ndred
or a hundred and fifty miles of Richmond, the heart of the Confederacy,
and was not able to sufficiently subdue Lee's forces to enable him to
get possession of the city until the complete exhaustion of the
Confederacy's resources in men and money had been accomplished.

[Illustration: VISCOUNT JAMES BRYCE

_(Photo from George G. Bain.)_

_See Page 477_]

[Illustration: DR. BERNHARD DERNBURG

_(Photo by Campbell Studios.)_

_See Page 487_]

[Illustration: DAVID STARR JORDAN

_See Page 502_]

[Illustration: JOHN GRIER HIBBEN

_(Photo by McManus.)_

_See Page 503_]

While that situation may not offer a true parallel in all respects to
that in which we find the belligerent forces in the present European
war, it nevertheless may be taken as a precedent proving that frontal
encounters of powerful opponents generally do not yield final results
until actual exhaustion compels one side or the other to abandon hope.

Such an exhaustion hardly can be expected within measurable time on the
part of either one or the other of the combatants in the existing
European conflict, and this means the probable continuation for a long
period of the merciless slaughter which has marked the last few months.
We hold up our hands in horror at the stories of human sacrifices in the
early ages when, after all, these were, perhaps, less brutal and less
appalling than the wholesale slaughter of the flower of these warring
peoples of which we now read almost daily.

As I see the situation there really are only three contestants in the
war--England, Russia, and Germany. France, Belgium, and Austria are
important auxiliaries, but they are playing to a certain extent
secondary roles.

England's real object is the utter defeat of Germany--nothing more nor
less than that--and if this is accomplished England will have control of
Europe. It must be remembered that the English Government and English
people frequently have asserted that they would not be satisfied with
mere defeat of Germany's armed forces, but that her power must be
permanently paralyzed.

If England should accomplish this, with Germany, its army and its navy,
thus wholly out of the way, no one would be left for England to fear in
future upon the high seas.

That might be the chief significance of England's complete victory, and
its complete significance would be that every nation in the world would
have to do the British bidding, for should any one refuse she co