Read Ebook: Defenders of Democracy Contributions from representative men and women of letters and other arts from our allies and our own country edited by the Gift book committee of the Militia of Mercy by Militia Of Mercy U S Gift Book Committee

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"The kinship of blood between nations may grow weaker, but the kinship of ideals and purposes constitutes a permanent bond of union." John Lewis Griffiths

The net proceeds of the sale of this book will be used in aiding the needy families of the men of the Naval Militia who have been called to the defense of liberty.

Dedication

To our sailors, soldiers, and nurses in appreciation of their heroism and sacrifice in the cause of Liberty and Democracy.

"Oh, land of ours be glad of such as these." Theodosia Garrison.

"To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are, and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness, and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other." Woodrow Wilson.

A Message From Vice Admiral William Sowden Sims, U.S.N., Commanding the American Naval Forces Operating in European Waters

In such an hour as that with which we are now confronted, when so much depends upon the individual efforts, our hearts swell with pride as we learn of the thousands of America's best, staunch and true men who are so willingly forgetting their own personal welfare and linking their lives and all that they are with the cause of liberty and justice, which is so dear to the hears of the American people. All honor to those who are giving themselves as such willing sacrifices, and may God grant that their efforts may be speedily rewarded by a world condition which will make them realize that their efforts have accomplished the desired result, and that the world is better and happier because of them.

Wm. S. Sims

American Expeditionary Force Office of the Commanding General

August 4th, 1917

I am very pleased to have an opportunity to say a word in praise of the Militia of Mercy.

Unless our women are imbued with Patriotic sentiments, there will be little to hope for in our life. A nation is only as great as its womanhood; and, as are the women, so are the sons. All praise to the women of America!

Please accept my very best wishes for the success of your organization.

John J. Pershing.

Introduction

I have seldom yielded so willingly to a request for my written views as I do in this instance, when my valued friend, the master journalist, Melville E. Stone, has asked me, on behalf of the Book Committee, to write an introduction for "The Defenders of Democracy." Needless to say, I comply all the more readily in view of the fact that the book in which these words will appear is planned by the ladies of the Militia of Mercy as a means of increasing the Fund the Society is raising for the benefit of the families of "their own men" on the battle-line.

And what a theme! It demands a volume from any pen capable of doing it justice. For the present purposes, however, I approve strongly of a compilation which shall express the reasoned opinions of writers representing the allied nations, while it is a real pleasure to turn for a few minutes from the day's anxieties and consider the one great force which supplies the leaven to a war-sodden world. Are men to live in freedom or as slaves to a soulless system?--that is the question which is now being solved in blood and agony and tears on the battlefields of the Old World. The answer given by the New World has never been in doubt, but its clarion note was necessarily withheld in all its magnificent rhythm until President Wilson delivered his Message to Congress last April. I have no hesitation in saying that Mr. Wilson's utterance will become immortal. It is a new declaration of the Rights of Man, but a finer, broader one, based on the sure principles of Christian ethics. Yet, mark how this same nobility of thought and purpose runs like a vein of gold through the rock of valiant little Belgium's defiance of the Hun, of President Poincare's firm stand, and of Mr. Lloyd George's unflinching labors in the Sisyphean task of stemming the Teutonic avalanche. Prussia's challenge to the world came with the shock of some mighty eruption undreamed of by chroniclers of earthquakes. It stunned humanity. Nowhere was its benumbing effect more perceptible than in these United state, whose traditional policy of non-interference in European disputes was submitted so unexpectedly to the fierce test of Right versus Expediency. And how splendidly did President, Senator, Congress and the People respond to the test! Never for one instant did America's clear judgment falter. The Hun was guilty, and must be punished. The only issue to be solved was whether France, Britain, Italy and Russia should convict and brand the felon unaided, or the mighty power of the Western World should join hands with the avengers of outraged law. Well, a purblind Germany settled that uncertainty by a series of misdeeds which no nation of high ideals could allow to pass unchallenged. I do believe most firmly that President Wilson gave the criminal such chances of reform as no court of law in the world would grant. But, at last, his patience was exhausted. Whether the enslavers of Germany thought, in that crass ignorance of other men's minds they have so often displayed, that America meant to keep out of the war at all costs, or were merely careless of consequences so long as the immediate end was attained, is now immaterial. From the welter of Teutonic misdeeds and lies arises the vital, the soul-inspiring spectacle of a union of all democracies against the common foe.

If I have wandered a little from my theme, since our veritable "Defenders" are the men who are giving their life's blood at the front, and the band of noble women who are tending them in hospital, it will surely be understood that, if I name them last they are first in my heart. I have seen much of the war. I know what your soldiers, sailors and nurses are called on to endure. I rejoice that in dedicating this book to them, you honor them while they live. Never let their memory fade when they are dead. They gave their lives for their friends, and greater love than that no man hath.

Northcliff

Essential Service

"I wish all success to 'The Defenders of Democracy.' The men who are in this war on the part of the United States are doing the one vitally important work which it is possible for Americans to do at this time. Nothing else counts now excepting that we fight this war to a finish. Those men are thrice fortunate who are given the chance to serve under arms at the front. They are not only rendering the one essential service to this country and to mankind, but they are also earning honor as it cannot otherwise be earned by any men of our generation. As for the rest of us, our task is to back them up in every way possible."

Theodore Roosevelt

Kittery Point, Me., October 14, 1917

I am never good at messages or sentiments, but perhaps if Mr. Rouland's portrait of me were literally a speaking likeness it would entreat you to believe that I revere and honor in my heart and soul, the noble ideals of the Militia of Mercy.

Yours sincerely,

W. D. Howells.

How Can I Serve?

There are strange ways of serving God You sweep a room or turn a sod, And suddenly to your surprise You hear the whirr of seraphim And ?uid you're under God's own eyes And building palaces for him.

There are strange, unexpected ways Of going soldiering these days It may be only census-blanks You're asked to conquer with a pen, But suddenly you're in the ranks And fighting for the rights of men!

Hermann Hagedorn.

For the Militia of Mercy August 15, 1917.

The Editors gratefully acknowledge the rich contributions to this book which it has been their privilege to arrange. The generous spirit which has accompanied each gift permeates the pages, and its genial glow will be felt by all of our readers.

The book is only a fire-side talk on the ideals and purposes held in common by those who belong to the friendly circle of the Allies, and is not intended to have diplomatic, economic or official significance. The Editors, however, have been honored by the approval of their plan, and have received invaluable assistance from diplomatists, statesmen and men of affairs in securing contributions otherwise inaccessible at the present time.

We wish to acknowledge the gift from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES of his portrait, and his kind recognition of our desire to render an international service.

We are especially indebted to VISCOUNT ISHII, Special Ambassador from Japan to Washington, D. C., and to LORD NORTHCLIFFE, Chairman of the British War Mission, for their thoughtful and sympathetic articles written during days crowded with official duties.

We owe a debt of thanks to HIS EXCELLENCY, the ITALIAN AMBASSADOR, for the privilege of publishing for the first time in America, D'ANNUNZIO'S sonnet to GENERAL CADORNA; to THEIR EXCELLENCIES, the PORTUGUESE, GREEK, and CHINESE MINISTERS, for helpful suggestions and translations; to MR. WILLIAM PHILLIPS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE; to MR. JOHN HAYS HAMMOND; to MR. JOHN LANE, MR. W. J. LOCKE, MRS. THEODORE McKENNA, all of London, England, who assembled our rich English contributions for us; to MR. WILLIAM DE LEFTWICH DODGE for the cover design, a rare and beautiful tribute to our defenders; to MR. MELVILLE E. STONE, without whose personal influence we could not have secured contributions from all of our Allies in so short a time; to MR. J. JEFFERSON JONES and MR. WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT, who have devoted time and thought without stint to the making of the book, and have given the committee the advantage of their technical knowledge and distinguished taste entirely as a patriotic service; to MISS LILIAN ELLIOTT for her many translations from Portuguese and Spanish writers; to MISS LA MONTAIGNE, CHAIRMAN of THE CARDINAL MERCIER FUND; to MR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS, MR. ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON, MR. DANIAL FROHMAN; to THE BRITISH WAR MISSION, THE FRIENDS OF FRANCE AND HER ALLIES COMMITTEE, and to THE RUSSIAN AND SERBIAN CIVIL RELIEF COMMITTEES. To ALL we give our heartfelt thanks.

THE EDITORS.

PREFACE This beautiful book is the expression of the eager desire of all of the gifted men and women who have contributed to it and of the members of the Militia of mercy to render homage to our sailors, soldiers, nurses and physicians who offer the supreme sacrifice to free the stricken people of other lands and to protect humanity with their bodies from an enemy who has invented the name and created the thing "welt-schmerz"--world anguish. But we want it do more than extol their heroism and sacrifice, we want The Defenders of Democracy to help them win the war. It has been the thought of those who planned the book to meet three things needful, not only to the army at the front, but to that vaster army at home who watch and work and wait --to strengthen the realization that our soldiers of sea and land, though far away, are fighting for a cause which is vitally near the heart of every man and every woman, and the soul of every nation--human freedom; "to forge the weapon of victory by fanning the flame of cheerfulness," and to be the means of lifting the burden of anxiety from those who go, lest their loved ones should suffer privation, bereft of their protecting care. So truly is this an Age of Service, that the response to the scope and spirit of our work was immediate and within four months from the day we sent our first request for co-operation in carrying out our plans, we had received the rich contributions contained in this book from men and women of letters and other arts, not only from our own generous country, but from our allies.

Perhaps the most difficult task fell to those who were asked not to write of the war but to practice the gentle art of cheering us all up--an art so easily lost in these days of sorrow, suspense and anxiety--yet we have received many delightful contributions in harmony with this request, and so the cheerful note, the finer optimism, recurs again and again, and is sustained to the last page.

Such a book is historic. It is a consecration of the highest gifts to the cause of human freedom and human fraternity. The Militia of Mercy, in expressing its gratitude to the men and women so greatly endowed who have made this book possible, trust they will find a rich reward in the thought that it will give both spiritual and material aid to those who are fighting in the great war.

The book will be sold for the benefit of the families of the men of the Naval Militia now in the Federal Service and taking part in sea warfare. John Lane Company have published the book at cost, so that the publisher's profits, as well as our own, will be given to the patriotic work of the Militia of Mercy.

It has been repeatedly said during the past year that America had not begun to feel the war. If America has not, how many Americans there are who have! We all know that the responsibilities and inequalities of war were felt first by our sailors. The whole outlook on life changed for many families of the Naval Militia the day after diplomatic relations with Germany were severed. Husbands, fathers and sons were called to service without any opportunity to provide for current expenses or to arrange for the future welfare of their loved ones. The burden of providing for the necessities of life fell suddenly, without warning, upon the wives and mothers of the civilian sailors. The world knew nothing of these cases, but the members of the Militia of Mercy who have visited the needy families, realize with what heroism, courage and self-sacrifice the women have done and are doing their part.

For those of us who look on, to help them is not charity, but opportunity for patriotic service to give a VERY LITTLE to those who are giving ALL THEY CHERISH and ALL THEY HOLD DEAR for the sake of human Liberty and Democracy.

Table of Contents

Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States. A Message. . . . vi Vice Admiral William Sowden Sims, U.S.N. A Message . . . . . . . . vii Commanding the American Naval Forces Operating in European Waters General John J. Pershing, U.S.A. A Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . viii Commanding General American Expeditionary Force Lord Northcliffe. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Chairman, British War Mission to the United States Theodore Roosevelt. Essential Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Twenty-sixth President of the United States. Author and Statesman William Dean Howells. A Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv American Author, New York, President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Hermann Hagedorn. "How Can I Serve?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv American Writer, New York. President, Vigilantes, American League of Artists and Authors for Patriotic Services Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

Contributions of Writers

Belgium

Gaston De Leval. Belgium and America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Belgian Advocate for Edith Cavell Emile Cammaerts. Good Old Bernstorff! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Belgian Poet

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