The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-19
A Glimpse Of One Englishman's Mind.

'oitriDu'tS W tue TOfIH'ynItU neFteC
for May an article entitled "Diag-
nosis OF the Englishman." He tries
to formulate. for the benefit of for
eign observers, those qualities Of In
tellect and moral lnwardness peculiar
to the population OF the British Isles
and more or less difficult Of right
comprehension by the other inhabi-
tants of Europe. central Europe es.
pecially.
Mr.. GALswoRTHY's remarks about
his fellow islanders are not merely
candid they are searching, generally
just and instructive, and conceived
in II spirit of psychologist detachment
quite unusual in n Briton undertake.
ing such an enterprise. But we wish
that before completing his diagnosis
he had been able to examine the text
OF a neighboring article by another
E~ngllshman in the same number OF
the same review on America. the
War and the Millennium" Then Mr..
GALswoRTuY might have explained
for us the chemistry Of sea fog, damp
climate and corpuscular Inheritance
which produces the amazing type OF
E%nglishman of which Mr.. ARCHIBALD
HuRD is a se~lf-exhibited specimen. In
our W laundering fashion we shall
have to do this for ourselves.
Mr.. ARCHIBALD HuRD's article in
the Forfnighflp Is a formal and pain
fully studied rebuke of the United
States Government and the American
people for national derelictlon In two
respects. The first may he roughly
described as the American failure to
live up and act up to Mr.. HURD's
somewhat cloudy ideas of what we
ought to have done during the past
nine months as the defender Of
right against might and MS the
champion of civilization amid the
welter Of blood and the groans of the
dying in Europe" 1t need scarcely
lie surmlsed that this Englishman's
conception of the duties OF such a
defender Of right against might. or
champion OF civilization. contemplates
Intervention on our part by act or
protest only when such Intervention
would count for England's cause and
not for Germany's.
The second offence OF which he ac-
cuses our republic is the laying down
Of new b~attleshlps and n general dis
position to promote the efficiency OF
our naval armament at the very time
when events are depicting the navies
Of the belligerent Powers across the
Atlantic.
In the sternest language Mr.. ARCH
Al HrRD finds us guilty both Of the
foregoing sin OF omission and Of the
foregoing sin of commission, both sins
tending, in his view. to the postpone
ment OF the millennium.
Some OF the counts OF Mr.. HURD's
indictment Of the United States for
letting slip "the golden opportunity
which A%rmageidon offered are given
below In his own merciless words:
Inc tHlttu StHtes mas Itluseu even
to play the role OF umpire"
THE United States has stood aside
during the past nine months, refusing to
have part or lot In the Great War. ex-
have been concerned. She has
been. except when her material interests
have been concerned. a mere spectator
OF events"
"She has raised no protest against the
claim that a belligerent's necessity IL
the only law binding upon him she has
allowed it to 20 forth to the world that
might Is right she has permitted all the
harvest of peace gained at The Hague
to be sacrificed"
"The American people, through their
Government. AVE defended their W in
~terests. but they have defended none
other, New precedents sanctioning out
rlge and murder on land and sea have
been created the United States has ut
tered no effective protest"
THE republic was a party to all the
Hague conventions. In the English
speaking world it has been assumed. in
the light Of the Monroe Doctrine, that.
whatever happened. the United States
would lend its powerful aid to protect |
small and weak nationalities from OPP
preston and extinction and TO preserve
those instruments Of culture which we're
produced at The Hague"
Thus far this amiable and enllght-
ened censor Of the American people.
What the gentleman understands by
the role of umpire. what he under.
stands by ''ncntrnlity," what he I'M
derstands by intervention or protest
in behalf Of fright" Is apparent in
every p paragraph Of his dlatribe. II
Is n point of view Shereon much de- |
Ponds upon individual intelligence or
lack Of intelligence. and n discussion
Of It's merits would scarcely he po-
lite to Mr.. ARCHIBALD HuRD. But we
cannot refrain from calling Mr.. JOHN
GALswORTHY's attention to the case
OF n ycompatrlOt of his who assumes
the privilege NJ writing in u Leading
vehicle Of educated thought upon the
subject of Americas responsibility
for the enforcement Of the provisions