FORCE NEVER PREVAILS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 36, 22 November 1940, Page 4

FORCE NEVER PREVAILS.

In this difficult, day when so man}' of us arc afraid-(anyhow I am; afraid not jittery); in this day when so many brave plans have gone wrong and so many devices jammed; in this day when.decency has retired to tne democracies, and the democracies are 'in peril: it is a comfort to remember that violence has never worked, writes Mr. E. M. Forster in his pamphlet, “Nordic Twilight.” Even when it conquers, it fails in the long run. This failure may be due to the Divine Will. It can also be ascribed to the strange nature of Man, who refuses to live by bread alone, and alone among the animals has attempted to understand his surroundings. “I prayed, .and understanding was given to me: I called upon God, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me . . • All good things together came to me with her, and innumerable riches in her hands. And I rejoiced in them all because Wisdom goeth before? them, and I know not that she was the mother of them.” This rejoicing will not he for our generation. Whatever the outcome of the war, wc are in for bad times. But there, are moments when each of us, however feeble, can feel within himself the strong hopes of the human race, and see beyond His personal death its renaissance, and the restoration of delight.”