Finally, and looking back on all we have said, and especially on the Christmas scenes and celebrations between the trenches in this war and the many similar fraternizations of the rank and file of opposing armies in former wars, one realizes the monstrosity and absurdity of the present conflict—­its anachronism and out-of-dateness in the existing age of human thought and feeling.  The whole European situation resembles a game of marbles played by schoolboys.  It is not much more dignified than that.  Each boy tries on the quiet to appropriate some of the marbles out of another boy’s bag.  From time to time, in consequence, furious scrimmages arise—­generally between two boys—­the others looking’ on and laughing, knowing well that they themselves are guilty of the same tricks.  Presently, in the fortunes of the game, one boy—­a little more blundering or a little less disguised than the others—­lays himself open to the accusations of the whole crew.  They all fall upon him, and give him a good drubbing; and even some of them say they are punishing him for his good!  When shall we make an end, once for all, of this murderous nonsense?

However our Tommy Atkinses have been worked up to fighting point by fears for the safety of old England, or by indignation at atrocities actually observed or distantly reported; however the German soldiers have been affected by similar fears and indignations, or the French the same; however the political coil has been engineered (as engineered in such cases it always is), and whatever inducements of pay or patriotism have been put in operation and sentiments circulated by the Press—­one thing remains perfectly certain:  that left to themselves these men would never have quarrelled, never have attacked each other.  One thing is perfectly certain:  that such a war as the present is the result of the activity of governing cliques and classes in the various nations, acting through what are called “Diplomatic” channels, for the most part in secret and unbeknown to their respective mass-peoples, and for motives best known to themselves.

One would not venture to say that all wars are so engineered, for there certainly are occasionally wars which are the spontaneous expression of two nations’ natural hostility and hatred; but these are rare, very rare, and the war in which we are concerned at present is certainly not one of them.  Also one would not venture to say that though in the present affair the actuating motives have been of class origin, and have been worked through secret channels, the motives so put in action have all been base and mean.  That would be going too far.  Some of the motives may have been high-minded and generous, some may have been mean, and others may have been mean and yet unconsciously so.  But certainly when one looks at the conditions of public and political life, and the arrangements and concatenations by which influence there is exerted and secured, and sees (as one must) the pretty bad