ilent witnesses to
the desolation of war. And I feel that, so long as we have faith
in God's purposes, we cannot but believe that the existence of
these visible memorials will eventually serve to draw all peoples
together in sanity and self-control, even as it has already set
the relations between our Empire and our Allies on the deep-rooted
bases of a common heroism and a common agony.

"Standing beneath this Cross of Sacrifice, facing the great Stone
of Remembrance, and compassed by these sternly simple headstones,
we remember, and must charge our children to remember, that as our
dead were equal in sacrifice, so are they equal in honour, for the
greatest and the least of them have proved that sacrifice and
honour are no vain things, but truths by which the world lives.

"Many of the cemeteries I have visited in the remoter and still
desolate districts of this sorely stricken land, where it has not
yet been possible to replace the wooden crosses by headstones,
have been made into beautiful gardens which are lovingly cared for
by comrades of the war.

"I rejoice I was fortunate enough to see these in the spring, when
the returning pulse of the year tells of unbroken life that goes
forward in the face of apparent loss and wreckage; and I
fervently pray that, both as nations and individuals, we may so
order our lives after the ideals for which our brethren died that
we may be able to meet their gallant souls once more, humbly but
unashamed."

Hard indeed must it be for any Englishman whose heart is quick within
his bosom not to feel it beat faster with thanksgiving and pride as he
reads the flawless periods of this glorious speech.

As the final word of consolation, sanctification, and benediction, closing
the awful agony of the greatest of all wars, preserve, Antony, this
magnificent threnody in your memory imperishable.

Your loving old
G.P.

35

MY DEAR ANTONY,

I have come now to the end of my citations for the present. My object,
Antony, has been to rouse in your heart, if I can, a love, admiration,
and reverence for the wonders to be found in the treasure-house of
English prose literature.

I have only opened a little door here and there, so that you can peep in
and see the visions of splendour within.

Some day perhaps, when you have explored for yourself, you may feel
surprised that in these lette