HIS LETTER

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 224, 2 October 1916, Page 2

HIS LETTER

BEFORE BATTLE

ONE, OF THE "COSTS."

"There they fight and,die. Hero we eat,' drink, and are merry, Tor ton;orrow we do not <&fy : ,;,;^That, for some of us, is* the difference between Ih c men over there arid tho p oopl a over here. We need to be touchocl by ,the fire of battle so, that each of us In our safe, secure Jiomc! may do our duty," says the London Star. "There is a letter in the Times which will help us all to live and work. It was written- by a young officer to his parents on June 30, on the eve of the battle, of £he Sorrime. The writer was killed^ on the following day. This is his leUei: :— "'I ant writing this letter "to you just before going into act'.o.i to-mor-row morning about dawn. ."< .'■' CI am about to take part in the biggest battle tha.t ha,s yefc been j fought in France, and ono which ; ought to ,helx> ;to oai the war very ' quickly; >; •■:" \ "'I nover felt more ■bonfklert or cheerfiil in my, life before, and would lot miss-ihe attack ..for anytliLug or: earth. .'■'/: ■ . " 'The men ara in splendid form, and every officer and rnati is mcro happy and cheorful than I have ever seou them. . " 'I have just been playing a rag game of football, in which the umpire hod a revolver and a whistle _." 'My idea in writing itliis letter is in case lam one of tlio 'costu.' and get killed. Ido not expect to be, but such things hive happened, ar.d ora .always possible. " 'It fe impossible to fear death out h^re whon: one is no longer an individual, but. a member of a regiment, and an army. To bo Hllad Pieaits nothing to mo, and it is only you Vvho'•-suffer for it; you renlly pay the cost. ■'■ -■ ;. . .■;..'■:■ " 'I have boon looking at the stars, and- thinking what an im'nonse distance they aire away. What an iv.significant thing the loss of say 40 years of life ;s comparecj \yitli tliein! It seems scarcely, .worth, .talking ■about. ; ■ ■■■•.■':'■'■ ■' ,;■.';,: "■ '>' : ":}". )- •,'■ " 'Well, good-bye^ you darlings. Try not to worry about it. and remember that wo shall meet again really quite soon. ." 'This letter is going to be posted if. . . . Lots of !bv<3. From your lovi?\g son.' "It is,a desecration even to: ti*y to expound and oxplairl the great soul ot tho lw.ro who wrote tliat marvellous letter; But we know that it mirrors" soul of the new armies," adds the, Star. "If the writer had lived the letter would nover hnvo been postod or read or published Its tenderness, its exaltatibnv; its selfless iiobility, its vision of sacrifice, its unimaginable manhood would never ( have beon revea.led. OUR DEAD ARE CALLING. "Let us take it as a, precious gift and let it inspire us* The rrian -vrho

i \vrote it fell leading his company to I the assault Many men of the sa-mo stamp: foil like him that day. Many roen of tho same stamp are fulling everyday Are we at homo living as nobly us they died? Have wo won through 'service .and sacrificel' the •■•lo.ar happiness and cheerfulness ro -which •they-'attained?.' As we listen to the bidiorings of little politicians and the squabbling?* of potty factionists. wo wonder whether tho air of Blighty is as healthy as the air of tho Somme. That there 'should be mean little men is inevitable, but that the mean little men should daro to say their mean little words is not their fault, but ours.

"Let the wind that blows across the Channel from the Sommo cleanse our heart's of all this perilous stuif which is making for discord in Irelaud and elsewhere. " Let War Savings. Week purge our f-,pirit a.s well as our pocket, our mind as well as our money. Otherwise those 'costs' over there are a vain offering to the Motherland, and bravo men who die for their country will bo robbed of the fruit of their dying. Wo do well to bo uneasy in our conscience. Wo do well to feel sensitive in our moral nerve. ''For our dead, are calling to us to be worthy of them, and our utmo&t and uttermost reply is but a poor small thiug, after all.'"