the faith which taught all to be up and doing in
Duty's name.

From the records, I know that eight weeks passed after the famous
Council at the War Office before England spoke. When I say that during
that time I acted as my chief's representative in controlling an office
of over ninety clerks (all drilled men and fair shots), besides several
times traversing the length and breadth of the kingdom on special
missions, it will be understood that the period was to me a good deal
more like eight days. During that time, too, I was able to help
Constance Grey in her organization of the women helpers' branch of _The
Citizens_, in which over nine thousand members were enrolled. Constance
had an executive committee of twenty-five volunteer workers, who spent
money and energy ungrudgingly in helping her.

We kept in close touch with the heads of provincial committees during
the whole of that period, and several times we communicated by means of
printed circular letters, franked gratis for us by the War Office, with
every single _Citizen_.

Then came the day of the now historic telegram which the Post Office was
authorized to transmit to every sworn _Citizen_ in the kingdom:

"Be ready! 'For God, our Race, and Duty.'"

This was signed by John Crondall, and came after some days of detailed
instruction and preparation.

It has been urged by some writers that the Government was at fault in
the matter of its famous declaration of war with Germany. It has been
pointed out that for the sake of a point of etiquette, the Government
had no right to yield a single advantage to an enemy whose conduct
toward us had shown neither mercy nor courtesy. There is a good deal to
be said for this criticism; but, when all is said and done, I believe
that every Englishman is glad at heart that our Government took this
course. I believe it added strength to our fighting arm; I believe it
added weight and consequence to the first blows struck.

Be that as it may, there was no sign of hesitancy or weakness in the
action of the Government when the declaration had once been made; and it
speaks well for the deliberate thoroughness of all preparations that,
twenty-four hours after the declaration, every one of the nine German
garrisons in the kingdom was hemmed in by land and by sea. On the land
side the Germans were besieged by more than three million armed men.
Almost the whole strength of the British Navy was then concentrated upon
the patrolling of