CONCLUSION 



THE war has brought out the finest qualities of 

 the national character, and it will leave England 

 a more serious and thoughtful nation. Great 

 trials and common dangers serve to knit a people 

 more closely together. All classes of men from 

 the castle to the cottage, from the peer to the 

 peasant, have nobly rallied to the defence of the 

 nation in its hour of need. 1 The display of riches 

 and luxury has to a great extent ceased, and, for 

 the time at least, the simplicity of the old English 

 life has been largely restored. England is fast 

 becoming a land of mourning mourning for our 



1 This refers only to the best and most patriotic of these 

 classes. There remains the great army of " shirkers " who 

 can be dealt with only by compulsion. With this subject 

 the Government seem to be playing fast and loose and are 

 far behind public opinion with regard to it. The war, how- 

 ever, is likely to be a prolonged one, and it will become more 

 and more apparent that it is an unjust and a wicked policy 

 to sacrifice the cream of the manhood of the nation and 

 leave the " slackers " undealt with. 



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