“Since our foes to invade us have long been preparing ’Tis clear they consider we’ve something worth sharing, And for that, mean to visit our shore; It behoves us, however, with spirit to meet ’em, And though ’twill be nothing uncommon to beat ’em We must try how they’ll take it once more! So be this the toast given, England for ever, the land, boys, we live in, England for ever, huzza! Here’s health to our tars, on the wide ocean ranging, Perhaps even now some broadsides they’re exchanging, We’ll on shipboard and join in the fight! And when with the foe we are firmly engaging, Till the fire of our guns lulls the sea in its raging, On our country we’ll think with delight-- So be this the word given, England for ever, the land, boys, we live in, England for ever, huzza!” True enough, we have to deal nowadays with pirates,--not true naval men,--with burglars, not warriors,--and inhumanity being the characteristic of all such folk, the international laws of Imperial Britain and her Allies, regulating the conduct of warfare, have no hold on them. We are not at war with an educated people,--for they have shown themselves openly as savages. But though the wholesome air may be poisoned by the breath of the Hun, and murderous bombs may be flung through those spaces of heavenly blue, once most blessedly free from the presence of humanity, we have already proved equal to tackling the Zeppelins, and shall tackle them yet again. And we shall “manage” the submarines in a way of our own, if only the garrulous and indiscreet Press will leave us alone to do it, and refrain from giving elaborate details of all our newest machinery in their columns for the benefit and instruction of the enemy! We would not “tell it in Gath” to Goliath, how many of his under-sea “sneak” boats have already been “bagged” by our sportive captains--that’s a “secret of the Admiralty.” But it is just possible that even Huns may be weary of the certainty of death by fire in the air, and death by “ramming down” to the bottom of the sea! Neither way is a pleasant exit from the world of living men. Both are the result of inventive science put to wrong uses,--namely to injure, instead of to benefit. The old ways of combat were more open and honourable. Better the sword and shield than the gas and the bomb,--better the fair fight between ships confronting each other boldly on the ocean, than the floating mine or the sly torpedo, sneaking like a low thief beneath the waves. There is something cowardly about the new “scientific” weapons of war,--they manifest the assassin’s spirit rather than that of the honest soldier. The long-distance gun, the poison-vapours, the “dum-dum” bullet--all show the inventive faculty of murderers in training, not the sane education of civilised and honourable men. There has been much talk of “advancement”--but if human progress takes the form of “scientific”