es no rights on the part of
others, and, unconcerned about morality or unmorality, pursues only its
own advantage"; and they attribute to England the purpose to hinder at
any cost the further growth of German greatness. But what are the
elements of that German greatness which England is determined to arrest
by joining France and Russia in war against Germany and Austria-Hungary?
The three elements of recent German greatness are the extension of her
territory; contiguous territories in Europe and in other continents
colonial possessions; the enlargement of German commerce and wealth, and
to these ends the firm establishment of her military supremacy in
Europe. These are the ideas on the true greatness of nations which have
prevailed in the ruling oligarchy of Germany for at least sixty years,
and now seem to have been accepted, or acquiesced in, by the whole
German people. In this view, the foundation of national greatness is
fighting power.

This conception of national greatness has prevailed at many different
epochs--Macedonian, Roman, Saracen, Spanish, English, and French--and,
indeed, has appeared from time to time in almost all the nations and
tribes of the earth; but the civilized world is now looking for better
foundations of national greatness than force and fighting.

The partial successes of democracy in Europe have much increased the
evils of war. Sir Francis Bacon looked for a fighting class; under the
feudal system when a Baron went to war he took with him his vassals, or
that portion of them that could be spared from the fields at home.
Universal conscription is a modern invention, the horrors of which, as
now exhibited in Germany, Austria-Hungary, and France, much exceed those
of earlier martial methods. There has never been such an interruption of
agricultural and industrial production, or such a rending of family ties
in consequence of war as is now taking place in the greater part of
Europe. Moreover, mankind has never before had the use of such
destructive implements as the machine gun, the torpedo, and the dynamite
bomb. The progress of science has much increased the potential
destructiveness of warfare.

Thinking people in all the civilized countries are asking themselves
what the fundamental trouble with civilization is, and where to look for
means of escape from the present intolerable conditions. Christianity in
nineteen centuries has afforded no relief. The so-called mitigations of
war are com