rn from the purely sordid and sad aspect to its
spiritual and constructive side. The question, Has this war produced
anything that would approximately counterbalance the arrest of
industry and progress, waste of life at its prime, the desolation of
hearts and homes, the devastation of property, and the incalculable
measures of sorrow and suffering?--is permissible, and we forget not
the atrocities on both land and sea, the deliberate violation of
individual and international laws, and the fact that there is hardly a
street without a loss, and scarce a heart without anxiety.

Throw this immeasurable pile of war-waste and colossal suffering into
the scales of thoughtful contemplation, then heap into it as a
counter-weight the blessings that have accrued, and the effect upon
our minds must necessarily be to lead us to become more hopeful and
less ungrateful.

The Empire has awakened out of her sleep--she is purging away the
dross that has accumulated round her life, and at last as a nation we
have found our soul.

The war found us in a muddle, both from a military and moral
view-point, but out of that muddle a miracle has been fashioned. In
addition, the Empire, even to its remotest outposts, has been
consolidated, and the people over whom King George reigns are bound
together in indissoluble bonds sealed with blood. Russia is now freed
from the shackles of tyrannical oppression and autocratic domination;
and the right to existence of the smaller nations has been powerfully
endorsed.

There are other factors than those stated above which contribute no
inconsiderable weight towards counter-balancing the load of hardship
and heartaches that this war has heaped upon us. Such will be the
theme of many writers when the smoke has lifted and the peoples of
this earth again repose in the embrace of world-peace.

We have, so far, only briefly considered the beneficial effects of
this war upon the Empire. When we come to consider what the war has
done for the individual, particularly those who are actively engaged
at the battle fronts, the difference between the weight of suffering
and the weight of blessing will be very palpable, even to the most
superficial mind.

Perhaps the blessing of most permanent importance that this war has
brought to the majority of us is a strengthened faith in immortality.
We cannot penetrate the veil that screens the mysteries of the future
from our vision. Faith and the inner consciousness are