the utterance of a man years in advance of his time--but what rolling
thunders of vituperation they had cost him! _Too proud to fight_!... If
only it had been possible to carry through to the end this message from
Judea!

But, little by little, and with growing anguish, he had seen that the
nation must take another step. Little by little, as the inhuman frenzies
of warfare had grown in savagery, inflicting unspeakable horror on
non-combatants, women and children, he had realized that his cherished
dream must be laid aside. For the first time in human history a great
nation had dared to waive pride, honour, and--with bleeding heart--even
the lives of its own for the hope of humanity and civilization. With
face buried in his hands he reviewed the long catalogue of atrocities on
the seas. He could feel his cheeks grow hot against his palms. _Arabic_,
_Lusitania_, _Persia_, _Laconia_, _Falaba_, _Gulflight_, _Sussex_,
_California_--the names were etched in his brain in letters of grief.
And now, since the "barred-zone" decree ...

He straightened in his chair. Like a garment the mood of anguish slipped
from him. He snapped on the green desk light and turned to his personal
typewriter. As he did so, from some old student day a phrase flashed
into his mind--the words of Martin Luther, the Thuringian peasant and
university professor, who four hundred years before had nailed his
theses on the church door at Wittenberg:

"_Gott helfe mir, ich kann nicht anders_."

They chimed a solemn refrain in his heart as he inserted a fresh sheet
of paper behind the roller and resumed his writing....