found a seat in a
good position for viewing the audience. He was immediately struck by
the fact that here was no thoughtless, irresponsible crowd; rather one
largely made up of men of grim determination and iron will. They were
intelligent, well-read men too. They knew the history of their
country, knew its weakness, and realised its faults. Nevertheless they
loved it.

They were not saints. They were just commonplace people, who lived
commonplace lives, amidst commonplace surroundings. But they had a
sense of right and wrong, and in spite of their failings they had an
inherent love of right. They were Englishmen who instinctively hated
war, and would do anything in their power to avoid it. But there were,
to them, worse things than war. Breach of faith was one; the
destruction of truth, honour, and the nation's good name was another.
If England had made a promise, no matter what it cost her, she must
keep it. England could not stand by and see a little nation whom she
had promised to protect, crushed:

But above all, they were Englishmen. Love of country was a tremendous
factor. The homeland was dearer than their own lives. They could not
stand by and see it filched from them.

Of course there were a lot of patriotic songs in which the whole
audience joined. Some of them were silly doggerel, but there was
nothing coarse or unworthy in them.

"Yes," thought Bob, "there is something almost divine in this love of
home and country. It is eternal in the human heart. One can't get
away from that."

Presently the speakers came on the stage, amidst great cheering and
waving of handkerchiefs.

The chief speaker, one who held the supreme position in Naval matters,
spoke first. It was a masterly speech, every sentence of which was
carefully prepared and tellingly delivered. He did not appeal to
passion, but in cold, measured terms spoke of the causes which led to
the war, and then passed on to the success of the Navy and the Army.

"Yes," reflected Bob, as the young statesman sat down amidst the
thundering applause of the multitude, "as far as a war can be
righteous, this is. If ever a war were justified, this is. But can a
resort to brute force and instruments of murder ever be justified?
That is the question. No, it is not right that these Germans should be
a menace to Europe and the world; but do we not believe in God? Can we
not trust Him? Must blood be washed out by blood, must brutal
arroga