As a nation we are in some ways a great deal too modest; or it may be, looking at the matter from a critical standpoint, too self-centred. We have always been inclined to assume in our calculations that we ourselves are the only possible disturbers of the peace, and that if we do not seek war, or provoke it, no other Power will dream of forcing war upon us. This unfortunately has rarely been the case; and those persons who, in recent times, have refused most scornfully to consider the lessons of past history, have now at last learned from a sterner schoolmaster the falseness of their favourite doctrine6.
The United Kingdom needed and desired peace, so {4} that it might proceed undistracted, and with firm purpose, to set its house in order. The Dominions7 needed peace, so that they might have time to people their fertile but empty lands, to strike deep roots and become secure. To the Indian Empire and the Dependencies peace was essential, if a system of government, which aimed, not unsuccessfully, at giving justice and fostering well-being9, was to maintain its power and prestige unshaken. The whole British race had nothing material to gain by war, but much to lose, much at any rate which would be put in jeopardy10 by war. In spite of all these weighty considerations which no man of sense and knowledge will venture to dispute, we should have been wiser had we taken into account the fact, that they did not apply to other nations, that in the main they affected11 ourselves alone, and that our case was no less singular than, in one sense at all events, it was fortunate.
We did not covet12 territory or new subjects. Still less were we likely to engage in campaigns out of a thirst for glory. In the latter particular at least we were on a par3 with the rest of the world. The cloud of anxiety which for ten or more years has brooded over the great conscript nations, growing steadily13 darker, contained many dangers, but among these we cannot reckon such antiquated14 motives15 as trivial bravado16, light-hearted knight-errantry, or the vain pursuit of military renown17.
What is called in history books 'an insult' seemed also to have lost much of its ancient power for plunging18 nations into war. The Chancelleries of Europe had grown cautious, and were on the watch against being misled by the emotions of the moment. A sensational19 but unintended injury was not allowed to drive us {5} into war with Russia in 1904, and this precedent20 seemed of good augury21. Moreover, when every statesman in Europe was fully5 alive to the electric condition of the atmosphere, a deliberate insult was not very likely to be offered from mere22 ill-manners or in a fit of temper, but only if there were some serious purpose behind it, in which case it would fall under a different category.
Fear was a great danger, and everybody knew it to be so—fear lest this nation, or that, might be secretly engaged in strengthening its position in order to crush one of its neighbours at some future date, unless that neighbour took time by the forelock and struck out forthwith. Among the causes which might bring about a surprise outbreak of war this was the most serious and probable. It was difficult to insure against it. But though perilous25 in the extreme while it lasts, panic is of the nature of an epidemic26: it rages for a while and passes away. It had been raging now with great severity ever since 1909,[1] and by midsummer 1914 optimists27 were inclined to seek consolation28 in the thought that the crisis must surely be over.
DANGERS TO PEACE
More dangerous to peace in the long run even than fear, were certain aims and aspirations29, which from one standpoint were concrete and practical, but regarded from another were among the cloudiest of abstractions—'political interests,' need of new markets, hunger for fresh territory to absorb the outflow of emigrants30, and the like; on the other hand, those hopes and anxieties which haunt the {6} imaginations of eager men as they look into the future, and dream dreams and see visions of a grand national fulfilment.
If the British race ever beheld31 a vision of this sort, it had been realised already. We should have been wise had we remembered that this accomplished32 fact, these staked-out claims of the British Empire, appeared to fall like a shadow across visions seen by other eyes, blotting33 out some of the fairest hopes, and spoiling the noble proportions of the patriot's dream.
There is a region where words stumble after truth, like children chasing a rainbow across a meadow to find the pot of fairy gold. Multitudinous volumes stuffed with the cant34 of pacifism and militarism will never explain to us the nature of peace and war. But a few bars of music may sometimes make clear things which all the moralists, and divines, and philosophers—even the poets themselves for the most part, though they come nearer to it at times than the rest—have struggled vainly to show us in their true proportions. The songs of a nation, its national anthems—if they be truly national and not merely some commissioned exercise—are better interpreters than state papers. A man will learn more of the causes of wars, perhaps even of the rights and wrongs of them, by listening to the burst and fall of the French hymn35, the ebb36 and surge of the Russian, in Tschaikovsky's famous overture37, than he ever will from books or speeches, argument or oratory38.
IMPOTENCE OF LOGIC39
Yet there are people who think it not impossible to prove to mankind by logical processes, that the loss which any great nation must inevitably40 sustain through war, will far outweigh41 any advantages which {7} can ensue from it, even if the arms of the conqueror42 were crowned with victories greater than those of Caesar or Napoleon. They draw us pictures of the exhaustion43 which must inevitably follow upon such a struggle conducted upon the modern scale, of the stupendous loss of capital, destruction of credit, paralysis44 of industry, arrest of progress in things spiritual as well as temporal, the shock to civilisation45, and the crippling for a generation, probably for several generations, possibly for ever, of the victorious46 country in its race with rivals who have wisely stood aside from the fray47. These arguments may conceivably be true, may in no particular be over-coloured, or an under-valuation, either of the good which has been attained48 by battle, or of the evils which have been escaped. But they would be difficult to establish even before an unbiassed court, and they are infinitely49 more difficult to stamp upon popular belief.
It is not sufficient either with statesmen or peoples to set before them a chain of reasoning which is logically unanswerable. Somehow or other the new faith which it is desired to implant50, must be rendered independent of logic and unassailable by logic. It must rise into a higher order of convictions than the intellectual before it can begin to operate upon human affairs. For it is matched against opinions which have been held and acted upon so long, that they have become unquestionable save in purely51 academic discussions. At those decisive moments, when action follows upon thought like a flash, conclusions which depend upon a train of reasoning are of no account: instinct will always get the better of any syllogism52.
{8}
So when nations are hovering53 on the brink54 of war, it is impulse, tradition, or some stuff of the imagination—misused deliberately55, as sometimes happens, by crafty56 manipulators—which determines action much more often than the business calculations of shopkeepers and economists57. Some cherished institution seems to be threatened. Some nationality supposed—very likely erroneously—to be of the same flesh and blood as ourselves, appears—very likely on faulty information—to be unjustly oppressed. Two rival systems of civilisation, of morals, of religion, approach one another like thunder-clouds and come together in a clash. Where is the good at such times of casting up sums, and exhibiting profit-and-loss accounts to the public gaze? People will not listen, for in their view considerations of prosperity and the reverse are beside the question. Wealth, comfort, even life itself, are not regarded; nor are the possible sufferings of posterity58 allowed to count any more than the tribulations59 of to-day. In the eyes of the people the matter is one of duty not of interest. When men fight in this spirit the most lucid60 exposition of material drawbacks is worse than useless; for the national mood, at such moments, is one of self-sacrifice. The philosopher, or the philanthropist, is more likely to feed the flames than to put them out when he proves the certainty of loss and privation, and dwells upon the imminent61 peril24 of ruin and destruction.
The strength of the fighter is the strength of his faith. Each new Gideon who goes out against the Midianites fancies that the sword of the Lord is in his hand. He risks all that he holds dear, in order that he may pull down the foul62 images of Baal and build up an altar to Jehovah, in order that his race {9} may not be shorn of its inheritance, in order that it may hold fast its own laws and institutions, and not pass under the yoke63 of the Gentiles. This habit of mind is unchanging throughout the ages. What moved men to give their lives at Marathon moved them equally, more than a thousand years later, to offer the same sacrifice under the walls of Tours. It is still moving them, after yet another thousand years and more have passed away, in the plains of Flanders and the Polish Marshes64.
THE MOTIVES OF NATIONS
When the Persian sought to force the dominion8 of his ideals upon the Greek, the states of Hellas made head against him from the love and honour in which they held their own. When the successors of the Prophet, zealous65 for their faith, confident in the protection of the One God, drove the soldiers of the Cross before them from the passes of the Pyrenees to the vineyards of Touraine, neither side would have listened with any patience to a dissertation66 upon the inconveniences resulting from a state of war and upon the economic advantages of peace. It was there one faith against another, one attitude towards life against another, one system of manners, customs, and laws against another. When a collision occurs in this region of human affairs there is seldom room for compromise or adjustment. Things unmerchantable cannot be purchased with the finest of fine gold.
In these instances, seen by us from far off, the truth of this is easily recognised. But what some of our recent moralists have overlooked, is the fact that forces of precisely67 the same order exist in the world of to-day, and are at work, not only among the fierce Balkan peoples, in the resurgent empire of Japan, and in the great military nations—the French, the {10} Germans, and the Russians—but also in America and England. The last two pride themselves upon a higher civilisation, and in return are despised by the prophets of militarism as worshippers of material gain. The unfavourable and the flattering estimate agree, however, upon a single point—in assuming that our own people and those of the United States are unlikely to yield themselves to unsophisticated impulse. This assumption is wholly false.
VIRTUES68 OF THE WAR SPIRIT
If we search carefully, we shall find every where underlying69 the great struggles recorded in past history, no less than those which have occurred, and are now occurring, in our own time, an antagonism70 of one kind or another between two systems, visions, or ideals, which in some particular were fundamentally opposed and could not be reconciled. State papers and the memoranda71 of diplomatists, when in due course they come to light, are not a little apt to confuse the real issues, by setting forth23 a diary of minor72 incidents and piquant73 details, not in their true proportions, but as they appeared at the moment of their occurrence to the eyes of harassed74 and suspicious officials. But even so, all the emptying of desks and pigeon-holes since the great American Civil War, has not been able to cover up the essential fact, that in this case a million lives were sacrificed by one of the most intelligent, humane75, and practical nations upon earth, and for no other cause than that there was an irreconcilable76 difference amongst them, with regard to what St. Paul has called 'the substance of things hoped for.' On the one side there was an ideal of union and a determination to make it prevail: on the other side there was an ideal of Independence and an equal determination to defend it whatsoever77 {11} might be the cost. If war on such grounds be possible within the confines of a single nation, nurtured78 in the same traditions, and born to a large extent of the same stock, how futile79 is the assurance that economic and material considerations will suffice to make war impossible between nations, who have not even the tie of a common mother-tongue!
A collision may occur, as we know only too well, even although one of two vessels80 be at anchor, if it happens to lie athwart the course of the other. It was therefore no security against war that British policy did not aim at any aggrandisement or seek for any territorial81 expansion. The essential questions were—had we possessions which appeared to obstruct82 the national aspirations and ideals of others; and did these others believe that alone, or in alliance, they had the power to redress83 the balance?
The real difficulty which besets84 the philanthropist in his endeavour to exorcise the spirit of war is caused, not by the vices85 of this spirit, but by its virtues. In so far as it springs from vainglory or cupidity86, it is comparatively easy to deal with. In so far as it is base, there is room for a bargain. It can be compounded with and bought off, as we have seen before now, with some kind of material currency. It will not stand out for very long against promises of prosperity and threats of dearth87. But where, as at most crises, this spirit is not base, where its impulse is not less noble, but more noble than those which influence men day by day in the conduct of their worldly affairs, where the contrast which presents itself to their imagination is between duty on the one hand and gain on the other, between self-sacrifice and self-interest, between their country's need and {12} their own ease, it is not possible to quench88 the fires by appeals proceeding89 from a lower plane. The philanthropist, if he is to succeed, must take still higher ground, and higher ground than this it is not a very simple matter to discover.
[1] The increase and acceleration90 of German shipbuilding was discovered by the British Government in the autumn of 1908, and led to the Imperial Defence Conference in the summer of the following year.
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1
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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jingoism
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| n.极端之爱国主义 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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jeopardy
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| n.危险；危难 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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covet
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| vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西) | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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antiquated
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| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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augury
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| n.预言，征兆，占卦 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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optimists
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| n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 ) | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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blotting
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| 吸墨水纸 | |
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cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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overture
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| n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉 | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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outweigh
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| vt.比...更重，...更重要 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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implant
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| vt.注入，植入，灌输 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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syllogism
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| n.演绎法，三段论法 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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economists
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| n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 ) | |
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posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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tribulations
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| n.苦难( tribulation的名词复数 )；艰难；苦难的缘由；痛苦 | |
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lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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dissertation
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| n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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memoranda
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| n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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irreconcilable
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| adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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territorial
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| adj.领土的，领地的 | |
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obstruct
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| v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物 | |
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redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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84
besets
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| v.困扰( beset的第三人称单数 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌 | |
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85
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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86
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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87
dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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88
quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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acceleration
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| n.加速，加速度 | |
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