who from tonight on will move forward, and not backward,
who will study and understand, who will gird on his sword
and take his place in the army of his comrades and brothers.
Who will carry the good tidings to others, as I have carried
them to him -- priceless gift of liberty and light that
is neither mine nor his, but is the heritage of the soul of
man! Working-men, working-men -- comrades! open your
eyes and look about you! You have lived so long in the
toil and heat that your senses are dulled, your souls
are numbed; but realize once in your lives this world in
which you dwell -- tear off the rags of its customs and
conventions -- behold it as it is, in all its hideous nakedness!
Realize it, _realize_it!_ Realize that out upon the plains of
Manchuria tonight two hostile armies are facing each other
-- that now, while we are seated here, a million human
beings may be hurled at each other's throats, striving with
the fury of maniacs to tear each other to pieces! And this
in the twentieth century, nineteen hundred years since
the Prince of Peace was born on earth! Nineteen hun~
dred years that his words have been preached as divine, and
here two armies of men are rending and tearing each other
like the wild beasts of the forest! Philosophers have
reasoned, prophets have denounced, poets have wept and
pleaded -- and still this hideous Monster roams at large!
We have schools and colleges, newspapers and books; we
have searched the heavens and the earth, we have weighed
and probed and reasoned -- and all to equip men to destroy
each other! We call it War, and pass it by -- but do not
put me off with platitudes and conventions -- come with
me, come with me -- _realize_ it! See the bodies of men
pierced by bullets, blown into pieces by bursting shells!
Hear the crunching of the bayonet, plunged into human
flesh; hear the groans and shrieks of agony, see the faces
of men crazed by pain, turned into fiends by fury and
hate! Put your hand upon that piece of flesh -- it is hot
and quivering -- just now it was a part of a man! This
blood is still steaming -- it was driven by a human heart!
Almighty God! and this goes on -- it is systematic, organ~
ized, premeditated! And we know it, and read of it, and

[[362]]

p361 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p362w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p363

v?