The tales here told are written, not to glorify war, but to nourish
patriotism. They represent an effort to renew in popular memory tho
groat traditions - of the Imperial race to which we belong. The history
of the Empire of which are subject, -the story of the struggles and
sufferings by which it has been built up-is thc best legacy which the
past has bequeathed to us. But it is a treasure strangely neglected. The
Statc makes primary education its anxious care, yet it does not make its
own history a vital part of that education. There is red danger that for
the average youth the great names of British story may become
meaningless sounds, that his imagination will take no colour from the
rich and deep tints of history. And what a pallid, cold-blooded
citizenship this must produce War belongs, no doubt, to an imperfect
stage of society it has a side of pure brutality. But it is not all
brutal...