The issues of life and death hang upon these
definitions. No statesman who has the least conception of his
responsibility ought for a moment to permit himself to continue this
tragical and appalling outpouring of blood and treasure unless he is
sure beyond a peradventure that the objects of the vital sacrifice are
part and parcel of the very life of society and that the people for whom
he speaks think them right and imperative as he does.
There is, moreover, a voice calling for these definitions of principle
and of purpose which is, it seems to me, more thrilling and more
compelling than any of the many moving voices with which the troubled
air of the world is filled. It is the voice of the Russian people. They
are prostrate and all but helpless, it would seem, before the grim power
of Germany, which has hitherto known no relenting and no pity. Their
power, apparently, is shattered. And yet their soul is not subservient.
They will not yield either in principle or in action. Their conception
of what is right, of what it is humane and honorable for them to accept,
has been stated with a frankness, a largeness of view, a generosity of
spirit, and a universal human sympathy which must challenge the
admiration of every friend of mankind; and they have refused to compound
their ideals or desert others that they themselves may be safe.
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