The Project Gutenberg EBook of Armageddon--And After, by W. L. Courtney

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Title: Armageddon--And After

Author: W. L. Courtney

Release Date: November 26, 2005 [EBook #17158]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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ARMAGEDDON--AND AFTER

BY

W.L. COURTNEY, M.A., LL.D.

LONDON

CHAPMAN & HALL, LTD.

1914

DEDICATED

WITH ALL HUMILITY AND ADMIRATION

TO

THE YOUNG IDEALISTS OF ALL COUNTRIES

WHO WILL NOT ALLOW THE DREAMS OF THEIR

YOUTH TO BE TARNISHED BY THE

EXPERIENCES OF AN

OUTWORN AGE

PREFACE

I dedicate this little book to the young idealists of this and other
countries, for several reasons. They must, obviously, be young, because
their older contemporaries, with a large amount of experience of earlier
conditions, will hardly have the courage to deal with the novel data. I
take it that, after the conclusion of the present war, there will come an
uneasy period of exhaustion and anxiety when we shall be told that those
who hold military power in their hands are alone qualified to act as
saviours of society. That conclusion, as I understand the matter, young
idealists will strenuously oppose. They will be quite aware that all the
conservative elements will be against them; they will appreciate also the
eagerness with which a large number of people will point out that the
safest way is to leave matters more or less alone, and to allow the
situation to be controlled by soldiers and diplomatists. Of course there
is obvious truth in the assertion that the immediate settlement of peace
conditions must, to a large extent, be left in the hands of those who
brought the war to a successful conclusion. But the relief from pressing
anxiety when this horrible strife is over, and the feeling of