(_Delivered at Queen's Hall on the Third Anniversary of the Declaration
of War, August 4, 1917_)
While the Army is fighting so valiantly, let the nation behind it
be patient, be strong, and, above all, united. The strain is great
on nations and on individuals, and when men get over-strained
tempers get ragged, and small grievances are exaggerated, and small
misunderstandings and mistakes swell into mountains. Long wars, like
long voyages and long journeys, are very trying to the temper, and
wise men keep watch on it and make allowances for it. There are some
who are more concerned about ending the war than about winning it; and
plans which lead to victory, if they prolong the conflict, have their
disapproval, and the people who are responsible for such plans have
their condemnation. Let us keep our eye steadily on the winning of the
war. May I say let us keep both eyes? Some have a cast in their eye,
and while one eye is fixed truly on victory, the other is wandering
around to other issues or staring stonily at some pet or partisan
project of their own. Beware of becoming cross-eyed! Keep both eyes on
victory. Look neither to the right nor to the left. That is the way
we shall win. If any one promotes national distrust or disunion at
this hour, he is helping the enemy and hurting his native land. And it
makes no difference whether he is for or against the war. As a matter
of fact, the hurt is deeper if he is for the war, because whatever the
pure pacifist says is discounted, and, as far as the war is concerned,
discredited.
Let there be one thought in every head. If you sow distrust,
discontent, disunion in the nation we shall reap defeat. If, on the
other hand, we sow the seeds of patience, confidence, and unity, we
shall garner in victory and its fruits. The last ridges of a climb
are always the most trying to the nerves and to the heart, but the
real test of great endurance and courage is the last few hundreds or
scores of feet in a climb upwards. The climber who turns back when
he is almost there never becomes a great mountaineer, and the nation
that turns back and falters before it reaches its purpose never
becomes a great people. You have all had experience in climbing,
no doubt--perhaps in Wales. Any mountaineer can start; any sort of
mountaineer can go part of the way; and very often the poorer the
mountaineer, the greater is his ardour when he does start; but fatigue
and danger wear out all but the stoutest hearts, and even the most
stout-hearted sometimes fail when they come to the last slippery
precipice. But if they do turn back and afterwards look up and see how
near they had got to the top, how they curse the faint-heartedness
which bade them give up when they were so near the goal!