Mother be proud of thy seed Count, are we feeble or few? Hear, is our speech so rude?
Look, are we poor in the land? Judge. are we men of The Blood?..
Truly ye come of The Blood; slower to bless than to ban, Little used to lie down at the bidding of any man—Flesh of the flesh that I bred, bone of the bone that I bare:
Stark as your sons shall be—stern as your fathers were your work and be strong, halting not in your ways, Baulking the end half-won for an instant dole of praise.
land to your work and be wise—certain of sword and pen, Who are neither children nor Gods, but men in a world of men.
Another Empire Day, another of those milestones in the history of the British Empire has been reached, in circumstances internationally no better than when this day was celebrated last year. The spectre of fear ranges over the whole world, fear of war and all the horrors which the knowledge of mankind has imported into it. And yet from the point of view of the British Empire, that commonwealth of nations conceived by Disraeli, and ultimately brought into perfect flower long áfter he had died, is better placed now to meet the future than has ever been the case before. This past year will go down in British history as one of the most remarkable through which the Empire has passed. It has seen great decisions made, old usages departed from, disillusionments realized and the lion has been stirred from his complaconey. It is well. It would be-better if there were some bard such as Kipling to re-sing the songs of Empire. This is no day when minds are turned to nationalities which go to make it up, but rather to that broad concept which Kipling saw when he wrote "The Houses" a song of the Dominions "Twixt my house and thy house what talk can there be Of Headship or lordship, or service or fee? Since my house to thy house no greater can send Than thy house to my house—friend comforting friend: And thy house to my house no meaner can bring.
Than my house to thy house—King counselling King.
It is in the intimacy of equality that the strength of the British Empire is to be found, in The Blood; not the material blood of men's bodies, but of common ideals, purposes and determinations. There is nothing mean in the conception of empire; the men who founded it did so inspired by that same idea of service to the common cause which still animates the true Briton no matter where fate has caused his lot to be set. The same high courage and lofty hand which created the Empire maintains it and will continue to do so against the envy of less happier lands. The response to the appeal for national service in Great Britain was great; it was not entirely satisfactory because of the immensity of the problems involved, but it was sufficient to show that the heart of Britain is sound, and ready to meet whatever demands may be made upon it in the defence of that Empire of which it is still the nerve centre. Who in his right senses would talk of British decadence in view of such a fact? Who, realizing all that the acceptance of the doctrine of conscription means to the average Briton, would dare believe that the spirit which inspires the Empire is falling away? The wish is too often father to the thought, and in this case desire parents an unwise conclusion. It is indeed a dangerous one, for if those who hold to it seek to base their future behaviour towards the Empire on such untrustworthy ground they may at some future date find themselves uncomfortably disillusioned. It can safely be said that never before in the history of Great Britain and the British Empire has morale been at a higher pitch. The very calmness which was shown during the various crises since last September is the best possible support for that contention, and while with all his heart and soul the average Briton desires that the cup of war shall be withheld from him, let there be no mistake that if he has to quaff it he will drain it to its bitterest dregs. Let those e who would seek to proffer that draught beware lest they find the drinking of it be to their own discomfort, for the years of patience which have passed were no signs of weakness, but rather of an earnest desire to explore the avenues of peace. They are not closed yet they may never be, but if it is sought to close them determination and steel shall again force a passage.
These are not vainglorious words. They would be if the hesitancies of the past still prevailed, if the British in all quarters of the globe were not prepared to defend themselves and their rights to the very last hour of act. It may be—though God forbid,—that by the time another Empire Day comes round Britons may be called upon to make good these words. They will not fail any more than the sun will forget to rise, for if they did it would set upon them forever. There is in this year and age a call for service, for sacrifice, for consecration to the high ideals for which the Empire stands. Those things can only be rendered, with "a humble and contrite heart," and a remembrance of the history of which the Briton can be so proud. A contradiction? Of course it is. Whoever expected to see in the British character that careful consistency which denies inspiration and calls for nothing more than a brute, uncomprehending courage? It is now no time to sing of "the lesser breeds without the law." That type of jingoism undoubtedly served its purpose in its time. The world has passed through much since that spirit was dominant and though it may be more subdued, changed even, the strength and determination which it expressed is still there, possibly maturer but nonetheless real. It is on the note that the Empire and all that it stands for demands, just as much now as it has done in the past, those great qualities which originally brought it into being, that this article must be brought to an end. With Kipling it is still possible to sing "Fair is our lot—O goodly is our heritage," but Britons wherever they are to be found, should remember, as Nurse Cavell did that "Patriotism is not enough." There must be faith and those other qualities so that Though all we made' depart, The old Commandments stand: "In patience keep your heart, In strength lift up your hand."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.