore, -if this needful, noble work has to be done quickly, there -is no sin, but rather great virtue and self-sacrifice, in -working on Sundays as well as weekdays during a time -of war and stress. If any of the clergy can quote a -single one of Christ’s own words forbidding necessary -work on Sundays, let them do so. Christ’s own words, -remember! They are generally ignored by all Churches.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>239</span> -Had they ever been obeyed, the purity and strength of -a perfect Faith would, long ere this, have exterminated -War. Now, all good “Christian” clergy, who object -to necessary national work on Sundays, produce your -Master’s warrant for such action—if you can! I say -you cannot!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>240</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_34">THE WAR LOAN<br /> - -<span class="subhead">HOW IT MIGHT BE INCREASED - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">We</span> are all bound for victory. Every nerve and sinew -of every man and woman in Imperial Britain is bent -on the task of winning it, not only for ourselves, but -for the whole civilised world. America knows, and the -intimidated and secretly tampered with neutrals also -know, as well as we do, that the full triumph of the -Allies means their great peace as well as ours—their -advantage, their progress, their commerce, as well as -ours. That brave and straight-speaking hero of science, -Thomas Edison, recently said: “The people of the -world have willed that they shall be their own masters, -and what the people will is sure to come to pass.” True -enough, it is the people only who can realise every -aim, every ideal, every conquest; and in this matter -of the War Loan they can raise a veritable mountain -of gold if they so determine. But—there is a “but” -in their willingness: an obstacle in the race—they will -not give as much as they would if they have to realise -that some of it or any of it may be used to pay wages -and provide food for German foes dwelling in our -very midst.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Think of it! Is it reasonable, is it just, to ask this -patient, docile, strong, and law-abiding people of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>241</span> -Britain to give their lives, their homes, their children, -their time, with all their service and money, towards -the vigorous and incessant prosecution of the war, when -they know that there are more than 20,000 German -foes kept at large in this realm, free to do as they will? -Twenty thousand, who go about in all towns and -villages unchallenged, listening, spying, noting every -coign and circumstance of vantage, and often (assuming -to be English themselves) using persuasion to prejudice -the Loan among the uninstructed classes.</p> - -<p>Twenty thousand enemies, prepared and ready to -work devastation at the first opportunity, while we -“hush up” all that may seem unchivalrous or to the -dear creatures’ detriment! Is it right that these same -Germans should have their own meeting places and -restaurants in London as freely as if they were in -Berlin? And, to add insult to the injury of the whole -position, is it even sane that our authorities should -actually permit Germans to work in our munition -factories? Germans who, when they leave the works -and go to their eating houses, take off their munition -badges and spit on them in token of their contempt -for Britain, even while they are accepting British pay -and eating British food!</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>What does it mean, this employment of Germans in -British munition factories? Death-dealing explosions, -of course! What else can any one, not entirely a -drivelling idiot, expect? Is it likely that a German -will make shells absolutely as they should be made -for the destruction of his own countrymen? No; he -would rather burn down the whole factory!—and he -does if he gets the chance. Nor can he be blamed;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>242</span> -it is the authorities who are to blame for putting him -in the way of temptation to murder. There is something -so “dumb-driven, cattle-like” in the sheer stupidity -of two or three of our Governmental Departments -that one is fain to compassionate them as one might -compassionate sheep bumping their heads against a -stone wall and expecting to get through.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>If a house is threatened with burglary, is it reasonable -to ask the burglar in on a “dine and sleep” visit? Yet -that is what is being done with the Germans in our -country to-day. And it is not possible that our people -can or will rise to their full strength, either in service -or in money, as long as they are affronted by the -presence of the enemy in the centres of their business -and social life. The extraordinary indulgence shown to -the Huns in London is a perpetual worry to our French -friends, who cannot understand it. They discuss it -and deplore it as a sign of weakness. But whatever it -is, we may be sure it will not be allowed to last. Once -the people take the law into their own hands nothing -will stop them. <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Après ça le deluge!</i></p> - -<p>No spitting on British munition badges then! No -extra allowances of food to German prisoners while -British folk are ordered to measure their rations! -No “official” posts for men with German wives! Taken -as a whole, the position is more than scandalous. The -British people have every right to demand that their -own land shall be cleansed of all the associates of the -pirates and murderers who slay their men, women, -and children without mercy, and who yet remain here, -living at the nation’s expense. Every German at large -in these islands is a walking “wireless” of swift and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>243</span> -useful information to headquarters. Each new device -of Britain for worsting the foe is at once conveyed to -those most interested, and our newspapers, frequently -more zealous than discreet, lend their aid by giving -details, and often illustrations, of the latest of our -scientific inventions for warfare.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>It is time this matter was handled boldly, with -“gloves off,” as Queen Elizabeth would have handled -it. She would have sent all Germans out of the country -at the very declaration of war, and so would have saved -an infinite number of treasons against the State. Late -in the day as it is, why not send them now? Send them -all, in comfort and luxury if you will, with “rations” of -first-class food, on British ships flying the British flag, -and let them take their chance of the kindness and -humanity of their own countrymen. They will be useful -additions to the “national service” of their Vaterland—we -do not want them here. Our own men and -women will suffice us for our own labor, and work will -be done more readily, while money will flow in more -plentifully, when we are sure that our own land is -purged of the Hun, and that we are not, like fools, -paying to keep and feed plotters against the peace of -the realm.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>244</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_35">FOOD PRODUCTION<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A PLEA FOR COMMON SENSE - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Talk</span> of “National Service!” Where is the man, -woman, or child that refuses to do any really necessary -or useful work for the country? Such cannot be found! -There is an eager and splendid willingness in every one -to give his or her best; but without proper organisation -the fine forces of this fine, patient, and enduring people -are scattered and disunited. From all that the bewildered -mind can gather through the roaring megaphone -of an apparently semi-crazed and ruinously -expensive system of advertisement, the National -Service most demanded is “food production.” So says -Mr. Prothero. Very well. Then why not set about it -in an orderly practical manner, without screaming our -shortcomings aloud for the amusement of the Germans? -There is no difficulty whatever in sufficient food production -if some sort of method be brought into the -present chaos. Take this for an <span class="locked">example:—</span></p> - -<p>With the help of an old soldier with a wooden leg -and an old man of seventy, a pig farmer and market -gardener was able to put on the market in six months -£1487 worth of pork and £174 of garden produce.</p> - -<p>In the next three months he anticipates an addition -to his stock of about 240 pigs from his twenty-five -breeding sows.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>245</span></p> - -<p>Already he has 211 pigs on the place, apart from the -breeding animals.</p> - -<p>What can be done in one place can be done in another, -and if every rural town and village were encouraged -to work its own allotments, if every cottager were -persuaded to grow his or her own garden produce, and -keep pigs and poultry, half the food problem would -be solved. Why not organise such a plan and concentrate -scattered forces? It would be a mistake to confide -the management of such a scheme to “local” magnates, -whether mayors or members of corporations, for -those who have any experience of such “bodies” know -well enough what hindrances they are in the way of -active progress, having always their own axes to grind. -But an impartial, unprejudiced, friendly director of -each agricultural centre, a man or woman of helpful, -sympathetic and practical knowledge, who would encourage -the workers and spare them any of that “superior” -tone of insolence so hurtfully employed by some -of the temporary jacks-in-office on our military tribunals, -could very easily energise the whole business. -Suppose, too, that instead of a daily patter about potatoes -and “shortage,” the Government were to offer -prizes from ten to a hundred pounds for the cottagers -and holders of allotments who, in six months, should -produce most food for their own families and neighbours, -would it not cost less money than the printing -of millions of “food tickets”? Certainly, it would -hearten, not dishearten, the workers, and give them -an extra zest for “production.”</p> - -<p>Moreover, it is high time our rulers and Ministers -left off talking about “shortage of food” altogether, if -the following is <span class="locked">true:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>246</span></p> - -<p>A statement made in the House of Commons recently -emphasises the fact that German agents are still active -in this country. In refusing to supply a member with -certain information about the supply of aeroplanes, he -said: “Any answer we give in this House is at once -sent to Germany.”</p> - -<p>Printed or written information can always be stopped -by the censor. The question remains: How is the -information conveyed?</p> - -<p>How, indeed? Why should we give the Huns the -satisfaction of supposing we need food? Or allowing -them to think their U-boats are “blockading” us into -famine? Let the public keep its “weather eye” open, -and consider recent events in Russia! There, part of -the German scheme was “to create an artificial scarcity -of food, so as to precipitate food riots and compel a -separate peace.”</p> - -<p>Beware of the dog! How about Great Britain? -Who can swear that the same “influence” is not at work -here, “to create an artificial scarcity of food”? And if -it should be so, why do our politicians fall sheer into -the trap and spread the mischief which the foe may -have started? Food was poured into Petrograd as soon -as the German “unseen hand” was cut off. It is a -significant fact worth remembering!</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Again, let it be emphasised that there is no difficulty -about food production in these islands if the work be -properly organised. Food is not grown on emotional -impulse, such as that displayed by a charming lady -I lately met, who told me with sweet resignation: “I -will not have flowers in my window boxes this summer. -I shall plant potatoes in them instead!” Dear soul!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>247</span> -She evidently thought it worth while! Just as some -folks think it worth while to dig up and disfigure the -parks of London with potato growing when there is -any amount of waste land around which needs cultivation! -One deplores “the falsehood of extremes.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>If we are to accept Mr. Prothero’s statement, the -most important line of “national service” is this food -production. Then, let him take action and not listen -to hearsay or report. Let him see for himself the -thousands of acres in this country waiting to be cultivated -and to produce richly and royally all that is -needed for the population. Let there be common sense -organisation in each district—not “compulsion”; the -people are too cheerfully brave and willing to be “compelled.” -But no one cares to work in the dark without -a plan, and without any encouragement. They are told -to “produce food,” but are denied labour to produce it. -The capable field-worker is taken, and inefficient substitutes -sent instead—men who do not know how to -plant a root or sow a seed, with the obvious result that -plants and seeds represent so much money thrown -away. But, once more to emphasise the need of common -sense, let us hold fast the fact that no lack of food -is possible to this country if things are properly organised. -And as we see by report that, despite U-boats, -ships laden with useful cargoes are constantly arriving -in our ports, let us not forget the possibility of “the -creation of that artificial scarcity” which stirred the -blood and roused the devil in Russia!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>248</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_36">OUR FORTUNATE “RESTRICTIONS”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">The</span> Germans are reported to be in ecstasy over what -they call the “despairing appeal” of the Prime Minister’s -great “restrictions” speech. But, however great -their “ecstasy” may be, it can hardly equal ours! For -we have sufficient sense to see what hope and strength -for our Empire springs, like a bright rainbow, from -what the Boche obtusely imagines is a cloud. Our -“lead” is towards increasing prosperity and happiness -for all. We are invited to look forward to a self-supporting -country; we are given fresh chances of barring -the ungrateful Teuton from our trades by showing -him that we can do all our own work ourselves. We are -promised another “Merrie England” of the spacious -days of yore, when foreign supplies were rare and costly, -and when all the fields were thick with golden grain -and all the orchards glowed with many-coloured fruits -and the agricultural population were given the chance -to reap what they had sown.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Now, in our lovely rural villages we may perhaps -hope to see the last of many frowsy, idle sluts who for -years have preferred to gossip away their time rather -than do any useful work; and in their stead we may -look for healthy, active girls and women who are proud -of their dairies and poultry farms, and glad to show -interested customers the great bowls of milk, the churning -of butter, the making of cheese, and all the endless<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>249</span> -charms of “country” work well done. If the submarine -menace teaches us to produce all the food that can be -produced in these islands, it will be a blessing in disguise, -a helper and saviour of the grit, stability, and -fine reasonableness of the British race. Talk of potatoes! -There are many hundred of acres of waste land -in South Cornwall alone, notably wide, treeless fields -running into sand dunes by the sea, where the potato -would flourish as well as it does in similar Dutch soil, -and all this precious land is empty and untilled. To -urge the digging up of parks and public recreation -grounds, where it is doubtful whether potatoes would -grow at all, when there is all this acreage available, is -sheer nonsense. I would that I had even a hundred -acres of that Cornish sandy soil by the sea just now. -With a few skilled labourers (for one must know <em>how</em> -to plant potatoes) it should yield gold! At Newquay, -by the way, there is a golfing ground reserved for the -amusement of a dozen or so of privileged selfish persons; -it would grow tons of potatoes and other good -edibles with very little trouble.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Nothing has ever been a greater source of wonder -to me than the improvidence of such British folk as -prefer to buy their vegetables and fruit food rather than -grow it. Nowhere are allotments so untidily kept or so -altogether neglected as in certain parts of England; nowhere -is so little grown in them. Surely it stands to -sense that if each cottager grew his own vegetable and -fruit food there would be less need for foreign supplies. -And if every waste field were made to produce <em>something</em> -in the way of foods a submarine blockade must -needs prove futile in any attempt to starve the popula<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>250</span>tion. -We may, if we will, foresee the vision of a happier, -grander Britain than ever, when the people of these -fruitful islands are given <em>their own</em>, and no longer have -need to sever their lives from the homes of their kindred -because there is no work for them here owing to the -intrusion of German influence and German labour. We -might also consider with belated sorrow the depopulation -of the Scottish Highlands, and the preservation of -vast tracts of moor and forest for mere “sport,” which -has for years been a scandal and a disgrace to the -nation. Let us have the people back on the land, and -let the deer and the grouse take their own wild chances -of existence. The submarine menace has come to teach -us what we ought to have learned long ago—namely, -that what we want on our own land are our own men, -as skilled farmers and workers in every useful and -profitable department, and that it ought never to be -possible to see, as I once saw posted up on a large -factory in London itself: “No English Need Apply.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Look at the thing squarely. With each householder, -in rural districts at least, growing his own vegetable -and fruit supply, and the farmers growing for the community -in general, what lack should there be of the -necessities of life? The Prime Minister has restricted -nothing that we cannot well do without. Somebody has -grumbled about apples. Where will you beat homegrown -apples? Plant orchards of them without stint; -they will repay the trouble. Somebody else grumbles—yes, -we know somebody always grumbles! This time -it is about “Paris hats.” They are “forbidden.” O -wise judge! O learned judge! No more (for a time, -at least) shall we be pestered by receiving elaborate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>251</span> -circulars printed in gold stating that Monsieur Satanique -“presents” his latest “creations,” as if the good Satanique -were a sort of deity. Nor will he, with all his -persuasive charm, be able to entice the foolish among -women to pay him six or eight guineas for a bit of -wire, a scrap of lace, a feather, and a ribbon. O bold -“restriction”! No more “Paris hats”—but, let us -hope, a great deal more common sense!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>252</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_37">“HIS PAINFUL DUTY”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE SORROWS OF THE HOME SECRETARY - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">We</span> grieve for Sir George Cave. He suffers as a martyr -suffers in the cause of his country. Martyrs are not so -common as heroes nowadays, but Sir George puts in no -claim to heroism. He leaves that to “Tommy.” “Tommy” -makes short work of the Huns wherever and however -he meets them, but Sir George is almost on the -verge of tears because he is unable to make their stay -on in this country as agreeable and profitable as he -would wish.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>In the House of Commons he said: “Only the other -day it was his <em>painful duty</em> to order the internment of -sixteen members of one alien club alone!” Alas, alas! -“Sixteen” out of twenty thousand wandering spies! -“One club alone,” out of hundreds of enemy information -centres! Poor Sir George! How his heart must have -been torn! how it must, even now, be lacerated and -sore! “Had this club been in existence during the -whole war?” asked Sir Henry Dalziel pointedly. And -surely Sir George must have fetched a sigh from the -bottom of his soul as he was compelled to answer -“Yes!” Mr. Herbert Samuel, the late Home Secretary, -was also apparently in sad plight, for he “seemed very -anxious about the thousands of friendly aliens” in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>253</span> -East End of London and other large towns. He may -well be “very anxious.” For these “thousands of -friendly aliens” are <em>not</em> “friendly,” and in nine cases -out of ten “show,” as Mr. Samuel gravely observed, -“that their hearts are not with this country.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Is Mr. Samuel really so ingenuous, so simple, so -altogether infantile in experience as to suppose their -hearts <em>could</em> be “with this country”? Are the hearts -of Britishers interned in Germany “<em>with</em>” Germany? -The Germans have turned English and Americans out -of Berlin; why is not the same course pursued by us -with Germans in London? Every German in the British -Isles hopes for their “invasion” by his countrymen, and -with invasion the signal to mobilise. With 30,000 -interned and 20,000 at liberty, 50,000 foes are in our -midst, ready to turn upon us at short notice. Why -should this matter be dealt with in such a spineless, -semi-paralytic way? What are the British public to -think of the Ministers who put them on “rations” of -four pounds of bread a week, while the German prisoner -is allowed ten? Two and a half pounds of meat to the -German’s three and a half? And everything on the -same scale, so that, summing up the total, the honest -British worker gets seven pounds four ounces of food -to his enemy prisoners’ <em>fourteen pounds fourteen ounces</em>! -Can any Controller of any department be so blind as -to think the British people will stand such injustice? -Many of us know all about Donnington Hall, though -an honest attempt to clear up that scandal was nipped -in the bud by some “Unseen Hand.” But what of the -life of ease led by the German prisoners interned in the -Isle of Man? There, in the great internment camp,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>254</span> -officers are “at home,” and are permitted to buy whatever -quantity of food they like to pay for—food which -the native population cannot get! Just as the enemy -officers at Donnington Hall can order all they like “without -restriction,” while British prisoners in Germany -are given hardly enough to keep them from starving!</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Sir George Cave, in his extreme solicitude for “enemy -aliens,” has committed himself to one utterance which -he may live to regret. It is this: “Enemy aliens freed -from internment ought certainly to be employed on -<em>useful work of national importance</em>.”</p> - -<p>Ought they, indeed! The employment of enemy -aliens on “work of national importance” would be little -short of a criminal act. For human nature is the same -as it ever was, and no “enemy alien” is likely to do -“work of national importance” for his jailer or conqueror -without at least <em>trying</em> to do it in such a manner -that it shall never be done, or else done so badly that -it shall not serve its purpose. What sane Englishman -imagines that an “enemy” born of a ruthless race, which -has proved itself murderous and treacherous, will serve -<em>him</em> in “work of national importance” without a good -effort to blow him and his “work” to the four winds of -heaven? The guileless simplicity of Sir George Cave -reminds one of the nursery’s “little <span class="locked">lamb”:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Whichever way the German went,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Lamb was sure to go!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Down in the country, where we are commanded, with -a sort of megaphone shouting through the Press, to -“Grow food,” when we have no skilled labour to grow<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>255</span> -it, we are told that we can employ “enemy prisoners” on -the land. A friend, anxious to get waste land under -cultivation, asked what would be the rate of pay. The -reply was: “One guinea a week; fifteen shillings if you -feed him.” Compare this with the pay given to our -British prisoners who work in Germany—“one penny a -day,” <i>i.e.</i>, sixpence a week! My friend decided to put -guineas in the War Loan rather than spend them on a -German prisoner who, if he worked on the land, would -be sure to work “against the grain.” And one asks -again: Why so much indulgence and care for the men -of a dishonourable race who have plunged Europe into -blood and tears, and who have murdered innocent -women and children, and who, far from repenting their -crimes, add to them the awful blasphemy of calling -God to witness their “humanity”? Surely it is time -this weak and nerveless inaction on the part of the -authorities concerned should cease, and that they should, -in the words of <span class="locked">Shakespeare,—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent10">“Take our cause</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Out of the gripes of cruel men.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>256</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_38">THE POTATO “SCREAM”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A PROTEST AGAINST A STUPID PANIC - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">No</span> potatoes! Dear, dear; whatever shall we do? Some -of the clever boys who write the “purple patches” for -the sensational Press say that the present shortage is -“nothing compared to the grim possibilities of the near -future.” “Grim possibilities” is good—a phrase that -will delight the Huns! But, quite dispassionately, may -it not be asked how Britain got on without potatoes in -her historic past? Henry VIII. was a goodly King; he -ate greedily, drank heavily, and married profusely, but -never a potato adorned his groaning banquet board. He -“fared sumptuously every day,” and his subjects were -not starved. Strong armies, victorious navies, existed -without potatoes. Crècy, poitiers, Agincourt were -fought on other food. People lived in those days even -more hazardously than they live now, and did not worry -about “grim possibilities.” They grew their own food -produce, and had no chance of Overseas supplies. And -they never knew the potato!</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>The history of the potato is quite modern, proving -that it is by no means a necessity of life. According to -some historians, it is a native of Chili and Peru, and -was introduced from Santa Fé, in America, by Sir John -Hawkins in 1563—one year before the birth of Shakes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>257</span>peare. -So, as it was a new product and uncommon, it -is possible that the Poet of the World struggled up to -manhood without so much as one potato scream! The -soliloquy in <i>Hamlet</i> owes nothing to the potato—the -famous adjuration in <span class="locked"><cite>Henry V.</cite>:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Or close the walls up with our English dead”—</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">has nothing of the “mealy”-mouthed about it! Other -authorities say it was brought over by Sir Francis -Drake in 1586, but not generally introduced till 1592, -and that Sir Walter Raleigh cultivated it first in Ireland -on his estates in the county of Cork. It apparently -was not known in Flanders (according to its biographers) -till 1620. Well, then, how on earth did we get -on without it? And if we <em>did</em> get on without it, why -cannot we get on without it again? I imagine that it -is very much the fault of our gifted melodramatic actors -on the stage of the Press that we are startled and -“shivered” by the thrilling exits and entrances of the -potato at stated intervals. One Bathurst is responsible -for an actual “potato boom,” he having made it appear -that this particular edible is a main prop of existence, -when it is nothing of the kind. He has frightened a -number of unreasoning women into “long queues” that -“besiege” the potato dealers. If these women would -only stay at home and decide to do without potatoes at -all, the “shortage” and the dealers would soon display -an altered aspect! One does not like to be rude about -any portion of the human anatomy, but surely people -who know Ireland have heard of the “potato <em>abdomen</em>” -(the actual word is too Scriptural for polite usage).<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>258</span> -There <em>is</em> such a thing; and it is not at all a desirable -ornament. Women who wish to keep graceful, <em>svelte</em> -figures never eat potatoes. In all dietetic rules for the -fat, “grave” warnings are uttered against potatoes, and -“grim possibilities” are in store for any obstinately -large man or woman who continues to eat them!</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Why should the restless Bathurst seek to create a sort -of South Sea Bubble in potatoes? The frenzy need not -spread, if reasonable folk will collect their wits (some -of which have gone a wool gathering) and realise that -the potato, though an excellent vegetable when properly -cooked (which it seldom is) is not a necessity of life. -If it were, the brilliant history of Britain from the -beginning up to Tudor times would be a mere record -of famines. Pessimist Bathurst “gravely” states that -“there will be no potatoes for any one in about six -weeks.” Well, all who have vegetable gardens know -that there is always a scarcity of potatoes every year, -when the old ones are practically finished and we are -waiting for the new; and owing to the general “sensationalism” -the scarcity this year is likely to be more -pronounced. But it need not disturb any one’s equanimity. -Potatoes are no more necessary to life and -health than the “hot roll,” of which the following -amazing report appears in the Press: “The passing of -the hot roll is the chief sacrifice.” (Think of these -noble words! “The chief sacrifice!” One would imagine -it was the life of a hero!) “Tens of thousands of -people will lament the loss of a breakfast luxury!” -“Lament the loss?” Oh, oh! Tens of thousands of -people lamenting a hot breakfast roll! Ye Gods! “A -roll,” continued the Press-interviewed baker, “alters its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>259</span> -character when stale.” True, deplorably true! But if -those tens of thousands of lamenting people do not alter -<em>their</em> character and “lament” to better purpose than for -the daily indigestion provided for them in “hot roll” at -breakfast, it is time they felt the pinch, not only of “no -potatoes,” but “no food” at all for a wholesome period -of fasting, with shame and penitence!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>260</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_39">“HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A STUDY IN WAR BREAD - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Complaints</span> are rife and bitter concerning the tough, -indigestible, and injurious mixture permitted to the -taxpaying public as “war bread.” General condemnation -of Government flour has been expressed at a meeting -of the London Master Bakers’ Protection Society, -where a resolution was passed asking for an interview -with the Prime Minister to point out the “ineptitude” -of the Ministry of Food. Thousands of us are of the -same mind with the Master Bakers! Thousands of us -affirm the “ineptitude” of which they speak. Thousands -of us know that a more lamentable display of ignorance -concerning the “things that matter” could hardly be -seen between now and the next world. Furthermore, -the Master Bakers (God bless them!) have actually -declared that if the Bread Order is not revoked or -amended they, to safeguard the health of consumers, -will be compelled to take “drastic action.” Well done, -Master Bakers! The sooner this drastic action is -effected the better for many ailing, suffering human -creatures. The faddists and health specialists may talk -as they will, nothing can satisfy the appetite or suit -the palate of the average man and woman so well and -so safely as bread made with <em>pure white flour</em>. The raw -germ of wheat, though in a sense nutritious, exercises<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>261</span> -a “very deleterious effect,” so say the bakers, on the -colour and keeping qualities of the loaf. In many cases -“war bread” causes internal hæmorrhage, to say nothing -of fermentative dyspepsia and severe inflammation of -the delicate coating of one’s interior mechanism, and it -would be easy to compile a volume of statistics proving -the poisonous effect produced by this coarse stuff on our -soldiers in hospital who are slowly recovering from -gunshot wounds or shell shock, and who are peculiarly -sensitive to the quality of their food. The distinguished -muddlers who are muddling with the grain and the -“milling” thereof, seem to judge the fine and complex -human organism as somewhat tougher than shoe-leather -and less liable to injury than pig-iron. But they are -not the first of their class by any means! There were -muddlers before them, as senseless, as callous, and as -deaf to reason as they—men who, like themselves, were -“dressed in a little brief authority” during that terrific -upheaval of which the very name is ominous—the great -French Revolution. Here is what Carlyle writes of the -bread trouble in those <span class="locked">days:—</span></p> - -<p>“Complaints there are that the food is spoiled and -produces an effect on the intestines, as well as ‘a smarting -in the thoat and palate,’ which a municipal proclamation -warns you to disregard or even to consider as -drastic—beneficial! But ... the Mayor of Saint -Denis, so black was his bread, has, by a dyspeptic -populace, been hanged on ‘La Lanterne’ there!”</p> - -<p>“La Lanterne” is not a pleasant theme to dwell upon, -and we may be deeply thankful that we have something -nowadays less ferocious than such a form of settling -disputes between the people and their rulers—the great -trade unions and protection societies, consolidated bodies<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>262</span> -of reasoning and reasonable men, who can, when necessity -calls, take concerted action against Sentimental -Cant and wilful Ignorance. For, to quote Carlyle -again, “Is not Cant the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">materia prima</i> of the Devil, -from which all falsehoods, imbecilities, and abnominations -body themselves, from which no true thing <em>can</em> -come?” And are not the Master Bakers, as well as the -Seamen’s and Firemen’s Union, conscious of this Cant -somewhere? Whether in pacifism or food-controlling, -matters little, so long as they can put an exterminating -finger on the spot!</p> - -<p>Ours is a land of cranks; we produce cranks as -quickly as untended grass grows plantains. We have -peace cranks, food cranks, health cranks; and, without -doubt, plenty of these will dash wildly into the open -with hysterical hymns of praise for the utterly detestable -“war bread,” more vigorously possibly when they -think their fellow-creatures are being made ill by it. -But “let ’em gnash as can,” as the toothless old dame -blandly observed after hearing a sermon on hell where -“there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Happily -deprived of all ability to “gnash,” hell offered no alarms -for her. Similarly, those whose powers of digestion -cannot tolerate “war bread” will support the screams -of whole-meal faddists with equanimity, saying, “Let -’em masticate as can.” If “whole-meal” gives strength -and sustenance with hæmorrhage, most of us will prefer -to be a little less strong and well-nourished, without -internal bleedings. The complaints of the bread sold -in Paris during the fateful months preceding the French -Revolution are precisely the same as now; but, whatever -the rising tide of discontent may be, we have -bulwarks against it in our own people’s organisations,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>263</span> -which bind the members of every trade together against -any possible injustice or tyranny. This Empire has -cause to be thankful for its vast network of trade -unions; they are in very truth a governing body whose -weight and importance cannot be over-estimated. And -so it may be that the Master Bakers will be the saviours -of the country’s health, despite Food Controllers and -their ideas of “milling.” We are losing enough life, -Heaven knows, on the fields of battle; we do not want -illness and the spread of disease at home. We can be -sparing and careful of grain and precious with our -“white flour,” but we need not debilitate or poison our -people with food which they cannot digest or which -in any way proves injurious to women and children. -Waste is encouraged by the making of bread which -the people dislike. They would rather throw it away -than suffer illness—which is very natural. The Food -Controller is safe from “La Lanterne” in these days; -but everybody will be glad if the London Master -Bakers’ Society will take the matter well in hand and -see to it that we need not “live on the husks which the -swine did eat.” The country will not starve because -we prefer to be well on white flour rather than dyspeptic -on brown!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264"></a>264</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_40">“SHODDY CHIVALRY”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A NAVAL CHADBAND - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">So</span> now we know! No longer need we denounce the -“submarine menace”; no longer need we (as the German -Press suggests) “grow pallid with fear,” for we -are in “brave and gallant hands!” “Brave and gallant” -are the noble creatures who sink hospital ships; -“brave and gallant” are the sharers of dividends in the -corpse-fat factory; “brave and gallant” are the raiders -who sought to intercept the Prime Minister on his way -back from France across Channel in order to make -short work of him and his escort—“brave and gallant” -are they all! Our own Vice-Admiral at Dover implied -as much when, with all the unctuousness of Dickens’s -immortal Mr. Chadband, he laid a wreath of flowers on -the coffin of one of the Hun raiders with the inscription: -“To a brave and gallant enemy!” He spared no -wreath and offered no tribute to any of the dead among -our own bluejackets, whose “brave and gallant” conduct -had succeeded in beating off and sinking the enemy’s -ships; they were “only” British sailors. But for the -dead Huns, this British Vice-Admiral publicly displayed -the tenderness of a twin brother. One wonders -what Nelson would have said to such an action? How -does it accord with the Defence of the Realm? One -can imagine the noble dust of the victor of Trafalgar<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>265</span> -stirring for very shame at such a lack of dignity at -the very time when British ships are being wickedly -sunk and British lives wickedly lost by the nefarious -“brave and gallant” brutality of an enemy with whom -honour is a mere straw. It may perhaps be easier now -to understand the rumours that these “brave and gallant” -Huns are allowed to work with our men in British -docks, where they watch our ships loaded with millions -of munitions, and count up our troops leaving for the -front, and then, without doubt, communicate with their -kinsmen of the submarines, letting them know the -hour and moment of departure! No wonder that our -ships are sunk! Such methods prepare the way for -their sinking. No action is taken by the authorities to -put a stop to the inroad of German labour in the docks -alongside of the British—a state of things which, on -the face of it, invites and encourages spying and treachery. -Such scandals are “an offence that’s rank, And -smells to Heaven”; and the powers in office who allow -them to go on without check are nearly as guilty of the -loss of torpedoed ships and lives as the Huns themselves. -And when a British Vice-Admiral sets the hall-mark -of “brave and gallant” on even a dead specimen of the -most treacherous, inhuman, and barbaric foe his country -has ever had to contend with, we can hardly wonder -at anything except the amazing excess of patience, wellnigh -lethargy, with which the British people tolerate -such an exhibition of Chadbandism in the Navy. One -is thankful for the plain speaking of Admiral Lord -Charles Beresford, who, in the House of Lords, designated -this action as one of “maudlin sentimentality and -shoddy chivalry.” There spoke the sturdy seaman and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>266</span> -loyal Britisher, untainted by the pro-German measles, -which infect only the degenerates of our race. The -Vice-Admiral at Dover, by his openly displayed admiration -for the Hun, would seem to wish us to understand -that he is something neither British nor of the sea—“neither -fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring.” We -can almost hear him soliloquising over the flower-strewn -coffin of the “brave and gallant” Hun: “My -friend, you are to me a pearl, you are to me a diamond, -you are to me a gem, you are to me a jewel! And why, -my friend? Are you a beast of the field? No. A -bird of the air? No. A fish of the sea or river? No. -You are a Hun, my friend! You are much worse -than any beast of the field; more voracious than any -bird of the air; more slippery than any fish of the sea -or river! Oh, how glorious to be a Hun! And if I -went forth as far as the Southampton Docks and there -saw a ‘brave and gallant’ fellow-countryman of yours -taking stock of troops and munitions, and I was to -come back and call unto me Sir Edward Carson and say -unto him, ‘Lo the docks are barred against Huns,’ would -that be terewth?”</p> - -<p>No; it would not be “terewth”—unless, as the original -Chadband propounded, such terewth, or truth, -were another form of deception. Until we have loyal -men “above suspicion” in authority at home we shall -never satisfy our Allies abroad. America will be unable -to understand a British Vice-Admiral laying flowers -on the coffin of an enemy whose intent was, without -doubt, to sink and slay a valuable life on which much -of Britain’s welfare depends, any more than she will -understand the collection of a large sum of money for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>267</span> -the assistance of Germans in England (more than -£17,000) to which liberal subscriptions have been -made by two German members of the Privy Council. -As Mark Twain observed during his tour in Palestine, -“Blessed if I believe a turtle can sing!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>268</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_41">“HINDENBURG’S EYE!”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE BABIES’ BOGEY - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">There</span> are several objections raised to the merry-go-round -“National Service” whirl devised by Mr. Neville -Chamberlain. “Uneasy lies the head that wears a -crown” nowadays, even if it only be the crown of a -temporary Director of Service or of Food Production. -Even Lord Devonport comes in for his share of contumely, -especially since he assumed that a 5-oz. chop -was sufficient for a busy City man’s luncheon. Lord -Devonport has evidently never tried his hand at cooking, -and is blissfully unaware how soon 5 oz. may be -reduced to 3 oz. on the fiery grill! The public resent -this ignorance; but nothing excites their indignation -more than the blatant, vulgar, and positively offensive -advertisements which have been spread broadcast to -call them forth to voluntary enrolment. Whoever it -may be that is the inventor, designer, or word-weaver -of these newspaper roarers, he serves his country ill, -and is guilty of the worst possible taste. Instead of a -dignified, effective appeal to Labour, these wretched -advertisements are mere gibes and insults flung in the -face of a brave, patiently enduring people, whose homes -have, in many thousands of cases, been invaded by -Death, and whose hearts are wrung by sudden and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>269</span> -bitter bereavements, none the less hard to bear because -borne with such noble and uncomplaining fortitude.</p> - -<p>“Are You Fiddling While Rome Burns?” asks one of -these idiotic newspaper Fat Letters, a question met -with the silent scorn of many tired eyes grown dim -with weeping, or strained and anxious with watching -and waiting for the beloved ones who may never return. -Is it impossible to expect from these Government Press -agents (if they are Government Press agents) a little -thought for the people they seek to attract, a little -decency and respect? At present their loud, even coarse, -advertisements <span class="locked">represent—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“The insolence of office, and the spurns</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That patient merit of the unworthy takes.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The last form of their coster-like shouting is perhaps -the worst.</p> - -<p class="p1 b1 center wspace"> -“HINDENBURG’S EYE IS UPON YOU!” -</p> - -<p>Now, what in the name of all that is British, do we -care about “Hindenburg’s Eye”? Are we a whimpering -troop of babies to be frighted with the eye of a Hun? -or to be told “Hush-oh! Mind its little P’s and Q’s! -Go and do its little National Service properly, or -‘Hindenburg’s eye’ will be on you!” Was ever such -arrant, open, disgraceful nonsense! What have we to -do with “Hindenburg’s eye,” except bomb it out if we -can? What terrors can it have for us? Does it roll -or squint, blink or wink? Nobody cares, but if it is -to be “on” anywhere, it had better be fixed to Berlin! -It’s an old eye and a filmy one—probably, as Hamlet -pointedly remarked, “purging thick amber and plum<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>270</span>tree -gum”—it’s a false eye and a brutal one, but just -now it has enough to do to see its own surroundings -without dropping out of its socket. The tactless, witless -individual who dares to write and circulate would-be -“scare” lines about this bloodthirsty old eye being “on” -the brave men and women of Britain, watching (as if -such a brute had authority to watch!) to see how many -of them work (and weep!) willingly enough in their -country’s service, should be at once convinced of his -unfortunate lack of intelligence and discernment. Any -one with the smallest spark of imagination must almost -see and hear the loud German guffaw of mockery and -delight at this fool’s placard for the <span class="locked">British:—</span></p> - -<p class="p1 b1 center wspace"> -“HINDENBURG HAS HIS EYE UPON YOU!” -</p> - -<p>“Ha, ha! Dot is goot!” says Hans to Fritz. “Unser -Hindenburg! Dot is fright for Gott strafe England!—and -de English <em>demselves</em> say it!”</p> - -<p>Weird inventor of megaphone press-roarings, whoever -you are, don’t do it! You may be a Bernard Shaw -in the bud for all we know, but we have enough already -of the perfect flower. National Service demands your -brilliancy elsewhere. Offer yourself as a substitute for -the bootblack who may be glad to go “on the land.” -The Cause is injured by these unwarrantable music-hall -methods. Call up the people with a friend’s cheerful -and inspiring voice—a silver trumpet-blast if you will—but -not with a donkey’s bray!</p> - -<div class="p1"> - -<p>(<i>The above little article had the fortunate effect of -causing several of these placards, so offensive to the -British spirit, to be removed.</i>)</p></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>271</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_42">“HOARDING”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A MODERN SETTING OF AN OLD PLAY AND A LITTLE STORY -OF THE Y.M.C.A.</span> -</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent12">“<i>Man, proud man,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Dress’d in a little brief authority,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Most ignorant of what he’s most assured,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>His ghostly essence like an angry ape,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>As make the angels weep!</i>”</div> - </div> - <div class="attrib"><cite>Measure for Measure.</cite></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Nothing</span> in all the various confused and contradictory -orders issued by the capricious and neurotic “Dora” -gave such unalloyed festive delight as the edict against -“hoarding.” It opened the door to all the little spies -and scandal-mongers of every neighbourhood, especially -to the provincial types of these gentry, who are always -of a more inquisitive and slanderous disposition than -the same class found in large cities, for the reason that -they have little other excitement beyond the gratifying -stimulus of inquiring into their neighbours’ affairs and -meddling with them if they can. The “Hoarding” -order suited them down to the ground and set them -all on the alert, peering into windows and peeping -through open doors—following their “dear friends” -into shops and taking eager notes of their purchases, -till every eye grew hard and sharp as a gimlet, and -every nose as pointed as the beak of a crow. It was -astonishing and amusing to watch the alteration for -the worse in the looks of men and women during this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>272</span> -period; the theory of “psycho-suggestion” was amply -verified in the visible fact that people who were previously -open-faced and good-natured were almost -unrecognisable in the sudden “squeezing-in” of their -features to the ugly furrows of suspicion and meanness.</p> - -<p>“Some achieve greatness and some have greatness -thrust upon them,” says the sapient Malvolio; and I -frankly admit that I felt myself to be entirely in the -latter category when I became a sort of modern heroine -in a new version of <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>, in the -precincts of Stratford-on-Avon itself, under the sacred -ægis of the Immortal Bard. A real stage was set for -me, with the real “city officers Dogberry and Verges”—in -fact “the whole dissembly appeared.” I was summoned -for “hoarding” sugar. In plain truth I have -never “hoarded” anything—not even money, as the -town of Stratford-on-Avon has sufficient reason to know. -I have never even had the careful housekeeper’s habit -of a “store-cupboard”—my house being destitute of -such lock-up conveniences, wherefore we have found it -best always to order what is wanted from week to week, -paying for it likewise from week to week and incurring -no debts. In the affair of the sugar I could not procure -enough to obey the commands set upon me by the -Food Production and other Government Departments. -Correspondence with Mr. Prothero had impressed upon -me that there was a shortage of all foodstuffs, especially -butter, and it was represented to me that every householder -growing their own fruit should make as much -jam as possible to replace the butter. That year (1917) -was a wonderful fruit year; in my own garden, not an -“orchard” by any means or abundantly stocked, there -was gathered nearly a thousand pounds dead-weight of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>273</span> -fruit. Some of it we sold—much of it we gave away—the -rest had either to be wasted or preserved. “Shortage -of foodstuffs” necessitated its preservation. Our -local surveyor, though obliging, could not supply his -customers with enough sugar to go round. The “Hoarding -Act” distinctly stated that the order did not apply -itself to “sugar obtained for the preservation of homegrown -produce”—so I appealed to my old friend, Sir -Thomas Lipton, not only because he was a friend, but -because he was a grocer, and as such, would be sure -to know what quantity of sugar he might or might not -sell to any customer. But——! Here comes in another -story!</p> - -<p>A short time previous to the Sugar-Comedy of -“Much Ado,” I had been approached by two gentlemen -from Birmingham on behalf of the Y.M.C.A. and -Sir Arthur Yapp (then Director of Food Economy) to -help the Society by a subscription. I gave a hundred -pounds; and a generous friend of mine, on hearing -what I had subscribed, gave another hundred. In the -warmth of this success I wrote to Sir Thomas Lipton -and asked him boldly for another hundred. I received -a truly heart-rending reply to the effect that he was a -“poor man,” and “could not afford so large a sum,” -but that if I had asked him for ten or fifteen pounds -he would have gladly subscribed. I at once seized the -opportunity and begged him to send the fifteen. He did -so, and I wrote my acknowledgments, assuring him that -when he went to heaven that Fifteen Pounds given to -the Y.M.C.A. would be an extra feather in his Angel-Wing! -(I do hope he will one day show that letter -to Sir Arthur Yapp!) Then, feeling I had not yet -done enough for the Y.M.C.A. Huts, I agreed that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>274</span> -Cinema company, then running some stories of mine -on the “film,” should give a few “shows” of them in -Stratford for the sole benefit of the Y.M.C.A., and -I am glad to say that they drew packed houses and -brought a substantial result. For this and such assistance -as I had freely given to help on the good cause I -had a note from Sir Arthur Yapp expressing his “most -grateful thanks.” And now we can <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">revenons à nos -moutons</i>—that is to say, I can return to the Sugar -version of “Much Ado”—but I would earnestly request -my readers to “mark, learn, and inwardly digest” what -we may call “The Y.M.C.A.-Yapp Interlude.”</p> - -<p>As I have already stated, I could not get sufficient -sugar from the local grocer to preserve the fruit in -hand, and as fruit is perishable, and there was no time -to be lost, I rang up Sir Thomas Lipton on the telephone -and asked him what he could do for me. The -familiar “Glasgie” accent came harmoniously along the -wire—“Ye’ll never want for sugar so long as Tom -Lipton’s on the ‘phone!”</p> - -<p>So it was settled. I and my friend (a lady who has -been my companion throughout my life since my childhood, -and who has generously and kindly undertaken -all my household cares) set happily to work to preserve -our fruit; whole in jars where we could do so, but made -into jam for the most part. I would here remark, with -all diffidence, that I do not revel in jam myself; but -I like having it for others—such as schoolboys, for -instance, before whom whole pots vanish like snow in -the sun when they come to tea with me, bless their frank -appetites! We had nearly completed our labours, all -except the transmutation of apples into jelly and “apple -cheese” (the best possible substitute for butter), when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>275</span> -one afternoon, while I was out, a police constable called -and said he must search the house for “hoards.” He -brought no authority, but stated that if he were refused -he would procure a search warrant. My friend, -who received the intruder, was naturally rather surprised, -but having nothing to hide she cordially invited -the official to go all over the house wherever he would. -Accordingly he tramped into the dining-room, opened -cupboards and drawers, even peering into an unobtrusive -little tea-caddy, and went down into the cellar and inspected -the larder. He found nothing but a large flour-bin, -into which for convenience had been put fifteen -pounds of sugar (duly weighed) left for use with the -apples yet to be preserved. While he was still on the -prowl, I returned home, and though I am never much -taken aback at anything Stratford-on-Avon “authorities” -do, I was, I think, justifiably annoyed at having -my private rooms searched on such a ridiculous charge -of which I was absolutely guiltless. Moreover, the -“hofficer” who had thus broken into my house without -warning, was a man who had often had supper in our -kitchen with beer <em>galore</em>, which he had greatly relished—while -another detail of the matter was that for some -years, since the intrusion of an unhappy lunatic-tramp -into my garden, the police had been given by myself a -private key to the premises, so that they could enter at -any time. Therefore, if they had sought to keep me -under “observation” there was nothing to hinder their -surveillance, which indeed I had personally requested -and was grateful for. But—as the official informed me -the “hoarding” accusation came “from London”—“on -account of Sir Thomas Lipton.” This rather amazed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>276</span> -me, and for a moment I thought it must be that “feather -in the Angel-Wing”! My doubts were soon set at rest -by a visit from my solicitor who told me Sir Thomas -was “much distressed and could not sleep” for thinking -about the threatened trouble. Some one at certain -Stratford-on-Avon Stores had noted the arrival at the -railway station of the Lipton supplies of sugar—quite -openly sent, and openly marked “Sugar,” for we were -under the impression that all was in due observance -of the Food Production rules, and that there was nothing -to hide or to “hoard.” Naturally I wrote at once -to the Lipton office requesting these supplies to be -stopped, without, however, at once succeeding, as, notwithstanding -my expressed desire, a fresh package was -transmitted, which I promptly returned. I then wrote -to Sir Arthur Yapp, feeling quite sure that his recent -experience of my conduct in respect to the Y.M.C.A. -would convince him that there was some “official blundering” -(to quote a press term) in the absurd notion -that I, whose work throughout the war had been to help, -not to hinder all patriotic aims, could possibly sink to -the “hoarding” level. I had written to him long before, -pleading that the poor working women should not be -compelled to stand in “queues,” waiting to get food for -themselves and their children, on which subject he wrote -me the following <span class="locked">letter:—</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="sigright">“December 17, 1917.</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Miss Corelli</span>,—Thank you very much indeed -for your further letter and enclosure, and I hope to be -able to arrange for the workers to get things for their -children. All the points you mention shall receive<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>277</span> -careful attention and I am consulting some of my colleagues -forthwith. Again thanking you,</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -<span class="l6">“Yours faithfully,</span><br /> -<span class="l4">“<span class="smcap">A. K. Yapp</span>,</span><br /> -“<i>Director of Food Economy</i>.” -</p></div> - -<p class="in0">This does not look as if I had sought to “rob the poor -by hoarding,” as one accuser in the “gutter” press made -out later on! When I wrote, explaining the position -which had so wrongfully arisen, Sir Arthur wrote regretting -it and saying: “I will make all inquiries and -am more than sorry you should be worried.”</p> - -<p>However, the “case” instigated “from London,” went -on remorselessly and I asserted my innocence in vain. -A second appeal to Sir Arthur Yapp, strengthened by -a personal visit to him from my solicitor who urgently -pointed out the absurdity of the “hoarding” charge in -my regard, brought the <span class="locked">following:—</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="sigright"> -<span class="l4">“<span class="smcap">National Council</span>, Y.M.C.A.</span><br /> -December 26, 1917. -</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Miss Corelli</span>,—Thanks for your letters. I -was glad to see your solicitor, but am not sure that I -can help you. I will gladly do so if I can. Unfortunately -all the people are away for a few days. I will -try to get in touch with the Chairman of the Sugar -Commission to-morrow, Friday or Saturday. I will -write again. I am so sorry you are having this worry. -In haste,</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -<span class="l1">“Yours sincerely,</span><br /> -”<span class="smcap">A. K. Yapp</span>.” -</p></div> - -<p class="in0">Nevertheless, with all this amiable “Yapp-ing” he did -<em>not</em> “get in touch” with the Chairman of the Sugar<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>278</span> -Commission, then Sir Charles Bathurst, who wrote -himself and told me he had never heard a word of the -affair till he saw it in the newspapers. On this point -my solicitor wrote as follows: “I am glad to hear that -you have a letter from Sir Charles Bathurst, expressing -sympathy. I cannot, however, overlook the fact that -whereas Sir Arthur Yapp had no power apart from -Sir Charles to take cognisance of facts which I brought -to his notice with a view to stopping an unjustifiable -prosecution calculated to do you an injury, Sir Charles -Bathurst had ample power and did not exercise it, -although approached by Sir Arthur Yapp. I do not -think the Food Control Department even troubled to -send the case to their counsel, but merely seized the -opportunity to accept a statement which was not in -conformity with the evidence, was a violation of the -highest principles of justice, and a slur upon the -summary jurisdiction of the land.”</p> - -<p>And so the case went on. Yapp meantime addressed -a crowd on Tower Hill and assured them “Marie Corelli’s -sugar had been taken from her”—which was a -flaring fiction as there was no excess of sugar to take. -He failed to mention that the victim he thus pilloried -had given far more than the sugar’s worth to the -Y.M.C.A., of which he posed as the pious and conscientious -Head! But “that’s another story”! He -felt perfectly justified, however, in handing over my -personal letters to him (marked “Private”) to a Mr. -Wise, his secretary, I believe, whom my solicitor found -reading them to his lady clerks by way of a little -entertainment—and so altogether I rank Sir Arthur -Yapp with Shakespeare’s Brutus, and here express my -profound acknowledgments.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>279</span></p> - -<p>On the 2nd of January, 1918, the case for my -“hoarding” was tried by the eminent “bench” of -Stratford-on-Avon. My servants were subpœnaed—they -sat patiently in court, but nobody asked them a -single question! A legal representative of Sir Thomas -Lipton’s, glib as Sergeant Buzfuz, managed things for -his principal in such a way as to leave Sir Thomas -scot-free, though in other similar cases the supplier was -fined in the same sum as the supplied. I was not in -court. My friend, who has all the responsibility of -housekeeping, went into the witness-box and answered -all questions plainly and honestly—but plainness and -honesty do not count for much in law. The point which -Dogberry and Verges adhered to was that they did not -believe we had used the sugar for jam! Was ever anything -more absurdly humorous! We were ready and -willing to make public exhibition of the jam; we offered -those amazing “city officers” free permission to inspect -it—but <em>they would not</em>! They preferred to doubt the -word of a lady through whose hands many hundreds of -pounds had been spent in the town and whose well-known -straightforward character makes her incapable -of truckling to falsehood or hypocrisy. I must not -forget to mention that the worthy Dogberrys had been -much bamboozled by the constant delivery of large -wooden boxes at my house labelled “Maypole Tea,” -“Tate’s Sugar,” “Nestle’s Milk,” etc., etc.; it looked -very like “hoarding,” surely? A constable followed the -packages up through an open passage leading to out-houses, -and there to his immense chagrin discovered that -these cases contained nothing but material for electric-wiring -and lighting, sent by Messrs. Tredegars of Brook -Street, who had undertaken the installation of the elec<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280"></a>280</span>tric -light in my house. They were compelled to pack -their goods in any boxes they could secure, there being -a “shortage” in packing-cases as in everything else, and -when the “hoarding” trial came on, the director of the -firm offered most kindly and courteously to attend the -court and explain the share his boxes had in the silly -accusation. But there was no need; Dogberry and -Verges had already made up their minds. My chief -assailants were the Superintendent of Police in Stratford -and the Town Clerk—and after the case was over -and they had “convicted” me of what I had never -committed (though the “bench” disagreed among themselves), -all the clues were placed in my hands in such -a remarkable way as would remind one of Sherlock -Holmes if there were time or space to tell it! Perhaps -the following sentence from a legal document may put -the matter <span class="locked">clearly:—</span></p> - -<p>“The root of the whole evil is your local bench, and -bias is self-evident by the action of the Acting Clerk, -<em>when he withheld information from us as to the findings -of the Justices until after the time to appeal to Quarter -Sessions had elapsed</em>.”</p> - -<p>I have often wondered why this malignity? Why, -too, on the part of the “Acting Clerk,” whom I have -always beheld with respectful admiration in his curly -white wig marching in the Shakespeare Sunday or -Mayoral processions to Church? He is my beau-ideal -of a cultured Dogberry—his very look and movement -express—“I am a wise fellow; and which is more an -officer; and which is more a householder; and which -is more as pretty a piece of flesh as any in Messina -(Stratford) and one that knows the law, go to; and -a rich fellow enough, go to; and a fellow that hath<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>281</span> -had losses; and one that hath two gowns and everything -handsome about him! O that I had been writ -down——” No—I will not finish the quotation; suffice -it to say that I have never intentionally or to my knowledge -caused offence to this excellent man. But both -Church and State were in the persecution of my quite -innocent personality; two dismissed outdoor employés -of my own first started the mischief, and as one had -found a temporary job on the local “food control,” it -was easy to trace the work of hands guided by personal -spite and desire to give me trouble. Afraid to start the -accusation in Stratford itself, they quite ingenuously -managed to transfer it through a mutual friend to -London, from whence the “summons” was “arranged” -to come—and since then, having found out the whole -petty plot, I have been full of amused compassion for -the miserable plotters. They must surely feel that the -game was hardly worth the candle! Of course, press-reporters -rushed down like hounds in full cry directly -they scented possible injury to me—they would never -have troubled themselves to note anything I did of -good—but anything that savoured of meanness and disloyalty -on my part was “nuts” to them! As they never -saw me, and I made no appearance in court, these poor -untidy pressmen were reduced to their usual fictions, -and wired all over the world that I had “made a scene in -court,” “attacked Lloyd George,” etc., etc.! (And yet, -just before this comedy started, and â propos of sugar, -I had sent Miss Megan Lloyd George some chocolate -“eclairs” made at home, with which this charming little -friend of mine was much delighted!) Yes—these chivalrous -press-men labelled me from England to furthest -Ind as a hoarder and hypocrite and I was left without<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>282</span> -remedy. I was assailed by the lowest anonymous letters -and post cards; of course one knows how to take such -off-scourings of depraved human minds, as no one but -a villain, male or female, would write an anonymous -letter. But with all the pain I felt at the misjudgment, -amounting almost to cruelty, of the press, which deliberately -did its best to injure me with my reading public, -I had my compensations. I had hundreds of letters -from our men at the front indignantly protesting against -the wrong done to me—and a wonderful document -signed by the officers and men of the Overseas Military -Forces of Canada came to hearten me up by its generous -testimony as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“We, the undersigned Officers, Non-Commissioned -Officers, and Men of the Overseas Military Forces of -Canada desire to take this opportunity of expressing -to you our gratitude for the many acts of kindness and -hospitality that you have shown to the members of the -Canadian Forces since they arrived in this country.</p> - -<p>“We also wish to express to you our sympathies in -the recent cruel and unjust charge of ‘hoarding’ which -was brought against you, and we feel sure that when the -true facts are brought to the knowledge of the public -they will realise that the spirit of patriotism you have -shown throughout the war, and the generosity with -which you have contributed articles to the various periodicals -published for the benefit of the troops do not -coincide with the possibility of any contravention of war -measures.</p> - -<p>“We also wish to add the expression of our admiration -for the pre-eminent position you have attained in the -world of literature and art, and to assure you that none<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>283</span> -appreciate your works more than the people of Canada.</p> - -<p>“We trust that this assurance of our admiration for -your genius, and our sympathy in the worry to which -you have been so unjustly subjected, will prove to you -that we are not unmindful of the kindness and warm -interest you have invariably shown towards Canadian -soldiers.</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -<span class="l4">“We beg to remain,</span><br /> -”Sincerely yours,” -</p></div> - -<p class="in0">Here followed a long list of officers’ and men’s names; -the kind and generous testimonial of their friendship -was dated from Bramshott Camp, Hants, April 16th, -1918.</p> - -<p>I make no comment on this most valued “vote of -confidence” voluntarily given by brave and chivalrous -men. I publish it just as it is—one of my most precious -possessions. I can endure even dear Dogberry’s malice -with such a battalion of fighting friends!</p> - -<p>One other thing may be mentioned as showing the -curious cross-purposes of the Stratford-on-Avon “justices” -in the prosecution against me, and that is the -letter written to me by the Deputy-Mayor on the eve -of the <span class="locked">trial—thus:—</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="sigright">“December 31, 1917.</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Miss Corelli</span>,—Allow me to offer you my -sincere wishes that the year 1918 may prove to you -and yours one of unalloyed happiness. In these days -such a wish may seem impossible of achievement. -Amidst the strife of nations and the world-wide clash -of arms there must be anxiety and care for all who love -their country, and the ‘petty pin-pricks’ which come to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>284</span> -all who try to do their duty will no doubt try the temper -and patience; but amidst all life’s worries the consciousness -of duty done, of love for others, and the desire to -do always what is right will bring <em>you</em> that real peace -and happiness which the world cannot give. That you -may have this in 1918 and the years to follow is my -earnest wish. With kind regards,</p> - -<p class="sigright"> -<span class="l4">“Yours sincerely,</span><br /> -“<span class="smcap">Fred Winter</span>.” -</p></div> - -<p>So was the “Winter of my discontent” moved to try -making a bit of “glorious summer” on the eve of the -“Hoarding” case! I was grateful, of course—and I -did not allow myself to dwell on the thought that -perhaps, only perhaps, he was thus moved because long -before the “hoarding” case, my “hoarding” tendencies -had prominently displayed themselves in agreeing to -pay £60 towards the restoration of his ancient house in -the High Street, a sum which no one else volunteered! -I did it for love and honour of the town’s antique -beauty—not for any self-laudation or advantage; and I -am glad to have been of some use in this direction. It -is a quaint coincidence that this same Deputy-Mayor, -when I previously aided the restoration of the now -famous “Tudor” House opposite the Town Hall, accused -me in the local press of doing it for “self-advertisement.” -I am sure he must regret this temporary misjudgment -now that his own house shows its Henry -VIIth timbers to the light of day.</p> - -<p>Briefly to sum up, I am and always have been -absolutely guiltless of “hoarding” anything. I would -rather give than receive, and am quite an adept at -“doing without.” And if I may presume to quote<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>285</span> -finally from the original <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> I -can say that while I am perfectly aware of the local -“Conrade” and “Borachio” who vented their spite -against me, I think there are many now in Stratford-on-Avon -itself who would say with the original <span class="locked">Dogberry:—</span></p> - -<p>“Marry, sir, they have committed false report; moreover, -they have spoken untruths; secondarily they are -slanderers; sixth and lastly they have belied a lady; -thirdly they have verified unjust things.”</p> - -<p>As for the excellent Sir Thomas Lipton, who was -much more troubled in his mind about this little affair -than I was, and who, though he supplied the contested -sugar, escaped all fine and also escaped the contumely -of the press which was heaped upon me like a cartload -of bricks, without rhyme or reason, without honesty or -justice, and without a single word of truth in the various -reports cabled all over the world to do me as much -injury as possible; he was so relieved and happy to think -nothing was said about his own share in the matter that -he was more genial and delightsome than ever. And I -have reason to believe that he is “flattered to death,” -as our American cousins sometimes say, by the parody -I wrote for him “after Robert Burns,” which I <span class="locked">call—</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="larger center wspace">A New Version of<br /> -“A MAN’S A MAN FOR A’ THAT”</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Cordially Inscribed to Sir Thomas Lipton</i></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair fa’ our bouncin’ braggart Tam,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wha perks his heid an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Prince o’ Pickles and o’ Jam,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wha daurs be rich on a’ that!</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>286</span> - <div class="verse indent4">For a’ that an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His Butter, Tea, an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s found his Bank the way to rank,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">An’ Tam is Tam for a’ that!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">What though wi’ Royalty he’ll dine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Mid sleekit Jews an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tam disna drink their best o’ wine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He’s wide awake an’ a’ that!</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For a’ that an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Their duds an’ shows an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The “Lipton Shares” are worth them a’</div> - <div class="verse indent4">An’ Tam is Tam for a’ that!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye see yon birkie ca’d a lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wha struts an’ stares an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When tradesmen winna tak’ his word,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tam rules his roast an’ a’ that!</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For a’ that an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His ribbon, stars an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tam kens his man baith oot an’ in,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">An’ looks an’ laughs at a’ that.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Premier maks a belted knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A duke, an earl an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But a “Lipton’s Stores” aboon his might,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gude faith! he maunna fa’ that!</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For a’ that an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their pride o’ place an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Monopolies o’ Ham and Tea</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Mak’ louder fame than a’ that!</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>287</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An’ Tam has gi’en Y.M.C.A.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A muckle cheque an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An’ angels waft him on his way</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Paradise an’ a’ that!</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For a’ that an’ a’ that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For that’s the end o’ a’ that;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His lavish hand’s its own reward,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">An’ Tam is Tam for a’ that!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>288</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_43">THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF FAME<br /> - -<span class="subhead">AVE SHAKESPEARE!</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Three</span> hundred years ago, on April 23, 1616, William -Shakespeare, of whom Carlyle wrote as “the pink and -flower of remembered Englishmen—the greatest thing -we have yet done and managed to produce in this -world,” drew his last breath at “New Place,” the home -he had earned for himself in his native town of Stratford-on-Avon. -The great bell of the Guild Chapel -facing the garden side of his “pretty house of brick and -timber” tolled for his passing; but the great voice of -the world which acclaims him so loudly to-day was -dumb.</p> - -<p>In those Puritan times he was but little considered; -and no hint or whisper of his coming renown stirred the -sleepy quietude of the little country place where he -was born and where he died. His fellow-townsmen -of that period kept no particular record of him, nor -did they dream of him as the future King of English -Literature. He was laid to rest in the chancel of the -Parish Church—an honoured place allowed to him, not -because of his genius as a Poet, for this was as indifferent -a matter then to the good bucolic folk of Stratford-on-Avon -as it is now, but because he had, by -purchase, become part owner of the tithes and as a lay-rector -had right of interment there.</p> - -<p>In his lifetime he assumed to be nothing but a simple<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>289</span> -industrious man of business who “adapted” and rearranged -old plays to suit the requirements of the Globe -Theatre; and he flung out the splendid rays of his -dazzling poetic genius over these dry bones of romance -and history as freely and with as grand an absence -of self-consciousness as the sun which shines alike -on the just and the unjust.</p> - -<p>Nothing probably would have surprised him more or -moved him to such incredulous smiling as to have been -told that in three hundred years his fame would surpass -that of any other Englishman ever born! He would -have put aside the prophecy with good-humoured laughter -and would never have given it another thought. -For his wordly aims were perfectly straightforward and -simple; they were, plainly—to earn a sufficient competence -and to stand on an independent footing with -his fellows, to live with his family in ease and comfort, -and to end his days in peace in the town where -he was born. No ideal could be more free from arrogance. -His whole career is an object lesson of infinite -Greatness to the infinitely Little!</p> - -<p>The vital centre of Shakespeare’s marvellous power -is surely his impersonality. His creative spirit moved -behind the passing show of kings and queens and historic -events, moulding them to his mood, but never -displaying itself. Like light it shed colour on whatsoever -it illumined. So little may we guess of Shakespeare’s -personality from his writings that he has made -of himself an Enigma. We cannot even tell what form -of creed he professed, though we know and feel that -the devout worship of an invisible and intelligent Force -behind Nature filled him with highest faith and purest -service towards God. We cannot find out his special<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290"></a>290</span> -likes or dislikes, save in slight indications here and -there, such as his plainly indicated abhorrence of Jews—and -Germans! Great as is the professed admiration -of the Teuton for our English Master-Mind, we wonder -how he can get over such lines as <span class="locked">these:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A German from the waist downward, all slops!”</div> - </div> - <div class="attrib"><cite>Much Ado About Nothing.</cite></div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Like a full-acorn’d boar, a German one.”—<cite>Cymbeline.</cite></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Three German devils, three Doctor Faustuses.”</div> - </div> - <div class="attrib"><cite>Merry Wives of Windsor.</cite></div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Holding in disdain the German women</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For some dishonest manners.”</div> - </div> - <div class="attrib"><cite>Henry V.</cite></div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Like a German clock,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still a’repairing, ever out of frame.”</div> - </div> - <div class="attrib"><cite>Love’s Labour’s Lost</cite>.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">While the discussion between Portia and Nerissa in -the <cite>Merchant of Venice</cite> caps <span class="locked">all:—</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><span class="smcap">Nerissa</span>: How like you the young German, the -Duke of Saxony’s nephew?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Portia</span>: Very vilely in the morning when he is -sober, and most vilely in the afternoon when he is -drunk; when he is best, he is a little worse than a -man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a -beast.</p></div> - -<p>One other thing we may perceive, and that is our -Poet’s scorn of pettiness and treachery. Individual<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291"></a>291</span> -deceit—public or private hypocrisy—these seem to -Shakespeare’s mind unforgivable. The “black-handed” -hit—the cruel slander—the malicious lie—against these -he delivers his most trenchant blows; but farther than -this we are unable to penetrate into the kingdom of -his heart or sentiment.</p> - -<p>To woman he assigns the highest place as inspirer -and saviour of man; when he shows her other than -this, as in Lady Macbeth, he makes remorse half condone -her sins and death conclude them. He seemed to -be absolutely unconscious of any superiority in himself -to others of his own calling. His poetic gift was like -song to a nightingale that warbles for sheer delight and -amorousness, in delicious ignorance of the entrancing -beauty of its melody.</p> - -<p>What affects, or <em>should</em> affect, us most deeply to-day -is the deplorable fact that for three hundred years we -have had no poet, no dramatist, to approach Shakespeare -in any sense—neither in beauty of language, -loftiness of thought, nor simple naturalness of expression. -He towers among us as a veritable giant among -pigmies—for the men of letters in all parts of the -world at this epoch, men who are scrambling and pushing -themselves forward to offer a very poor and inadequate -“homage” to this mightiest genius of all time, -are of such microscopic attainment when compared with -him that one needs a mental lens to perceive them at -all.</p> - -<p>These are they for whom Self is not only the keynote, -but the whole tune. Some of them take pride -in their “style”; whereas Shakespeare had no “style” -save his own, which has become a living part of the -English language. He defied laws and conventions and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292"></a>292</span> -dramatic “unities”; he dared to be his own master; -and fortunately there were no newspapers in his day -to publish venomous criticisms which might have -daunted or discouraged his efforts.</p> - -<p>The earliest newspaper, or <i>News Packet</i>, as it was -called, was issued in 1619, three years after Shakespeare’s -death. Shakespeare’s critics were the public—in -fact, the “gallery.” He “played to the gallery,” -and played “up”—never “down.” Moreover, he was -apparently so indifferent to his own literary reputation -that he made no effort to publish any of his works, -and allowed them to be pirated wholesale. Only in the -case of the two poems dedicated to the Earl of Southampton—“Venus -and Adonis” and “The Rape of Lucrece”—does -he seem to have taken any personal interest -in his own productions.</p> - -<p>One may perhaps venture to suggest that probably -he attached no importance to what he knew were -“adaptations” of old plays, and thought nothing of the -rich poesy wherewith he had endowed them. The -most of his work was this of industrious “adaptation”; -so that he might have modestly considered it to be -scarcely his own and that the magnificent speeches he -put in the mouths of his stage puppets were only a -part of what is called “business.” The superb indifference -he thus displayed to his own place in the estimation -of others was a striking proof of his sub-conscious -power. That his contemporaries mentioned him but -little would not have troubled a mind like Shakespeare’s -and Robert Green’s jealous attack upon him as “an -upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, with his -Tyger’s heart wrapt in a Player’s hide,” would but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293"></a>293</span> -have moved him to a compassionate smile at such an -outburst of malice and envy.</p> - -<p>The chief lesson we may learn from Shakespeare’s -unapproachable fame is of that greatness which is -“impersonal.” The literary men of our day are all -painfully personal and are seldom satisfied unless they -are elbowing each other out of the way or scrambling -over each other to the front; and some of them are -never happier than when they can fasten themselves, -like barnacles, to the splendid ship of Shakespeare’s -immortal genius, which sails serenely onward over the -seas of the infinite. <em>As</em> barnacles they do no particular -harm; for, cling as they will, the great waves of time -generally sweep them off in the progress of the voyage, -while the great Ship goes on, carrying its messages of -truth, honour, and strong patriotism to all the world! -And it will still sail on, till the English language shall -be no more. For if, in centuries to come, nothing -should be left of England but Shakespeare, his name -would be sufficient to prove that England once had -lived!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294"></a>294</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_44">SHAKESPEARE’S WAR BIRTHDAY IN 1917<br /> - -<span class="subhead">NEGLECTED HONOURS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Many</span> of our newspapers devoted columns of matter -to “St. George’s Day”; and the writers of the various -articles on this subject “gushed” in special and particular -fashion over a purely mythical knight, whom -legendary lore supposes to have killed a purely mythical -dragon. But a very general omission was made of a -real and a far greater personage than St. George, whose -day of birth and death coincides with that of the dragon-slayer, -namely, William Shakespeare, “the beautifullest -English soul this England confesses to have made, the -pink and flower of remembered Englishmen, the greatest -thing, it appears, that we have yet done and managed -to produce in this world,” according to right-thinking -Thomas Carlyle. America, too, bears witness to the -same truth through the golden voice of her noble teacher -Emerson, who thus writes: “All the sweets and all the -terrors of human lot lay in his mind as truly, but as -softly, as the landscape lies on the eye.” He was, -and is, our greatest Englishman—our finest patriot—and, -when all is said and done, he will be our chief -claim to remembrance in history. Very strange has -it seemed to thousands of us, especially Americans, -that during the present crisis and stress of war the -Press of Great Britain should have apparently forgotten -to mention the name of perhaps the greatest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295"></a>295</span> -Maker of England on his natal day. Some one tells -us, “It has never occurred before.” Then why has it -occurred now?</p> - -<p>Had Shakespeare been alive to-day we can easily -imagine his attitude in regard to the war. Very English -of English, he would have tolerated no half measures. -He, like Sir Francis Drake, would have had short shrift -for any foe that sought to “raid” the shores of his -beloved Britain! Not for him would have been the -message of the Vice-Admiral at Dover: “We were -<em>fortunate</em> in being able to save the lives of ten German -officers and ninety-five men from the vessels which were -sunk!” He would have exclaimed: “Out upon such -‘fortune’!” And he might have judged it as somewhat -of a <em>mis</em>fortune that a British Vice-Admiral lived who -could write it down as “fortunate” to rescue any members -of the same savage Hun tribe that sank the <i>Lusitania</i> -and scruples not to sink hospital ships! Another -word might have been found for the occasion; and -Shakespeare would have been the man to find it. To -Shakespeare’s mind, a friend was a friend—a foe was -a foe. Treachery was his chief abhorrence. When he -lived in Stratford-on-Avon for the last remaining years -of his career we know by various records that he was -subjected to many petty annoyances at the hands of -his own townsfolk, so that almost up to his death he -was involved in litigation, defending himself from libel -and his daughter from scandal. The Corporation were -ready enough to borrow money of him—yes! that goes -without saying. But for sympathy, comprehension, -and friendship he had to seek outside his native town -altogether. It would seem he has to do that still; and -not only has he to go outside his native town, but outside<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296"></a>296</span> -his native land. In America his works are much better -known, loved, and honoured than in Great Britain; in -France, where it is difficult to understand him owing -to the insuperable obstacles of his language for Frenchmen, -there is a “société” founded by an erudite Israelite, -with a British committee who are entirely unknown as -<em>real</em> students of Shakespeare, but who have “names” distinguished -in other walks of life. In Russia the bard -is viewed as a sort of demi-god, for his verse translates -into Russian superbly; and in the Germany of the past -Lessing’s translation of the plays made him the father -of German literature, as represented by Goethe, Schiller, -and others who distinguished themselves before the black -night of Hohenzollern decadence. But if we take our -own islands—in Scotland he is hardly understood; in -Ireland, seldom read or acted; in Wales, almost a sealed -book; while in England itself—well, as Martin Harvey -has recently said, a quarter of one day’s war expenses -would establish a National Theatre, where the great -plays could be produced in a fitting manner as part of -the national education.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>In Stratford-on-Avon this year’s anniversary of the -poet’s birth and death has passed almost unmarked. -No actor has urged his willing service to his Master in -the theatre by the Avon, though this, for many reasons, -is not to be wondered at. True, the bells of the church -rang—true, the flags of nations were unfurled, and -there was a dolefully shabby “flower” procession; but -in the Memorial Theatre there was only a lecture, <em>not</em> -on Shakespeare, but on a movement inaugurated by the -lecturer himself. Then there were all the usual “pats -on the back” of every person to the other concerned, a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297"></a>297</span> -trifle of music, and there an end. Shakespeare himself -was nowhere, though—yes!—perhaps out in the -moist woods, where the primroses are beginning to push -through the mould and the call of the cuckoo is faintly -heard, one might have met his tranquil Spirit moving -apart from all “alarums and excursions,” and have -heard his voice in words which he could well address just -now to England.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Nay, if you read this line, remember not</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The hand that writ it, for I love you so,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If thinking on me then should make you woe.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298"></a>298</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_45">“DON’T TRAVEL”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A HARD HIT - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">We</span> are all called upon to make sacrifices, both public -and personal. No one can assert that we do not make -them willingly, and for the most part uncomplainingly. -But our Dictators appear blind to the fact that in many -cases their orders and “restrictions” are ruining British -trades, while affording the greatest possible relief and -satisfaction to the Boches. The well-fed Huns heard -with malicious glee the admission of Mr. Bonar Law -that we were at one time short of fighting men by a -hundred thousand—an undiplomatic avowal which for -sheer bad tact ranks alongside of Lord Devonport’s -“grave” warnings of “food shortage,” and Captain -Bathurst’s advertised appetite for “pickled herrings.” -If “shortage” of any kind exists, why “give it away” -to the enemy? It is of a nature to be dealt with “in -secret Session,” not in the open House, where prominent -members themselves admit that whatever is said is -at once taken to Germany. Is it surprising, then, that -with the crazy exaggerations and falsehoods of the German -Press, our foes assert that “England is starving!” -and that “there are not enough men left to us to fight -with!” How much wiser and more dignified it would -be to let them clearly understand that, honestly, we are -not suffering at all from any real food hardships, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299"></a>299</span> -that we shall have more than a hundred thousand extra -men ready to fight them should occasion arise. Mr. -Bonar Law may be a Scottish “man of iron,” but he is -also very guileless if he does not realise the derision and -delight of the Boche over the statements he made in -the House—statements repeated throughout Germany, -just as Mr. Lloyd George’s unfortunate phrase, “the -horrible danger of the submarine,” was caught up by -Bethmann-Hollweg, and repeated with devilish laughter -at every street corner in Berlin. When we are at grips -with a foe it is not advisable to show him the loose -joints in our armour. To us British there should be -never a thought or a word of “horrible danger,” especially -as we know we can grow our own necessary food -if we make up our minds to do it; nor should we ever -publicly admit any “shortage” of any kind, whether in -men or supplies. To admit weakness is to court attack.</p> - -<p>Now we are told “not to travel”; not to take the much -longed-for Easter rest, with Easter hope of the slowly -coming spring, and there is no doubt that those of us -who have comfortable homes are willing enough to stay -in them. But for the brave, patient men and women -who have given up their homes to toil day and night at -munition work, and who naturally crave for a breath -of country or sea air, whose bodies and souls are weary, -and who need, if only a few hours, change of scene -and movement for their very health’s sake, the restrictions -of train and motor service are surely rather an -exercise of tyranny? Not only does the ban affect the -travelling public (we presume the Cabinet Ministers -will not deny themselves their Easter recess?), but it -spells ruin to thousands of hard-working folk who depend -for their living at this season on letting lodgings<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300"></a>300</span> -in the country or at the seaside; to say nothing of the -disaster undeservedly inflicted on all our lovely watering-places -and rural resorts, which exist, in a great -measure, on the influx of visitors, whose patronage keeps -them going. Surely it may be asked, Why destroy the -prosperity of our own people? Why lay a paralysing -hand on our own trades and industries? Is it to give -the Boche a better chance when the war is over? Before -the outbreak of the Hohenzollern madness, hotels and -lodging-houses in all our pleasure resorts were numerous -and prosperous, and the greater part of them were -carried on by—Germans! One could not go anywhere -without meeting German managers and German waiters. -Now, when there might be the faint ghost of a -chance for the British hotel-keeper, the British caterer, -the British tradesman, the public are warned off with -“Don’t travel!” What joy for the Germans! Our -Dictators simply “fall” into their hands like drugged -moths into a net, and the way they go to work suggests -an attempt to “Prussianise” England, and make ample -preparation for a German “boom” after the war, when -our own people, half ruined by “restrictions,” have not -even the time to recoup their losses or start afresh on -any new line of possible prosperity. If the enormous -expenditure of the war is to be met by the people, every -chance must be given them to earn the money wherewith -to meet it. None of the workers would trouble the railway -service if motor-cars and conveyances were allowed -to carry them out for an Easter breath of Easter air, -but though military “swaggerers” at home are allowed -to dash about everywhere in cars with apparent freedom, -the “restriction” on petrol holds up all the rest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301"></a>301</span> -of the public. Yet, as a matter of common hearsay, it -is asserted that “there is no real scarcity of petrol!”</p> - -<p>What are we to believe? One thing is pretty certain, -and that is that the British public, though so patient -“a hass,” may kick at last and refuse to take “rations” -of thistles, while the German Hog is fed on carrots and -corn. To quote from a well-reasoned article in a morning -contemporary: “The blind and fatal shears of promiscuous -prohibition cut off the just and the unjust -together. They are, moreover, a most disturbing element -in trade, and are reducing our merchants to despair.” -True! And if the “disturbing element” is not -promptly checked, we may look out for storms!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302"></a>302</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_46">“TE DEUM LAUDAMUS”<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE GREAT THANKSGIVING - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Published in the “Pall-Mall Gazette”</i>)</span></span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">It</span> is time we gave thanks—indeed, it is more than time! -Perhaps, had we seen more clearly into the future we -might have given thanks long before this—thanks for -our kinship with America—for the ties of blood, of -language, of tradition, memory, and association which -have made us, as some say, “cousins,” but as we prefer -to believe, brothers—brothers in heart and soul, as we -are to-day brothers-in-arms. Let it be admitted that we -have not always quite understood each other. Small -rancours, petty jealousies, trifling differences have arisen -casually from time to time between the people of a great -Empire and the people of a great Republic, which seem -now but the merest gossamer cobwebs spun by the ever-working -spiders of rumour and mischief, easily brushed -away at a touch. The trumpet blast of a noble Cause -has brought to our side our youngest comrade, alive with -energy, passion, and enthusiasm, expressing in every -attitude Tennyson’s eloquent <span class="locked">lines:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent1">“I wake to the higher aims</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of a land that has lost for a little her lust of gold</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And love of a peace that was full of wrongs and shames</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Horrible, hateful, monstrous, not to be told,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I hail once more the banner of battle, unroll’d!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_303"></a>303</span></p> -<p>And we have taken our comrade by both hands, -and have knelt with him under the great dome of St. -Paul’s, giving our thanks to God for bringing us this, -our brother; and we claim to say with Lincoln that -we do not presume to ask the Almighty to be on our -side, but we do pray that we may be on the side of -the Almighty! If President Wilson’s “Declaration of -War” against Germany means anything, it means that -right and justice, freedom and truth, are all of God; -and therefore to fight for the maintenance of these -things is to fight for God’s own Law and Order. The -one piece of eloquence which stands out in distinctive -greatness amid all that has yet been spoken concerning -our world-contest, is this “Declaration,” which will -go down to posterity as matchless for high principle, -reasonableness, and clearness of diction—an oration -which no statesman of old time, whether Greek or -Roman, has ever surpassed, in what we know of history. -It should have been read aloud in every church, every -school, every theatre, every public assembly, with as -much impressiveness as a Pope’s “Encyclical,” and -more!</p> - -<p>Nothing do we need so much in this country as to -“catch on” to some of the enthusiasm and eagerness -which fires our American Ally, as he springs to our -side in the battle under the bright stars of the “Old -Glory.” He is young, ardent, and ready for anything—quick -eyed, alert of brain, he means to “hustle”! -Some of us need to be infected by this splendid youth. -A curious lethargy clings to us at times—a kind of -dumb spell. Is it excess of feeling? Or—is it sheer -egotism? Our French friends marvel at the indifference -we show at the victories just won by Sir Douglas<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_304"></a>304</span> -Haig. They thought to see all London beflagged in the -great soldier’s honour. Very certainly they had hoped -the “Stars and Stripes” might be flown from every -public building on the day of the President’s Declaration—but -no!—not even in Stratford-on-Avon, that -shrine of America’s devoted Shakespeare-Worship, was -any sign given of the momentous event. Rather discreditable -to Stratford, remembering that in peace times -Shakespeare’s Town depends very much for its livelihood -on its crowds of American visitors. But what does -Shakespeare himself say?</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Blow, blow thou winter wind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou art not so unkind</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As man’s ingratitude!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Let us hope that it is not so much ingratitude as -inability to appreciate the situation.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>No wonder Americans find it sometimes difficult to -know or to understand us. For months they have heard -their President persistently abused, they have seen him -cruelly caricatured and jeered at in the lower sections -of the British Press, and they have had to possess their -souls in patience till their day of triumph came. It -has come—the bitter tongues are now all honey—and -their generosity in forgiving and forgetting wrongs and -coming to us in perfect amity, glittering in the panoply -of battle, and placing almost inexhaustible supplies at -our service, is a truly great and wonderful thing. We -have done ourselves honour by the thanksgiving in St. -Paul’s; and some of us who knelt in the dim shadows -of that vast shrine and heard the thunderous chords of -the American National Hymn surging in our ears,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_305"></a>305</span> -prayed that the two great English-speaking peoples, now -joined in a vaster Crusade than was ever before undertaken, -might find their union cemented, not only by -the blood shed for country, but by all the ties of mutual -comprehension and sympathy. To-day, we are as one -in the resolve, that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“God’s just wrath shall be wreaked on a giant liar,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And noble thought be freer under the sun!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>And so shall the “Old Glory” help to make for us all -the New!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_306"></a>306</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_47">THE WOMEN’S VOTE<br /> - -<span class="subhead">NATURE VERSUS POLITICS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Those</span> far-sighted and indulgent men who supported -“Votes for Women” should surely be enjoying to the -full the result of their pliability and humour! In the -“Coupon Election” they expected six million feminine -votes—for Coalition, of course. If we conjugate Ministerial -messages as one verb, they could all have been -rendered thus: “<em>I</em> expect, <em>you</em> expect, <em>he</em> expects” -women to do their duty. But one point seems rather -overlooked, and that is, the precise idea women have -of duty. When I say “women” I mean women in the -grand majority—not a few hundreds or even a few -thousand agitators. And I dare to suggest that these -“women in the grand majority,” do not care about -their “votes” in the least—and that all the roaring of -a megaphone press will never make them care. Nature -is, and always will be, too strong for them, and Nature -has not endowed them, except in a few rare cases, with -a taste for politics. But Nature has given them far -greater qualities, and has organised them in a special -way—a way most beautiful, wonderful, and nobly privileged; -and the greatest social reformer that ever risked -the oft-tried sorry business of “re-constructing” civilisation, -can never alter the work for which Nature is alone -responsible. I do not believe that Women, speaking in -the plural of nationalities, ever wanted the vote at all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_307"></a>307</span>—but -that seeing (and hearing) the wild clamour of some -of their sisters, who shrieked and smashed themselves -into notoriety, they were attracted by the fun of it, the -noise of it, the curious, rowdy, non-feminine spirit of it, -and followed the whooping and the yells with the fascinated -amusement of children running after the “One -Man Band” who beats a drum with his elbows and -clashes cymbals with his feet. Mr. Lloyd George is a -wise thinker in his generation, but his sagacity will be -at fault if it should be proved (Heaven forbid!) that -after all—yes, after all the screaming and smashing of -windows, and all the efforts made on their behalf—the -women as a whole prove apathetic and indifferent to this -wonderful privilege they have fought for and won!</p> - -<p>There is a French story of a certain spoilt little lady -whose husband adored her, from the glimmer of her -topmost blonde curl to the point of her broidered shoe, -and who expressed to him her ardent wish for a diamond -chain she had seen in an expensive jeweller’s window. -Her husband, though rich and generous, apparently -paid no attention to her oft-repeated request, till one -day he suddenly presented her with the coveted ornament -as a “surprise packet” and token of his affection. -But she pushed the gift aside and gave way to bitter -tears. “Why, oh, why did you bring me such a thing?” -she sobbed. “I shall never wear it! Oh, <em>why</em> didn’t -you buy me that dear weeny-teeny dog I saw yesterday! -The <em>weeny</em> pet! I would have loved it so! I would -have talked to it about <em>you</em>!—it would have been <em>such</em> a -companion! Oh, I <em>did</em> want that <em>weeny</em> darling!”</p> - -<p>There is a moral in this story (despite the contempt -it must evoke among future female M.P.s), and “the -pint,” as Captain Cuttle or his friend Jack Bunsby re<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308"></a>308</span>marked, -“lies in the application on it.” Whether Mr. -Lloyd George and the supporters of the Women’s Franchise -will perceive it is problematical—but whether -they do or do not, there is a curious nature-fact about -Woman which is frequently missed or overlooked by -Man. It is this: <em>That when she is given what she wants, -she doesn’t want it!</em> That is to say—the gaining of her -objective concludes her active interest in it; the thing -is possessed, and promptly loses its value. With the -swiftness and ease of a butterfly she deserts the blossom -from which she has stripped the pollen!</p> - -<p>“Equality of the sexes” is one of the advanced feminine -war-cries, when every one with a grain of common -sense knows there is and can be no such equality. -Nature’s law forbids. Nature insists on contrasts; the -small and the great, the weak and the strong, the light -and the dark. And women know well enough that their -“calling and election” are superior to those of men—they -are the makers of the race and the ordainers of the -future, but their strength is not on the hustings or in -the polling-booth—it is in the silence and sweetness of -“Home.” The home is the acorn from which springs -the oak of a nation. Women’s own instincts teach them -that their power is too sacred a thing for common discussion; -and when, in their despite, such discussion is -let loose in the press by vulgarly interested sexualists -and sensualists, their contempt is not concealed. They -feel, strongly enough too, when questioned in the right -spirit, that it is not needful for them to mix with the -undignified scrambling of political methods; and any -“apathy” as to the use of the vote, is simply that they -have, or think they have, something better to do. Yes,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_309"></a>309</span> -indeed! They really and truly think that their home -affairs, their children, their daily duties, even their -clothes, are more in their line than “Coalition”! They -are for unity of purpose most assuredly—all of one -mind as to the punishment of surely the most miserable -man on earth, the ex-Kaiser—equally of one mind concerning -the barring out of the Huns from further interference -of their own folks’ businesses—but they think, -and rightly too, that so far as putting the nation’s house -in order goes, the men should be trusted to do it. There -was something very funny in Mr. Lloyd George’s opening -words to a women’s meeting at Queen’s Hall—“I -feel very shy and solitary!” Did he? Surely this was -a bit of “camouflage”? But putting all blandishment -aside, it is just a toss-up as to whether women’s votes -will be quite as influential as prophesied. One of the -surprises of the Coupon Election was Mr. Lloyd -George’s “sweep-aside” of a chivalrous male candidate -in favour of Miss Pankhurst, who, so it is understood, -threatened the direst things against him in past “militant” -days! Generosity and magnanimity on the part -of a Prime Minister to a Suffragette, a male to a female, -could no farther go!—but one wonders if the modern -“Glendower” realised the effect his action had on many -thousands of non-Pankhurst women? For sheer humiliation -it came second only to the surrender of the German -Fleet! Whether it served as good a purpose was -answered by the result. “Drive Nature out of the door, -she comes flying back through the window,” and one -of the most curious, purely natural traits in woman’s -complex character, is that she loves to have her own -way up to a certain point, but when that point is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_310"></a>310</span> -gained she has had enough, and turns to man with a -“Here! <em>You</em> take it!” And no woman has yet been -returned to Parliament, for which we may all, if we -have any common sense, thank God, and hope for the -best that she never will be!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_311"></a>311</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_48">A “HAPPY THOUGHTS” DAY<br /> - -<span class="subhead">(<i>Written specially for the Grantham Red Cross Outings Fund</i>)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Here</span> is an idea for every one—young and old, rich -and poor! Let us institute a “Happy Thoughts” Day!—one -day out of the seven on which we resolve to -think only “Happy” thoughts! Thoughts of kindness, -tenderness, hope, and unselfishness—thoughts which, -even while we think them, take fairy wings and fly from -ourselves to our neighbours and propagate other happy -thoughts, creating cheerfulness and hope wherever they -go. It is not easy, perhaps, to think “happy” thoughts -in dark days, but no good task can be accomplished -without difficulty. A much more simple and convenient -thing it is to grumble!—to lay our own faults on the -shoulders of others,—to believe that our own troubles -are the worst in the world,—to sneer at other folks’ manners, -looks, clothes, and opinions, and to throw out mocking -jests and cruel laughter at those whom we affect -to despise yet secretly envy;—but on our “Happy -Thoughts” day we can have none of these ugly and -ordinary vulgarities,—we must make a bid for something -higher and more exquisite in grace and refinement. -We must think “happily” of others while we -hope they will also think “happily” of us. We will -make up our minds to find our friends beautiful, charming, -and lovable; we will cheerfully admire them and -their appearance and conversation,—we will agree<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_312"></a>312</span> -that it is a special blessing conferred on us that we -have any friends at all,—and we will confess that -our lot in life is much better than we have any right -to expect. And we will send our “happy thoughts” -across the seas to suffering nations, conjoined with our -hopeful prayers—prayers that they may be sustained -and comforted, and by God’s mercy be victorious. And -above all, we will let our “Happy Thoughts Day” reflect -its cheeriness in ourselves,—in our looks and bearing, -our talk and expression, so that we may be the carriers -of mental sunshine everywhere, even during the passing -of the darkest thundercloud. One day out of the seven, -dear friends!—take it and consecrate it to “Happy -Thoughts,” happy thoughts of earth, of heaven, of God -and man,—and you will find it a day on which you -unconsciously grow stronger, braver, pleasanter to look -at, more valuable to know,—for happiness is a powerful -magnet, and never fails to draw others to its vital line. -May a “Happy Thoughts Day” be the true holiday of -every loving and faithful soul!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_313"></a>313</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_49">WHY DID I——?</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">I should</span> not presume to write this answer to numerous -correspondents, had it not been for the precedent given -by Mr. Garvin, the erudite editor of the <i>Observer</i>, who -recently allotted several columns of his own paper to -the praise of his own book. Wherefore, gladly accepting -this “lead” from one who knows so much more about -literary “management” than I do, I take the opportunity -of replying to several letters demanding “Why” -I wrote my last published novel, <i>The Young Diana</i>. -Why? Well, because (like Mr. Garvin on himself) I -think it a good idea! Moreover, I wanted to be one -of the first in the field to suggest a discovery which is -approaching us in the near future; which is, so to -speak, “glimmering” ahead of our scientists like a -brilliant streak of sunrise in a summer sky. Following -the example of Mr. Garvin, who urgently recommends -the public to read <em>his</em> book, I, with equal urgency -recommend the public to read <em>mine</em>. I should not have -dared to do so unless Mr. Garvin had shown me the -way, and he is such a noted authority in journalism that -I feel I cannot do wrong in copying him as much as -possible. Therefore, dear public!—good readers all!—I -assure you that <i>The Young Diana</i> is a remarkable -book. It is, really! Mr. Garvin says his is a remarkable -book, and I feel that mine is equally remarkable. It -is full of new ideas, happily expressed. Garvinly -speaking, it is a compendium of hope for mankind, or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_314"></a>314</span> -rather womankind, because it shows how possibly the -youth and beauty of the fairer sex may be retained -indefinitely, to say nothing of the prolongation of life. -Nobody wants to grow old, not even Garvin; as a -matter of fact nobody <em>does</em> grow old nowadays: witness -our beautiful Queen Alexandra and the ever lithe and -lissom “Tiger” Clemenceau. To read <i>The Young -Diana</i>, you need a little intelligence, of course. So you -do when you read <i>The Economic Foundations of Peace</i> -by Garvin. His book costs 12s. net—mine is only -6s. 9d. His treats of “the policy upon which the safety, -the prosperity, the very physical survival of humanity -depend.” Mine treats likewise of all these things, -vested in fair Woman, upon whom the physical existence -as well as “survival” of man depends. His, according -to his friends on the press, is “a great idea brilliantly -presented.” So is mine. It is, to quote another friend’s -criticism, “a practical and passionate effort to save the -world alive.” Oh, friends! this is exactly what <em>my</em> -book is!—only it is a practical and passionate effort to -save <em>Woman</em> alive!—beautiful and exquisite Woman!—the -Mother of all Man! It is “filled with cogent argument -and luminous illustration”—I copy Garvin critiques -because I shouldn’t know how to lay on the -butter so felicitously as the friends of “this remarkable -book by a great journalist”—but I have occasionally -been called “a great novelist,” by semi-crazed folk, of -course, and I feel justified (after Garvin) in calling -attention to my “remarkable book.” Garvinly speaking, -“it is a timely, wise and nobly-inspired book”—you see -I haven’t a newspaper of my own in which to blow my -own small trumpet, so I catch the silvery echo of -Garvin’s glorious and mellow horn and trust to my<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_315"></a>315</span> -readers to catch the sound and the meaning thereof! -So read <i>The Young Diana</i>!—if she had only been at -the Peace Conference all would have been well! <i>Diana</i> -is a book “which will leave the reader with a better -hope of the future”—(vide <i>Observer</i>)—yes, indeed, it -will! Women will radiate under its influence; beauty -will have no fear of perishing; life will be “a joy for -ever,” and all this for six shillings and ninepence! -Think of it! Had I a journal of my own I would have -out-Garvined Garvin in self-adulation, but this is only -a reply to my numerous correspondents who ask, “Why -did you write <i>The Young Diana</i>?” and my answer is -because, like Garvin, I seek to re-invigorate, reform, -and re-establish the world! Amen!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_316"></a>316</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="hdr_50">IN THE HUSH OF THE DAWN<br /> - -<span class="subhead">A THOUGHT</span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="in0"><span class="firstword">Silence</span> now where so lately the guns thundered their -terrific message,—silence, beautiful and wonderful, -where just a while ago the bursting bombs and shrieking -shells tore the air on their errands of doom. Silence!—peace!—the -hush of the dawn before the rising of the -sun! Nothing in nature is perhaps more impressive -than this dumb spell which precedes approaching morning,—when -every blade of grass, every leaf on every tree -seems to wait attentively for the day. And nothing in -the condition of human affairs is more awe-inspiring to -the thinker and idealist than the dramatic pause of a -break between battles,—an armistice, which may or may -not lead to lasting peace. We feel, as it were, the slow -passing of mist and cloud across the sky—we watch pale -glimmerings of gold and rose in the lightening east—we -think we see the morning glory on the distant hills! For -those who view the pageant of history with living interest, -and notably for us who are permitted to witness -the most marvellous scene ever enacted in it, this is -not a time for wild whirling to and fro in a round of -social excitement and foolish chattering,—it is far more -a time for prayer. Even as the Eastern worshipper -prostrates himself on the earth and waits for the rising -of the sun, so should we both spiritually and intellectually -prostrate ourselves in humility before the shining<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_317"></a>317</span> -hope of the wonderful Light which promises to illumine -the world’s darkness,—the light of peace and unity -which shall make war impossible. For, though we may -dance and sing and shout “Victory!” at the top of our -voices, that Light does not as yet shine,—that sun has -not yet risen! Men are not yet of one straight mind. -A great majority “love darkness rather than light because -their deeds are evil.” Could we call our nation -one of absolute unity in purpose, resolved to put aside -personal prejudices and interests for the good of the -whole State, we should be certain of a real “sunrise”—we -should almost touch the millennium! But though we -deem the cruellest war of all time ended, and though the -Supreme Power has given to our arms a victory so -sudden and miraculous that we are left, as it were, -breathless and staring, half in doubt as to whether our -fortune be truly real, we are not able, apparently, to -stand still in our mercifully <em>un</em>-invaded country and -look each other in the face without quarrelling. Much -talk there is of reform and betterment, but if each man -who advocates these things begins the work by arguing -foolish details with his political rival, there is little hope -of any useful action ensuing. Should we not call a -“hush” on these agitating folk?—a request for pause -before they cast up dust into the clear spaces of the -dawn? Let us have a pure and open sky! Let us watch -the colours of hope and gladness deepen softly and surely -on the long-darkened horizon—and let no murky miasma -of discontent and disloyalty mar the happiness of -the rising sun! A nobler People,—a better, grander, -stronger Empire!—this is what our king and all our -wisest men appeal for in this “hush of the dawn.” -Surely it is the highest privilege in the world to know<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_318"></a>318</span> -that we can all help in this work of Peace as we have -helped in War,—we were all at one in making munitions -for death;—let us all be similarly at one in making -munitions for life. We are given our freedom by the -sacrifice of thousands of brave men,—we shall not honour -their memories now by ceaseless disputations as to -our own material advantages. We desire surely that -their dauntless and noble spirits shall know that our -gratitude for their heroism inspires us to build up a -nobler civilisation than we have ever had before,—and -to this end we pray God who hath given us the victory,—so -far!—in the hush of the dawn!</p> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - -<p>Punctuation and hyphenation were made -consistent when a predominant preference was found -in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.</p> - -<p>Simple typographical errors in English were corrected; unbalanced -quotation marks were remedied when the change was -obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.</p> - -<p>Misspelled non-English words were not corrected.</p> - -<p><a href="#Page_15">Page 15</a>: Duplicate book title deleted by Transcriber.</p> - -<p><a href="#Page_128">Page 128</a>: “Dux Fœmina facti” should be “Dux Fæmina facti”.</p> - -<p>The French text on pages <a href="#Page_141">141–144</a> contains several uncorrected -spelling and accent errors.</p> - -<p><a href="#Page_179">Page 179</a>: “names of scared things” probably should be “sacred”.</p> - -<p><a href="#Page_213">Page 213</a>: “grudges you success” perhaps should be “your”.</p> - -<p><a href="#Page_261">Page 261</a>: “in the thoat and palate” probably should be “throat”.</p> - -<p><a href="#Page_262">Page 262</a>: “abnominations” was printed that way.</p> -</div></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My "Little Bit", by Marie Corelli - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY "LITTLE BIT" *** - -***** This file should be named 63621-h.htm or 63621-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/6/2/63621/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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