Y Drafod

Dr. Clifford ar y Rhyfel. [PARHAD. ] (2) The fact is the Prussian rulers are obsessed by a hoary falsehood, which has been leading the world for ages, and obstin- ately refuses to die though now we have a finer chance of destroying it than the human race has ever had before. It is that false scheme of a universe which leaves no "place in the sun" for small states. They are merely "chattels" to be appropriated and exploited by great political combina- tions under a Napoleon or a Kaiser. They exist for the benefit of large States, and may be handed about from one military claimant to another, according as they can arrange amongst their contentious selves. They are to be bartered like" cattle," and, their mines and farms and muscles and minds are to be commandeered for the aggrandisement of an arrogant military caste. It is the idolised quantitative estimate of the value of States and it proceeds on the assumption that the true welfare of groups of men, their manli- ness and ,maturity, their greatness of soul and ripeness of character, their fulness of pleasure and helpfulness to others, their civic service and personal happiness, depend upon the figures in a census of a population, or upon the number of acres upon which they dwell. (3) It is a ruinous mistake. Size is not a moral quantity. Bigness is no proof of worth. Small States have been the saving of the world, large ones it's ruin a thousand times. Small States have riseu to loftiest heights of ethical exellence and inspiration, and illuminated history with the splendour of their achievements and the reprocluctiv- ness of their contributions to human well- being. Their gifts to the world are at .once the glory and the "commonplaces" of history. There is no civilised community on earth that has been refreshed from tihe streams of thought an'd life that flow from the uplands of Hebrew righteousness. i Men are still thinking in the moulds of Plato and Aristotle studying the eloquence of Pericles and Thucydides as models, and feasting with delight on the beauty of the Parthenon and of the Elgin marbles. Nor may we forget that it was a sparse popula- tion that dwelt in these little isles of ours in the spacious" days of Queen Elizabeth and through the heroic years of the great Oliver, and yet the world owes infinitely more to the English of those times than to the sixty millions of Germany with their "mailed fists" and" shining armour." In- deed, you may fearlessly challenge the defenders of great States to produce their parallels in strength of will, magnanimity of soul; range and depth of self-sacrifice, sus- tained patience, pure ideals, and death- daring heroism offered to view by the small peoples of the earth. (4) Great States tend to despotism, and are with immense difficulty held back from persecution. They fetter political thought, create a servile press, subordinate the school to the army, and foster general servitude. They suppress individual initiative, displace the free man by a machine, although nothing on earth can.make up for the loss of your man. The incalculable human soul is,the best asset of a nation. Destroy him, and all is lost. The drill master is set to develope the citizen according to a regulation pattern, and he gets rid of his personal qualities, destroys as far as he can his sense of histor- ical continuity, erases great and inspiring memories of the heroes and saints of the past, is hard and brutal and suspicious; resorts to coercion, checks the free play of the soul, and so destroys the State in des- troying personal characteristics of its mem- bers. Mazzini says God has written one line of his thought orr the cradle of each national people." The great Statéblots out that line, or attempts it; but often finds that the palimpsest persist and the Divine hand- writing continues to speak for itself. If the peoples annexed cannot be absorbed or dragged or whipped into the Empire, by the destruction of devoutly cherished traditions, the abolition of the language of childhood, or by forcing youth into the army, then violence is used to compel subjection,' as at Zabern, or persecution even to death as in Armenia, or miserable conditions nearly as bad as death, as in Poland. Yes It was one of the greatest moments in the history of mankind when Britain rose on the tides of a wide sea of moral indigna- tion against Prussia, and in response to the call of duty to defend the BelgiarLpeople., We had to do it. And we must not falter or shrink from the cost of going right on to the end. Belgium must be freed from the., Kaiser and his soldiery. Again they must own their own homes, restore their own laws, and obey their own Sovereign. There must be no suzerainty. No limit must be I put on their autonomy. Mr. LJoyd George •> places this in the front of our aims, saying,— "The first requirement, therefore, always put forward by the British Government and their Allies, has been the complete restor- ation—pel tu 1, territorial, and economic— of the 11 [ ndence of Belgium and sbch reparation as can be made for the devast- ation of its towns and provinces." Three days afterwards, Mr. Wilson wrote, Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored without any attempt to limit the Sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have them- selves set and determined for the govern- ment of their relations with one another, Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is for ever impaired. There is the goal I We cannot stop till we reach it." Felly y byddo medd miliynau heblaw THOMAS MORGAN.