the man who fails his country in this its hour of need!
I would not force him to serve. I could not think that the service of
such a man was of any avail. Let the country be served by free men, and
let them deal with the coward or the sluggard who flinches.

The causes of the war are only of moment to us, at this stage, in that
we gain more strength in our arms and more iron in our souls by a
knowledge that it is for all that is honorable and sacred for which we
fight. What really concerns us is that we are in a fight for our
national life, that we must fight through to the end, and that each and
all of us must help, in his own fashion, to the last ounce of his
strength, that this end may be victory. That is the essence of the
situation. It is not words and phrases that we need, but men, men--and
always more men. If words can bring the men then they are of avail. If
not they may well wait for the times to mend. But if there is a doubt in
the mind of any man as to the justice of his country's quarrel, then
even a writer may find work ready to his hand.

* * * * *

Let us cast our minds back upon the events which have led up to this
conflict. They may be divided into two separate classes, those which
prepared the general situation, and those which caused the special
quarrel. Each of these I will treat in its turn.

*Teuton Intoxication.*

It is a matter of common knowledge, one which a man must be blind and
deaf not to understand, that for many years Germany, intoxicated by her
success in war and by her increase of wealth, has regarded the British
Empire with eyes of jealousy and hatred. It has never been alleged by
those who gave expression to this almost universal national passion that
Great Britain had in any way, either historically or commercially, done
Germany a mischief. Even our most bitter traducers, when asked to give
any definite historical reasons for their dislike, were compelled to put
forward such ludicrous excuses as that the British had abandoned the
Prussian King in the year 1761, quite oblivious of the fact that the
same Prussian King had abandoned his own allies in the same war under
far more damaging circumstances, acting up to his own motto that no
promises are binding where the vital interests of a State are in
question. With all their malevolence they could give no examples of any
ill turn done by us until their deliberate policy had forced us into
antagonism.