Produced by Al Haines VICTORY OUT OF RUIN BY NORMAN MACLEAN HODDER AND STOUGHTON LTD. LONDON -- NEW YORK -- TORONTO MCMXXII Printed in Great Britain by T. and A. CONSTABLE LTD. at the Edinburgh University Press PREFACE There is a joy in battle; but the greatest of all joys is to take some part, however humble, in the fight for the triumph of righteousness. There is a thrill such as can be found nowhere else in facing a mass of people whose prejudices and social customs are as an unscalable wall, in compelling their attention and, at last, in winning them to espouse your cause. To fight your opponent, loving him all the time, is the essence of Christianity. The excitement of betting on races or watching football matches is nothing compared to the excitement of facing an audience not knowing whether you are to be trampled on or to be applauded. Those who have fought under the banner of the King of Kings know the indefinable joy there is in it. That is why the young and the chivalrous give a swift response when the call is to a forlorn hope in the service of Christ. And the joy of it is this, that, whatever may happen, you are bound to win. The Infinite has infinite resources. Those who array themselves against Him are up against all the forces in the universe. The fight for the Kingdom of God is the greatest in which man ever fought; it goes on ceaselessly without any discharge; the big battalions seem always on the other side; but God always wins. There never has been a fight for deliverance, a struggle for progress, but the forces of righteousness conquered at last. This book is the third of a series. The Great Discovery portrayed the spiritual emotions of the Great War; Stand up, Ye Dead dealt with the soul of the nation in the midst of its travail; and this third book seeks to point out the way of deliverance and renewal. The malady of the world is spiritual. The fountain of healing is with God. N. M. EDINBURGH, _September_ 1922 NOTE Chapters I, II, III, IV, VIII, IX, XI, XII, and XIII appeared in _The Glasgow Herald_, and Chapters VI, VII, and X in _The Scotsman_. Chapter V is based on an article in _The Glasgow Herald_, but it has been rewritten. CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE ONLY HOPE CHAPTER II THE SUPREME NEED CHAPTER III IN THE SACRED NAME OF LIBERTY! CHAPTER IV THE GREATEST OF TYRANNIES CHAPTER V THE LAST DELIVERANCE CHAPTER VI THE PERIL OF THE CROWD CHAPTER VII LET US HAVE PEACE CHAPTER VIII THE WAY OF PEACE CHAPTER IX NO ROOM CHAPTER X DOMINION FROM SEA TO SEA CHAPTER XI THERE WERE IN THE SAME COUNTRY SHEPHERDS CHAPTER XII THE FULNESS OF THE TIME CHAPTER XIII VICTORY OUT OF RUIN CHAPTER I THE ONLY HOPE 'To a large extent the working people of this country do not care any more for the doctrines of Christianity than the upper classes care for the practice of that religion.'--JOHN BRIGHT in the year 1880.