Produced by Al Haines THE GREAT DISCOVERY BY NORMAN MACLEAN "Had I stood aside when in defiance of pledges to which my kingdom was a party, the soil of Belgium was violated and her cities laid desolate, when the very life of the French nation was threatened with extinction, I should have sacrificed my honour, and given to destruction the liberties of my Empire and of mankind." _Proclamation by King George V._ GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY 1915 PUBLISHED BY JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW Publishers to the University MACMILLAN AND CO. LTD. LONDON New York ... The Macmillan Co. Toronto .... The Macmillan Co. of Canada London ..... Simpkin, Hamilton and Co. Cambridge .. Bowes and Bowes Edinburgh .. Douglas and Foulis Sydney ..... Angus and Robertson MCMXV _BY THE SAME AUTHOR._ DWELLERS IN THE MIST. HILLS OF HOME. THE BURNT OFFERING. CAN THE WORLD BE WON FOR CHRIST? AFRICA IN TRANSFORMATION. TO J. P. CROAL TO WHOM THIS BOOK OWES ITS EXISTENCE Preface Six articles which the writer contributed to _The Scotsman_ constitute this book. Four of these, which appeared under the title "In Our Parish," were, in response to requests, re-printed by _The Scotsman_ as leaflets, and in that form had a circulation that reached an aggregate of 100,000. One of the articles (now Chapter II.), which was published on February 14, 1914, has been revised and somewhat enlarged. The rest are reprinted substantially as they were originally written. In these last months there has come to the nation a spiritual and ethical revival. Life will never again be what it was in the last long summer days ere the guns began to speak. It will be a better world than it has yet been. The nation is being saved as by fire, and in the fire much dross will be consumed. The conscience of the State has been stirred, and it cannot in the future acquiesce in the continuance of the social evils which are gnawing at the nation's heart. The fate of the Empire in the long years to come will depend more on the fight for social renewal in the midst of the streets than on red battlefields. To the men who have stood between the race and destruction the State owes a debt which it can only repay by such measures of social regeneration as will make possible for every man and woman to realise the thrill and the joy of life. These pages only represent an effort to portray the first stirring of that newly awakened consciousness of God and of duty which was felt in every parish throughout the Empire, and which is destined to transform the world. Contents I. THE GREAT DISCOVERY II. THE REVIVAL OF PATRIOTISM III. THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS IV. THE POWER OF PRAYER V. THE VICTORY VI. THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN I The Great Discovery I