that wherever there is the foulest of things, there also is the purest.
Above all, he has had something to say, a definite view of things to utter,
and that always means that a man is fearless and faces everything.
For the moment we have a view of the universe, we possess it.

Now, the message of Rudyard Kipling, that upon which he has
really concentrated, is the only thing worth worrying about
in him or in any other man. He has often written bad poetry,
like Wordsworth. He has often said silly things, like Plato.
He has often given way to mere political hysteria, like Gladstone.
But no one can reasonably doubt that he means steadily and sincerely
to say something, and the only serious question is, What is that
which he has tried to say? Perhaps the best way of stating this
fairly will be to begin with that element which has been most insisted
by himself and by his opponents--I mean his interest in militarism.
But when we are seeking for the real merits of a man it is unwise
to go to his enemies, and much more foolish to go to himself.

Now, Mr. Kipling is certainly wrong in his worship of militarism,
but his opponents are, generally speaking, quite as wrong as he.
The evil of militarism is not that it shows certain men to be fierce
and haughty and excessively warlike. The evil of militarism is that it
shows most men to be tame and timid and excessively peaceable.
The professional soldier gains more and more power as the general
courage of a community declines. Thus the Pretorian guard became
more and more important in Rome as Rome became more and more
luxurious and feeble. The military man gains the civil power
in proportion as the civilian loses the military virtues.
And as it was in ancient Rome so it is in contemporary Europe.
There never was a time when nations were more militarist.