An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1 53 cold down in the City as it ever was on the heights of St.. Leonard's. On the 6th February I lectured to the Norwich Science Gossip Club on '' Athletic Exaggerations.'' There was a deadly long and deadly slow musical Church of England Revival Service at Lammas, on the 9th. On 12th February I read a paper on "Nuisances of Norwich" to the Wood– peckers. Seymour Lucas and his cousin A.L. came over to see me at Norwich, and I showed them round, and went back with them to his house at Blyburgh, which he had made an extremely nice place, though rather of the Irish– man's-knife-type on the ruins of the old Priory. On the 27th February, 1907, I repeated a lecture I bad previously given on "Old and New War and Weapons of War." I take no particular credit for having pointed out in such lecture the imminent risk we were running of invasion and war. The transparent sense of that old warrior, Lord Roberts, had convinced me, and all I did was practically to repeat bis words. So did Mr. Blatchford, though I think a trifle later, and many others, and we were all called alarmists for our pains, but our words proved bitterly truer It is not worth while my repeating here all my lecture,* so I will cite some passages from it:- " I am waiting to hear the argument that it is really no use "and a waste of money to defend ourselves, and that before " very loug all people all over the worl<l will be living in amity– ,, all well fed, well educated, and well housed, and as foreigners "will (of course) be equally comfortable_, they wou't want to "come over and upset this pleasant state of things. But so long "as human nature is human nature-so long as ambition exists,. "which prompts au able man to distinguish himself-I don't "think this Utopia will come into existence. When it does " come off it will be time enough to <lisbaud our armies and sell "our ships. Until then. and until the lion does lie down with " the lamb, we had better go on as we are and take care that our "lambs don't lie down inside foreign lions. " Another still meaner view is that of the man who says: "' "re 11, we shouldn't be any the worse off, if the Germans dia "come over aud conquer us, than we are now.' This is the "language of cowards. A patriot, one who loves his country, "would rather say, 'Let us do all we can to improve the present "state of things here ourselves and better what is bad, and not "sit down and be satisfied of not being so much worse off under "an invader.' *It is singular that the E.D.P., then an anti-war paper, omitted to report this lecture-no doubt it was repugnant to its finer· feelings!