SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
tender fhis heading us notice such Books of the week as haws not lbsint reserved for review in other forms.] What Are We Fighting For 1 By the Rev. the Hon. E. Lyttelton. (Longmans and Co. 6d. net.)—We are glad that the Head-Master of Eton has been persuaded to address to a larger audience the admirable and inspiring sermon which he preached on the Sunday after the declaration of war. It would be impossible to give a clearer account of the reasons which have impelled us to take up arms, and
which have united the country as one man in the stern determination to see this painful business efficiently com- pleted. Dr. Lyttelton points out that treaties formally made between the nations are valuable as alternatives to war, " but only if they are respected : if they are not, they are merely devices for throwing dust into each other's eyes. Therefore, in standing up for the sacredness of public agreements a nation will be standing up for the methods of peace, of reason, and brotherhood, as against those of war." We are fighting to-day for the principle of fidelity to engage- ments and of respect for the integrity of weak nations : " that is to say, that whatever may be our interests as an Imperial Power, we have entered on this war not for the sake of maintaining our Empire, but for the assertion of a moral principle." And hence Dr. Lyttelton is able to feel certain that, whatever suffering this great war may entail on our people, " it will be the kind of suffering that is the inevitable cost of raising the tone of humanity on a large scale."
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