The Dominion. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1914. THE DISCIPLINE OF WAR

The revolting stories of German savagery in France and Belgium make it very hard for some people to resist the conclusion that war is entirely brutal and brutalising, and that it is utterly evil through.and through. It certainly has a very dark side, and this aspect has been emphasised by the conduct of the Kaiser's armies in endeavouring to put terror into the hearts of their foes by adopting the methods of the Huns and Vandals. But the picture has another and a brighter side. War has played a great part in the history of mankind, and has been an important factor in human progress. Ruskin's famous lecture on war may contain a. good deal which seems fanciful and unconvincing to the man in the street: yet it must be admitted that nistory furnishes strong support for his contention that nations have always reached their highest virtue, and wrought their more accomplished works in times of straightening and battle; as, on the other hand, no nation has yet enjoyed a protracted and triumphant peace without receiving in its own bosom ineradicable eeeds of future decline. Ruskin holds that no great art is possible to a nation but that which is based on battle, and in proof of this assertion he states that all the poetry and painting of the Greeks are "nothing else than the description, praise, or dramatic representation of war, or of the exercises which prepare for it in their connection with offices of religion." There is no doubt over-emphasis in this, but history certainly does, in a large measure, bear out the view that nations "have been nourished in war. and'wasted in peace.". The fact that Britain has had to figjit for her life over and over again has added strength and seriousness to our national character. Tho quality of a people is put to the teet in times of stress and strain, and by grappling manfully with danger and adversity a nation grows great. War. reveals the weaknesses,, as well as the strength, of a community. It is the most searching test- of all. It fosters and develops certain virtues which aro only too liable- to be thrust into v tho background in days of peace and.

plenty. The sense of duty, fortitude. . obedience, self-control, and selfsacrifice find more ample scope on the battlefield than in the market, the factory, and the counting-house. Tho discipline of Buffering, and hardship, and danger gives depth and intensity to the characters of nations as well as individuals. It may be very pleasant' to bask in continuous sunshine, but the achievements of such a life are small and mean compared with the results produced by tho severer disciplines of human experience. Life is meant to be something much more than an enjoyable little play in which everything goes happily and smoothly from tho cradle to the grave. It is tho touches of tragedy in it that lift it above the commonplace and make it great. They get down to the deepest depths of personality, and bring out some of tho finest qualities of human nature. War is one of the tragic experiences that puts iron into a nation's character, and many of the deepest thinkers hold the view that if the sword should be sheathed finally and for ever certain very valuable elements in human naturo would be in serious danger of deterioration. A man who has looked death straight in the face—not in mere bravado, but for duty's sakehas had an experience which must have enriched his personality. So it is with a nation that has passed through a period of great storm and stress in which its very existence has trembled in the balance. By such trials it learns something that it could not have learnt—-or, at any rate, cotild not have learnt so well —in any other way. It gains greater seriousness and resolution, and endurance, in this school of suffering 'and adversity. It realises in some measure what was in the mind of Browning when he wrote that life must be "battered with the shocks of doom to shape and use." This is one of the lessons which war teaches. It is not only the soldier at the front, but also the citizens who stay at home, who are called urjon to practise self-denial and self-discip-line and to bear one another s burdens. The' approach of danger draws all .classes together, and the instinct of common nationality tends to break clown all class distinctions. It would, of course, bo foolish to allow tho glamour of war to close our eyes to its darker side. . Our cable messages from day ,tn day show that, in spite of the efforts to remove its most barbarous features, warfare is_ still a terrible thing. • The whole civilised world shares with France and Belgium the loss of the historic cathedrals of Reims and Louvain, but one cannot help feeling that M. Babbes is right when he declares that the life of the nation is of infinitely more importance than tho most magnificent of its works of. art. France's national existence is the essential thing in the opinion of every Frenchman _ worthy _ of the name. If the nation remains,- its art treasures oan be recreated. For years France has been torn asunder by internal strife and sectional animosities, and the country has been divided into hostile camps. But the Gorman invasion has wrought a wonderful change. The whole people ore now united as one man in defence of their country, and are prepared to make the greatest sacrifices in order to preserve their ■ freedom. The snirit of France, as expressed by men like Maurice Babhes, provides an impressive illustration • of Ktjskin's meaning when he said that nations have learned their, truth of word and strength of thought in war. When we see how the present conflict has brought out and given full play to some of the finest elements in the national character of the French people, it is hard to believe that war, terrible as it may be, is wholly and utterly bad.