here is still his country.

 

--JOSEPH STORY.

 

The appeal to prejudice is effective--though not often, if ever, justifiable;

yet so long as special pleading endures this sort of persuasion will be resorted

to. Rudyard Kipling uses this method--as have many others on both sides--in

discussing the great European war. Mingled with the appeal to prejudice, Mr.

Kipling uses the appeal to self-interest; though not the highest, it is a

powerful motive in all our lives. Notice how at the last the pleader sweeps on

to the highest ground he can take. This is a notable example of progressive

appeal, beginning with a low motive and ending with a high one in such a way as

to carry all the force of prejudice yet gain all the value of patriotic fervor.

 

Through no fault nor wish of ours we are at war with Germany, the power which

owes its existence to three well-thought-out wars; the power which, for the last

twenty years, has devoted itself to organizing and preparing for this war; the

power which is now fighting to conquer the civilized world.

 

For the last two generations the Germans in their books, lectures, speeches and

schools have been carefully taught that nothing less than this world-conquest

was the object of their preparations and their sacrifices. They have prepared

carefully and sacrificed greatly.

 

We must have men and men and men, if we, with our allies, are to check the