HOME
Home at last. As before, no wild hurling of ourselves into each
others' arms, but just a prosaic question from my mother:
"Well, how are you, laddie?"
"Feeling fine. Got anything to eat, Mater?"
Thus was all emotion covered.
My father came in the morning to see me. I tried just for fun to
surprise him into some display of emotion by suddenly slipping out in
front of him. I did not know the real Englishman till then. All he
did was to pale a little, and then, coolly eyeing me from head to
foot, he remarked, "They didna get thee after all."
"No, Dad, I got away very lucky."
"Tha did; let's go and hae a look round."
Just like that grim old land today. No fuss, no braggadocio, just a
quiet, grim resolution to see it through without wasting time on any
heroics. Thus are the English misunderstood. Self-effacement is not
comprehended by some people, and they mistake the quiet of the Old
Land for lethargy, and believe that damnable lie manufactured so
skilfully by German propagandists about the quitting Britisher. When
the history of the war is really written, if other nations will be
fair and forget their inherent prejudice toward the British, they
will understand something of what they have done for the cause of
humanity in this War of Wars.
EPILOGUE
I cannot let this opportunity pass without a final word to the man,
who, if he is of proper age and physically fit, has not, as yet, for
some reason or other, come forward prepared if necessary to make the
sovereign sacrifice for the cause of human liberty and those ideals
which are our blessed heritage, and for which our fathers fought and
bled and died.
It may be that some put forward as the reason for their staying out
of khaki that the pay allotted them, together with the governmental
allowance, does not admit of their families living in the same
circumstances of comfort which they have been accustomed to enjoy; it
may be there is someone who is helpless, depending on your effort for
support; perhaps it is a fear that your business will suffer from
your absence, as no one can care for it with the same practical
efficiency as you yourself; or it may be that the fear of bodily
injury--wounds or death--has deterred you from getting into the ranks.
If any of these be the cause and there is any human way of
surmounting the obstacle, in the name of everything that the honor of
freemen holds sacred, rouse your sleeping manhood and remove the
obstacle. By all that you hold dear, do not go through life branded
with the abominable taint of _slacker_. Even if death should befall,
it is unutterably more worthy to die serving the cause of all men,
than to live in the ever-present consciousness of duty undone, solely
because you are a coward.
If it should be your lot to receive a wound, serious or slight, or
come through the fire unscathed, you will not then have to "hold your
manhood cheap whilst any speaks" who fought with us in France.
Of course if your moral turpitude is of such a low order that the
preservation of your life and limbs is of vastly more importance than
any other consideration whatsoever, then there is no appeal of mine,
or anyone else's, that can pierce your hide of self-satisfied
consciousness. But I trust it will be my good fortune that none such
will read this tale.
The aims and ambitions of the German high command, which have
permeated the entire German nation, and which have caused them to
prepare for this war for generations, and waged with a scientific
brutality that out-Herods Herod--formulating and carrying out
excesses, that in point of exquisite torture and overwhelming number,
surpass the dreams of any ancient or modern potentate of
fiendishness, has made them an outcast among the nations of earth
that have for their ideal of citizenship the undying pronouncement of
the constitution of the Greatest Republic--that all men are endowed
with an equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Therefore, I say, with all the earnestness that is in me, to you who
have not settled this thing in your conscience, think what it means
for you and your children and your children's children if through any
mischance, the Fates should decree a victory in this war for the
Teutons! Do not, I beseech you, lull yourself into a state of torpid
inactivity with the idea that there are plenty of men to do the
fighting without making it necessary for you to take the risk. If
most of the men took that attitude, it would only be a question of
time, and not a very long time, when the Hun would be knocking at our
gates in America. Can you imagine anything worse that could befall
the world?
And to those who cannot possibly go to the firing line by reason of
physical infirmities or age, or other reasons, there are numberless
ways in which you can assist the great work; there are many things to
be done at home which are just as necessary as the fighting in the
front line trench.
To my mind one of the most important things to be done here is to put
the quietus once and for all upon the disloyal tendencies of several
citizens whose sympathies are avowedly ranged alongside the Central
Powers.
It is almost incomprehensible to think that any man, or set of men,
who have made not only a comfortable living, but amassed fortunes in
this land, and have enjoyed the freedom of our institutions and our
laws, should avail themselves of the protection given them by that
very freedom and those very laws to undermine the power of the land
they have sworn to defend. Yet, such is the fact. They are so
short-sighted and their skulls are so thick that they cannot discern
the difference between freedom of thought and action, and German
Kultur or German efficiency.
It is not necessary to enter into a dissertation here upon the German
point of view, because those who read this book have, I take it, long
since settled in their minds the absolute unrighteousness of the
German proposition and the corresponding righteousness of that for
which the Allies are contending, and if by chance the tale should
fall into the hands of any of the proponents of Kultur, they would
not understand the explanation if I made it.
So, I say, if any of these human snakes cross your path and their
traitorous activities, either through the spoken word or the disloyal
action, come under your observation, it is just as vital, if not more
so, that you take the necessary steps to see that it is not repeated
as it is to perform any other service for the cause.
In conclusion, let me say to you, prospective fighting men who have
not yet signed up, and I say it in all humbleness of spirit and with
a deep sense of regret that I was not permitted to do more than I
did, that if I had it to do over again and knew beforehand that I was
going to be maimed, as I have been, I would still go and thank God
for the opportunity of going.