14 National Life 



of which are not merely automatic, but under 

 the control of that classified experience which 

 we term wisdom. 



We all know how to act in our wonted j 

 circumstances, under our usual environment : ! 

 our reactions are almost automatic ; but given 

 new circumstances and an unusual environ- 

 ment, then prompt action means foresight, 

 training, that rapid application of the truths 

 learned from past experience to new facts 

 which from various standpoints in life we 

 call ingenuity, business-habit, scientific in- 

 sight, wisdom, or, even more comprehensively, 

 brains. What is here said of an individual 

 is true of a nation. The nation, however 

 prosperous, however hardy, however big, 

 will fail when it comes to a crisis, when it 

 is suddenly placed in a new environment, 

 unless it has organized brain-power control- 

 ling its nervous system right away to the 

 smallest outlying points. Hardihood, big 

 battalions, command of the purse, may en- 

 able us to struggle through in either peace 

 or war so long as we have only to meet 

 small or semi-organized opponents, but they 

 will not avail when great nation meets great 



