reconstruction of Europe and a better lot for humanity at large.

Once more let me repeat that it is only young idealists who are sufficient
for these things. They may call themselves democrats, or socialists, or
futurists, or merely reformers. The name is unimportant: the main point is
that they must thoroughly examine their creed in the light of their finest
hopes and aspirations. They will not be the slaves of any formulæ, and
they will hold out their right hands to every man--whatever may be the
label he puts on his theories--who is striving in single-minded devotion
for a millennial peace. The new era will have to be of a spiritual,
ethical type. Coarser forms of materialism, whether in thought or life,
will have to be banished, because the scales have at last dropped from our
eyes, and we intend to regard a human being no longer as a thing of
luxury, or wealth, or greedy passions, but as the possessor of a living
soul.

W.L.C.

_November 10, 1914._

* * * * *


I wish to acknowledge my obligation to Mr. H.N. Brailsford's _The War of
Steel and Gold_ (Bell). I do not pretend to agree with all that Mr.
Brailsford says: but I have found his book always interesting, and
sometimes inspiring.