a force
inherent in all living organisms which can only be mastered by
understanding its nature. It is in that spirit that, one after the
other, all the Nations of the Continent, taught by such drastic lessons
as Koniggraetz and Sedan, have accepted the lesson, with the result
that to-day Europe is an armed camp, and peace is maintained by
the equilibrium of forces, and will continue just as long as this
equilibrium exists, and no longer.

Whether this state of equilibrium is in itself a good or desirable thing
may be open to argument. I have discussed it at length in my "War and
the World's Life"; but I venture to suggest that to no one would a
renewal of the era of warfare be a change for the better, as far as
existing humanity is concerned. Meanwhile, however, with every year
that elapses the forces at present in equilibrium are changing in
magnitude--the pressure of populations which have to be fed is rising,
and an explosion along the line of least resistance is, sooner or later,
inevitable.

As I read the teaching of the recent Hague Conference, no responsible
Government on the Continent is anxious to form in themselves that line
of least resistance; they know only too well what War would mean; and
we alone, absolutely unconscious of the trend of the dominant thought
of Europe, are pulling down the dam which may at any moment let in on us
the flood of invasion.

Now no responsible man in Europe, perhaps least of all in Germany,
thanks us for this voluntary destruction of our defences, for all who
are of any importance would very much rather end their days in peace
than incur the burden of responsibility which War would entail. But
they realise that the gradual dissemination of the principles taught by
Clausewitz has created a condition of molecular tension in the minds of
the Nations they govern analogous to the "critical temperature of water
heated above boiling-point under pressure," which may at any moment
bring about an explosion which they will be powerless to control.

The case is identical with that of an ordinary steam boiler, delivering
so and so many pounds of steam to its engines as long as the
envelope can contain the pressure; but let a breach in its continuity
arise--relieving the boiling water of all restraint--and in a moment the
whole mass flashes into vapour, developing a power no work of man can
oppose.

The ultimate consequences of defeat no man can foretell. The only way to
avert them i