The Defenders of Democracy

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The Defenders of Democracy: Contributions from representative men
and women of letters and other arts from our allies and our own
country (President's Edition)

Edited by The Gift Book Committee of The Militia of Mercy

"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.

[signed] 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.

[signed] 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.

And right here, as the direct speech of New York has it, I want to
pay tribute to the sagacity, the clarity of vision, the sure divination
of the truth amidst a fog of deceit, which has characterized almost
the whole Press of the United States since those feverish days at
the end of July, 1914, when the nightmare of war was so quickly
succeeded by its dread reality. Efforts which might fairly be
described as stupendous were put forth by the advocates of Kultur
to win, if not the approval, at least the strict neutrality of
America. That the program of calculated misrepresentation failed
utterly was due in great part to the leading newspapers of New York,
Chicago, Philadelphia and the other main centers of industry and
population. Never has the value of a free Press been demonstrated
so thoroughly. The American editor is accustomed to weigh the gravest
problems of life on his own account without let or hindrance from
tradition, and it can be affirmed most positively that, excepting
the few instances of a suborned pro-German Press, the newspapers
of the United States condemned the Hun and his methods as roundly
and fearlessly as the "Independence Belge" itself whose staff had
actually witnessed the horrors of Vise and Louvain. These men
educated and guided public opinion. Republican or Democrat it
mattered not--they set out to determine from the material before
them what was Right and what was Wrong. Once convinced that the
Hun was a menace they made their readers understand beyond cavil
just what that menace meant. So I claim that the editors of the
United States are entitled to high rank among the Defenders of
Democracy. When the history of the war, or rather a just analysis
of its causes and effects, comes to be written I shall be much
mistaken if the critical historian does not give close heed and
honorable mention to the men who wrote the articles which kept the
millions of America thoroughly and honestly informed. Think what
it would have meant had their influence been thrown into the scale
against the Allies! By that awesome imagining alone can the extent
of their service by measured.

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.

[signed]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."

[signed]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,

[signed]W. D. Howells.

[The following is written in long hand] 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!

[signed]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 (although we cannot adequately express our
appreciation) 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 (and perhaps we need it more than they who have
the stimulus of action)--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

China

Tsa Yuan-Pei. The War in Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chancellor of the Government University of Peking
(Translation, Courtesy of the Chinese Minister)

A Symposium--Democracy

George Sterling. Invocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
American Poet, California
George A. Birmingham. The Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
(Canon James O. Hannay) Irish Clergyman and Man of Letters
John Galsworthy. The New Comradship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
English Writer
William J. Locke. Questionings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
English Novelist
Henry Van Dyke. Democracy in Peace and War . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
American Clergyman, Diplomat and Writer

An Interlude

Harriet Monroe. Sunrise over the Peristyle . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
American Poet, Chicago

The Drama

Daniel Frohman. Reminiscences of Booth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Theatrical Manager and Writer, New York
J. Hartley Manners. God of My Faith: A One Act Play . . . . . . . 24
Dramatist, New York

France

Frederick Coudert. To France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
American Lawyer and Publicist
Anatole France. Ce Que Disent Nos Morts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
French Author. (Translation by Emma M. Pope)
Rupert Hughes. The Transports (Poetical Version of Sully
Prud'homme's "Les Berceaux") . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
American Writer, New York
Stephane Lauzanne. La Priere du Poilu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
French Writer, Editor Le Matin. (Translation by Madame Carlo
Polifeme)

Great Britain

Honourable James M. Beck. A Tribute to England . . . . . . . . . 61
American Lawyer and Publicist
Lord Bryce. Unity and Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
English Statesman and Author
Robert Hichens. Our Common Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
English Novelist
Stephen McKenna. Poetic Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
English Statesman and Novelist
Lady Aberdeen. The Spell of the Kilties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
(Wife of the Marquis of Aberdeen and Temair, K. T., Scotland)
Mrs. Belloc Lowndes. Sherston's Wedding Eve . . . . . . . . . . . 87
English Novelist, London
Ralph Connor. A Canadian Soldier's Dominion Day at Shorncliffe . 105
Canadian Novelist
Stephen Leacock. Simple as Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Canadian Writer, Professor McGill University, Montreal
May Sinclair. The Epic Standpoint in the War . . . . . . . . . . 118
English Writer, London

Greece

Eleutherios Venizelos. The Greek Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
(Translation, with notes, by Caroll N. Brown)

Italy

William Roscoe Thayer. Italy and Democracy. A Tribute to Italy . 127
American Historian and Poet
Gabriele D'Annunzio. Al Generale Cadorna . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Italian Poet
C.H. Grangent. Sonnet
(Poetical version in English of the above) . . . . . . . . . 132
Professor of Romance Languages, Harvard University
Amy Bernardy. The Voice of Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Italian Writer

Japan

Viscount K. Ishii. Japan's Ideals and Her Part in the Struggle . 137
Japanese Statesman, Special Ambassador to Washington, D.C., 1917

Latin America

Salomon De La Selva. Tropical Interlude . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Nicaraguan Poet
Lilian E. Elliott, F.R.G.S. Latin America and the War . . . . . . 145
Literary Editor, Pan American Magazine
Salomon De La Selva. Drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Portugal

Henrique Lopes De Mendonca. The People's Struggle . . . . . . . . 161
Portuguese writer. Member of Academy of Science, Lisbon
Edgar Prestage. Portugal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
English Writer, A Friend of Portugal

Roumania

Achmed Abdullah. Roumania--An Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . 166
Novelist. Of the Family of the Ameer of Afghanistan

Russia

Ivan Narodny. The Soul of Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Russian Patriot and Writer. Member of the Russian Civilian
Relief Committee, New York
Ivan Narodny. The American Bride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Sergey Makowsky. The Insane Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Russian Poet. (Translation by Constance Purdy)

Serbia

M. Boich. Without a Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Serbian Poet. (Translation by Professor Miloche Trivonnatz)

United States of America

Indian Prayer. To the Mountain Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Interpreted by Mary Austin
Maurice Hewlett. To America, 4 July, 1776 . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
English Man of Letters
Charles W. Eliot. The Need of Force to Win and Maintain Peace . . 195
President Emeritus of Harvard University
James Cardinal Gibbons. Woman and Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Cardinal, Baltimore, Maryland
John Lewis Griffiths. Joan of Arc--Her Heritage . . . . . . . . . 199
From an address delivered in London, 1911
Dr. J.H. Jowett. Things Which Cannot Be Shaken . . . . . . . . . 201
English Clergyman, 5th Ave. Presbyterian Church, N.Y.
Owen Johnson. Somewhere in France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
American Author
Melville E. Stone. The Associated Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Journalist, General Manager of the Associated Press, N.Y.
Mary Austin. Pan and the Pot-Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
American Writer, New York
Robert W. Chambers. Men of the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
American Author, New York
Arthur Guy Empey. Jim--A Soldier of the King . . . . . . . . . . 226
American. Volunteer Soldier in the British Army and Author,
"Over the Top"
Edna Ferber. Heel and Toe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
American Novelist, Chicago
Theodosia Garrison. Those Who Went First . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
American Poet, New Jersey
Louise Closser Hale. A Summer's Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
American Actress and Author, New York
Louis Untermeyer. Children of the War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
American Poet, New York
Fannie Hurst. Khaki-Boy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
American Novelist and Dramatist, New York
Robert Underwood Johnson. Hymn to America . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
American Editor and Author, New York
Amy Lowell. The Breaking Out of the Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
American Poet, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. John Lane. Our Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
American by Birth, Author, London, England
George Barr McCutcheon. Pour La Patrie . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
American Novelist, Indiana and New York
Edna St. Vincent Millay. Sonnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
American Poet, Camden, Maine
Gouverneur Morris. The Idiot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
American Author, New York
James Oppenheim. Memories of Whitman and Lincoln . . . . . . . . 299
American Poet, New York
James F. Pryor. Bred to the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
American Lawyer and Writer
Evaleen Stein. Our Defenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
American Poet and Story Teller, La Fayette, Indiana
Alice Woods. The Bomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
American Story Writer
Myron T. Herrick. To Those Who Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
American Statesman, Diplomatist, Publicist, Cleveland, Ohio
Amelie Rives. The Hero's Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Princess Troubetzkoy, American Novelist and Poet, Virginia

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