nius--started this war; and we are English enough to think that we can
end it by brute force. Pass the matches."

"You are really of opinion," asked Paul dreamily, "that I should be
doing my utmost if I stuck to my last?"

"Unquestionably. There are a thousand and one things of vital interest
to all humanity which have not been said yet, which only you can say, a
thousand and one aspects of the Deluge not yet presented to the world.
Above all, Paul, there are millions of poor bereaved souls who suffer
dumbly and vaguely wonder for what crime they are being punished."

"Would you have me tell them that their faith, their churches, are to
blame?"

"Not necessarily. The churches will receive many a hard knock without
you adding your quota. Merry England has always nourished the
'Down-wither'; we breed the 'Down-withers'; and they will raise their
slogan of 'Down with everything' soon enough. I see your part, Paul, as
that of a reconstructor rather than a 'Down-wither.' Any fool can smash
a Ming pot but no man living to-day can make one. You think that the
churches have failed?"

"On the whole, yes. If we here in England are firm in our spiritual
faith, why are the churches empty at such an hour as this and the salons
of the crystal-gazers full?"

"Because we are _not_ firm in our spiritual faith. But many of us know
and admit that. The point is, can you tell us why, and indicate a
remedy?"

Paul Mario's expression grew wrapt, and he stared out over the valley
into a land which it is given to few ever to explore. "I believe I can,"
he answered softly; "but I dare not attempt such a task without the
unshakable conviction that mine is the chosen hand."

"I am glad to hear you say it; those doubts prove to me that you
recognise the power of your pen. They are fools who hold that a ton of
high-explosive is worth all the rhetoric of Cicero. It was not Krupps
who plunged the Central Empires into the pit, Paul, but Bernhardi,
Nietzsche and What's-his-name. Wagner's music has done more to form the
German character than Bismarck's diplomacy. Shakespeare's _Henry the
Fifth_ means more to England than Magna Charta."

"I agree."

"When the last of our marshals has stuck the last of his pins in the
last war map, all the belligerents will still be of the same opinion as
before the war began. The statesman of to-day is perhaps past praying
for, but your book will help to form the statesman of to-morrow."

"You dazzle me. You