26 DECEMBER 1914, Page 2

The spirit of this Worcester lad is admirable. He evidently

feels like every true shepherd the call of the sheep, but the call of his country is more to him. And what a picture we get of " the master "—not a tyrant, we believe, as a hasty view makes him seem, but rather a good master, to be humoured if possible. It is the song of Deborah in English homespun : " Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks P For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart." If the Recruiting Committee do not get that shepherd boy away from the sheepfold and give him the chance he wants, the chance of fighting for his country, they will have failed even if they get a million other recruits. But of course they will not fad. The fact that they have allowed the letter to be made public shows they understand.