aly, whose present greatness has flowed from
loyal help rendered her by other kindred nations, and by realising for
herself certain large patriotic ideals entertained by great minds. But for
the majority of nations it is certainly true that they have fought their
way into the ranks of supreme powers. From this the deduction is easy that
greatness depends on the possession of formidable military power. Indeed,
all the arguments of those who are very anxious that we should not reduce
our armaments is entirely based on this supposition. The strong man armed
keepeth his goods in peace; his only fear is that a stronger man may come
with better arms and take away his possessions. Now if the new Europe
dawns not indeed for those who are past middle age--for they will have
died before its realisation--but for the younger generation for whose sake
we are bearing the toil and burden of the day, the one thing which is
absolutely necessary is that the index of greatness must no longer be
found in armies and navies. Clearly it will take a long time for men to
get used to this novel conception. Inveterate prejudices will stand in the
way. We shall be told over and over again that peace-lovers are no
patriots; that imperialism demands the possible sacrifice of our manhood
to the exigencies of war; and that the only class of men who are ever
respected in this world are those who can fight. And so, even though we
have had ocular demonstration of the appalling ruin which militarism can
produce, we may yet, if we are not careful, forget all our experience and
drift back into notions which are not really separable from precisely
those ideas which we are at present reprobating in the German nation. The
real test is this: Is, or is not, war a supreme evil? It is no answer to
this question to suggest that war educes many splendid qualities. Of
course it does. And so, too, does exploration of Polar solitudes, or even
climbing Alpine or Himalayan heights. Either war is a detestable solution
of our difficulties, or it is not. If it is not, then we have no right
whatsoever to object to the Prussian ideal. But if it is, let us call it
by its proper name. Let us say that it is devil's work, and have done with
it.

EVIL OF ARMAMENTS

We are trying not only to understand what Europe will be like if, as we
hope, this war ends successfully for the Allies, but what sort of new
Europe it will be in the hands of the conquerors to frame. Those who come