Welsh Journals

which we entered upon that war which was, of all wars, the most disastrous to our credit upon the continent. There has been no cocksureness and, with tiny exceptions, no mafficking." There is no hatred of our enemies even, except amongst those few irresponsible people who almost mechanically seem to be able to hate whoever are opposing them. Of course, as the war goes on and losses come, as come they must, this sobriety in the country will be severely strained, but at any rate we can have the consolation of knowing that we entered upon our task with an organization and goodwill in the country of which we may be proud. After It is probable that by the time these notes are read the position will have undergone profound and dramatic changes. We believe that we shall win, but we believe that we shall only do so at the cost of many thousands of men, and many months of terrible strain. And feeling this, we hope that when at last that victory is ours, we, France as well as ourselves, will remember the power of Russia and what she stands for. We two, the most democratic of the large powers, are opposed to the tyranny of Hohenzollern, let us also remember the tyranny of the Czar. With the German people as with the Russian people, we are sympathetic gradually, even the least cultured amongst us are learning to know and admire their literature and music it is only their ruling classes who have caused this war (and here we must say that Russia by her hasty mobilization may be at least par- tially to blame.) Let us remember that the tyranny in Russia has been greater than anything the German knows of, and that an all powerful Russia might be as great a menace to European civilisation as an all powerful Germany. What we hope for then, in the case of victory, is first that Germany will not be utterly crushed that of her own will she will become a republic (and in case of her defeat nothing is more likely) that in that case she and France and ourselves may be able to arrange some strong, peaceful and purely defensive alliance that will be able to stand up before any aggressiveness on the part of Russia. Finally, we are almost glad that we are not going to win too easily. We, as well as other nations, are to be blamed for the war if one only goes back to the real causes. Those causes are the traditional methods of diplomacy and the war of competitive armaments. The present war is only the result of these, a perfectly natural re- sult it is possible that it may also be their cure, for after this war is over, not only will the will for inter- national peace be strengthened in a way that perhaps was impossible without such a deserved experience, but the opportunity for re-making the old world, for start- ing with a clean sheet, will be given to us all simultane- ously. But if by some tremendous stroke of luck we happened to gain a victory that was both quick and overwhelming, there would be a danger that that spirit of megalomania which has been the curse of Germany, or rather Prussia, since 1870 would fall upon us. The effect of 1870 on France and Ger- many shows that, in certain cases, victory is more to be dreaded by a country than defeat. Russia We have felt it necessary to point out above, that in the case of victory Russia may take the place of Germany as the greatest menace to international peace. But there are things to be said on the other side. In the first place we must remember that, as Germany is continually reminding us, Russia is only half civilised or as we should prefer to put it she is only half-way to what we in Europe usually term civilization. Now it is quite possible that she will not follow this road to European civilization at all. Russia is partly Eastern as well as partly Western and, as we all know, the East and West have different ideas of what is meant by progress. It is almost a commonplace to talk of Russia as if she were in the condition of England three or four hundred years ago but it is worse than a commonplace, it is a mistake. It is not so much that Russia is ignorant of European progress; it is also very largely that she has no wish for it. One can see this very clearly in the realms of art. Consider Tolstoy, Dostoieffsky, Tchekoff, Rimsky- Korsakoff, Glazounoff, to take a few names at random. They are not men ignorant of European art they are men who have tasted it completely and found that, for them at any rate, there was a new and better road to travel. And this is all the more impor- tant when we remember that it is just the more modern Russians who are the least European; it is the men of the middle period, like Turgenieff and Tchaikovsky, for instance, who are the most cosmopolitan. No Russia will develop on her own lines, we can be certain though what those lines may be neither she nor we can tell. But it is also worth remembering here, that, though of course one cannot judge a country by the geniuses that it produces, those geniuses are always in part the result of their national atmosphere, and often have an enormous influence in creating in their turn that country's public opinion so that, in this way, they may be useful as an indication of what their country thinks. Undoubtedly, to take one instance, Nietszche and Treistchke are both the products and prophets