selves every day. A soldier gives up many things he likes. In time of war he leaves his friends behind. He would rather stay at home. He lives in the open air. In winter he nearly freezes, and in summer he nearly melts. He would be far more comfortable at home. He marches in the day, sometimes in the rain and mud without umbrella and overshoes, and at night he sleeps upon the ground with nothing but a blanket. He would be far cozier in his bed at home. He has only a few things to eat, and those few things are not cooked so well as at home. At home he can have salads and plum pudding and cake, but in war men have to give up the luxuries and live on bread and meat. He is obliged to march often when he does not feel like it, and he must keep on marching after he is tired; and when he comes at last to the line of battle he must make his home in a hole in the ground. He may be covered all over with mud, and he may not be able to wash his face for days, and all the time he is in danger of being struck by a bullet or having a big shell explode over his head shattering his home to pieces. A soldier does not wince at sacrifice, for sacrifice is part of his calling. The Prince makes the same severe demands on his soldiers. He plainly says: "Unless you take up your cross every day, you cannot be my followers." By cross, he means something we do not like to do. A cross is an act of sacrifice. The life of a soldier of the Prince is a life of sacrifice. His soldiers have to give up everything which stands in the way of their conquest of the world. He never asks us to give up things simply for the sake of giving them up. We are to give up things simply for a purpose. We sacrifice only when by our sacrifice some good can be accomplished. The Prince does not want us to suffer more than is absolutely necessary to win the victory. But we must be ready to sacrifice everything-our time and our money, and our comfort and our reputation and even our life itself. That is what the Prince himself did. He gave up everything. He gave up his home, and his early friends, and his time, and his strength, and the good opinion which men had had of him, and his comfort, and at last his life. If he had not been willing to give up everything, he could not have been the conqueror of the world. Only those who are willing to give up everything can follow in his train. Begin at once, then, to play soldier every day. Obey, be brave, give up. The Prince gives some of his orders to us through his subordinate officers. Our parents are his officers, and so also are our teachers, and our Pastor. What they tell us to do we are to do. If you have not yet enlisted in the Prince's army, enlist today. It is not necessary to wait. Every boy and girl can become a soldier of the Prince whenever he decides to be one. Today is the best of all days for such a decision. And where shall you fight? Where you are. You are always on a battlefield, for life itself is one long battle, and you are never beyond the fire of the enemy. Fight in the home! Fight in the school! Fight on the playground! Fight in your town, and it may be that some day the Prince will want you to fight for him at the other end of the world. Do you know who said this: "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THREE 1. What is a genuine soldier? 2. Describe the two armies that every genuine soldier must fight. 3. What queer ideas have people held about war and soldiers? 4. What is a "hero of peace"? A reformer? 5. What are some heroes of peace doing this very day, that makes it possible for the world to continue? 6. Make a list of all the heroes of peace whose names are given in this chapter. 7. Why is it so much harder to do brave things in peace than in war? 8. Mention the virtues that are required in both war and peace. 9. Describe a way in which a school boy can be courageous without fighting. 10. What sacrifices must a soldier of the Prince be ready to make? The United States of Europe By Victor Hugo A day will come when you, France,-you, Russia,-you, Italy,-you, England,-you, Germany,-all you nations of the continent, shall, without losing your distinctive qualities and your glorious individuality, blend in a higher unity, and form a European fraternity, even as Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy, Lorraine, Alsace, all the French provinces, blended into France. A day will come when war shall seem as impossible between Paris and London, between Petersburg and Berlin, as between Rouen and Amiens, between Boston and Philadelphia. A day will come when a cannon shall be exhibited in our museums, as an instrument of torture is now, and men shall marvel that such things could be. A day will come when we shall see those two immense groups, the United States of America and the United States of Europe, in face of each other, extending hand to hand over the ocean, exchanging their products, their commerce, their industry, their art; their genius clearing the earth, colonizing deserts, and ameliorating creation under the eye of the Creator. To you I appeal, French, English, Germans, Russians, Slavs, Europeans, Americans, what have we to do to hasten the coming of the great day? Love one another! |