There were many peacemakers; but against them old accusations were made, and they were scorned as the “Peace-at-any-price party.” They held their own, and pleaded for unimpassioned consultations and temporising delays; but they found that the Jingo spirit had been revivified. It was true that England had the men who, at the expense of the nation, had been kept in idleness for many years, in case—perhaps in the hope—that war would break out. She had guns, too; but grave scandals about them had been whispered, and though many thousands of pounds had lately been spent upon “the last sweet things” in cannons and torpedoes, it was not at all certain that these would not fail in the day of trouble because of bad workmanship and inferior materials. As to the money, she certainly had not got that. England was painfully paying off year by year what she could of the enormous debt which she owed on account of former wars, and the real fact was that she had not a penny which could be honestly afforded for new ones. But, as usual, many wished to withhold this truth from the nation’s ears at this moment, and much was done to make the people forget everything excepting that there was a stain on the national honour which could only be washed out in a sea of blood. Yet there was one circumstance that made thoughtful men pause. Germany had invented a new gun, which was more awful in its power than anything which had previously been dreamed of. Germany had tried to keep its own secret, but there was an uneasy feeling abroad that it had been sold by a money-loving traitor, and more than one other nation was in possession of it. England did not yet know all that she wished of the “patented” gun, and the Government was told that the secret must be purchased at any price. But the Government hesitated. The members of this House of Commons were not for war, but very strongly against it. The men now at the head of affairs could not bear the thought of the slaughter of thousands of their brothers. They had been sent to Westminster to govern men, not to order them to be killed; and, though they could not close their ears to the clamour of the war party, they maintained an attitude of firmness that, while it gave great hope to the peaceable, irritated their opponents. Moreover, England’s quarrel was with her neighbour, France. Some Frenchmen had gone over a boundary and taken to themselves a bit of land, which the English had stolen a thousand years ago. They were ordered off, and refused to go, and had been so very impertinent and consequential that the English who held the bit of land had appealed for help and sworn to be revenged. It was unfortunate that just at that time, in a little matter of trade and commerce, France was feeling irritated. Otherwise it is possible that an apology might have been offered and graciously accepted, and so the peace have been kept. But France was silent, and English Ministers were unhappy and anxious.