We have received a timely leaflet, Why Are We Fighting
? (The Lady Trevor, Chirk, 2d.), in which Mr. F. L. Petre explains in simple language how Germany's wanton declara- tion of war "made it impossible for any honourable English Government not to defend France and Belgium "; and a popular account of Why Britain Fights (James MacLehose and Sons, ld.), by Professor D. J. Medley, of Glasgow, which is all the more convincing on account of the studious modera- tion of its tone. Professor Medley looks at the situation with the impartial eye of an historian, who is free to confess that "there is much justification for the German aims." But when he comes to consider the methods by which the Prussian statesmen have attempted to fulfil those aims, Professor Medley, who has abstained from all harsh or careless words, warns us that the attainment of Germany's desires would "rivet upon civilization a despotism, organized, suspicious and ruthless beyond anything which the world even in its most degraded epochs has ever seen."
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