The Dominion SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1918. HISTORY'S OPTIMISTIC NOTE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 205, 18 May 1918, Page 6

The Dominion SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1918. HISTORY'S OPTIMISTIC NOTE

. History, wo are told, is the best cordial for drooping spirits.. It certainly has a reassuring message •for British people in these momentous days, the most momentous in human experience. In the critical time through which we are passing, it is well to remember that our forefathers had to face similar dangers and succeeded in winning through. We have had our disappointments, and so had they. The history of our race, teaches us that the pathway of greatness lies through great tribulations. Our national character lias been strengthened by the qualities that have been developed in the desperate fights for very life in which the nation has been forced to engage. Sir William Robertson recently reminded us tnat the quality of national fibre will decide this war, and also the future of the world. This is the verdict ol history. Things looked desperate indeed when the Spanish Armada sailed for England. It was an over : whelmingly immense fleet, and a huge army was collccted on the coast of the Channel to support it. But the indomitable spirit of the Elizabethans .won the day. They refused to bo dismayed. England emerged from the' conflict greater than she would have been if'the conflict had never taken place. The nation's moral stability and power of endurance were subjected to a tremendous strain, and stood the test. An authority for this period of our national story states that "England had f<jr the first time in her history recognised her strength and the heroic character of her population. . The defeat of the Armada is the beginning of England's greatness and the triumph of her national consciousness. It justifies and explains the reputation of the reign of the Virgin Queen as the most brilliant epoch in our history." England's fate again hung in the balance during the great struggle with the Dutch in the seventeenth century for sea supremacy. At one critical moment, Ruytek, the Dutch Admiral, got as far as the Thames and burned 'the shipping in the river, the smoke being visible to the people of London. But in the long run Britain triumphed. The historian tells us that "England came out of the Dutch wars in a condition to expand her sea trade with increasing vigour. She was ready to continue around the Seven Seas the. work which the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Venetians had done along the shore in the Mediterranean." The Englishmen of the seventeenth century had proved that they possessed in full measure the same fighting spirit which had caused the destruction of the Spanish Armada. The struggle with the Dutch was a severe ordeal for Britain, hut it made her a greater nation than.. before.

The st.ory of the' great struggle with Napoleon, which began in 1793 and was not finished until the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, contains inspiring lessons for us who are now passing through a trial even more terrible than the Napoleonic wars. Our ancestors refused to be beaten by the Corsican in spite of the most- heart-breaking difficulties and disappointments. In the end staying power won. The position is much the same to-day. Sir Douglas Haig declares that "victory will belong to the side holding out the lopgest." We had to do battle with Napoleon for twenty-two years, and during most of that time the enemy appeared to be more successful tlian wo -were. But in the end we wore him down and beat him. It was a desperately close fmi'sli. Wellington himself said that Waterloo was a very close-run thing, the most close-run thing he ever saw. "We pounded and they pounded, and wc pounded the hardest." Napoleon was very confident of victory, and to _ his dying day he could never quite understand how he came to ■lose the battle. During the struggle with Napoleon the British people experienced some' extremely black days. They had to fight against treason at home and treachery abroad. At one stage Britain stood alone, deserted by all her Allies. The year 1796 is said to have been "the darkest time in English history." The French and Spaniards were planning to invade Ef.sland, j and the Dutch intended to land in j Ireland. A French force actually | got a footing in Wales. There were | mutinies in the English fleet, and j the commercial situation was most i critical. Napoleon's victory at Aus- i terlitz killed P>;tt.' He heard a I courier galloping up -„ho street, j "Those are. dispatches For me," he! said. They told of disappoint-1 ments and disasters. He became-! deadly pale, and nearly fainted. It: is said that the deadly pallor, "*b« J Ansterlitz look." never left his face! till !;e died. The troubles through ! which the British Empire is passing! at the present moment are grave in-1 deed, but wo have not been called ! unon to endure such a long agony of doubt and uncertainty as that experienced by our forefathers while Napoleon was overrunning Europe, They experienced

The loiijr, long course of darkness, doubts and fears, The heart-sick faintness of the hope dol.i.vcd, The waste, tlic woe, the Woodshed. The tears That tracked with terror twenly rolliii" years. ' "

What we remember now is Waterloo and the overthrow of Napoleon. We are apt to forget the twenty years of tribulation which had to be endured before the final victory was won. As the writer of an articlo in the Literary Supplement of J he J1 me* remarks, "We judged by,the result and thought little of the process. Napolkon was beaten, and there was an end on't," But .this is what a contemporary tells us about those terrible days and the years which preceded them: The Umpire was shaken and convulsed in almost every quarter. Domestic faction perva.ded nil the Departments of Government, infected llm Navy, and manifested itself in every debalo'iu either House of Parliament. A largo proportion of society hero at liniuc regarded the. American rebellion with favourable eyes, and secretly wished success to the cause. Our distant possessions, unprotected, fell into the hands of Franco and Spain. Our commerce was intercepted captured, and greatly diminished. Each

year seemed to produce new foreign adversaries and to augment the public distress. Futurity presented to all men a mast disi'ouriigiiijf prospect, and peace appeared to be not only distant, but unobtainable, cxcept by such sacrifices of national revenue, territory and honour as could not be contemplated without dismay.

The mitlook at times must have shaken thp stoutest hearts, but the nation had sufficient faith in its powers of endurance and the justice of its cause to keep on fighting. The magnificent spirit of the people is shown in WoiiDswouTii'sgreat lines regarding the news of Napoleon's victory at Jena:

Another year! Another dendlv blow! Another mighty Empire overthrown! And we are left, and shall lie left alone; The la>:t that dare (o struggle with the

roc. 'Tis well! from this day forward we

shall know Tlwt in ourselves our safety must be

sough t; That by our own right hand it must be

wrought; That we must stand unpropped or be laid low.

These are great words, and they give expression'to a spirit that must bo invincible in the long run. And victory came at last.