Appendix D 



stirred. I doubt if there is more love of country with us today 

 than there was a year ago. Real love of country is not easily 

 moved. Its guarantee is its permanence. Love of adventure, 

 love of fight, these are soon kindled. It is these to which the 

 battle spirit appeals. Love of adventure we may not despise. 

 It is the precious heritage of new races; it is the basis of per- 

 sonal courage; but it is not patriotism; it is push. The race 

 which cannot fight, if need be, is a puny folk destined to be 

 the prey of tyrants. But one who fights for fight's sake is a 

 bully, not a hero. The bully is at heart a coward. To fight 

 only when we are sure of the result, is no proof of national 

 courage. 



Patriotism is the will to serve one's country; to make one's 

 country better worth serving. It is a course of action rather 

 than a sentiment. It is serious rather than stirring. The 

 shrilling of the mob is not patriotism. It is not patriotism to 

 trample on the Spanish flag, to burn firecrackers, or to twist 

 the Lion's tail. The shrieking of war editors is not patriotism. 

 Nowadays, nations buy newspapers as they buy ships. What- 

 ever is noisy, whether in Congress or the pulpit, or on the 

 streets, cannot be patriotism. It is not in the galleries that 

 we find brave men. "Patriotism," says Dr. Johnson, "is the 

 last refuge of the scoundrel." But he was speaking of counter- 

 feit patriotism. There could not be a counterfeit were there 

 not also a reality. 



But this I see as I watch the situation: True patriotism de- 

 clines as the war spirit rises. Men say they have no interest 

 in reform until the war is over. There is no use talking of 

 better financial methods, of fairer adjustment of taxes, of wiser 

 administration of affairs, until the war fever has passed by. 

 The patriotism of the hour looks to a fight with some other 

 nation, not toward greater pride in our own. 



There are some who justify war for war's sake. Blood- 

 letting "relieves the pressure on the boundaries." It whets 

 courage. It keeps the ape and tiger alive in men. All this is 

 detestable. To waste good blood is pure murder, if nothing is 

 gained by it. To let blood for blood's sake is bad in politics 

 as it is in medicine. War is killing, brutal, barbarous kill- 

 ing, --and its direct effects are mostly evil. Too often the 

 courage of brave men is an excuse for the depredations of venal 



C 696 3 



