r betters, to elect one of these young survivors of the carnage
to be our Rector. He ought now to know a few things about war that
are worth our hearing. If his theme were the Rector's favourite,
diligence. I should be afraid of his advising a great many of us
to be diligent in sitting still and doing no more harm.

Of course he would put it more suavely than that, though it is not,
I think, by gentleness that you will get your rights; we are dogged
ones at sticking to what we have got, and so will you be at our age.
But avoid calling us ugly names; we may be stubborn and we may be
blunderers, but we love you more than aught else in the world, and
once you have won your partnership we shall all be welcoming you.
I urge you not to use ugly names about anyone. In the war it was
not the fighting men who were distinguished for abuse; as has been
well said, 'Hell hath no fury like a non-combatant.' Never ascribe
to an opponent motives meaner than your own. There may be students
here to-day who have decided this session to go in for immortality,
and would like to know of an easy way of accomplishing it. That is
a way, but not so easy as you think. Go through life without ever
ascribing to your opponents motives meaner than your own. Nothing
so lowers the moral currency; give it up, and be great.

Another sure way to fame is to know what you mean. It is a solemn
thought that almost no one--if he is truly eminent--knows what he
means. Look at the great ones of the earth, the politicians. We
do not discuss what they say, but what they may have meant when they
said it. In 1922 we are all wondering, and so are they, what they
meant in 1914 and afterwards. They are publishing books trying to
find out; the men of action as well as the men of words. There are
exceptions. It is not that our statesmen are 'sugared mouths with
minds therefrae'; many of them are the best men we have got, upright
and anxious, nothing cheaper than to miscall them. The explanation
seems just to be that it is so difficult to know what you mean,
especially when you have become a swell. No longer apparently can
you deal in 'russet yeas and honest kersey noes'; gone for ever is
simplicity, which is as beautiful as the divine plain face of Lamb's
Miss Kelly. Doubts breed suspicions, a dangerous air. Without
suspicion there might have been no war. When you are called to
Downing Street to discuss what you want of your betters with the
Prime