ESSAYS 137 



The Widening of the Basis of War 



In the early Middle Ages, each feudal baron was at war with his neighbour. 

 The power of the barons was ultimately suppressed by the king. We next find 

 war engaged between small principalities, then kingdoms ; and it was exterior 

 menace which induced these to combine in self-defence. Great Britain and France 

 have been hereditary enemies for centuries. Their enmity slowly died out as the 

 German menace gradually took shape. Finally, these hereditary enemies combine 

 in self-defence. 



Thus the basis of war is slowly but surely widening ; and, in the last great war, 

 instead of one petty baron or kingdom against another, we see two leagues of 

 nations engaged in a life-and-death struggle. Will the next great conflict occur 

 between hemispheres, or between white and black, or white and brown ? Or will 

 Bolshevism develop into a universal civil war ? 



If all mankind could but find some common object of hostility ! Will inter- 

 national party politics serve the purpose of distracting men's minds from war ? 



Overcrowding of the Earth 



Medical science, day by day, gains triumph over disease. If war also (dis- 

 appears, overcrowding must result. In that case famine or new diseases will, 

 presumably, appear. The only suggestion so far made to cope with this probability 

 is the compulsory limitation of the birth-rate. Here is, however, one would think, 

 a certain cause for civil war. 



War one of the Forces of Nature 



Can there be any doubt of it ? Can it be suppressed ? As well might one try 

 to suppress the sun or the sea. The utmost we can attempt is to control, harness 

 and utilise it in some slight degree as other forces of nature have been utilised. 

 And the first step is certainly to institute a scientific and exhaustive study of the 

 whole subject and of those others which are so closely allied to it. 



There are many great thinkers, each engaged in exploration of his own little 

 river or stream of science, mere tributaries of the vast river of war. These 

 explorers in a dark continent are slowly progressing towards the unknown, where 

 the true causes of war and perhaps the remedy for it lie awaiting discovery. Has 

 not the time arrived when an attempt, at least, should be made to combine and 

 organise these various activities ? 



A FLEA FOE, THE TEACHING OF GENERAL HISTORY 



(Ernest Short) 



There is a striking passage in Amiel's Journal to this effect : " Under the 

 pretence that we want to study it more in detail, we pulverise the statue." How 

 true this is of the teaching of history in many schools ! In the effort to impress 

 facts upon the memory of the student for examination purposes, we lose sight 

 of the all-important duty of making the boy or girl feel the real thrill of history. 

 So the student fails to realise the essential harmony of all human happenings, 

 which is the source of the real joy and satisfaction of history. 



And how, after all, can it be otherwise while history is regarded as meaning 



