Ordeal by Battle

as the Old; nor can any man feel certain, or even hopeful, that the conflagration will be conte

hich lawyers describe as 'the act of God'? Or is it a thing which, having been conceived and deliberately projected by the wit of man, could have been averted by human courage and judgm

lanations why this war was, in the nature of things, unavoidable. Whether the prevailing priesthood wears white robes and fillets, or rich vestments, or {37} cassocks and Geneva bands, or the severer m

R INEV

914. It was in a special sense the view of the Liberal party; and their view was endorsed, if not by the whole body of unionists, at any rate by their leader, in terms which admitted of no m

it entailed. They had failed to provide armaments to correspond with this policy. When the crisis arose their hands were tied. They had to sit down hurriedly, and decipher their policy, and find out what it meant. Still more hurriedly they had to get it approved, not

lity of Belgium, and that was already violated. Their policy was the defence of France, and invasion had begun. Thei

vourable. Circumstances changed. The sense of a common danger healed old antagonisms. Causes of chronic irritation disappeared of themselves, or were removed by diplomatic surgery. And with the disappearance of these inflammatory centres, misunderstandings, prejudices, and suspicions began to vanish also. {39} Gradually it became clear, that what had been mistaken on both sides for destiny was nothing more inexorable than a fit of temper, or a conflict of business interests not incapable of adjustment. And in a sense the German menace was less formidable than any of these others, for the reason that it was a fit of temper on one side only—a fit of temper, or megalomania. We became fully conscious of the German mood only after the end of the South African War, when its persistence showed cl

N JEA

world over to prevent it; that we had isolated her and ringed her round with hostile alliances. We knew that these notions were all entirely false. We knew that, so far from hampering German comm

chool, engrossed mainly in the European situation, set little store by colonies, thought of them rather as expensive and dangerous vanities, and abstained deliberately from taking an energetic part in the scramble. We knew, that in Africa and the East, Germany had nevertheless obtained considerable possessions, and t

hings she said. They thought she only half believed in her complaints, as a man is apt to do when ill-temper upsets his equanimity. They were co

ruth was to be given a chance of prevailing in the end, it was important to provide against mischief which might ve

OF ILL

mood of Germany changed, it was exceedingly likely to occur unless the odds against the aggressor were made too formidable for him to face. None of the governments, however, which have controlled our national destinies since 1900, ever developed sufficient energy to realise

s—that owing to divergent interests, war some day or other between this country and Germany i

n an interview with Mr. Lloyd George, reported in Pearso