phemy is as rampant now as it ever
was. It is not a hungry belief in God that gives the initial impulse
for human slaughter. It is a craving lust for the invention of all
that is devilish in expeditiously disposing of human life.

The international democracies who are devoting so much attention to
political ascendancy should distribute their power in a way that would
make it impossible for weak Governments, composed of mediocrities and
bellicose rulers of nations, to make war whenever their impertinent
ambitions are impressed with the sanguinary rage of conflict.

All wars mutilate civilization, and put back by many generations any
advance that may have been made in the interval between one butchery
and another. The working people of all nations could and should
combine to stop the manufacture of every implement of warfare, and
make it a treasonable offence for any ruler or Government again to
advocate war as a means of settling disputes. This law must of
necessity be binding upon all the Powers, big and little. What a
mockery this gospel of brotherhood has been in all ages! Is it an
ideal ambition to bring it about? Of course it is, but we cannot catch
the spirit of Christ and preach the gospel of pity, and commit hideous
murder at one and the same time! hence the impudence of expecting a
Divine benediction on warfare.

All sorts of public and private honours and testimonials were
conferred upon Nelson during his stay at Hamburg on his way home after
the mortifications caused by the elusive French fleet, Calabrian
brigands, and the alluring attractions of the Court of Naples and
Sicily. One hundred grenadiers, each six feet high, waited at table
when he was being banqueted. The owner of a Magdeburg hotel where he
stayed made money by setting up a ladder outside Nelson's sitting-room
and charging a fee for mounting it and peeping at the hero inside the
room. An aged wine merchant at Hamburg offered him through Lady
Hamilton six dozen bottles of Rhenish wine of the vintage of 1625. It
had been in his own possession for fifty years, and he hoped that some
of it would be allowed to flow with the blood of the immortal hero, as
it would then make the giver happy. Nelson shook hands with the old
man, and consented to receive six bottles, provided he would dine with
him next day. A dozen were sent, and Nelson put aside six, saying that
it was his hope to win half a dozen more victories, and that one
bottle would be drunk af