s and bombs would be utterly ineffectual. The
horror of the unknown danger would paralyse the war, batteries would be
deserted and the trenches would quickly be internationalized. The sense
of our common humanity, outraged at the sight and the smell of the
monsters, would assert itself. Generals and statesmen of the belligerent
peoples--if any were left to direct the defensive--would hold
subterranean meetings, and, forgetting the cause for which they sent men
to die nobly but a few days ago, would discuss how they could save the
united remnants of humanity by strategy and simulation.

The sense of unity is, after all, dependent on innumerable conditions
and circumstances over which we have little control. There is the unity
of tradition and education, of Eton and Harrow, of Oxford and Cambridge.
It moulds opinion and imposes certain restrictions of conduct and
prejudices in outlook. Rivalry is an indispensable and normal adjunct of
such unity. Races and the honour and glory of one's school and team can
stir the group-soul to incredible heights of enthusiasm and effort.
There is the instinctive unity of seafarers. Who has not, when crossing
the ocean, felt that he was part of a small world independent and
isolated from others, but bound together by special ties of adventure?
An encounter with an iceberg will bring the common responsibilities and
dangers to the notice of the most inveterate individualist, but even
while the ship moves uneventfully forward, he, perforce, shares the
feeling of oneness. There is the humorous unity which will seize the
opposing parties in a court of law and make them join in laughter at
some feeble judicial joke just to experience the relief of forgetting
that they are there to be contentious.

The advocates of the theory that nations and nationalities are eternally
distinct and separate can see no analogy of unity in the simple examples
of everyday life. They tell us conclusively that England is England and
France is France, and our humble retort that we know as much and
something besides is silenced by the further information that each
nation has a soul that will tolerate no interference from other souls.
They forget, our apostles of the creed of separateness, that the States
of to-day are built up on a vast mixture of races and nationalities.
They forget, also, that nationality is not a fixed and immovable
quantity. Like personality, it is alive and changing, susceptible to
influence and